Last minute preparation

Above photos: Keens, Ken & his girls and Sallie & Rick

Mary:We went for a long last swim yesterday on Memorial Day. With Rick to guide Ken and me, we swam 1.5 miles. Leigh and Anne were “canoed” (escorted) by Sallie and did a mile! Both the water and air were warm and Leigh exclaimed “this is what a lake should feel like!” I wish we could take Sallie and Rick with us (and their lake!!). Then we went to eat at Mi Casita (best salsa and pollo salad) in Georgetown and talked about what else we needed to do, buy or pack for our departure on Thursday. Since I am now the only one of us 4 that does not own a pair of KEEN sandals – I guess I will be shopping for shoes 2 nights before we leave. We shipped our bikes out last Friday via UPS. We were a bit sad to see them all boxed up and gone! My house feels empty and my water bottles keep looking around for their bike, oh I guess I need to pack them too!
How can we thank all the great athletes, friends, businesses and even strangers (cyclist leaving Pedal Power telling us about shipping bikes with UPS) that have helped us these past few weeks, Rick, Sallie, Susan, Jay, Phillip, Dodd’s Bike Shop, Pedal Power Bike Shop are just a few.

Anne: I also want to say, that I feel very fortunate to be embarking on this wonderful adventure with such amazing people! This entire experience has been so much fun, and I look back a year ago, and cant believe I am leaving for NH in 2 days to do a tri!! Thanks so much to all of you!! Mary, Ken and Leigh, YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION, and I am so glad I get to share all of this with the three of you!!

Also, thanks to everyone who has been such a great support! Rick and Sallie, you have both been wonderful and I so appreciate your time and patience with me. Your lake has been so nice, but getting to know the two of you, has been the best!! Thanks again!

Leigh: I just want to say that I appreciate everything that everyone has done for all of us. Mary and Anne have pretty much summed it up. As for me personally, I want to thank my family and my friends. My mom has been so encouraging and all my friends have been wonderful. I can't list each and every one of you, but you all know who you are. You are the ones that have listened to me bitch about training and whine and become very excited and scared about doing all of this stuff. Thanks so much to all you guys for putting up with me during all of this training. It has made such a difference!!! Bring on the Moose and the lobster!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken: It has been a lot of fun training with "my girls". I feel like a big brother of sorts to you all. I am really glad that we chose to do this together. It has made it that much better. We are going to have a blast on our trip. This is what life is all about - Not just living it's length, but it's width!!! Bring on the MOOSE!!!