Hello faithful blog readers, Mia and Kevin, your guest bloggers are here for the evening. As we’re not the creative writers in this operation, we thought it would be best to stick to the facts and give you a history lesson as to what has happened on July 20th in years past. Did you know that on July 20, 1890, snow and hail fell in Calais, Maine? Did you know that on July 20, 1930, Washington DC experienced the district record for heat of 106 degrees Fahrenheit? Did you know that on July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to set foot on the moon? And did you know that on July 20, 1979, in Bothell, WA, a 98 lb Newfoundland dog pulled a five thousand plus pound load. We didn’t either, but there you have it. We’re happy to report that none of our trips are experiencing such adverse weather conditions today, and while their bags and bikes may be loaded down, no one is pulling five thousand pounds. We hope that our trips stop and take a good look at the moon this evening, although they will be much further from it than some Americans were forty-two years ago. And now for the real news, here’s what’s happening in the field:
TSA: Today Nick and Cait’s group did service in the little hilltop town of Collezzone. The group assembled benches that will be placed throughout the town. Tonight they are staying in an Umbrian Villa before they hit the bikes again tomorrow and enter Tuscany.
VM: These guys also did service today after a short ride into Burlington. They exercised their arm muscles and did some cleanup of the Burlington bike path.
NWX: Dave and Anna’s group did their first hike today in Olympic National Park. They did a small day hike to get everyone used to their boots and other gear before they do some more serious hiking and head into the backcountry.
CQA: Pat sent us this picture of the group at the Beech Hill Preserve in Camden, the group’s lunch spot during their service today. They spent the day working with the Coastal Mountains Land Trust and did trail maintenance in the morning with the possibility of doing some blueberry harvesting this afternoon.
CQB: Hannah and Shem got their group up to see the sunrise at Pemaquid Point lighthouse before enjoying a beautiful ride along Maine’s coast up to Camden today. The group will enjoy their first day off the bikes tomorrow and do some community service in Camden.
DEX: Nora and Josh’s group is off Isle au Haut bay this evening with rave reviews from sea kayaking and community service. These guys head to Acadia National Park tomorrow to do some hiking!
CSA: After spending their morning doing trail maintenance in El Yunque, Wyatt and Heidi’s crew checked out Yakahu Tower. When I talked to him today, Wyatt said their group was about to “lose all of their remaining dignity to a public game of screaming toad,” which, I’m sure, was a blast.
PC: Both Pacific Coast groups had their first day of riding today on the Oregon Coast. Everything is running smoothly, and we have a picture from Anna of PCB on the road today!
ACC: Our back in action better than ever ACC’ers are cruising through New Mexico and after almost four weeks on trip are entering the Rocky Mountains! They were happy to see some more trees in their riding today after gaining a bit of elevation, and Pete sent in this shot of their beautiful riding terrain!