Hello Friends of PeaceBike,

I made it home! November 28-29^th was the longest day awake for me at over 50 hours, with about 4 hours of half-sleep on the plane. This was mainly because my flight started out at 1:40 am on the 29^th and so I was up all day on the 28^th preparing for it and then headed west. Heading west means the day would be longer than most as our plane was going against the spin of the earth…in a way, following the sun. A short stop in Amsterdam’s airport and then back on an 8.5 hour flight to Minneapolis, USA. I had ordered vegi-food and this had the positive consequence of always being served first. The downside was that this might have developed some unconscious "why does he always get to eat first" thoughts in fellow passengers.

In Minneapolis the customs sniffing dog caught me inadvertently smuggling a few bananas and some pomegranate into the homeland. I wanted to eat them on the spot but the officer told me that if the dog caught me, then I couldn’t eat them. I wondered why. Maybe, I thought, the dog has a weak spot for bananas and pomegranate and gets a little kick-back on smuggled edibles. I thought the letter of the law was beating logic over the head on this one but complied… heck, I didn’t want to get held at the border of the US because of a few fruits. Everyone else in the immigration and customs process was cheerful, kind, and understanding with me as I wrestled my bike box and gear through the hoops.

As soon as I walked out of the customs door I got to meet two friends who have both been very supportive of the trip, John and Kevin. Kevin is the person volunteering as "picture poster" and has spent many long hours posting images to the PeaceBike Photo Albums. John and his wife Susan were in the US Peace Corps with my parents way back in the Middle Ages…hee..hee. They took me for a spin, driving on the right side of the road, which was a change for me. We had just enough time to catch a bite to eat, so John took us out to a great Greek restaurant with very large gyros. Thank-you both for the wonderful welcome home present, your presence!

I realized that somehow the flight times that I gave my mom were different from those printed on my boarding pass and I was to arrive in Portland, Oregon about four hours earlier than they planned. But alas, I realized this in mid-air and didn’t even think to use the Air-phone to call home. I had told my parents not to publicize my arrival because I'd be too tired for a big crowd. Well, coming four hours early not only eliminates the big crowd it even eliminates the chosen few family members. I guess I had gotten my wish… no crowd. After a call to my aunt who lives down the road (home line was busy) my parents and two brothers were on their way. Penny was in the middle of the opening night for her school play and so she didn’t even know of the change. 

I met my luggage and bike box (fully intact, yippeee!) and decided to use them as pillows for just a short nap while I waited for my family to arrive. I was pushing about 50 hours of non-sleep time and was entering an airport version of the twilight zone. I decided to position myself in a spot where they would find me and then laid my head down to sleep. Zzzz….the next thing I know I am waking up and realizing I was hearing my name… "Tad Beckwith. Please pick up the white courtesy phone. "

"Wait, I am Tad Beckwith." I sent that sentence on a neural roller coaster ride a few times before it registered in the light-bulb region of the brain. Once aware, I said to a fellow human, "Where is the white courtesy phone. I am Tad Beckwith."

We quickly located the white courtesy phone and soon my family, with shouts of joy, located me and surrounded me in a group hug. It was quite a moment. One of those that sits in the back of your mind for years and then happens, maybe not as planned, but happens. We just kept laughing and hugging and then mom realized she wanted to take some pictures of the moment so we did some re-enactment hugs for posterity’s sake.

I wanted to ride the last day home and so that night Kip, my brother, and I slept at a friend's house and then my brother Bozeb, and my dad, Wayne, met me the next morning for a PeaceBike "Ride Along" of pain. Well, it wasn’t all pain but the headwinds, cold rains, 1 flat tire, and 2 chain breaks didn’t really put it in the "ride in the park" category. I was really happy to have the two at my side though, and we did enjoy the warmth of our Taco Bell lunch stop and appreciated home that much more when we finally pulled in. (My dad actually didn’t make the last little bit of the ride because of the snapped chain but my mom went and picked him up.) We had another happy reunion at home with local press taking some pictures before we settled down for dinner.

On December 1^st about 40 people got together for the homecoming, even in the cold and wet weather, and joined me for the "last mile" back to Champoeg Park, the place where we started the trip from. I was so honored by the people who came, and it was a moment that I will never forget. A few words, some special awards to the X-team members, an "Impossible Dream completed" ceremony for me, a beautiful gift of a new PeaceBike banner (handmade by board member Danelle Till), and cake and hot cocoa made the time a perfect closing of this chapter of PeaceBike. Even with the hot cocoa we were all getting pretty cold so we shared a few more hugs, packed up, and headed for home. Thanks to all who came to share in that welcome home.

The last two weeks at home have been really refreshing and relaxing. I decided to stay on my bike and am riding about 20 kms most mornings, getting used to Oregon winter weather. I started re-organizing my room, cheered on my brother Kip in a few of his basketball games, watched Penny’s play, rode in our mule-powered wagon to find our Christmas tree, shared 10 plates of food with my brother Bozeb at Izzy’s Buffet, and enjoyed a few more local adventures.

The last two nights PeaceBike was shared with more folks at home because I was invited to ride into and "kick-off" the winter music program at Dayton Grade School. This is where I went to school and that made it doubly special. The music teacher invited me to join a program focusing on peace and world cultures as someone who has made a difference in the world. In my little talk I mentioned that we all have the choice to make a positive difference in the world by being someone’s hero, someone’s friend. "Peace…starting with me!" we pledged to each other.

Thanks for listening. Blessings to each of you during this holiday season!

Peace…starting with you…starting with me,

TAD