Confessions are due, Dear Reader. Apogee, bastion of clean living, sentinel of energy efficiency, bard of green things (I’m running out of ideas here…), has plugged in. The air conditioner is sitting in the window. And you know what? It’s great. It’s wonderful.

The collective mood of Apogee Intergalactic Headquarters has up-ticked by at least 25% since we’ve plugged that sucker in. Life is good. And, I’m very happy to report — life is good for those lucky few out on trip today, too!

Our Quebecers are now half-official, as Corley and Andy’s group hit the border at 9:00 AM this morning. They got on the road early this morning, after doing something nefarious with the wheel you see in the below picture — which just happens to belong to Pete, esteemed leader of the other CQ group… Pete, Emily, and their cohort are, of course, above such childish games. They simply donned their white water helmets, below, and hit the water – and promised revenge in Quebec.

We heard from our Vermonters — they had a very successful overnight paddle out to Knights Island in Lake Champlain. They are, as I’m typing, heading out to their Final Dinner in Burlington before turning their van south for Massachusetts tomorrow morning.

In Montana, our group is out of cell phone range, but they’re inside the Glacier National Park boundary and completed their first day of service today. After another couple of days working with the rangers and fending off the grizzlies (just kidding!), they’ll be riding the Going to the Sun Highway up and over the heart of Glacier.

In Puerto Rico, our groups were both enjoying the beach when last I heard from them. Lidia, Alex & Co. planted something like 300 trees today over in Cabo Rojo while Mike, Annie and their gang were working hard on the trails in El Yunque. Because we never get pictures from their group, I’m putting up the two (yes, two!) pictures of their group that we received today.

And, way, way, down in Mississippi, we thought you might like to see the effect that crushing 90 miles before two in the afternoon has on folks…