Greetings, Apogee-ea! After some rocky weather, we’re enjoying a delightful, true summer day up here today. I was able to sneak away from the computer long enough to test the lovely waters of Casco Bay this morning and can attest that, yes, indeed, Maine remains the best State in the Union (at least in July).

When I last heard from our Puerto Rico groups, Mike, Annie, Alex & Lidia were waiting at the airport until the last of their students departed this afternoon. Very hard to believe that with that particular chapter has come to a very successful conclusion. Mike described the scene as they walked around Old San Juan yesterday, only to stumble upon the World Cup Final being shown on a huge TV set up in one of the main squares in town. Watching the game with thousands of their closest friends, before taking in a huge Puerto Rican feast to close out the trip was pretty special. Mike did sound a bit bleary-eyed as both groups had stayed up most of their last night together…

And a quick correction to yesterday’s post about ACC — they stayed on the Arkansas side of the border in Texarkana last night, not the Texas side. So the below picture, of the group at the state line, is hot off of the presses, sent in by Cait early this morning. They are now deep into Texas, heading for the jewel of the Plains, Paris, Texas.

Rachel and Sam, in cell-phone range once again on the western side of Glacier National Park, checked in again last night. They said that they had a great time rafting yesterday — perfect conditions, sunny but not too hot, and definitely warm enough so that the water felt great. They rode their last stretch today down to Whitefish, where they’ll spend tomorrow picking up Western nick-nacks and packing up their bikes before one last barbeque tomorrow night.

And, last but certainly not least, to the Cape. Both groups are doing very well. Lucas reported from Nantucket this afternoon — they took the ferry from the Vineyard over today. He did send in the below shot of a couple of his gals working on the farm yesterday — they were moving hay and, umm, “deep compost.” Best not to inquire too deeply about the meaning of said compost… Wyatt and Chrissy, up near Wellfleet on the Outer Cape, spent the day surfing today — the waves were so big at the beach they had been planning to surf, they ended up getting bussed over to a slightly more moderate area. And then the proceeded to shred it like the wild-eyed pros they are… Chrissy sent in the second shot below of the group hanging out (or working out?) at the campground, post-surfing.