moving journey

new update

2006-11-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

if you are interested in my life now...check out my new blog.....http://andrewfoderaro.blogspot.com

Contact

2006-07-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

One last thing.....i have received some comments and a few messages from people which i would have really like to respond to but the individuals haven't left an email address or number where i could reach them. if anyone would like to get a hold of me and participate or talk my email is fjgody@gmail.com and my telephone number is 215-588-3800.....ciao

Final Moments

2006-07-08T00:59:00.001-04:00

I feel like these may be some of the last few moments of "rest" for the next few weeks. Have been spending the last couple days in Portland Oregon with Josh Miller and other members of the bikemovement crowd (tim showalter, tim shenk, and as of last evening sarah thompson). the transition into the next portion of my summer has been a decently smooth one but also one which has caused me to do a lot of reflection. people keep asking me "are you excited/nervous" and i think the answer has changed in the last few days. my excitement was at a peak a few days ago right before we met up with the other few bikers in portland. since meeting up with them i have started to become a little less "anxious" to start, but in a good day. i have felt myself move into a more "prepared" emotional state. i am still a little bit nervous just because it is such a huge endevour and i hope that we will all be able to complete the journey and make of it what we want. tonight we will all wash up our last loads of laundry and re-organize the truck and car and prepare for tomorrow's migration to the coast. monday is d-day. the ceremonial dipping of the tire into the pacific ocean will kick off a seven week trek which may be life changing. coming out of this trip will hopefully be a group who learns from each other and can create a time and an experience that will transcend the individual. if you have forgotten the website we will be opperating from is www.bikemovement.org......see you on the trail!!!

revisiting past places

2006-07-04T23:15:00.000-04:00

If you remember our first stop with chrissy and the other wallgreen tour friends...i wanted to post a picture, curtosey of chrissy, with our friends in front of their bus....

New sights in oregon

2006-07-04T18:18:00.000-04:00

We arrived in a new location in oregon yesterday....Salem. After spending the afternoon doing some relaxing at Borders we met up with Jenna Martin and Mary Yoder. Jenna and her family were nice enough to allow us to stay overnight in their house. Today watched the Italians beat the host Germans in the world cup and trying to decide what the rest of the day will hold....ciao

more pics

2006-07-03T18:52:00.000-04:00

another few postings of pictures were added on the picture page....check them out

Oregon

2006-07-03T18:19:00.000-04:00

Not even going to attempt to cover the last week and a half or more in this posting because it would take up many pages. We had such an amazing time and did more things in a week and a half then i could have imagined. A little run down included seeing corvalis, lebanon, portland (blues festival), cabin by the ocean, canoeing, going to a casino, riding dune buggies, camping at clear lake, row boating, fishing (catching 6 fish for dinner), biking, motorboating/tubing on lake foster, and lots of grilling out...as well the (becky) langstraat and (emily) stutzman families were incredibly hospitible and allowed us to stay with them for well over a week and fed us INCREDIBLE food...this has definitley given us a great taste of oregon and will make it quite difficult to leave....the one interesting thing that we found out was that during this period of the year it doesn't rain in oregon...we were anticipating a wet dreary time here but as we have found that only is true about 9 months a year...the other three (which we happen to be in) is really beautiful and actually quite hot...at this time salem is where we are staying and shall be for another day or so when we head up into portland and prepare to begin our biking...till then ciao

Last days in San FranCISCO

2006-06-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

I must start this post by saying that I must regretfully correct myself in my usage of the abbreviation "san fran" when referring to san francisco. I have been set straight by our gracious hosts of the MVS house (thank you lindsay :-D)!!

This is our last morning here in the house. in a few hours we will start our last long leg of the road trip which will take us up the coast, through some giant forests, to our destination Oregon. The last couple days here in California have been very laid back, which is exactly what I needed. Have been reading "Poisonwood Bible" which is an excellent book, so the relaxing time allowed me some time to read. Also it allowed time for the house to cook an amazing vegetable chilli and add with it nathan's corn bread and it was perfect. Finally we entertained ourselves, and hopefully the the others, by teaching and then playing the dice game Farkle. Nathan and I have taught and played with just about everyone we have met on the trip. It is becoming quite a tradition. If you don't know about the game you will need to ask one of us....it is a fun time.

California, especially san francisco, will be missed but we are quite excited about the potentials to connect with people in oregon....oh and we have to keep biking more which is something we haven't done as much as we would have liked.....OOPS :-)....on to the next portion of the journey...ciao

San Fran ...sat jun 18th

2006-06-19T18:00:00.000-04:00

saturday was a very busy day. first thing in the morning we all got up and went to the mad dog bar to watch the united states play italy in the world cup. the place was PACKED....with no room to even move while standing and watching the game. now of course the game ended in a tie but it was a really fun experience. i have never watched a US soccer game where people were so into soccer. later that afternoon we went to the north beach festival. lots of booths with food, and outdoor music made for a great afternoon. from the festival i took the trains across the bay to berkeley to see my Uncle Sean. He showed me around his former school and then went out for dinner to a local favorite mexican restaurant. also was nice to get a ride in his prius. can't leave san fran without riding in the hybrid!

