Day 13: The Ride of Your Life

Take an extra deep breath before you dive into today’s headlines.  Whether you are in it for the long haul and read every word twice, you identify as more of a skimmer, or you prefer to click directly to your trip of interest, you’re in for a BIG read.  Today Apogee Adventures pulled at our heart strings as it took us on an emotional roller coaster.  We jumped for joy as we welcomed three new trips and felt our hearts sink as we said goodbye to four others.  We cheered excitedly at the Tour de France, shrieked at the beauty of the underwater world and celebrated at well-deserved final dinners (just to name a few of today’s activities!) Needless to say, we will all sleep well tonight whether it is snuggled into our sleeping bags, our hostel beds, our airplane seats or our beds at home.  But before you do, wipe that sleepy-feeling from your eyes, take a deep breath and dive in (feet first!)

Skip to a Specific Trip: NEMC, CRM, GSA, CS, DEXVM, CRLSCRMCCMCA, CMCB, AKMC, NWXA, NWXB, PCA, PCB, AX, PMC, ECC1, ECC2, ACC

New England Mountains & Coast (NEMC)

Back on solid ground after swinging through the air on the ropes course yesterday, our NEMC trip strapped on their hiking boots and headed up Mt. Pierce. What an absolutely beautiful day for a hike!

A celebrity guest appearance by no other than Apogee Associate Director, Jack!

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (CRM)

Stop what you are doing! Rumor has it that a new group of students arrived in Colorado today ready to rock and roll.  Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

Caribbean Service (CS)

After a trip filled to the brim with service, today students had a day to explore San Juan and treat themselves! A full day of fun complete with a final group dinner before the dreaded morning of goodbyes tomorrow. Don’t go!

Golden State Adventure (GSA)

What’s that you say? Another trip start? Welcome to the Golden State!

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEX)

Recovering from the monstrosity of a hike yesterday, students got to rest their legs in the van as they transported back down South for their last night of camping. Wow, look at those views! They ventured into Portland for a special final dinner on their last night as a group.

What a great looking crew!
Look at that terrain!
By golly, they’ve done it!

Vermont to Montréal (VM)

Bonjour from Montréal! Grateful to be off of their bikes, these students have a well deserved day of fun in the big city.  Today the students tried out their French as they explored the city of Montréal and celebrated their last evening together as a group.

Costa Rica Language & Service (CRLS)

This just in: ANOTHER trip start. This is getting out of hand! After a long day of international travel, students are ready to soak in the adventure. Bienvenido a Costa Rica!!

Costa Rica Mountains & Coast (CRMC)

Here fishy fishy! Today our student’s dove (feet first!) into the ocean for an awesome day of boating and snorkeling. Two different pods of dolphins, a whale, turtles and TONS of cool fish.  They even had lunch on their own private beach. Lucky ducks.  Can you say, Pura Vida?!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCA)

After a wonderful last night together in San Francisco, we were sad to say goodbye to our CMCA crew today. To quote their leaders, “We are weeping tears of sadness. We’re going to miss this squad so much.” Thanks for a great trip!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCB)

No!!! Don’t leave us! Today we said goodbye to an awesome group of students as they left the Golden Coast behind and headed home for some more summer fun.  We miss you already!

Alaska Mountains & Coast (AKMC)

Another goodbye? My heart can’t handle this.  Thanks for a great trip and safe travels!!

Photos from volunteering the other day.
What a great group of kiddos- come back to us, please!

Northwest Explorer (NWXA)

Still deep in the backcountry of the North Cascades – the group had a beautiful day of hiking.  But rest assured it was likely filled with trail games, gorgeous wildflowers and raging rivers.  Still no service, but photos will be here soon! We miss their faces!

Northwest Explorer (NWXB)

Luck favors the prepared! Today our NWXB group is packing their packs full of food and goodies before they head into the backcountry tomorrow.  This means that this will be the last photos of their smiling faces for a few days, so spend an extra minute soaking this photo in!

They even snuck in a day hike to the Olympic Ridge! Incredible.

Pacific Coast (PCA)

PCA continued on their way South today down the Pacific Coast.  Though they are putting in miles they never seem to lose their smiles! They are living peacefully and happily among these beautiful forest giants and taking advantage of the shade they are providing.

When in the Redwoods…

Pacific Coast (PCB)

PCB is back in their bike shorts and on the saddle after a day of giving back to the community yesterday.  As a group, they’ve compiled the three life lessons that PCB has taught them all and here they are for your personal enjoyment: #1 Always reduce your fractions  #2 There’s always more space in your panniers #3 You gotta look good to bike good. Wise words, PCB, wise words.

Team spirit – go PCB!

Alps Explorer (AX)

Making their way along the Tour du Mont Blanc, today was action packed as always.  These world travelers are crossing countries off of their list as they moved from France into Italy today. Their legs are tired, but their spirits are high!

Say cheese!!!!

Pyrenees Mountains & Coast (PMC)

Oh what a wonderful adventure it was.  Today we said goodbye to our PMC students as they went their separate ways and took their wonderful memories along with them.  Missing the mountains already!

Europe Coast to Coast 1 (ECC1)

Oh mon dieu! We are live from Paris where our ECC1 team is seeing the sights, eating baguettes and taking selfies with the Eiffel Tower! Oh happy day. Vive la France!

Europe Coast to Coast 2 (ECC2)

These amazing students biked 118km this morning and that was only their morning! This afternoon they got to cheer on the Tour de France. Soaking in some inspiration from the pros – what an absolute dream come true! Just look at these smiling faces. What an absolutely epic day!

America Coast to Coast (ACC)

ACC continues to impress us as they make their way across the US! Digging deep and crushing miles, this group cannot be stopped. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I!