Canada150 Epic Roadtrip - Day 19 - Home

Day 19 - July 21st Friday

Distance travelled for the day - 194 km

Total distance for trip - 10,131 km

Route - St. Thomas, ON - Toronto, ON

The whole journey - 10,131 km

I left St. Thomas around 10:00 am on the last leg of my trip home to Toronto. The weather co-operated with sun and blue skies, much better than 20 days earlier when I started the journey on Canada Day.

I took the 400 series highways, first the 401 East and then 403 to Hamilton. When the 403 became the Queen Elizabeth Highway (QEW) the traffic stopped. There didn't seem to be an accident but it was stop and go for about 30 minutes. I mused that I had started my trip in stop and go traffic so it's poetic that I return to the same.

There's a curve in the QEW when you are getting close to Toronto where my beloved CN Tower comes into view. This is when I know that I am home. I felt a mix of feelings. I was proud to have successfully completed my trip and at the same time I was sad that it was over. I also discovered my trip odometer tops out at 9999.9 km. Good thing I was tracking the daily distances. 

I pulled into my driveway, put down the kickstand, and turned off the engine. It was 12:30 pm. I took a photo of my triumphant return.

My triumphant return. 

The trip was amazing and exceeded all my expectations. Through the traffic, the rain, the cold, the long days, the centre of Canada, 4 time zones, a broken battery, big blue skies, the moose, the bears, the goose, the nickel, flat plains, canola flowers, corn, Rocky Mountains, 100 degree heat, thunderstorms, rainbows, the lakes, bad brakes, Presidents, Badlands, Cowboys, good friends, good Samaritans, kind strangers, former Triumph owners, the 45th parallel, 5 Provinces, 8 States, sunrises, sunsets and endless highway, I smiled. The whole time. All 10,131 km.

It was the trip of a lifetime and a reminder to follow your dreams where ever they may take you.

The last leg of the trip.