San Fran Day 1

2006-06-19T17:22:00.000-04:00

On thursday the 15th we arrived in san francisco and will be staying at the mennonite voluntary service house where lindsay martin, emily miller (great friends from emu!) and emily souder (friend from home!) all live. also lindsay's sister jenna (also a friend from emu) was visiting and it was great to see her as well. it has been a much awaited change to be in a location where the weather is amazingly sunny and yet cooler than what we have been experiencing in the last few weeks. thursday afternoon and friday we took advantage of the great weather to bike around the city and see the sights. on friday in particular we had a nice ride. we rode about 30 miles and saw the haight district, rode over the golden gate bridge, and saw downtown san fran is really ecclectic and friendly(especially to bikers) and one
of my favorite cities we have been, even after a short time here.

Route 1

2006-06-19T12:55:00.000-04:00

If anyone ever gets the chance to drive up from Los Angeles to San Fran make sure that you take route 1 out along the coast. It is one of the most amazing drives. Make sure you block out about 10-12 hours though. The road takes you literally right on the cliffside leading down into the crashing water of the pacific. Oh and in that stretch there is only 1 gas station....regular gas 4.75....luckily we planned ahead and got gas before!

Los Angeles

2006-06-14T13:35:00.000-04:00

have to give major thanks to our friends joel and emily shenk. we have just finishede up spending two nights in their home in pasadena (los angeles) california. after spending two days and a night in las vegas (not losing too much money !) reuniting with joel and emily was very nice. we also were able to spend a day touring the city of los angeles as well as the beaches....which was a bad experience because it was so windy we got more sand burn then sun burn. was able to also post a few more sets of pictures...so check them out....must run...on our way up the scenic route 1 heading towards our next destination...san fran...ciao

Bryce Canyon

2006-06-10T01:19:00.000-04:00

A little change of plans ended up producing one of the most fun times of the trip thus far. We had planned to travel from the grand canyon and spend a day or so in both bryce and zion national parks...but when we got to bryce we decided to do a three day long back country backpacking trip into the canyon...leaving wednesday afternoon we backpacked about 20 miles over the next three days...bryce was amazingly beautiful and definitely a must visit spot if you like to hike and camp...i just added new photos on the photo page....the bryce pictures should be up within the next day...

Long time coming

2006-06-09T17:40:00.000-04:00

Looking at the trip I begin to see ways of mapping out where we have been and where we are going. The temperature is one distinct difference from day to day.
For myself I was blasted by the nearly 100 degree heat immediately after getting off the train in Meridian Mississippi. Following the muggy and warm weather
the south provided was eye opening. This warm and humid weather was followed quickly by a few days of heat with daily large thundershowers. This became a daily
consideration in Austin and the subsequent days. Austin itself, other than the weather, turned out to be a good choice of location. We toured museums
including the LBJ presidential library and an art museum dedicated to compulsive art (imgagine turning thousands of twist-ties into a work of art...the exhibts
were amazing to say the least). Going out that night was fun but a little dead. During college the restaurants and bars would be hopping but during the summer
it is a little more laid back. Sidenote...In the texas capital building (which of course had to be built a few feet bigger than the national capital building
just to prove a point) they had paintings of all of the former governors. Now imagine any of the paintings of politicians you've seen and that will be pretty
much how they all looked (straight faced and somber) except for one. You guessed it our very president George Dubya....i had to laugh when I saw his face
painted with what else but the traditional smirk that we have all come to know.

After being in Austin for three days we were ready to get back on the road and tackle the great western expanse which is Texas. Knowing we had nearly seven
hundred miles to cover we left quite early and made our way towards El Paso. Needless to say when one says that there is nothing in western Texas....believe
me there is NOTHING in western Texas. I was expecting to see expansive ranches with herds of cattle, but we didn't even see one animal the whole way. There
was amazing scenery, including a giant thunderstorm which we saw roll all the way across the horizon, but no signs of life. That is until we got to El
Paso. A city which appears out of the desolation and brings a new sense of what it means to be a foreigner in one's own country. At some points El Paso
is under 1/8 of a mile from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and the town shows it. The entire evening that we were in El Paso I don't think that I saw anyone who
wasn't hispanic. Everyone spoke spanish and we frequently saw cars driving with chihuahua liscense plates (the mexican state next to el paso). It was eye
opening to see especially with the immagration discussions which are going on, it is most definitely a pertinent issue.

