Hello friends. This is Anna, coming to you from Maryland, where we have holed up in Sean’s parents’ lovely home for the last day and the next few days. Today, we cleaned the car (‘twas kinda gross) and washed bikes in preparation for packing (‘twas lovely to see our bikes’ true colors under all that grease). Some kind bike stores nearby gave us old boxes for free that we can use to ship out bikes back. We stuffed it with old clothes and newspapers. Very secure.
Then, we all stumbled into a flotilla of canoes and kayaks that Sean’s family owns and paddled out to a sand bank in the Chesapeake Bay. We (Asia and I) enjoyed capsizing Cole & Travis’ boat. And I also enjoyed running into high weeds at high speeds (it rhymes!). Sean was very much in his element (nature). On the way back, the only way Asia and I could get the kayak to move in a straight line was by going backwards, and so we slowly retreated towards the house while watching the spectacular sunset. We only hit another boat once. The sunset was layers upon layers of all kinds of different clouds, and every color of blue you can picture.
Tomorrow, Cole, Travis, and I rode to the Atlantic Ocean (to a beach near Dover, Delaware). The odd future past tense is because that has already happened but also this blog post is supposed to be about the day before it happened. But I digress. It was a beautiful ride and a gorgeous end to a two and a half month journey. Seeing the ocean/bay stretch out ahead of us and stomping into the mucky, salty water made me truly feel like we made it across this entire continent. (See below a photo of all of us at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. for photographic evidence!)
Seeing as this is my last post, I want to say thank you to all of the people who opened up their homes for us, to all of the congregations who welcomed us, to all of the passer-bys who talked with us, to all of the supporters who enabled us to go on this journey, and to all of the students who learned with us. The stories I heard and the homes I’ve seen in these last few months have forever changed my view of America and what it means to come or be at home. I feel beyond grateful for the opportunity to learn about my country in this way.
Lastly, a thank you to my team, to the calm & knowledgeable Cole, to the happy & eager Sean, to the sweet, powerful, and quirky ;) Asia, to the pensive and positive Maceo, and to the loving and (occasionally) funny Travis.
