CELEBRATING 15 YEARS - DONOR MATCH OPPORTUNITY!

  October 2024 Hello dear friends! I find myself particularly reflective as October begins - for it was fifteen years ago this month that our Child Sponsorship Program was born in Karatu, Tanzania!  Likewise, as I prepare to return…

Widows of India - 2021 Report

Dear friends, Arunachalam! Greetings from Tiruvannamalai! As we come to the end of yet another year of pain, penalties, restriction, regulations, travel bans, closures, lockdown, masks, social distances, etc. it is hard to take stock…

Update From Amigos En Accion - April 2020

In light of the current health crisis in our world, I wanted to share some good news on behalf of Amigos en Accion. Before beginning, I want to say that I hope that all of you are staying healthy and safe during these difficult times and are…

Lightness’s Women’s Projects, March Update

Updates from our February 2020 Visit  I wish each and every one of you could experience the joy we experienced over the last two weeks.  Our journey to Lake Eyasi in February 2020 was a very special one filled with much celebration. We…
Lake Eyasi February 2020 Update

Lake Eyasi, February 2020 Update

I wish each and every one of you could experience the joy we experienced over the last two weeks.  Our journey to Lake Eyasi in February 2020 was a very special one filled with much celebration.
Uprising

THE WORLD IS NOT AS CRACKED UP AS IT WAS LAST YEAR

In Nepal, funds were raised to finish our Sherpa friend’s house that was damaged in the earthquake...

Agradecido from 4Walls

As the season approaches, the 4Walls Project is agradecido (thankful!)

JOS Guide Porter Scholarship project

This project continues to support the tuition for nine children of the guides and porters who work on Kilimanjaro.

Construction of Solola Home underway

As final details of the land purchase are completed, Pedro and Laura are working with the seller...

JOS trip to visit Om Shanti Widows Home

In the Spring of 2019 my daughter Isabella and I had the opportunity to visit the Om Shanthi Widows Home.
Om Shanthi Widows Home Update

Om Shanthi Widows Home Update

We are so grateful for the visit of Kirsti and her daughter Isabella from JOS in Winter 2019 in our project Om Shanthi in Tiruvannamalai/South India.
Learning and Growing in Amigos en Accion

Learning and Growing in Amigos en Accion

Believe it or not, another school year is quickly coming to a close in Amigos en Accion, here in El Sauce, Nicaragua.
New Sherpa Student sponsorship

New Sherpa Student sponsorship

Our Sherpa friend Ngawang has two children. Last year we started his daughter, 12 years old in school. This year we have committed to his son, who is 6.
Water and Shopping in Lake Eyasi

Water and Shopping in Lake Eyasi

If you build it, they will come. This year has been huge for projects in Eyasi.

Announcing: Bike Journeys Of Solutions 2.0

Hello, I am Bob, President of Journeys of Solutions. In 2009 I biked from Yorktown VA to San Francisco with vehicle support from my wife Sally in what I called Bike Journeys of Solutions. Why? Well because I had always wanted to ride across…

Day 1 6/4/19

Anacortes to Concrete WA, 55 miles, fair with a tailwind. And so it begins. On the first day of riding we started at the ferry terminal in Anacortes WA on Puget Sound. We will be following Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier route. The riding…

Day 2 6/5/19

Concrete WA to Rainy Pass (almost); 70 miles, mostly cloudy, 50-60s, brief showers, mostly tailwind The first half of the day continued east along the Skagit River valley on Rt 20 and one long side road, with a very gentle continuous climb.…

Day 3: 6/6/19

Easy Pass CG to Upper Beaver Creek Rd (Twisp, WA); 59 miles; 40's up high, 60's in the valley, cloudy and then sunny, mostly tailwinds. The day started with a 6 mile climb to Rainy Pass at 4855 feet in North Cascades NP. The Pacific Crest…

Day 4 6/7/19

Upper Beaver Creek Road (Twisp) to Talkire Lake Road (Tonasket), 65 miles, partly cloudy, threatening storms, 40-60's Another day, another pass to cross. This one is called Loup Loup Pass at 4020 feet. The climb gained 2000 feet in about…

