Day 71: Resting is for Winners

Around 2am, I arose, frozen by the South Lake Tahoe nights. It wasn’t until morning that I discovered the cause of my sleepless night. The window was open, letting in blasts of cold air. I will not make the same mistake again tonight.

Ramona, Greta, and I were up before 9am, but the rest of the team is still getting some snooze in. We have a rest day in South Lake Tahoe today. We plan to hit the beach, play mini golf, and enjoy live music at the beach in the evening. As procrastination goes in Spokes, I am not confident that we will accomplish everything we set out to do. With Spokes wrapping up in a week, all of us are feeling a sense of impending end that we are pushing to the back of our minds. At least I know I am trying not to think about it.

Around 10:10 am, everyone awoke. Spokes 2025 is bad at collective decision-making. The morning beach plan was scrapped since we plan to go to the beach in the evening anyway. After some hustle and bustle, we left for mini golf. Little did we know that we would be stuck there for 4 hours.

This was my first time playing mini golf, but the game was surprisingly fun. Ramona and Ruth were leading in the first half, but Charles caught up and snatched a victory in the second half. I ended up in 5th place, tied with Ishaq. Not bad for my first time playing mini golf. We also divided into two teams, SCRI and Latvians in the Sheets, to give Spokies something else to fight for. Unfortunately, Latvians in the Sheets did not do too well. One of my joys in life is trying new things. Mini golf is definitely something I would like to revisit in the future.

28 holes turned out to be too many. After the game, we were famished and rushed back to Dan and Natasha’s place to eat some leftovers and sandwiches. I took this opportunity to take an amazing nap.

Around 6pm, we biked to the live music at the beach. Today’s theme is rock and roll. Beach prices were no joke. 8 dumplings were $15. My wallet was crying. We left our bikes at a bike valet (can you imagine) and enjoyed a memorable evening of dance, food, and swimming.

To my surprise, people wanted to go bowling after the beach event. We didn’t go bowling in Bowling Green, but this time, Ishaq is determined to make it happen. However, I was already suffering from the lack of sleep. In case anyone is wondering, I recovered from my fall described in my previous blog and biked an incredible hill into South Lake Tahoe. I wanted to continue my biking streak. Cutting my sleep doesn’t seem like a great way to prepare for the arduous climbing day tomorrow. Another blogger can tell you how bowling went, but for now, I am heading to bed.

This is my last official blog of Spokes 2025. I have so many feelings about this trip, feelings that I can’t completely process while still on the trip. I want to write a reflection blog in the next month or so, but we will see if that happens. Tian is signing off. Hope you enjoyed following along with my story. Enjoy the final few blogs as we finish up our trip. This journey has been bittersweet. One that will be on my mind for a long time. Good night!