Orientation!

So, I've survived Vancouver, one of the most expensive cities in Canada. Thanks to many kind individuals who offered me couches to sleep on. Such as the guys living close to Adam's house. Or Nasra and her sisters, or Adam, or fellow couch surfer members, or Bronwyn. Also thanks to those people for feeding me! And people like Anna and Chanique and their friend from the Explorer program at UBC that packed my backpack with loads of food (sooo good!)! There's also the bakery on Granville island which gets rid of all its bread every night at 7:30PM. It's good stuff! You just have to toast it! And Emma (one of the leaders for the trip) let me use her kitchen and ingredients so I could cook up a storm!

I have to say I was living a luxurious life as a homeless bum. I have biked in all directions in Vancouver. I know this city now. The Mountains to the North, the Ocean to the West...Went down to Richmond, up to North and West Vancouver, visited the Lynn Valley, went to Bowen Island.

But, the stress of eachday wondering where I was going to sleep at night, was starting to get to me. I was definitely looking forward to getting our project started. Where food and sleeping would be taken care of! And I'd have a team of 24 people to help me out if needed!

And so we've gathered for our first orientation! For the first time I met all the riders. Except Peter, who seems to have vanished. We have little details on his fundraising status, his bike status, or any status for that matter!

Everyone has managed to get up to the $3000 fundraising goal, or atleast pretty close (meaning just a couple hundred away!) Although one of the riders is still far behind, but we're hoping and praying that they'll be able to pull it off before the ride begins. It's pretty strict, we HAVE to raise $3000 to participates no 'buts'.

All the riders are awesome! Everyone coming from all different backgrounds and experiences and cultures! Each person with ideas and perspectives! There WILL be a lot of debates, there WILL be problems, but we're all in it together. There WILL be a lot of fun! And we've gone through the values that we would like to have while on this ride. We have also signed to obey certain rules while on the ride.

I'm am looking to forward to getting to know the stories of each individual on the trip! We even have a guy from Sweden! Tom! Pretty international, and it's only the 2nd year that this ride is taking place!

Saturday, is our kickoff! We're going to start with about 100+ riders who will ride with the team from the Vancouver Art Gallery to commercial drive (a 10km route). This is just a big awareness event! Once we get to commercial drive, we'll be having a bbq! @ 1pm, we'll be getting on our bikes and heading down to our first destination, White Rock. There will be other riders accompanying us for some or even all the way down to White Rock if they'd like! But after Saturday, it'll be just our group of 24. Sunday, we're already going to be crossing the border into the States!

The route we're taking has changed slightly, so I'll post the most updated one we have so far...there are still a couple places that may change.

.murph.

Saturday 05/31/08 White Rock, BC
Sunday 06/01/08 Bellingham
Monday 06/02/08 Stanwood
Tuesday 06/03/08 Seattle
Wednesday 06/04/08 Seattle
Thursday 06/05/08 McCleary
Friday 06/06/08 Bay Centre
Saturday 06/07/08 Seaside
Sunday 06/08/08 Nehalem Bay Stat Park (yurts)
Monday 06/09/08 Cape Lookout State Park
Tuesday 06/10/08 Cape Lookout State Park
Wednesday 06/11/08 Newport
Thursday 06/12/08 Florence
Friday 06/13/08 Coos Bay
Saturday 06/14/08 Port Orford
Sunday 06/15/08 Port Orford
Monday 06/16/08 Brookings
Tuesday 06/17/08 Elk Prairie Campground
Wednesday 06/18/08 Arcata
Thursday 06/19/08 Humbolt Redwoods State park
Friday 06/20/08 Leggett (Standish-Hickey State Park)
Saturday 06/21/08 Leggett (Standish-Hickey State Park)
Sunday 06/22/08 Fort Bragg (mendocino)
Monday 06/23/08 Gualala
Tuesday 06/24/08 Bodega Bay/Doran Park
Wednesday 06/25/08 San Francisco
Thursday 06/26/08 San Francisco
Friday 06/27/08 San Francisco
Saturday 06/28/08 Half Moon Bay
Sunday 06/29/08 Santa Cruz
Monday 06/30/08 Monterey
Tuesday 07/01/08 Kirk Creek
Wednesday 07/02/08 Cambria
Thursday 07/03/08 San Luis Obispo
Friday 07/04/08 San Luis Obispo
Saturday 07/05/08 Lampoc
Sunday 07/06/08 Santa Barbara
Monday 07/07/08 Oxnard
Tuesday 07/08/08 Santa Monica
Wednesday 07/09/08 Santa Monica
Thursday 07/10/08 Dana Point
Friday 07/11/08 San Diego
Saturday 07/12/08 Mexico
Sunday 07/13/08 Mexico
Monday 07/14/08 San Diego
Tuesday 07/15/08 San Diego
Wednesday 07/16/08 San Diego Thursday 07/17/08 San Diego