We've been back for three days. The vulgarity has almost worn off, most of us have showered, and we've more or less returned to our lives. Nevertheless, in spending every day since together in some combination, the inside jokes are still flowing freely. If ever we invite you over for a friendly game of Christian Yahtzee, it's best if you politely decline.

But beneath the crust of disgusting jokes, disgusting jeans, beer sodden asides and inappropriate hypotheticals, there's a new kind of understanding. I feel it when we ride together, we discovered it riding together in the gold-lit desert, under a hot January sun. There's something in the way we interact now, some confirmation, or the final destruction of walls. There are new bonds, tighter ties, closer connections. We speak about ourselves in the collective sense more often than the individual, we've begun to think that way too. It's a connection bred of mutual interest, passion and respect. In seeing what we accomplished over a new year's weekend, and what the last three months have brought us, i cannot begin to guess where we're headed next, but I'm sure we're going together.