We are underway!

Five days ago our knowledge of cross-country cycling consisted of what we had read in books and online. We have four days of first hand experience now. Hardly experts but have a much better sense of what it is like to be on a bicycle pulling a trailer all day long.

Physically it is hard. Even small hills take effort. My left knee has been sore since e second day and Marcee is feeling it in her knees and legs as well. Marcee has been feeling the effects of sitting on the bike ke all day but I have been ok. Our bodies are getting use to the rigors of biking all day long. We still have to figure out how far we can bike in a day.

Mentally it is tougher than physically. Traffic moves fast especially on some routes and trucks do not always have room to move over, shoulders can be thin, and you have to choose when to swing out to avoid something in the road or when you don't have room.

Logistically we have had to figure out what is comfortable to wear, how much to eat and when to have enough energy to ride, where to stay, how much further to ride, etc,... In a car you can check out the whole town easily. On bikes you have to ride or ask someone to find out. Also, you wonder where the next bathroom is.

Posting to the blog is a learning process too. Mobile text posts from my phone are easy but limited in length. We have some nice pictures that we will be posting I just have to upload them to a computer or figure out how to email and post which I have not had much luck with so far. I am open to suggestions.

It is an adventure I will describe the details in the daily posts section. If you have traveled a route, know of great places to stay, eat or avoid along our planned route we would love to hear them. This is an adventure that we are not achieving on our own. God is faithful! We also rely on the generosity of strangers in their encouragement and advice.

People have been great! They have been friendly, interested in our trip and they have blessed us with their helpfulness. Now for more of our daily adventure.

We just finished day 3 tomorrow is a short day and Thursday is a rest day. I hope to be post pictures. Thank you for checking in. More soon.

Great first day. Nice ride, good weather, friendly and helpful people. Pictures on the way when we have access to a PC. Should be three of four days!

Sorry about the split posts. I am starting to post from my phone. Whenever they are split you will see ... to end and/or start the message.

...Holy Spirit". Romans 15:13

...words of the Apostle Paul "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you will overflow with hope by the power of the...

Before we start this journey we want to thank God for this opportunity and everyone who has supported and encouraged us. For everyone may you receive the ...

..Seaside where we will start our journey early this afternoon. We plan to make this a short day on the bikes just going as far as Astoria about 22 miles.

..today we had breakfast burritos. Thank you Willie and Alvina for your prayers, hospitality and the delicious meals. Willie is driving us from his house to..

Saturday we drove from Brigham City, UT to Vancouver, WA about 725 miles 14 hours equivalent to about 14 days of biking. Alvina made Navajo tacos! Thank you!..

...it was great to talk to them and learn of their adventure! God Bless you.

I forgot to mention on Thursday we had lunch at Ernie's Deli in West Yellowstone, MT and met Steve and Haley biking from Lincoln City OR to NY...

Friday. Repacking and resting

We decided to delay our trip a day to pare down our gear. We eliminated enough stuff to fill an apple box if you know what I mean. It has been a god day of rest as well as we both have been exhauSted. We plan to head out to Vancouver, WA in the morning to Marcee's brother Willie's house who will then take us to Seaside and keep one of cars. Thank you Willie!

Packing up, leaving Yellowstone, gearing up

Tuesday -the ay started out with a trip to Bozeman. We picked up our shirts from Hands On in Belgrade with the Water for Life logo. We tok our cat Belle to Hardaway Vet with the intention of saying goodbye because of her kidney situation and because she is losing weight. When we got there we weighed her and she had gained a half pound and was perky. We couldn't do it. We called Marcee's sister who agreed to take car of her. Thank you Loretta.

Tuesday night was Outlaws for pizza with friends- Tom, Link, Max, Jeannette, Nelson, Mary and Brad. After dinner it was back to the office to finish cleaning up while Marcee went home and continued cleaning and packing.

Wednesday was our trip around the pack to see friends before we left on our trip. We end up getting back at about 8pm and then headed up to our storage in Livingston one last time. It was a late night but we got it done.

Thursday one last round of visits in the morning and packing the car with the bikes the Bob trailers and everything else we had to take. We were finally on our way by about 11am. We got home to Brigham City, Utah about 8pm and tested our bikes with everything we planned to carry. Way too much stuff...

Thank You!

This past Thursday we were treated to a very nice going away party through our employer Xanterra Parks & Resorts. Thank you to all involved and all who were able to attend. Special thanks to our supervisors Mia, Greg, Beth and Carrie for arranging it.

We have received great support and encouragement as we have shared our adventure. Thank you to Lisa and Tim for the use of your trailer and for hauling a full load of furniture to Livingston. Thank you to Scott for helping load the trailer and to Marc for helping unload the trailer.

We just returned yesterday from a trip to Utah to visit family for the weekend. We were very pleased that almost everyone was able to join us for lunch at Golden Corral in Ogden. That was nice. We had six Dad's there for Father's Day. It was like old times.

Thank you Gerald and Loretta (Marcee's Brother and Sister) for taking care of our cat Sally!

We will leave Yelllowstone Wednesday afternoon. Thank you to everyone has been part of our experience, good friends and coworkers.

What we are doing...

Our bicycling adventure is 9 days away.  It is coming up soon.  We are excited, yet busy packing and getting ready.  Please check back for more information about our purpose, planned route, pictures, and opportunities to help us raise money to drill water wells working through Life Outreach International.

More soon.

Larry and Marcee