The next day on our way towards Phoenix Arizona it again struck me how the issues of immigration will affect us. There were hundreds of boarder patrol cars
and agents which we saw just driving from Texas through New Mexico and into Arizona, and talking to many people it sounds as if these agencies are just beggining
to bulk up. It makes me really wonder how our money and time are being spent and what good is it really doing.

The night before we entered the Phoenix city limits was spent in a tent in the town of Casa Grande. Finding a place to camp was the easy part...the harder
part was trying to stay cool enough in the well over 100 degree heat of the Arizona desert. This problem was solved when, after pitching the tent, we found
our way into town and to a movie theatre to watch "The Da Vinci Code". The movie was good although not nearly as good as the book. It did peak my interest
again in thinking about the issues raised by the movie. This will possibly be another post in a little while so stay tuned.

After surviving the heat Phoenix was our next destination. Here we found amazing hospitality and a great opportunity to rest and bike. Nate and I were
graciously offered housing by Faye Beckler(my great aunt) and Jan Wyse. We were with them four nights and five days. I have to tell you that although the
stay was amazing we brought with us some EXTREMELY hot weather. Every day which we were in Phoenix the temp. topped well over 105. Therefore all the activities
which we did were done very early in the morning and late in the evening. Although we did a LOT in phoenix i will try to outline the highlights.
During our stay we were able to bike nearly 70 miles. Ate numerous meals of various styles, mexican, chinese, pizza, and home style mid-western cuisine!
one of the highlights of the stay was sunday night when we went with Faye and Jan to the Phoenix Symphony hall to see the last showing of a ballet.
The three section performance incorporated music from Igor Strevinski, Mozart, and Tchaicophski and incredible dancing. As well while in Phoenix we were able
to catch the first game of the baseball series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies. Of course I am biased but I was super stoked
that the Phillies made a come back from down 0-3 to win the game 4-3!! GO PHILS

So after traveling this far we have seen many diverse areas of the country already and met many people. It astonishes me how incredibly different the country
really is. From the bayou's of Louisiana to the expanse of Texas to the desert of Arizona. It is also amazing how similar people are from area to area.
Everywhere you go people have their lives and they like to have fun and enjoy themselves. I seemed to begin the trip feeling that when i journeyed out I would
find completely new ways of living but I haven't found that. Althouh I have been amazed to find that attitudes do change from place to place. Coming from
the north east it is easy to forget really how conjested and high paced an area I come from. People in the south and southwest really seem to live a much
more laid back life which is quite appealing to me.

At this exact moment I am riding up the mountains of northern Arizona destined this evening for the Grand Canyon. I will post again soon (I just purchased
Toshiba laptop so that should help with the continued updates). As well Check out the few new pictures that we posted (see the link to the left....
http://www.movingjourneypics.blogspot.com) sorry there aren't more but it takes quite a long time to post a lot of pics when the connection isn't great
so we will just have to wait till we get a great connection and upload a lot.

Ciao
drew

Picture Collection

2006-05-30T19:18:00.000-04:00

Hey All
another little change to the site.....the link i had posted a few days ago I added to the sidebar to the left under "picture collections"....check it out....more to come

Don't mess with Texas

2006-05-30T18:51:00.000-04:00

Hello from Austin, Tx! We've been here for just two days and I'm already feel like I know my way around the city. Its an eclectic mix of university sites, music venues, and capital buildings. It is quite a fun town. So far we have visited Barton Springs that flows a constant 68 degrees year round, bringing in hoards of grassy hill tanners and swimmers. The hostile that Drew and I are staying at hosted a memorial day bbq last night featuring fish fajitas, spinach enchiladas, lentils and the like. A meal nearly worth waiting until 10pm for (the cook took his time). The hosteling group is an intersting mix of American and International with at least England, Costa Rica, and Canada represented. Today was spent touring museums, the state capital building and some of the eclectic shops that make Austin so unique.
Sunday night was spent near Houston, Tx at Lake Houston State Park. What was a nice day with short stentes of showers turned into quite a stormy night. The new tent held up well, keeping us mostly dry. Everyone else in the park was gone when I ventured out in the morning for good reason; the first person i saw was the park ranger driving though to tell us a tornado warning had just been issued. Needless to say, it didn't take us long to pack up the tent.
Well, thats pretty much it for now. Hopefully we'll be able to share more pictures when we get to Phoenix. Thanks so much to those who have been writing and calling and keep it up. It is so nice to hear from all of you.

