Tomorrow an amazing friend from North Carolina is coming for the next
12 days! Instead of leaving the country, Hope and I plan to do all of
the exploring in and around my town of Samokov that I haven't had a
chance to do for one reason or another! Options will include but are
not limited to taking the lift up to Musala (the highest peak in all
of the Balkans), spending a day on Lake Iskar, taking the bus to
Belchin for the mineral baths, hiking the Samokov Rido/Ridge, and
finding some of the nature trails throughout Rila national park in the
surrounding villages. There is so much here to see and I can't wait to
have some company and catch up with Hope. I haven't gotten to spend
much time with her since I graduated from Elon, so it should be a
great trip! Next week we'll spend the weekend in Sozopol on the Black
Sea, so I'm really looking forward to a relaxed time with a great
friend. :)

At the beginning of August I have my Close of Service conference with
my beloved B-24s. This is the group I entered Bulgaria with 2 years
ago this month, and it will be bitter-sweet watching them all embark
on the next adventure in October while I get ready to tackle my last 6
months of service!

Then. A month from tomorrow. I will board a plane for two weeks back
in the motherland to watch one of the most amazing women I've ever met
marry her best friend in Chicago and spend some much needed time with
my family!

And look at that. Summer is over already. ;)