A special homecoming day in London

There's always something special about coming home.

Family. Friends. Love. Laughter. A comforting feeling that this is exactly where you should be at this exact point in time, no excuses needed. It's where you belong.

This is a homecoming for Mike, Jon, and Brian, and their families have done an absolutely superlative job in making sure that the time we have spent here today was special, worthy of their respective sons returning amidst a long, rewarding, and enriching journey across our country.

And how special it has been.

The mothers - Elenor Taves, Polly McDonald, and Joan Hutton - organised an incredible barbeque lunch for us in Springbank Park, London's equivalent to Stanley Park in Vancouver, or Central Park in New York City. They got the local A&P grocery store to donate all the food, and went to the extent of setting up balloons and tablecloths on the picnic tables, having two incredible cakes made (one with a map of Canada with our route to date, one with the logo and our names written in script above), and having the firefighters once again come out with a truck to put on display. Donald Taves had his high quality SLR digital camera out to capture the moment, while Bob McDonald worked a bit of everything including the grill with his son Jeff. Matt Taves played some frisbee with the kids while Mary and Brad McDonald helped the mothers with the finer details. Everything was thought of and taken care of, giving the five of us the chance to talk to the people who had come out for the event, and the London natives in particular the chance to reconnect with their friends and family who had come from all over to share the occasion.

We were extremely fortunate to have some incredible weather for the lunch. It was hot but dry, without a cloud in the sky, and the park was absolutely stunning. There must have been 200 people who came by throughout the day, and we got to meet a lot of people who have donated to the cause and have been following us along every step of the way. Judy from the London MDC Chapter came along with some of their other members, and helped take in donations and give out receipts for those who donated. We stood out in the crowd with our matching light-blue jerseys, and thankfully our names are on the left sleeve so people knew who was who!

What was most satisfying was seeing the enjoyment that Mike, Jon, and Brian got out of being home. It really showed in the smiles on their faces when we got into town, with the escorts yesterday and the turnout to the barbeque today, having their family and friends come out and celebrate our achievements to date, and those to come. Jon made a great speech thanking everyone for coming out and for all the support that everyone has shown us, and we even got a gift from MDC to take home with us! It was an MDC coffee mug (they must know something) with a miniature Canadian flag each, better quality than the paper ones we picked up in Sauble Beach! It was a much appreciated gesture on their part.
So after a barbeque like that, how do you up the ante? With full-body massages courtesy of the Taves family after lunch is how. They were our first ones of the trip, and really helped relax our bodies (especially the legs). A big thanks also needs to go out to Gary Good, the family friend who rode in with Jon and Mike on Thursday. Not only did he take all of our bikes into the shop for tune-ups AND pick them up, but he covered the cost for it all, even two new racks that Mike and I needed, having broken both of ours on the same weld in the days before we came into town. It was totally unexpected, but he told Jon this was how he wanted to contribute in helping us make it across Canada. Thanks Gary!

All five of us are truly lucky to have had the London families treat us so well, and we are extremely thankful for the care they took to make the day a special one. It's going to be tough to leave tomorrow morning, especially for Mike, Brian, and Jon, and why wouldn't it be? It's always tough leaving home, especially when you get the welcome that we did.

Tomorrow will be another homecoming of sorts for Jon and Brian, as we head to Hamilton to their former haunts on Thorndale where they lived while attending McMaster University. Once again, we will be escorted out of town by the London firefighters, whom we cannot thank enough for their time and effort!
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