WE DID IT!!!

Well folks, we actually did it. Around 1 pm yesterday we barreled onto the beach in Santa Cruz and ran into the ocean. Our friends and family greeted us and we bounced around in the ocean (PERFECT water temp, too!) hugging and screaming and laughing and drinking champagne. It was so exciting to have all 31 of us cycling down the streets of Santa Cruz in one long line, our matching jerseys adorned with flags and leis. We gathered quite a bit of attention, and it was so fun to tell people that we had pedaled all the way from South Carolina to arrive at this beach. Afterward we had a party at a local park, where we got to know each other's family and eat a lot (I even ate dessert for the first time in several weeks).

I'm a little disoriented now; it's odd to not get up and put on my spandex at an ungodly hour. It hasn't quite settled in that the trip really is over, and it will be a long time before I see anyone on the trip, if I do end up seeing them ever. I sure hope to maintain these friendships, and either way I treasure very much the amazing times we had together.

I don't really have time to sit and be glum though: right now I'm roadtripping with my family up the west coast, visiting extended family and frequently patting my beautiful sister's 6-months pregnant belly, then it's off to the Chesapeake Bay with Oliver to go sailing with his dad (and seeing Mark and Mandi too!!), then to Sao Paulo Brazil to sing the soprano solo in Carmina Burana, then back to school (one week late) to teach taekwondo and finish my graduate diploma, prepare for a recital, and make my professional opera debut with Indianapolis Opera on October 2nd and 4th. Whew! I'm pretty excited for all the excitement ahead for me, and very blessed to have had all the excitement from the summer. I will treasure the memories for a very long time.