day 86

we left diana's place and hit up an abandoned club on the waterfront which was awesome. a three story building with lots of graffiti was what we got to explore. it was neat to see what once used to house bands such as kansas and other bands. we headed out and grabbed some breakfast at dunkin donuts then headed to the stuck-up bridge which is an old bridge that is in the stuck-up position. it was cool to climb around it and see this massive steel bridge just pointing up towards the skies. we took some photos there then continued our final ride to the boston coast. it was a cool day and things were just going our way, it was great. along our way, i noticed a street sign that was named, "hackett" and was totally thrilled! it was our day for sure, sadly there wasn't a chaney, gilroy, or even a matt or evan nearby but still it was cool. we kept riding and got a little lost due to no street signs but made it into the boston area but needed to weave through some busy streets to get to old harbor where we would end our trip. we cruised down some sketchy torn up streets and through busy one ways and finally arrived at the coast, where we've been imagining 3 months prior. it was a surreal moment, not fully realizing that all this hardwork, sweat, tan, time, energy, money, laughs, tears, smiles, anger, and sheer love of travel was finally coming to an end. i don't know if it even seems real now, a few days after being done. i know we were super excited and anxious to roll our bikes down into the ocean to finish the trip. in our excitement we seemed to have rushed the experience a bit but it was a good time nonetheless. we took some pictures and had the lifeguard take a final pic of matt, evan, and myself. we made it folks! thank you so much for your support, prayers, encouragement, faithful readings, and excitement for us along this journey. we wrapped up the trip but still had to bike a couple of miles to alex's house, lia's brother. ha. when we arrived, our good friend mike bartlett was sitting on the steps waiting for us; he had been in boston doing some work and stayed an extra day to hang out with us, it was so great to see a familiar face. we gave hugs and handshakes then started our way up the three stories to unload our bikes and gear into alex's living room. so thankful for alex and his roommates for taking us in with all our stuff. we sat around and chatted for a good amount then decided to go celebrate with some boston clam chowder! so we took the "T" (subway) downtown and got a table at a great restaurant. they had unlimited corn bread (which we all ate a ton!) then savored the large bowl of soup and i got the pot roast which was very tasty. it was a lot of food  but we fought through it all. we then wandered around philly watching some bocci ball games but mainly chatting with one another about this, that, and the other thing. we finally made our way back to the house and we stayed up watching arrested development, man i have missed that show. i can't wait to take some time and relax and watch a movie or tv shows! it got later and we all decided it was time to go to bed. calling an end to the bike trip. i will continue to add new posts about our travels to New York City and Boston but once evan and i part ways, i will be moving away from this blog and be posting on my regular blog so follow me there at Tall Tale of a Life Well Lived