Holy Toledo, Dear Reader — it is a bruiser out there on the East Coast today! Ninety-five fun-filled degrees in Portland, Maine, per the fine folks at the Portland Press Herald. That’s Oklahoma hot! But here at HQ, between the air-conditioning and the coffee mikshakes from Cote’s up the street, we’re cool and calm. Of course, we try not to gloat about any of this when we hear from our leaders out in the field…
In FAIL group happenings (only one, and they’re in Italy, so we can’t really blame them…):
TSA: Nick, Cait and their amici have left the green, rolling hills of Umbria behind for the shores of Lago del Trasimeno (a short interlude before they take on the green, rolling hills of Tuscany for the balance of their trip…). History buffs may be interested to hear that their campsite tonight is in precisely the spot where Hannibal and his elephants pushed the Romans into the lake during the Second Punic War.
VM: Here is today’s VM cook-crew demonstrating superlative safe cooking techniques this morning in Burlington (pancakes were on the menu…). These guys are enjoying the cool breezes of Lake Champlain again tonight. They’ll enjoy a day off of their bikes tomorrow as they spend most of the day “sea”-kayaking off of Grand Isle.
DEX: Our DEXters traded Deer Isle for Mount Desert Island today — and they hit the trails in Acadia running this afternoon. This shot captures the group on top of the “Beehive.”
CQA: Here’s Laura and Pat’s crew going all Rockettes on us this afternoon in Unity, Maine. The syncopation may be off, but dang it, they’ve got spirit! They crushed a tough day of hills in the heat!
CQB: Shem, Hannah, and their berry gatherers had a great day working in the blueberry fields with the Coastal Mountains Land Trust up in Camden today. They promised that they were not eating everything they collected…
CSA: Our budding scientists in Puerto Rico spent the day with El Yunque’s staff biologist — they were recording data on the indigenous fish and shrimp that live in the rainforest’s streams. Wyatt said it was the best day of service they’ve had all summer! It’s one more night being serenaded to sleep by the tree-frogs in the Bunkhouse before shoving off for Vieques tomorrow.
PCA: Here’s a shot of Andy and Danika’s group soaking up a beautiful afternoon at Sunset Bay. In Danika’s words, they “crushed” Seven Devils this morning (wherein each “devil” is a nasty hill…). After the crushing, ice cream was on the agenda for the afternoon.
PCB: Anna, Lucas and their Merry Band sent this shot in from the bridge at Coos Bay, OR. After “crushing” some minor bike maintenance issues this morning, these guys cruised this afternoon.
NWX: Here’s a shot of several of David and Anna’s group enjoying the hot springs in Olympic National Park this afternoon — just before they headed up to the snow fields. I should note that contrary to most of the rest of us, these guys (and their PC brethren) are enjoying temperatures in the sixties today.
ACC: I tell you what, Pete and Emily’s guys are rolling! I just received a text from Emily saying that they were into camp in Socorro, NM by 2:45 Mountain time. And this was after the leisurely (and speed-killing / food-coma inducing) lunch of giant burgers that you see above at the famous Owl Café in tiny San Antonio, NM…