Taking It Home for the Team

So back in Madrid we were at a bar watching a soccer game. Someone hadn´t finished their beer, and Casey mentioned to them, in a coach-like manner, that they should ¨take it home for the team¨. Later on, the next day perhaps, we were eating lots of meaty goodness at the Museo Del Jamon. I couldn´t finish my sandwich, and so Casey says, ¨Take it home.¨ I thought he meant for later, and so I said, ¨Yeah, okay.¨ and I put it down. ¨No,¨Casey said, ¨Take it home.¨ I think I was jamoned out at that point, and Allie took it home for me, but in any case the phrase stuck.

Soon we realized that ¨taking it home¨ applied to many aspects of our trip, and we have more or less adopted it as our team motto. For example: We´re on the trail, we´ve got 5.7 K left. What do we do? Take it home, of course. Breakfast? Take it home. Wine? Take it home. Mountain? Take it home, duh. I feel better if I think of the trip in mini-accomplishments this way, taking it home one day at a time.