More Photos from Oshkosh

Thank you to Fonda Cox and C J Anderson for the wonderful pictures.

Baptism Photos

Here are some photos from Taylor's baptism last week. Was it really only one week ago? Wow!!

Have a Happy Sabbath.

Pictures from Robert's Return Home

Here are some more photos from Robert's return. The third one from the top shows Robert and his wife Cindy. Of course she was VERY glad to see him! The photo at the bottom shows Robert sharing stories from the road with a few of the folks who were waiting to welcome him back.

As Robert mentioned earlier, the total mileage for the trip was 6,272. Total donations and pledges at the moment I write this are $6,273! Of course if you still haven't contributed, it's not too late. Click here to donate in honor of this project now (mention "Ride for Hunger" in the comments). This trip will make a big difference for many needy families, and you can be a part of that with your gift.

Thank you so much to Robert and everyone who has supported this trip. It makes a huge difference at a time when the need is great.

Brian Vistaunet
Development Associate, PACS

Caldwell, ID to Battle Ground, WA





This morning I left Caldwell, ID on the last leg of the Ride for Hunger and headed for home. It was a beautiful day for a ride. During one stop at the rest area west of Baker City, OR I met some people who were traveling back from the Pathfinder Camporee and had a nice conversation. A couple of friends (John Wesslen and David Giles) joined me in Hood River to ride the last hour with me. We rode into PACS, the last stop of the ride, before heading home. As we rode into Portland the traffic slowed us down and we were a little later than expected.

Riding down Halsey was the above sign welcoming me back. There were a few staff and volunteers around to share ice cream and stories with. They even had a reporter there that took some pictures and asked me a few questions.

I truly appreciate the support I have received through this project and many people thanked me for what I did for PACS. I did the riding but God will make this project successful. His presence was felt the entire way. Yes, there were some obstacles along the way but the Lord was definitely with me on this ride. I am thankful for His patience with me on this project as I tried everything I could think of to forget about the fund-raising matters but He would not let the idea go away until I gave Him control for this project. I am very hopeful that this ride will be beneficial for PACS. How can it not be successful if the Lord is behind the scenes working through our insecurities?

The total trip was 6,272 miles and I rode through 23 of the 24 scheduled states. The only one I missed was Illinois.

While the Ride for Hunger is officially complete, please stay tuned for further updates on the fund-raising and baptism photos.

8-20-09 Stats

425 miles
6,272 miles down
0 miles to go
100% complete
States - ID, OR, WA

Baptism Update

I do not have any pictures of the baptism yet and will post them as soon as I can. If you are interested in watching a video, you can find it at http://meadowglade.adventistnw.org/video-archives .

Idaho Falls, ID to Caldwell, ID

After my adventure yesterday and with a short ride scheduled for today, I needed to sleep in a little today. This was nice.

Now I am not a big fan of Idaho, but there are a lot interesting things to do and see. I traveled entirely on the interstate highway system (I-15, I-86, I-84), most of the time paralleling the Snake River. I did not spend time sight-seeing as I wanted to get into Caldwell and get rested for the last leg of the ride tomorrow.

Thank you for your interest in this project. It has been a very rewarding and faith-building experience for me and hopefully for you through the blog reports and pictures.

If anyone is interested there will be a couple of people joining me in Hood River, OR tomorrow at about 2:30 pm. We will meet at the McDonald's, just off I-84, and ride into PACS to complete the Ride for Hunger.

8-19-09 Stats
303 miles
5,848 miles down
425 miles to go
93.2% complete

Miles City, MT to Idaho Falls, ID





I apologize for the tardiness of this report and when I am finished you should understand why it is late. Yesterday's ride was the day I anticipated the most since my scheduled route would take me through some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer.

I left Miles City, MT on my way through Billings, south to Red Lodge, up and over the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212), and into Yellowstone National Park. Thankfully, I missed the First Family's visit by a couple of days or I would still be traveling through the park. The trip for the day ended in Idaho Falls, ID, my last night to spend in a motel!!!

Unfortunately this picture does not accurately portray the scene. The Beartooth Highway is much better than the descriptions I have heard, but how can you accurately describe it? The road goes straight up the side of the mountain with awesome switchbacks and curves that make you think you'll go over the edge. The weather was a little cloudy so it was cold and a nice change of pace from the heat on the first half of the ride. They were doing some road work higher up and there were several road bikes that were doing duty as dual sports. Several miles of the highway were torn up and basically were dirt roads. This made for some interesting gyrations to keep everything on two wheels, which we all survived without falling over. Coming over the top of the pass and heading down into Cooke City, WY was some of the most awesome scenery I had ever seen. I did not get any pictures because I saw a sign that said "This is Grizzly Bear Country" and I was not interested in providing some grizzly bear with an afternoon snack.

I stopped in Cooke City, just outside of Yellowstone National Park, for gas and again had to traverse a few more miles of the highway that was converted to a dirt road. I have never been to this little community and was impressed with the setting amongst some amazing mountains.

And then came Yellowstone. Just to travel through the park cost $20 but I made sure to get my moneys worth. The "scheduled" route was to take me from the northeast entrance to the west entrance, a total of 96 miles. I guess the park decided that I needed to see more of the beautiful, diverse scenery that was available because they closed down the one key road I needed to complete my "scheduled" route. According to my calculations there are approximately 250 miles of roads through Yellowstone and I traveled more than 175 miles before I was able to exit the park. What I expected to do in a couple of hours turned into a four or five hour odyssey. To be honest I lost track of time as I was trying to find my way out of the maze. I finally found Old Faithful and missed an eruption by about five minutes. This is awesome country and there are so many different eco systems that to do this park justice one needs at least a week to explore it. I think I will chalk it up as a reconnaissance mission since there are tentative plans for my family to make a trip here next summer. If my memory is still good I should be able to get around, unless they decide to close another road for repairs. Did I mention the maximum speed limit was 45 mph and there were several times I got stuck behind a line of vehicles that were going considerably slower.

I think what interested me the most is that Yellowstone used to be one GIANT volcano and the whole park sits on the floor. Now I cannot even put that into perspective, only to say I would not want to be around if Old Faithful decides to become Old "un"Faithful. As I mentioned there is so much to see and I highly recommend this spot for a future vacation.

I did manage to find the exit I needed and headed toward Idaho Falls. This took approximately two hours, the longerst two hours of the trip as the sun was setting rapidly and I had to finish it in the dark, something I tried to avoid during the ride. By the time I reached the motel I was wasted and the internet connection was not working correctly. I got something to eat at Denny's and went straight to bed.

8-18-09 Stats

475 miles scheduled + 81 miles unscheduled
5,545 miles down
727 miles to go
88.4% complete
States - MT, WY, ID