On the Road Again...

Well, big changes have occurred on our epic bike trip.  Very big.

Annie wrote some lovely blog posts about our first few days after my accident.  You can read them here:

Day 4-8:  Wisconsin is a Big State

Day 9 and 10: Layover in LaCrosse

As a side note, while we were visiting with Hank and his family, we learned that my good friend, Barb, had written a book about cross-country cycling, and SHE HAD NEVER TOLD ME!  Can you believe that?  When I asked her about it, she merely said, "Well, it never came up."  Oh, Barb, how I love you.

After LaCrosse, we headed north towards Minneapolis.  It was LOVELY riding.  Pretty flat and right along the Mississippi River.

Lockes on the Mississippi River!  So cool!

I decided to take pictures of the city signs we passed.

Some are less interesting than others.

You know you're in the north when soda is called pop. 

The river.

I would absolutely go back here.

We stayed here with a WONDERFUL family in a last-minute stay.

Welp.  Back in Wisconsin.

Annie climbs hills faster than I can.

This is our 300+ foot climb up onto the bluffs.  We were tired, hungry, and cranky at the top. 

But thankfully, there was a FANTASTIC organic, locally sourced restaurant waiting for us!

Annie feels better after drinking her coffee.

The sun is setting, but we MUST make it to Minneapolis tonight!

Yay!  Minneapolis!  We stayed with my good friend, Jody.

Ok, and this is where the story takes a drastic turn.  While we were in Minneapolis, my boyfriend called to inform me he was being restationed to Tokyo, Japan.  In two months.  We could break up, get married, or I could move to Tokyo.  He and I had some pretty big decisions to make in not a lot of time.  I decided to cut my trip short and fly home so that he and I could work out what to do.

Annie was understandably really disappointed in me.  I'm sure she was furious, too, but she insisted she wasn't.   I have to say she really is an incredible woman and great friend.  Instead of taking out her frustrations and anger on me, she worked really hard to be supportive of my decision to go home.  Honestly, it was a really hard decision for me to make: I wasn't sure I was making the best decision, just going with my gut feeling.  

Annie ended up deciding to take a flight to Seattle and ride down the Pacific Coast solo.  Meanwhile, I rented a car and drove back to Chicago, then flew home.