Day 54: Alpine, CA to San Diego, CA

Daily Miles: 40.7 Total Miles: 2904.3
**This post is from yesterday 4/26. We didn't have Internet last night**

Dipping my tire in the Pacific!

We did it! After more than 2900 miles, 243 hours in the saddle, and 71,000' of climbing, I finally reached the Pacific Ocean!! It was a great day. I rode in to the city from Alpine with John and Floyd and it was great sharing the ride with them, having some company, and not having to worry about navigating myself though the San Diego traffic. The day started with some pretty significant rain which made our 2000' descent a little more treacherous than I would have wanted. After about 15 miles we stopped and met up with Mary for some drinks and amazing sliders at a local restaurant, Eastbound, in Lakeside.

At the beach with John, Mary and Floyd

We rode on through several of San Diego's great parks and only had to spend a few miles winding through busy traffic before reaching the Ocean Beach Bike Trail. The sun finally broke though and as we rode up and on to Ocean Beach, the sun was shining and the day was perfect. It felt so good to see the ocean and to know that I made it all this way on my bike. It was surreal! And also sad to know that the trip had to come to an end. After meeting up with Mary and dipping my tire into the Pacific, the 4 of us headed to a great pizza place near by, and of course John and Floyd were telling everyone that I had just ridden in from Florida. The manager at the bar bought me a beer, and then, as we were leaving, she announced over the PA system that I had just finished a cross country ride. Everyone in the place, EVERYONE, started cheering and applauding. It was so cool!!

Amazing seats at the Padres-Nationals game

After pizza, John very generously gave Mary and me 3rd row tickets to the Padres vs. Nationals game. Mary and I were thrilled to accept and made our way out to the park. We were literally right behind the Nats dugout. It was very cool, even though the game was a little light on action (the Padres won 2-1). All in all, it was an amazing day and a great way to finish my ride. I hope to update this blog one more time with some final thoughts on the trip, and some statistics. Tomorrow Mary and I will start our return trip. We're planning on visiting Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, Chicago, and finally stopping in Orrville, OH to visit CAMO, the organization I have been raising money for with my ride. I may occasionally post some brief updates from our trip home and/or pictures, but I won't be keeping a daily blog going forward. Thank you so much for following our journey, and if you haven't already, please consider making a donation: http://camo.donorpages.com/CyclingforCAMO2012/CarriePerdue/.

Why hello, Mr. Panda. Sorry to interrupt your lunch

**Update from 4/27: Today Mary and I went to the San Diego Zoo and then met up with John and my good pal Emily from undergrad. We had another great day and tomorrow we head on to Vegas!!