For our last cafe, Kathleen sweetened it up a great deal. We had the faux "gerber" daisy, we had a tablecloth, we had marshmallow peanuts. Quite, quite lovely.
It was a surreal morning and nobody was really moving very fast. There wasn't a super hurry - we still all get up so damn early that there is plenty of time when you don't have a plane or a train to catch. Everyone...except me (with the train to catch), was pretty much in their own vehicles or riding in other folk's cars to their respective destinations. So...we took our time having our coffee (and tea).
Forgot to mention that a couple of nights prior, Theresa brought Kathleen a couple of presents in the form of scrapbooks she had made with pictures and news clippings from the walk. They were amazing...so sweet. I probably looked through each of them 5 or 6 times and found something new each time. Super fun.
We did a couple final group photos. Of course, we're missing a couple of people...'cause that's just kind of where we were with things at this point.
Here's the three of us...Carrie, you are here in spirit love!
And then we just sort of had to get to it. As we were all packing up our tents and our gear, loading it into cars, people would come by and say their farewells...camp was getting quieter and quieter.
I was kind of excited at this point...eager to just get the rough stuff done and be on my way. I felt like many of us had been waiting for this moment for a long, long time and now we just had to get through the worst part of it. I remember talking about the separation anxiety with a fellow walker, what we were all kind of experiencing over this past week. It came in waves for me.
I was ready to go and I was ready to strike out from the family and I wondered how much I was in denial about the whole thing. I figured, it would hit me at some point. I knew, even in these last moments at camp, that I was going to miss these guys terribly...and yet, that didn't sadden me. It was almost...it's so hard to wrap around...I think I just feel confident that I will be in touch and see them again and that's what I was holding onto. I didn't have to say goodbye.
My train left at 1:30 and I needed to be there between 12:00 and 12:30. Kathleen said she would take me in and drop me off. One last ride in the Pearl.
And then...it really was time to go. Kind of just like that. We had been packing and loading and hugging and taking pictures and then we had to make the move.
It was really hard to leave Jen - the big mushball - said see ya to Roman and Amy and Larry and Ray. Kid had left earlier. We got into the truck, Kathleen honked that little squeeky circus horn all the way around D Loop. We cruised around into A Loop and got out of the truck maybe 20 times to hug people and wish them well.
It took us probably close to 1/2 and hour to get out of the campgrounds. Which was fine. It felt right, and sweet and necessary.
And then we were out and on our way.
We started heading towards D.C. but passed by the exit.
"I know you don't think we have time for this...but we do...one last one for Carrie-foot," Kathleen said
Ahhhh....Starbucks run. You bet we have time for that. I cannot tell you how many Starbucks we have visited across the country...my little coffee fiend friends. god, Carrie would get these triple shot mochas, I don't know how she managed it. I never did get a bead on what Kathleen ordered most...it seemed to change a lot...maybe it didn't...I know that whatever she got came with an extra shot.
Starbucks is also how we kept ourselves in 'Sugar in the Raw" packets. We always grabbed a few extra for the "cafe." Helpful, they were.
We got back into the truck and she put in the "Into the Wild" soundtrack - the music of this trip - first time I heard the cd was the first time I was in the Pearl. Glad to be hearing it in what would likely be my last. ("I'm not driving this truck for months after I get home," she would say).
We drove off towards Union Station and found a surprisingly easy place to park, right out front. It was Sunday, which was helpful, and parking was free up to an hour, which was about how much time we had before my train left.
There were two things left on the agenda.
One was to help get her out of the city and pointed towards New York. She had all these maps she was sorting through. We had a ton of maps for the D.C. area 'cause we had to negotiate Virginia and Maryland. It was a lot and she was over it.
"Here, help me please," she said, handing them to me, "find me a highway out of here, one that gets me out of this fricken city and somewhere North. And somewhere that doesn't go through Philadelphia."
Got it. How about this? Perfect.
The second thing was to find a bumper sticker from D.C. Surprisingly, just like the damn camp stove fuel (which we never did find), we couldn't find one bumper sticker to add to the truck from Washington D.C. Wouldn't you think that the Nation's Capitol would have several, probably stupid, bumper stickers advertising itself?
Yeah? Well, think again buster.
After we got my ticket and found my gate, we spent the rest of our time looking through every shop in Union Station for a bumper sticker. Nothing. Lots of Obama and McCain stickers...could wallpaper a house with the amount of those we found. But nothing could we find to finish out the White Pearl's adventure. Kinda sad.
I went to get some food for the trip and she went to search for vendors who might sell one. We met back up outside the train station, where I was getting ready to board in about 15 minutes.
"Any luck?" I said.
"Nothing..."
"You coming in or should we do this here?"
"Yeah, here."
There are those times, that you know you will always remember. This whole morning will be one of those for me. It'll be in snapshots...watching Kid walk down the road and away...seeing Crystal pull off with Larry and Andrea in the car...a few of us standing there quietly while Jen and Ray hugged...and this one, here at this train station.
"We put the fun in dysfunctional, didn't we?" She said, as we hugged.
"No doubt," I said.
We high-fived each other; and then she was gone and I shouldered my backpack and went into the station, towards Gate K and onto a train to Boston.
It'll take awhile, I know...for all of this to settle in. I can't even really get there at this moment. I know this all would've been a much more shallow experience without them, and there aren't words to express my gratitude that this group of people touched down on this particular piece of life for these months. What a blessing.
And as the train started rolling, taking me away - I thought about Kathleen heading off in the Pearl, and Jen with her mom, and Ray in Margaret's car. Kid was with Kendra - Larry with Crystal. And Patrick...Patrick was home already. Amy and Roman and Shun...all the rest...Nathan. And I don't know when I will see any of them again; but that's okay...they'll be here with me...always.
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