Day 5 6/8/19

Talkire Lake Road to Sherman Pass (Republic), 52.4 miles, mostly cloudy, scattered showers, 40-60s So not so many miles today but for good reason. It was a two pass day. Wauconde Pass (4310 ft) was first up, 22 miles up but with some flat…

Day 6 6/9/19

Sherman Pass to Tacoma Creek Rd (Ione); 62 miles, mostly sunny, 40-70s Best way to start a day is a 20 mile descent from Sherman Pass. The pass sported a little fresh snow along the sides of the road at 8 AM. We had a little bit of a late…

Day 7 6/10/19

Tacoma Creek Rd to Newport WA, 72 miles, mostly sunny 50-70s The day started with a nice 1000' descent and then the rest of the day's riding was welcome flat with some rolling hills on a quiet side road along the Pend Oreille River. Occasionally…

Day 8 6/11/19

Newport WA to Sandpoint ID, 35 miles, sunny and 70's Today's ride was a "rest day" as we needed to recharge the batteries and take care of some chores like laundry and an oil change for the truck. Sandpoint is on Lake Pend Oreille, a large…

Day 9 6/12/19

Sandpoint ID to Cabinet Range view point on MT 56, 61 miles, sunny 70-90's The route today followed ID State Route 200 into Montana. Some truck traffic and narrow shoulders but most drivers are courteous and pass with a wide berth. The route…

Day 10 6/13/19

Cabinet Range view point on MT 56 to Koocanusa Lodge, 61 miles, sunny 60-90's The route today went through just one town, Libby MT. Libby was our lunch spot at the town park. The rest of the route followed highways and back roads in fairly…

Day 11 6/14/19

Koocanusa Lodge to Fortine, MT;  60 miles, sunny with scattered afternoon thundershowers, 60-70's Today's route followed MT State Route 37 for 40 miles along Lake Koocanusa to the town of Eureka and then on to the small town of Fortine.…

Day 12 6/15/19

Fortine, MT to West Glacier, MT; 69 miles, sunny, brief afternoon shower, 70's high The route today followed US Highway 93 for 30 miles or so to Whitefish, MT with one stretch of delightful side road through flattish range and farm land.…

Day 13 6/16/19

West Glacier, MT to East Glacier, MT; 57 miles, mostly cloudy, 50-60's Today's route followed US Highway 2 over the Continental Divide at Marias Pass at 5216'. If you read yesterday's blog post you might remember I called it easier than Logan…

Day 14 6/17/19

East Glacier, MT;  0 miles, partly cloudy 60's Today was a rest day so we toured Glacier NP and did some short trail walks. Wildlife sightings included a moose and a herd of mountain sheep. We had dinner tonight in a great Mexican restaurant…

Day 15 6/18/19

East Glacier to Shelby, MT; 72 miles, sunny, tailwind, then a PM storm Today's weather was a tale of two extremes. The ride started in fair weather with a 10-15 mph tailwind. The route will follow US RT 2 for several days. The terrain is…

Day 16 6/19/19

Shelby, MT to Kremlin, MT; 78 miles, partly cloudy, 50-70's, strong tailwind Wonderful tailwind all day today, this west to east thing is working out well so far (I know sooner or later there will be headwind). The ride continued east across…

Day 17 6/20/19

Kremlin, MT to Harlem, MT; 62 miles, mostly cloudy, head/tail winds, light afternoon shower, 40-50's A cold front came through last night so cooler temperatures. Snow in the mountains so we dodged that bullet. Today's route for the most part…

Day 18 6/21/19

Harlem, MT to Wagner, MT; 42 miles, rain, wind, and 40's Today was not a great weather day. In fact it made me homesick for Rochester weather in early April. We were confronted with a good old fashioned low pressure Northeaster. Light to…

Day 19 6/22/19

Wagner, MT to Glasgow, MT; 80 miles, rain, NW winds 15-20 mph, 50's The good news is there was a strong tailwind all day. The bad news is it rained almost all day and I had not one but two flats. Those little stones on wet shoulders are the…

