Prologue

Well, here it is. Our very first ever blog. A little weird, knowing that anything posted here will be available for the world to see. Remember that when you post a comment!

We've set this up in order to journal our planned upcoming bicycle ride across America (RAAM) this summer. This will be a trip that we've dreamed of and prayed about for several years, and now it seems that it's actually going to happen. Of course, God can intervene at any time and change our plans; if He would choose to do so we would be disappointed, but completely trust that He has our good in mind. So, unless He says otherwise, we will continue on.

A trip like this (Seattle to Boston) isn't planned and prepared for in a few weeks. We've been looking at routes and studying maps(traffic volume, shoulder width, mountain passes, etc); we've been reading how-to books and bio books; we've been checking for state parks and campgrounds, motels and inns; we've talked with others who have done it; we've done a lot of other researching - all in the last couple years.

And we've compiled lists: gear that we have, gear that we need, what to do and when to do it, who to contact and when, how to get from here to the starting point, how to get back from the end, things to take care of on the homefront, etc., etc., etc.

We started a year ago to slowly acquire the necessary equipment, watching very carefully for sales and taking advantage of them. Thankfully, we had most of the biking gear, so have focused more on the lightweight (let me repeat "lightweight" - we have to pull it all, you know!) camping gear. God has been so abundant to us!

Not wanting this to be just a self-serving adventure, we asked the Lord how we could use it for Him and His glory. He gave us the idea to use it to help parents who are struggling with tuition costs at the Christian school where Gerry teaches. These are parents who are committed to giving their children an education based on God's Word and worldview. But it is a costly commitment; they pay this tuition in addition to their tax dollars that support public education. We are using this trip to establish and build a Scholarship Endowment Fund at the school. There will be more information about this and how anyone can help on the school's website; we'll have a link to that very soon. Keep checking back.

Enough for a first post. We don't want to bore you with the details of preparation so will most likely post only every few days or once a week up until we leave. How often we post while on the road will depend on how often we can access a computer (Yes, I'd love to take ours, but it weighs 6 pounds and that would have to replace a lot of other very important stuff - like food!).

We are very excited about this trip and what God is going to do through it! And we hope you'll "ride" along with us here.

Gerry and Pat

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