The plan...

We're starting to get geared up for the trip. Plane tickets are secured, starting point is settled upon, and a general direction for the trip is decided. We are going to start heading north up the coast of CA and once we reach around the midpoint of Oregon (about 400 miles N of San Fran) we are going to head east across Idaho and through Yellowstone. We will head up through the UP of Michigan and down through Canada, entering the United States through Niagra and then heading home =) simple right?? I don't think I have any real appreciation for the pure distance that is going to be traveled during this time, but the best way to learn is to start at point A and keep going until point B is reached.

During the next couple of months we will be raising money for Living Water International (LWI). You can donate using the "Donate" button to the right of this column. It will take you to a Paypal screen, Paypal is used by many large online organizations (ebay) as a safe and reliable way to transfer money. Recently one of our family friends started working for Living Water International as their CFO. Their approach is three fold, they wish to train, equip, and consult the nationals in how to bring clean water to their community. This approach assures that the energy and resources donated by volunteers and donors results in a sustainable, participatory water systems that meet the long term needs of the community. Prior to the well being drilled many of the people walk for miles to obtain water. Having a pure source of water, established within the community, allows time to be devoted to improving the quality of living through work and education. I encourage you to go their website, http://v7.water.cc/, and see what they are doing.

The reason Andrew and I decided to support this organization is because it is not a huge charity that already has gobs of money. It is an organization that spends as they have and is making an impact. A well costs approximately $20,000. We are looking to be able to fund a complete project. 80% of all donations will be put directly to Living Water International. The remaining 20% will be used to help with the costs of the trip.

Andrew and I are both excited about this opportunity to help LWI in providing such a tangible resource as water to a community in need. We hope that you will partner with us in this adventure and this cause.

We are flying into San Francisco on the 24th of June and spending some time with the Lev family before we head out on June 26th. Very exciting =) We will then be biking for the next 55 days to get across this great nation. We will need to average around 75 miles per day, with a couple days off. It'll be epic =) We need to get back in time for Andrew to get to classes and hopefully for me to get back to a job (side note: I just finished my application process for the Air Force!).

From talking with friends and family who have done this trip before us we feel confident of being well prepared, though I suspect that nothing but the real thing is going to give us a full understanding of the task before us.

Signing off,

Nate

PS Andrew, I think we need nicknames.

Andrew, why do you want to do this?

Riding my bike across the country is something that seemed like a pretty sweet idea. I love bikes, I love travel, I love long periods of time away from work and school, I love working out, and I love chillin. This trip is an awesome combo of all them. I haven't traveled a whole lot over on the west side of the states so it should be fun. I would love to go through some national parks like Yosemite, which I think we might do, if not then we're going through something like it. This is every road bikers dream pretty much, I am not a road biker but I can pretend to be one for a few weeks. It also looks awesome on a resigme. My dad did this in his younger days and it helped him get work. Among other reasons I know Nathaniel really wants to do this, and he needs protection so I figured I should go. I am looking forward to this trip, hope to learn something from it, and have some great experiences.

-Andrew D.