Getting closer to Ushuaia…..
In the last half hour before we arrive, we pass a couple of ski lifts and ride through two large culverts (big enough for trucks and normal traffic) that run under the ski runs. On my left I see a Husky farm where dozens of dogs and dog houses wait for winter snows to return the dogs to their running the trails.
A few miles before town I pull over and mount and start my GoPro, hoping to preserve some memories of this incredible moment. It’s not so much the crossing into Ushuaia itself, it’s what it means to have come this far, and to have experienced all of what we have been through to get here. We have ridden a lot of miles, covered two nearly continents, and it’s taken more than a year and a half to get here. We have ridden over and through slime, dirt, mud, sand, potholes, mountains, streams, awful rocky and slippery roads, millions of topes, dangerous countries, dozens of borders and some angry dogs. We have ridden through ice storms, rain storms, dust storms and strong winds. We have ridden in extreme cold and extreme heat. There have been bugs, tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, and bats. Some of it has been really hard and really scary for me. There were a few times I wasn’t sure I would make it here, and yet here I am. This deserves a moment. And it deserves to be remembered.
On goes the camera, in goes the clutch, down goes the gear shifter into first, and on goes a bit of throttle as I release the clutch and ride off toward Ushuaia.
5 miles to go….4 miles to go….3 miles…2…1….and then…
A few hours of holding back tears earlier in the day has dissolved into a strange sort of partially-numb, anti-climactic moment. I don’t feel like crying. I don’t feel a rush of adrenaline.
I wait a moment, expecting to feel something more than just tired and hungry (my normal feelings, lol). But there is nothing more….ok, that’s fine. Maybe it will hit me later. This is all sort of surreal and maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet….and that’s understandable. We have more than a few thousand miles left to ride before I actually go back to the USA, so it’s not like I’m really “done”.
In the end I think that’s where my head is at and even a few days later it doesn’t really seem like the “end of the trip” because it isn’t. But it was a huge moment, and a wonderful memory.
We take a few pics. We enjoy a few minutes. We look at the map. We put on our helmets. And off we go toward town…Welcome to Ushuaia.
I’m eternally grateful for all the help all of the people along the way gave to me and to Brian. And I’m mostly grateful for Brian, and all he has done to get me here to experience this.
That thing that “they” say about life being about the journey and not the destination are so right…this journey and all but one of the incredible memories I have from this trip have been from the journey. This one memory that is of the “destination” is wonderful too, but it’s only one moment of thousands, so it shouldn’t have been more heavily weighted as being more important or more momentous. For the next few days I catch up on sleep, and eating and I enjoy looking through photos from the entire journey. I’m a lucky girl to have experienced this incredible ride. A lot of people dream of a trip like this, including me and it’s amazing to have made this dream come true.
Sturgis Chick 
Congrats! Groovy
Congratulations. Spring is just a few weeks away here. Looks like winter’s grip is loosening at last. Enjoy the trip back north.
I want to congratulate you but totally get your point that this is not the end of the trip. It is a mile post on the journey and of your journey of life, but what a mile post! It surely must be a billboard on the side of the road at least! One that is screaming out WELL DONE! It is time to celebrate an achievement of awesome proportions, rest up a bit then head north. Sensational, inspirational Sturgis Chick!
Reblogged this on Two Wheeled Life.