It’s word scramble time.

Today the blog jokers at the office (Kevin! Cait! Chris!) and trip tricksters on the road are mixin’ up some well deserved appreciation….though it’s up to you, faithful bloggite, to put it all together! In each photo you’ll find a letter (or, in one tricky case, a symbol) formed by the students in each trip. Put together, these letters will spell out a special message for all the parents out there.

We know you can do it. You’ve done more difficult puzzles on the back of your Cheerios box…and that was before you finished your coffee.

As Chad would say, good luck grasshopper.

CI 2: CI’s on the path to glory…the bike path to glory, that is. It’s their forty mile, eat-all-the-food, ride-all-the-miles challenge day on not-so-nanny-anymore Nantucket. Power through team CI2, power through.

NEMC 2: Comin’ at you hot from eastern New Hampshire, it’s Phil, Emma and the post-Mt. Washington-Recoverers! The NEMCers are taking it easy(er) today following their assault on the slopes of Washington yesterday. The food is good, the miles short and the smiles wide.

VM 2A: Kai. Yak. Kayak. Kayaking. It took a bit of time for the burly Burlington-bound bikers to get used to having their arms do the work but leaders Rosa and Noah report that everyone had a great day out on the lake. Except for the bikes…the bikes were feelin’ a bit lonely…

VM 2B: From the clicking and clacking of a few bikes to the blissful hum of the drying machines at a local coin-op (laundry day), Matt and Victoria’s group is enjoying all of the sounds and sights to be found in a dry but hot Vermont. Here’s three cheers for fresh gear!

CSA 1: CSA’s really tree-ting (apologies) themselves today…they’ve assisted a local wildlife conservation group in planting over two hundred and fifty hardwood trees, helping return a local ecosystem to its natural state and providing future habitat for the endangered Piping Plover and Yellow-Shouldered Black-Bird. Next up: world peace.

CMC 2: Yak yak yak…that’s all the CMCers seem to do these days. Jack, CC and the crew spent another toasty but beautiful day near the ghost towns of western Montana out in their Skittles colored kayaks. Taste the rainbow, row the rainbow. 

MSA: Step one: Get off bike (we know, it’s difficult…know that your bike will miss you too). Step 2: Put bike in box, send box back home. Step 3: RELAX! You made it! It’s time for a peddling-free day of Montana small-town exploration, dining out (your camp stove will miss you too) and general good time group goofiness. Congratulations!

PC 1A: ‘Cisco day two. Tim, Ally and the group are taking in some much needed bay city relaxation as they mentally prep for the big final night extravaganza, last group kuddos and the flight back homewards. 

PC 1B: Clean. Showered. Civilized. Far away from the wilderness of a few days before, the PC’ers are enjoying the bustle of a cloudy and cool San Francisco. This is not to say that the urban jungle doesn’t present it’s own difficulties: Which Gelato place to choose? Movie in the afternoon or reading outside? Decisions, decisions. Life is tough.

ECC: Alas, the ECCers are in a data dead zone, meaning that we couldn’t get a picture directly from them…so we found one on the internet. ECC is the only group of bike riders in France currently, right? Well…they won’t be sharing space with Le Tour for much longer…it’s off to Germany next. David, Anna and the gang are pumped.

 ACC 1: Vital stats: zero miles, many pancakes, 50% chance of rain, 100% chance of smiles. ACC 1 is enjoying a well deserved rest day this morning, though they aren’t resting their appetites as they carbo-load for the road ahead. Dig in.

ACC 2: Tour de France? Why not? ACC got their Peleton on as they rolled past the cowboy-hat-wearing Eiffel tower in Paris, TX this morning. Fun fact: this summer the ACCers will go around 500 miles further than the spandex-clad Tour racers in France…and in nearly the same amount of time. Bravo.

…and now for the cliffhanger! The secret message will be revealed in tomorrow’s blog. Wolf down a solid, well rounded dinner: it takes good nutrition to hang on the edge of your seat for twenty-four hours. Till tomorrow and the big reveal, Ciao.