I've made the crossing

First off, physically, I am in Canada. I crossed over by ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on the 14th of June, 2011. The smile never left my face, and I was proud of myself. I really did just bike from Lee Vining (close to Mammoth Lakes, essentially Yosemite), to Vancouver Island. Later today, the 16th of June, I will be getting on a ferry to arrive in Vancouver. I accomplished what I set out to do, and looking back on the days of snow, and hail, and lonliness, and mile after mile of amazing biking, well, I don't have words to describe what I've seen and been through. Erika, my most wonderful teacher from Semester at Sea, has it right when you've got to just read between the lines of this blog to really understand my thoughts.
But I'll try. A few things. I have crossed over physically, but also mentally. I can sense a mental bridge I climbed, and got over. In a few ways. One, I realize I was doing a lot of biking, and not a lot of touring, over the first weeks through California and Oregon. Once I reached Astoria, I realized wow, I do have some extra time, and now I can enjoy this trip. I set out to expect the unexpected, but I made the miles more important than the memories. So I strayed off the route, and went along the Washington coast, in and out of Olympic national park, and took it easy. I even stopped at 3 one day! I crossed into Canada, and I had no plan, no direction, and no idea where to stay. But I was fine, and I made it up the coast, and last night camped on a beautiful island in Nanaimo.
However, the other bridge I crossed over, more importantly I'd say, is that the alone time is now no longer a burden, but a gift that I absolutely love. It is peaceful, and I feel very free. I have no set goal, no plan, only relaxed riding and exploring. Maybe it is the beautiful scenery of the coast along Vancouver Island, with amazing homes overlooking the water with farms throughout the ride. It is probably just the nice weather, I finally am getting some sun without the clouds.
My time is almost up, but I have one more thought. I camped on Cresent Lake in Washington the night of the 13th. A guy said to me that I was brave. I gave that a days worth of though on the 14th, and I know now that I might have been walking a fine line between bravery and foolishness this whole trip. I have written pages about this in my little thought journal, but basically, if I had not been foolish, I wouldn't have biked that far in such a short time, I would have taken it easy, and I wouldn't have made it to Vancouver island. No way I would have. And I am in love with this place, again. It is beautiful with its small towns and organic farms and amazing homes and harbors and cafes and islands and forested hills and starfish in the water and the list goes on and on. So maybe, it is being brave about my foolish decisions that have gotten me to where I am. It has all been through the heart, the trip that is, and if I would have thought a little more about it, it wouldn't have happened or turned out the way it has. I have two minutes left, and I'd love to say more, but until next time, thank you all, again, so much, it has been an experience of a lifetime. Absolutely.