Day 20 6/23/19

Glasgow, MT to Wolf Point, MT; 67 miles, sunny, W wind, and 50-70's A very welcome change in the weather today, just perfect biking conditions. The route today continued to follow US 2 east for the first 20 miles, then followed quiet back…

Day 21 6/24/19

Wolf Point, MT to Glendive, MT; 93 miles, partly cloudy, 15-20 mph winds from the west Today's ride headed south on MT 13 for 40 miles or so. There was a cross wind, it was quite hilly but the road surface was good, and there was light traffic.…

Day 22 6/25/19

Glendive, MT to Medora, ND; 64 miles, sunny, west winds, and 70-80's Yesterday it seemed as though there was a continuous descent into Glendive for the last 20 miles. Well today starting out it seemed as though there was a continuous climb…

Day 23 6/26/19

Medora, ND to Richardton, ND; 61 miles, sunny, light winds, 70-80's Medora is located in the bottom of the North Dakota bad lands which means today's ride started with a several miles long climb out. There was a 10 mile or so stretch on I-94…

Day 24 6/27/19

Richardton, ND to Mandan, ND; 70 miles, sunny, 10 mph East wind, and 70-80's Another beautiful day for cycling. While I experienced my first sustained day long head wind on the trip, it was more like a breeze and no big deal. The route mainly…

Day 25 6/28/19

Mandan, NT to Hazelton, ND; 54 miles, early storm, then clearing, 10-20 mph wind out of SE/SW, 70-80's Today was not entirely routine. We were delayed for two hours or so in the morning to let a storm line pass through. The first several…

Day 26 6/29/19

Braddock Rd at US 83 to junction of ND 30 and 46; 60 miles, mostly cloudy, 20-30 mph winds SE/E Today was one of those days when you just put your head down and pedal. Strong headwinds were present for 52 miles before the last eight miles…

Day 27 6/30/19

Junction of ND 30 and 46 to Little Yellowstone Park; 70 miles, sunny, N wind at 10-12 mph, 70-80's Much better riding conditions than yesterday. Today's route followed straight as an arrow ND 46 east for the entire day without passing through…

Day 28 7/1/19

Little Yellowstone Park to Fargo, ND; 68 miles, partly cloudy, wind E/NE at 10 mph, 70-80's Today's ride was straight and flat for 40 miles continuing on ND 46, then a zigzag of back roads to the outskirts of Fargo, before finishing in the…

Day 29 7/2/19

Fargo, ND to Fergus Falls, MN; 59 miles, sunny, S/SE wind at 10 mph, 70-80's A beautiful day for riding although a bit warm in the afternoon. We are now in Minnesota after crossing the Red River from Fargo, 200 yards into the ride. I always…

Day 30 7/3/19

Fergus Falls, MN to Melrose, MN; 76 miles, mostly cloudy, SE 10+ mph headwind, 70-80's Today I set a personal record for the longest continuous bike ride on a paved bike trail. It wasn't hard figuring out where to go. The trail pavement conditions…

Day 32 7/5/19

Melrose, MN to Milaca, MN; 76 miles, mostly cloudy, winds 10 mph NE, and 70's Yesterday we celebrated the 4th by doing laundry and then basically doing nothing by hanging out for awhile at Birch Lake at a state forest access site. We had…

Day 33 7/6/19

Milaca, MN to Osceola, WI; 73 miles, sunny, winds 5-10 N, 70-80's Today's ride continued to follow a series of MN county roads in a generally southeastern direction to cross the St, Croix River into our next state of Wisconsin. The St Croix…

Day 34 7/7/19

Osceola, WI to Haugen, WI; 67 miles, sunny, 5-10 mph S wind, 70-80's Wisconsin is different from MN just across the river. The roads are much more rolling and as we left the St. Croix River behind, the land transitioned to a 50-50 mix of…

Day 35 7/8/19

Haugen, WI to Moose Lake, WI; 69 miles, sunny, 5-10 S wind, 70-80's First a brief note about our improved social life. We have not seen anyone we know since leaving Seattle where we were hosted by Sally's nephew Kurt and family the day before…

