Back in Philly

[Eoin]

I got back to the US on September 1. My flight from Bogota to Orlando
was $80, and then I biked from Orlando to Tampa to surprise my mom.
The ride from the Orlando Airport to my CouchSurfing host was probably
my most dangerous -- I biked through a storm at night, shirtless, with
glasses, and no phone. It was difficult to see anything in front of
me since my glasses collected rain drops, and especially when an
oncoming car was using its long beams.

My mom was surprised when I rolled up the driveway on my bike. It
took her a while to comprehend that I was back. I stayed with her for
about 10 days, and my sister came down too, and surprised my mom.

Then I heard about the Faster Mustache 24 Hour Race happening in
Atlanta. So I told a couple of friends about it in Florida, and they
got excited about it, so we drove up, and did the race. We teamed up
with three other guys, kept someone out on the course the whole time
(I had to do three laps in a row at one point, from about 5-8am), and
we came in first place in points for the missions we completed, which
was like a scavenger hunt. That was cool since we came away with cool
prizes.

While I was in Atlanta, I rode to Conyers, about 20 miles from
Atlanta, to visit Ryan. I rolled into his driveway as he was planting
some seeds. Surprise! Got 'em! Got 'em gooood! The trip took a
full circle at that point, since we had basically started from his
house. And actually, we had left Atlanta on March 17, split up in
Austin, TX on April 17, and then I visited Ryan on September 17, six
months after the start of our trip. I spent a couple of days with him
and his family. It was awesome seeing them all. They told me I
looked skinny -- I had lost about 15 lbs. As Ryan's Mom, Trish, said
"You came to the right place. We're gonna feed you." Ryan and I's
main activity while I was there was to lament about ending the trip
and "being back." Shell shocked!

My friend, Will Clarke, was telling me he wanted to drive up to
Baltimore to visit his girlfriend, and that he could give me a ride.
So we headed off late one evening, and drove through the night. It
couldn't have been any better -- I got a ride with friends up to
Atlanta from Tampa, and then with another friend from Atlanta to
Baltimore. I hung out in Baltimore for a day and saw an old-time
friend from Georgia Tech.

Early the next morning, I left Will and Baltimore, and rode off to
Philly. In Northern Maryland, I crossed Hatem bridge, which was
extremely narrow and long. Some cars squeezed passed me, but for
about half my trip across it, the traffic was stuck behind my pace
since a truck didn't want to attempt overtake me. And then I saw a
police car in the oncoming lane turn on its lights. I passed through
the toll on the other side, as the lady was screaming at me to get on
the sidewalk, and then I got a police honk and had to pull over. The
lady officer told me that it's illegal to cross the bridge on bike and
that there were signs posted. I told her that I'd been cycling for 6
months, and crossed many bridges, and saw "no cycling" signs posted on
some, but I didn't see anything as I was coming to Hatem Bridge. And
I asked if there was another way across, maybe another bridge. No.
She took my ID and sat in her car for a while as she wrote up a
ticket. Luckily, it was only a warning. Something I didn't have to
pay for. She told me the fine is usually $60.

I made it to Philly, and got to Eleanor's door, and knocked.
Surprise!! She was excited, although she said she didn't recognize me
for a second. I surprised everyone!!

Since then (that was about 10 days ago), I've been looking for jobs.
I was hopeful about a few which had basically the same job description
as what I was doing at The Home Depot, but I haven't gotten a
callback. It's discouraging. But I'm keeping myself open to new
ideas, like SAT tutoring -- I took the test, and got the minimum, 700
out of 800, to qualify to be a tutor!! I'll also be starting up a
PhillyEmissions.com website to list the price each inspection station
charges for an emissions test. I hope that gets popular.

And, I'm also updating the blog. I've just recently gotten the blog
into Colombia! My goal is to add a new post every day, so that I can
finish it up quickly.

Thanks for keeping up with my trip. I've appreciated the support I
got along the way, and I even felt a sense of responsibility to keep
going due to everyone's positive responses (no one tells you: "you
should stop. don't go any further.") I may send another email when
I've gotten it all updated.

Eoin