Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 29, 2006

Day Off
Celebration day! We decided to spend the day before we cross the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco with family and friends eating, drinking, and celebrating our accomplishment. We got to sleep in late in our tents. The temperature at China Camp was perfect for sleeping--a bit on the chilly side, but not too cold. Parents of riders would trickle in throughout the day. We arranged for the barbeque to start at 3 pm at this gorgeous picnic area overlooking the water. In order to ensure we had enough tables, we had to send 4Kers down in shifts starting at 10 in the morning to reserve the benches for our huge party.

It was a perfect afternoon for this occasion. It was warm and sunny, but since we were right on the water, we had a nice breeze. There was a lot of tasty food to go around, and a lot of booze too! Everyone was in good spirits, and it was obvious to see that parents were especially proud of what their young riders had accomplished.

After the sun set that evening, and it was dark enough to enjoy a campfire, the team circled around the fire for our last pow wow. Although we were all happy to be 30 miles outside of San Francisco, it was still very sad to say good bye to our friends whom we had grown so close to. We spent a good hour or so playing the “remember when” game, in which we would recall specific memories from the past two months. We remembered people we met, and funny incidents that happened. I read aloud from the 4K Quote Book- a list of funny quotes that I heard people say throughout the trip. Then since Raffi dedicated the trip to his fellow riders, he finished the pow wow by telling us each individually what we mean to him. That was pretty cool. By the end of the pow wow, it was late, and we were all ready to hit the sack. We only had one more day ahead of us, and it was going to be a big one!

-David