Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, and we were in great company all day long. We started the morning by going to breakfast at Chris & Candace’s where they prepared for us a delicious meal of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, fruit salad, pancakes, and all the juice and coffee you can drink. It was so filling and relaxing to enjoy a breakfast without worry of riding afterwards. After breakfast, we had the opportunity to just relax and hang out at their home—some people jammed out on Joel’s (one of the triplets) drumset, while others hung out on the lawn. I ended up falling asleep on their couch for a nice post-brunch nap. When we had tied all of our loose ends, we headed to John and Cathy’s lakeside cabin for a day of wakeboarding, waterskiing, tubing, swimming, and just enjoying the great weather in Canada (supposedly one of the hottest days in the past 10 years). I learned how to water ski which was very enthralling and definitely made me sore in the legs. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the beauty of the lake and shoot the breeze. Truly a day of rest.

In a few days we’ll be reunited with the Rockies, and I’ll say I’m pretty excited to meet up with our team, but I think I will miss just being the Sierras. There’s something truly special about our squad—we bicker and hold grudges against each other. But eventually, we always work it out and are better people because of it—learning more about ourselves and realizing our own faults and weaknesses in the process. I’m proud to say that I’ve seen many of my teammates grow in their patience, openness, willingness to serve, willingness to be served, encouragement. From this trip, I’ve realized my own lack of patience and seek with the help of God to grow more patient especially with my teammates, whom I now consider my extended family. I’m excited that we’ve made it this far… 15 more days…