Saturday, August 10, 2024
South Lake Tahoe
0 miles, 0 ft elevation
The intense exhaustion from the last few days finally won over, and we slowly emerged from our tents around 10 am. For once, I felt rested. But there were still many tasks that needed to be accomplished before the impending end of the Spokes summer. Budget checks, blog writing (oops), last minute housing, learning festival survey organization, shipping logistics, San Francisco itinerary.
You know, just a few things.
With these tasks in mind, Sophia, Rebecca, Jess, and I spent the morning cafe-hopping. First, we went to Keys Cafe. I got my much-needed acai bowl, refreshing and cooling.
Meanwhile, Amulya went on a side quest to complete the rest of her ride from two days ago. She descended the US-50 from Spooner Summit, a feat as the highway is heavily trafficked in Tahoe on an August weekend. But she did it!
Meanwhile, Hank and JD took care of shipping our learning festival materials back to Boston. They also helped pack the van in preparation for the Spokes trip to DC, so this was full circle. Thank you Hank and JD!
Back at the cafe, we took a break to call the one and only Cleo! It was lovely catching up with her via WhatsApp and we exchanged our respective stories and updates over the last two weeks. I wished she was in Tahoe with us. Whenever someone asked us how many bikers there are, I instinctively say 8 people and then catch myself. It never gets easier with one less team member :( But Cleo seemed to be doing great in Portugal. She mentioned that she actually went on her first run just yesterday, and went on to discuss her transition into post-Spokes life.
After the call, we caught up on some much-needed work and locked in for an hour or so. Amulya joined after her ride to grab lunch.
The cafe was due to close shortly, so a few of us hopped over to the next cafe: Cuppa Tahoe. I got a very tasty blueberry foam cold brew -- the cream was lightly sweet and faintly tangy, but in a way that complemented the smooth bitterness of the cold brew. While I was initially skeptical of the flavor profile, I was quickly transformed into a fan.
Time passed by quickly, and I had to head back to the campsite. Hank's aunt's friends (Marina and Rafael) were graciously taking us out on the lake on their boat for the afternoon! To say I was excited was an understatement.
Our entire team soon reconvened at the campsite, and we hopped into the van and headed off.
Marina and Rafael generously welcomed us into their gorgeous lakeside home, where we snacked on some cheese, crackers, and fruit before hopping into the boat.
The ocean had always been my preferred body of water, having grown up only 20 minutes away from the beach in SoCal. I loved the vastness and openness of it. But today, I finally understood the appeal of lake days. Lake Tahoe was shimmering with all shades of blue and emerald green, framed by the surrounding peaks of the mountains.
We spent an hour or so on the lake, basking in the late afternoon sun and feeling the wind in our hair. We swam briefly in the waters before heading back to Marina and Raphael's condo.
Marina and Rafael shared stories from their lives, all while feeding us more food (thank you!). We laughed and ate for a bit, taking pictures around sunset to take advantage of golden hour of course. And one of my highlights of the evening was witnessing Amulya walk straight into the screen door because she thought there was nothing there. JD and I laughed hysterically at this moment anytime we remotely thought about it during the evening (I'm sorry Amulya, I needed to commemorate this core memory! love you!!! <3).
Our evening ended on Rafael sharing a piece of advice: make sure that we have a reunion every 5 years. We all looked at each other, smiling. Easy, I thought instinctively. I'm not foolish though -- I know that as time goes forward and we move on, we'll inevitably get caught up in the demands of our daily lives. But all 8 members of the Spokes team had become my family and we've forged and tested our relationships in some of the most unique ways possible. And continuing to nurture relationships and to stay connected requires effort, which I am more than willing to do for the Spokes family. After all, we have a marriage pact so we're already stuck with each other in the future, whether we like it or not (jkjk!!).
We piled into Chrissy after saying our goodbyes to Marina and Rafael. It was late, but did we head straight to the campsite? No. We went to Taco Bell instead, where I had my first ever Crunchwrap Supreme and a taste of a Baja Blast (oops!). It did hit the spot and fit the vibes of the night.
I crawled into my tent as soon as we got back to the campsite, head swirling with thoughts from the day. It was crazy to think that just a few days ago, we had limited access to showers, groceries were sparse, and our lunches were literally on the shoulders of highways. And here we were today, in cafes with high-speed wifi and speeding on a boat in the crystal-clear waters of Lake Tahoe. We were experiencing so many different lifestyles and events on extreme ends of the spectrum that it was making me dizzy just thinking about it. And there were so many reflections tied to this that I was itching to sort out. But days on Spokes are so eventful that it feels like there's hardly any time for proper introspection. So for this night, I tucked away my churning thoughts and fell into a deep sleep.