2006-05-28T12:12:00.000-04:00

Created another site for a collection of our pictures. Check it out by clicking this link www.movingjourneypics.blogspot.com

Cajun Hospitality

2006-05-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

A great deal has happneed since the last time that I posted although it was merely three short nights ago. Since camping and driving is not the most condusive for finding "good" internet hubs the posts may be covering numerous experiences.

Picking up and leaving May 25th from meridian was the start of a journey which has already been a learning experience. Everything I am exposed to from when I wake up till I go to sleep is new. My brain almost forgets to take everything in because there is so much out there to see. From the new experience with fire ants in Meridian to eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans the trip has been a real journey.

Since the spontaneous meeting with Chrissy (whom i had heard about from Brenda in PA), Meghan, Lindsay, and Rafa in Jackson we have headed south. Heading towards the Natchez Trace (a scenic road south) we were anticipating riding a good portion of it by bike, but our plans changed when the road turned out to have no shoulder and therefore didn't lend itself to biking. Instead we found a bike trail winding around a resevoir and went for a 28 mile ride. Although we weren't able to bike the "Trace" finding another place to bike didn't prove difficult which bodes well for finding more places to ride later in the trip hopefully.

Continuing south we broke in the new tent at Lake Lincoln State Park. Was really hot which isn't super condusive for camping but the scenery was nice and we got a good deal of sleep.

Yesterday we then made our way to the wonderfully colorful city of New Orleans. New Orleans is really a city of contrasts. You have the quiet shops, the huge casino, the giant houses, and the small houses abandoned after the storm. It seems that for every amazing site there is an equally sobering one. But, in the sobering parts of the city there lies hope. After eating beignets, walking the city, and listening to some amazing jazz we ran into a small new orleans music festival. the people who were at the festival were the "real" people of the city, locals who stuck through the tradgedy. With the backdrop of abandoned houses they sang and danced with a goal of raising money to one day bring the city back to what it can be. This hope was a lift for me especially after hearing of the earthquake in Indonesia. Destruction and rebuilding is a cycle which for many people in the world is reality. As a traveler it is hard to see this but i believe hope can prevail.

Leaving New Orleans I had the distinct honor of meeting Nate's friend Bubba who lives South of the city. I was treated to some real Cajun hospitality as well as some authentic Louisiana Shrimp Gumbo....which was incredible.

Today......moving on into Texas......

Mississippi Blues Pixs

2006-05-26T03:20:00.000-04:00

Mississippi Blues

2006-05-26T02:58:00.000-04:00

A short post tonight since it is 2:15 here in Mississippi. First stop on the tour across the country was in Jackson Mississippi. Leaving Nate's home in Meridian we headed west to meet a friend of a friend Chrissy (Brenda's friend). She led us to an amazing Blues club where we listened to some incredible southern blues.

2006-05-22T17:07:00.000-04:00

A great day of training biked from Harleysville PA to Elizabethtown PA. Plenty more long rides to come.

Itinerary

2006-05-22T16:41:00.000-04:00

Today is the last full day before embarking on a journey which will probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have felt an amazing response from the community leading up to this trip and I am very excited about what the next few months bring. Again won't have as much time as I would like to post a journal today because I have so many things to accomplish before leaving tomorrow. I did want to post the itinerary for the first portion of the trip which me and Nate will be taking. These dates are all tentative right now and a new update may come at any time but these are the places we will be staying for date given. If anyone will be in the areas listed near the times listed get in contact with myself or nate maust and we would love to connect. To contact me email at fjgody@gmail.com

Tuesday 5/23 - Wed. 5/24: Travel to Meridian Mississippi to meet Nate
Wed 5/24 - Thur. 5/25: Tour Meridian
Fri 5/26 - Sat. 5/27: Visit a friend of Nate's in New Orleans
Sun 5/28: Houston, Texas
Mon 5/29 - Wed 5/31: Austin, Texas
Thur. 6/1: El Paso, Texas
Friday 6/2 - Sat 6/17: Arizona, Nevada, Los Angeles
Sun 6/18 - Sun 7/9: Oregon
Mon 7/10 - Fri 8/25: Biking back across the country (for info and schedule check bikemovement)

changes

2006-05-18T14:08:00.000-04:00

just added a new link to the site here.....bikemovement.org can be accessed on the sidebar. this site details the trip which me and nate will be taking the second half of the summer. riding bike across the country will be a blast so you should all get involved. the details are on the website, but you can ride with us, keep in touch with us on the interactive discussion boards, or help donate money or supplies. well back to work....

beggining the journey

2006-05-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

well if there was a countdown it would be nearing the end. in less than five days i will be boarding a train bound for the great state of mississippi to meet up with nathan maust. from there we will begin what will be a seven or eight week road trip out west. i will soon post an updated itinerary for the entire trip. to be updated.... ciao