Dear Reader, careful readers of the blog will know that yours truly is not particularly a fan of the famed (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Jumping Picture — seemingly ubiquitous in every camp catalog.   So I thought it was a cleverly designed prank when seven of the day’s pictures arrived as Jumping Pictures.   A survey of the leaders who sent them in, however, suggests that this is a happy accident!   (A small disclosure:   when, after receiving the fifth jumping shot of the day, I received a non-jumping picture from CSA, I said, “what, no jumping picture?”   They promptly replied with a jumping picture….) (OK, one more parenthetical:   since I wrote this, one leader cracked under my ace interrogation skills and revealed that soon-to-be-former Assistant Director Mike Lessard was behind the whole nefarious plot!)

In the FAIL category today — just one!

NEMC: Sam and Jillian’s NEMCers got started in the Boston area today, where they took full advantage of the van’s AC on their way up to New Hampshire this afternoon.   They’re on the high ropes course tomorrow — but in search of a swimming hole this afternoon!

VM: One of very few non-jumping pictures of the day (and probably only because it’s awfully tough to jump in a sea-kayak…), our Vermonsters sent in this shot from the water on Lake Champlain.   They’re back on their bikes and headed over the border tomorrow!

CQA: Jumping Shot #1.   Laura and Pat’s crew enjoyed a delicious lunch put on by the grandparents of one of their students up in Newport, Maine this afternoon.   It was a great day to be on the lake!

CQB: Jumping Shot #2.   Hannah, Shem and Co.   had a hot, hot, hot ride to Unity today, but they, too, are now enjoying the cool, cool, cool waters of a nearby lake.

DEX: Apparently these guys didn’t get the memo!   They did, however, have a great day hiking in Acadia, about the only part of New England that didn’t hit triple-digits today.   They’re hoping for a sunrise hike tomorrow up Cadillac Mountain — it should be a beautiful morning for it.

CSA: Jumping Shot #3.   Some of you may be tickled to know that it is a full fifteen degrees cooler on Vieques — in PUERTO RICO — than here in MAINE today.   Great Scot!   Anyway, these guys are loving life.   They made it to their sweet guest-house in the hills above the sea in Vieques and will be doing their first day of service tomorrow.   In the meantime, they’re swimming and scavenging for coconuts on the property.   Truly.

PCA: Jumping Shot #4.   Here are Andy and Danika’s crew jumping around in front of Hanging Rock on the beautiful coast of Oregon.

PCB: Jumping Shot #5.   It was Lucas and Anna’s turn to conquer Seven Devils Rd today.   What better way to celebrate than with a sweet jumping shot?

NWX: Jumping Shot #6.   Anna, David and their Hearty Coterie sounded great when they checked in today.   They are headed into the backcountry this afternoon.   But not before sending me a jumping picture!

ACC: Jumping Shot #7.   Way down in New Mexico, these guys wanted to be part of the fun, too.   They have enjoyed a great rest day in Socorro, NM today — significantly better than their last rest day in Jacksboro…   They’re back on the bikes tomorrow with only one more night in New Mexico.

TSA: Thank goodness Mike wasn’t able to send a text message to Nick and Cait in Italy!   Here are two shots of their crew enjoying the countryside outside of Siena.   They had a long, hilly ride in to town today, but Nick sounded great when he checked in this afternoon.   The group was headed in to the Centro in Siena for pizza on the piazza.   It’s off to Florence tomorrow!  (Last parenthetical of the day — I found out literally two minutes before posting this that Mike’s plan did, in fact, make it across the ocean.   Grudgingly, I am including the below picture of our TSAers jumping in front of the Duomo in Siena this evening.   Jumping Picture #8.   You win, Mike.   I concede.   The day is yours…)