A Summer to Remember

After arriving to Dulles Airport via JetBlue's red-eye flight, I realized that I was home. It is the strangest feeling to know that I will finally be physically located in one place for more than 1 week (11 months to be exact- living at home with the parents while doing AmeriCorps). The sense of sadness is quite overwhelming- all attributed to leaving my Bike & Build family. I even foolishly made a convincing effort in my head not to cry but that failed miserably. Who was I kidding... tears come complimentary to B&B goodbyes. We spent the last 11 weeks together, through all the highs and lows of the trip: We are bonded as SC2SC10! This summer was truly an unforgettable one: one filled with lifelong memories and one that brought a group of 32 people together for 1 sweet journey.

A little background/update about Suz (my knee, yes I named her): about half way through the trip (July 2) I had an accident while descending in San Isabel National Forest on our 116 mile day. I had to be Medevac to a hospital in Pueblo, CO and underwent surgery on my knee. I fortunately didn't break anything but I did however tear some of the muscle and tendons in my left knee, thus I was in brace-bound the rest of the trip- well sort of... (oh and yes, can't forget the bag showering- I rocked the MC Hammer/genie pants on Miss. Suz- quite uncomfortable at times but thanks to everyone's great duct taping skills, she stayed dry). I have regained errr probably 60-70% of my range of motion so PT is in the near future.

I also want to thank all the parents who wrote and called with concern. It meant a lot to have your support. And a special thanks to the Barry family for renting a kiddy cart for me to ride in with the group (pulled by the awesome Sebass). Lastly, I couldn't of finished the trip without the group's support. Thanks for waiting around for this slow-poke, giving up the first row's middle seat, taping me for showers, helping me through everything, and making this summer the best one I have ever had.

I thought sleeping in a bed again would be the best thing about returning home, but I was proven quite wrong. The first night, I shocked myself and chose to sleep in my sleeping bag on my thermarest. And last night, I slept in my bed and rolled around for hours. Not sure when my body will take a liking to sleeping in a bed again. There are so many things I miss about the summer- from the morning hissing of thermarests to the snores of 31 people passed out at 10 pm and sometimes earlier to the lunch stops (I don't know how to eat lunch anymore- not without 30 people passing by while I snack!!)

Cheers to this summer! All of us made it to the Pacific in 4,300 miles (got to include the times we got lost or re-routed, a slight adjustment to our original 4084 mi), one way or another!

Lunch stop (nom, nom time)

ready set ride!

hungry riders

goofing around on the road

A little building action in Tupelo, MS

Breakfast at a boathouse (OKC)

Rockies = breathtaking views

working hard at our last build site (chico, CA)

a colorful group in Twin Lakes, CO

California!

cart ride to the pacific

SANTA CRUZ, CA!

We started off a group of 32 strangers, as:

Passionate Preston, Running Ryan, TV-star Travis, Leaping Lizzy,

Navigating Natalie, Zesty Zac, Meandering Michael, Sickly Scott,
Broken Brad, Live-Strong Lance, Boat-driving Brian,
Absolutely Angela, Voluptuous Varun, Break-dancing B$,
Prestigious Paul, Trekking Tyler, Sizzled Sarah,
Nuun-loving Nichole, Just Jess, Dodging David,
Eating Eugene, Kindergarten Karen, Milking Megan,
Kleptomaniac Katie, Knowledgeable Kelsey,
Karate Kim, Crushing Craig, Jumping Jillian, Koi-like Katie,
Motivational Melissa, Kinky Kern, and Sneaky Sebastian.

But above you see one of the many B&B families Bike & Build has built.