Today was a great day in the wide world of Apogee, with trips throughout the world making solid progress (sometimes 100 miles at a time, in ACC’s case!). It is also beckoning of greater things to come, as tomorrow you get to hear from the one, the only, the Chad on the blog again. But for know, here are the words I could put together for the day, do enjoy.

CI: Shannon and Drew led the group on a celebratory exploration around Boston today, as it is their last full day together. The group is staying super well-hydrated – all three of their pictures prominently feature water. They are having a superb day, just relaxing and hanging out with each other, before they go out to a final dinner tonight!

VM: In what could be an award winning blog photo were it not backlit, it’s easy to see that VM had a great time this morning kayaking (and weight-lifting) beneath gorgeous skies on Lake Champlain. Kayaking coupled with ice cream sandwiches makes for a pretty sweet day in Vermont!

DEX: As our California groups were going to bed last night, Kelly and Garth were waking everyone up for a sunrise hike up Cadillac mountain, which you can see them eagerly waiting below (and promptly falling asleep on the ride back!). This afternoon they are headed to Bar Harbor to explore and cap off what has already been an extraordinary day! EPIC.

NEMC: Here are the NEMC-ers, having fun exploring North Conway and playing an intense game of ultimate frisbee before an afternoon hike and swimming! Sounds (and looks) like that are having a superb time!

CQ1A: The CQ-ers had a stunning ride today, and ate well too! After the church made them dinner last night, they had eggs for breakfast today – mmmm, tasty! They only have one more day of riding, however, before they get to go rafting! The group is excited to move from bikes to boats and have a little time to splash around. (As the picture indicates, several of the group have decided that riding with two wheels is too easy and have opted to go unicycle style for the rest of the ride…)

CQ1B: After flying into camp pre-noon today, the group got to lounge in the church where they are spending the evening. There’s a laundromat in town and the church is making them dinner, which gives the group some down time to rejuvenate before one of their more challenging days tomorrow.

CSA: The CSA group spent the day kayaking, snorkeling, and swimming down on Vieques Island today.  They didn’t get the memo that snorkels are not actually needed out of the water on Vieques. Terrific weather made it a lovely all-around day, and the group is loving life and excited for service tomorrow!

MSA: A breakfast of pancakes saw these guys out of camp ready to hit the day, and that they did! Josh and Addie informed us that they pushed through a lot of miles this morning in “simply stunning weather.” They reached the Blackfeet Reservation  where they are thrilled to be spending tomorrow doing service. They will be helping to run Youth Day on the reservation – sign me up for service of playing horseshoes and basketball!

TSA: Over in Italy, the gang had another long day, but with a beautiful reward at the end of it.  The group has pulled into Florence, a wonderful city.  There are a lifetime’s of sites in Florence, and they’ll get tomorrow to experience as many of them as possible! Below is them looking ever-photogenic with the majesty of Florence behind them.

CMC: The past few days have been very kind to CMC in Big Sur, filled with fun hikes and beautiful vistas. Yesterday was spent hiking in Andrew Molera SP, exploring both the coast and some mountains (well someone did a good job naming this trip). Today they are working their way towards Yosemite and getting stocked up for the backcountry, where they will be for the next three nights!

PC1A: No word from Micah and McKayla today, but they got a day off the bikes in Arcata today, which is always fun.  They also get some group bonding with the other PC-ers tonight, and maybe even a little friendly competition in the form of games-played-in-circles we haven’t seen for a while now! Tomorrow is bound to be a trip highlight for them, as they ride the “Avenue of Giants,” an incredible ride through a redwood forest!

Stop the presses! We just heard from them, and they had an awesome off day! With bellies full of frozen yogurt and other goodies, they are ready to hit the road again tomorrow!

PC1B: While we only see three faces here, I have been assured the rest are just as smiley, as they pull into camp tonight and get to take a day off (to rest those weary legs) tomorrow! They have been getting into camp super early every day, which means they get ICE CREAM tonight!

ACC1: And the mighty adventurers have slain another border! Here they are crossing into Mississippi, leaving behind three states and looking forward to the next six (except Texas should count as at least 5 states, it’s so darn big). Beyond borders, today was a big milestone for this group – their first century ride!

ACC2: These guys have been burning it up on the road recently, and now they know how to put out fires! The group had a wonderful night in Rockford, AL, thanks to their hosts Wayne and MaLisa Ward who not only let the ACC-ers play with their big, red, shiny toys, but also graciously cooked them dinner! That helped them to wreck their mileage today – when Mike texted us at 1:30, they were just 5 miles out of camp!