Day 70: The Curse Ends

Lake Tahoe, CA --> Lake Tahoe, CA

Rest Day, 0 miles, 0 ft elevation

I am getting tired of our breakfast food. No more sweet breakfast please! Or bagels with cream cheese. So, this was what breakfast looked like for me today.

I’m starting to think my blog days are a bad spell. Good thing this is my last official blog. While biking to the resort this morning, Amulya fell on the curb and hit her head and her shoulders. Rebecca took her to the hospital, where they said she has a minor concussion but should still be okay to bike.

I called my Mom while waiting in the resort lobby. She said that near the end of this journey is when we’re most susceptible to injury. Kind of like plane crashes. They happen at lift-off and at descent. We’re tired and our guard is down. I hope we’re able to arrive in San Francisco in just a few days’ time without any more incidents. They’re scary, and as a team, we’ve been lucky not to sustain too many life-threatening ones so far. But we need to stay vigilant, especially as we enter California, the land of the many, many (electric) cars.

We’re back to California prices on gas + ice cream. $6 for one gallon. $6 for one scoop. Hank got a flavor called “Hank the Tank tracks” which is some play on Moose Tracks.

The whole mood was somber given Amulya’s hospital visit earlier this morning. Today, we embraced the clouds.

We went to a lackluster beach before dinner. However, as far as I’m concerned, any water is better than none. I placed my hand by the shore and waited for a wave to greet me. I grew up next to the ocean, and there is something rather life-affirming about big bodies of water.

Fun fact, Safeway gives out free bread (in this case, Garlic Bread) after 5 pm. Here’s Rebecca securing the garlic bag!

Jess and I cooked dinner. We made congee with soft boiled eggs, chicken, and tofu. Chicken stock might be one of my new underdog ingredients. Stock seems expensive for $2 a quart, however, it infuses a ton of flavor. Even just stewing some chicken drums was great.

Dinner is always a good reset. We start looking ahead to the route that greets us tomorrow, and we use the dinner table as a forum for group reflection. It is hard to be in poor spirits when there is warm food on the table. Spokes has taught us all gratitude. I could go on and on about the humanity we have experienced, but even on the material level of a bed, a shower, a refrigerator, running water, and an iced soda, I could fall to my knees in appreciation.