This, Dear Reader, will likely be the shortest blog entry of the entire summer.   Through a fluke of scheduling, we have only four trips in the field tonight — it will all change again tomorrow as our next batch of Coast to Quebec and Downeast Explorer trips gets underway tomorrow afternoon here in Freeport.

There were tears across the West over the last 24 hours, my friends.   After great nights in San Francisco, both Pacific Coast trips wrapped early this morning as the first students walked down the jetway at 6:00 AM local time.   To the north and west, David and Anna were saying fond farewells at the little airport in Kalispell, MT — and now, as I type, students are emptying dirty, smelly duffel bags in kitchens across the country, showing off outstanding bike tans, and filling the dinner table with crazy stories about their trips and the great folks they met this summer.

CI: These guys are, of course, still out there — and loving it.   Here’s our group at the beach this afternoon, scoping the waves and choosing their lines (I don’t know if people actually do that in surfing, but they do in skiing, and skiing is kind of like surfing — right?) before tomorrow’s surfing lesson.

VM: Rachel and Mason checked in a little while ago — they had a great first day of riding, and a perfect Vermont day.   Here is a set of their crew just after they pulled into the campground this afternoon.

NEMC: Jillian and Sam sent in this shot from the top of Mt. Pemigawessett (sp?) in the Whites this afternoon.   Jillian said that they had a great time swimming the eponymous river (I think that was the first time I’ve ever used that word — how’d I do?) and that they were looking forward to cooking corn over the campfire with their suppers tonight.   That, my friends, is a great day in the mountains.

ACC: Our cross-country dynamos will be continuing their push across Texas tomorrow after a full day off of the bikes today.   Emily and Pete sent in this picture of their mid-afternoon bike-maintenance workshop.   That, and a Harry Potter interlude, made for a great day.