Day 36 7/9/19

Moose Lake, WI to Mercer, WI; 72 miles, 10-15+ mph S, sunny, 70-80's Today's route combined state highways and county roads. The first 30 miles or so were on WI 77 through the Chequamegon National Forest. It was good riding with smooth pavement,…

Day 37 7/10/19

Mercer, WI to Conover, WI; 60 miles, sunny, 10+ winds NW, 70-80's Today's ride  started out on a nice bike trail out of Mercer along US 51. It connected to the "Heart of Vilas Co. Bike Trail" except I didn't right away. I missed the turn…

Day 38 7/11/19

Conover, WI to the Michigamme River, MI; 63 miles, sunny, 10-15 mph N, and 50-70's The weather was 10 degrees cooler today so great weather for biking. The route continued east on county roads until we crossed the Brule River and entered…

Day 39 7/12/19

Michigamme River, MI to Wells, MI; 73 miles, sunny, 10 mph SW, 50-70's Today's ride was back on a more major road, state road M-69. The first 15 miles were somewhat busy, especially with full and empty logging trucks. They thinned out once…

Day 40 7/13/19

Wells. MI to Gulliver, MI; 78 miles, sunny 10-20 NW mostly tailwind, 60-70's We became reacquainted with US 2 today. If you have been a consistent reader of the blog and have a good memory, you will remember that we rode US 2 in Montana for…

Day 41 7/14/19

Gulliver, MI to St. Ignace, MI; 68 miles, sunny, slight breeze SW, 50-70's We were fortunate to have another beautiful day for riding. The route continued on US 2 to St. Ignace. This being a going -home-after -the -weekend day the traffic…

Day 42 7/15/19

Mackinaw City, MI to Charlevoix, MI; 72 miles, rain in AM then clearing, 5-10 mph S, and 60-70's Today we started down the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. There are large bays to circumnavigate so at times we were losing ground by going…

Day 43 7/16/19

Charlevoix, MI to Bingham, MI; 70 miles, sunny, 10-15 mph SW, 60-80's The route today followed back roads when available with short stretches on US 31. US 31 is also known historically as the "Dixie Highway", because it was developed in the…

Day 44 7/17/19

Bingham, MI to Frankfort, MI; 67 miles, sunny, 5-10 mph NW, 70-80's I rode to the end of the TART bike trail to start the morning. Then over the hill from the bay to the lake to ride along M-22. The route paralleled the Lake Michigan shoreline…

Day 45 7/18/19

Frankfort, MI to Lake County line (Free Soil, MI); 69 miles, brief rain showers, cloudy, 10-12 mph S, 70's humid We continued south following state road M22 along the lake shore. There were three serious climbs up and over the lake bluffs…

Day 46 7/19/19

Lake County line to Lake George, MI; 70 miles, clouds then partly cloudy, 10-12 SW, 70-90's, humid The route today zigzagged to the east with a very generous tailwind for the east bound legs. The landscape continued to be mostly forest, with…

Day 47 7/20/19

Lake George, MI to Bay City, MI; 68 miles, 5-6 mph SW, cloudy, 70-80's The day started cloudy and cooler than predicted as it had rained overnight. However, there was a big black cloud to the west that threatened rain and worse, with storms…

Day 48 7/21/19

Bay City, MI to Fish Lake Rd (North Branch, MI); 73 miles, 5-8 NE, sunny, 70-80's Some days are routine meaning you ride the route according to the directions in a reasonable amount of time without any impediments. Fortunately most days are…

Day 49 7/22/19

North Branch, MI to Marine City, MI; 77  miles, partly cloudy, 10-15 NW wind, 60-70's The first 5o miles of today's ride felt a lot like eastern North Dakota. This part of Michigan is mostly farms, and the roads were flat and straight as…

Day 50 7/23/19

Sombra, ON to New Glasgow, ON; 67 miles, sunny, 10-15 mph N wind, 60-70's The ride started at the Ontario side of the closed ferry in Somba. The route followed the St. Clair river a few miles before heading east and south on county roads…

