Swan Song

This, faithful Apogee blogarissimi (as our Italian friends might say – well, ok, they probably wouldn’t), is very likely my final blog posting of the summer. Tomorrow, I fly to San Diego and will make my way east to meet our Coast to Coasters in Prescott, Arizona. Not that they need me, but I will be there as a Plan B of sorts through the worst of the desert. I’ll be a rental car full of oranges, ice, shade and some very bad 80’s music. (I don’t know if anyone else remembers the hair band Europe and their hit “Final Countdown,” but I made a special purchase at iTunes today…) By the time I get back, we’ll be almost entirely done for the season.

On that rather melancholy note, let me try and take a quick trip around the horn and, at the very least, touch each trip that is currently in the field.

Somewhat close to home, our Cape trips are enjoying this very nice stretch of weather and the ideal biking conditions it presents. Cyrus and Lidia have made their way down from Provincetown and are looking forward to doing some surfing in the newly warmed waters of Nantucket Sound. Mike and Aviva are headed to Nantucket tomorrow, where they’ll complete a “challenge ride” around the island. The challenge ride does not, for the record, include any attempts to negotiate the cobble stoned streets of the center of town just after the ferry arrives – it’s a different kind of challenge. Mike sent along the below picture of the gang at dinner time on Martha’s Vineyard last night. Mmm, spaghetti.

Our Quebecers have all safely, and without international incident, crossed the border and are proceeding with alacrity towards the walls of old Quebec. They, too, have enjoyed great weather almost every day of the trip (OK, there have a been a few rainy days, but nothing like our first Quebec trips this summer!). Meaghan, Mike, Cait and Evan have all recently reported that their trips have gone very smoothly thus far and that both of their groups are getting along swimmingly. Meaghan sent me the below shot of a few of her students striking a pose somewhere along the way, deep in the Maine woods.

Rachel and Mike checked in today from amid the tall, tall evergreens of the Northwest. They spent the entire day today getting ready for their six day backpacking trip. They had just picked up their backcountry permit and were very excited about their loop route that will take them through some of North Cascades National Park’s most beautiful areas. Mike sent along the below “picture of a picture.” The quality is pretty terrible – but it gives you some idea of the scenery around the Park.

Now having passed through the not-quite-world-famous “Pietown” and over the Arizona border, our Coast to Coasters are only one border, one time zone, and one Mojave Desert from the cool waters of the Pacific. They are climbing through the pines of the Arizona mountains tomorrow to Prescott, where they’ll take their final day off of the bikes before San Diego. On their day off, the group is going to make a presentation to the Boys and Girls Club in Prescott – regaling the youngsters with tales of their trip thus far and putting on a bicycling safety clinic, too.

Thank you so much for putting up with my very lame attempts at blog humor over these last weeks, and thanks, too, for all of the positive feedback we’ve received on the blog this year. We’ll try to post again – but you know Kevin! And if we don’t, we’ll look forward to seeing you and yours next summer!

~ Chad