Day 51 7/24/19

New Glasgow, ON to Port Rowan, ON; 78 miles; sunny, 10 mph NW, 60-70's Yet another good day for cycling. Overall we have been very fortunate to have good weather much of the time. On today's ride we continued to follow county roads along…

Day 52 7/25/19

Port Rowan, ON to Lowbanks, ON; 73 miles, sunny, SW at 5-10 mph, 60-70's Today's ride continued to follow the Lake Erie shore line on local, low traffic side roads. The terrain was a little more rolling than the pancake flat farm land earlier.…

Day 53 7/26/19

Lowbanks, ON to Wilson, NY; 78 miles, sunny, PM pop-up storm, 5-10 SW, 60-80's The first ten miles or so continued to follow Lakeshore Dr along the lake until we reached the city of Port Colborne. Port Colborne is the southern terminus of…

Day 54 7/27/19

Wilson, NY to Braddock Hts, NY(Rochester); 65 miles, sunny, 8-10 SW, 60-80's Part 1 of the trip has been completed, Anacortes, WA to Rochester, NY and home. So far we have covered 3485 miles in 54 days. We will take two days off at home to…

Day 55 7/30/19

Webster, NY to Fulton, NY; 74 miles, 5-10 SW, sun and clouds, 70-80's, muggy, dodged all of the rain showers We resumed the ride today from the east side of the Irondequoit Bay outlet in Webster, NY. The bridge over the outlet is swung open…

Day 56 7/31/19

Fulton, NY to Hinckley Dam, NY; 70 miles, 5-10 SW, 60-70s, muggy We continued east on NY 49 along the north shore of Oneida Lake through Rome, NY to the Hinckley Dam on the West Canada Creek just short of entering the Adirondack Park. Part…

Day 57 8/6/19

Hinckley Dam, NY to Baker Mills, NY; 65 miles, 10 SW wind, sunny with threatening storms in PM We are back on the road after a nice long weekend with family. We drove to where we ended the last ride and started riding at 10:30 AM. The route…

Day 58 8/7/19

Baker Mills, NY to Cornwall, VT; 72 miles, mostly cloudy, calm, 70's and muggy Mid afternoon storms were forecast but once again we dodged them somehow. The ride continued on NY 8 with plenty of ups and downs. After crossing the Hudson River…

Day 59 8/8/19

Cornwall, VT to Sharon, VT; 61 miles, 5-10 SW, rain early, then sunny, 70-80's, muggy We delayed riding a bit this morning to let the heaviest rain pass. I decided to ride the "Covered Bridge" alternative to avoid riding through busy Middlebury.…

4Walls Project Spring/Summer 2019

"It is getting close to the rainy season. Now I won't be getting wet with my children. For that I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Day 60 8/9/19

Sharon, VT to Big Rock Campground (Lincoln, NH); 72 miles, 5-10 SW, sunny, 60-70's Today was a day of "major climbs" as described by the Adventure Cycle map profile. That equates to 3.5 climbs for a total of almost 6000 feet of elevation…

Day 61 8/10/19

Big Rock Campground NH to Naples, ME; 75 miles, partly cloudy, 10-15 NW, and 50-70s The first six miles completed the climb to the Kancamagus Pass. The grade really only became somewhat steep at 9% within a mile of the pass. Based on the…

Day 62 8/11/19

Naples, ME to Damariscotta, ME; 76 miles, sunny, 10 W, 60-70's The ride continued to follow less traveled state roads and country roads towards the coast. Yes, it is hilly in Maine, very little flat sections. In particular there are these…

Day 63 8/12/19

Damariscotta, ME to Bucksport, ME; 69 miles, sunny, 10 SW, 60-70's The ups and downs continued, especially on the state roads. There were longer stretches of riding on US 1 with a generous shoulder and less traffic than yesterday. The route…

Day 64 8/13/19

Bucksport, ME to Bar Harbor, Me; 46 miles, mostly cloudy, calm, and 70's The bike ride across the continent is now finished. The official Adventure Cycle Northern Tier route eastern end point is the town pier in Bar Harbor. The route followed…