And so it begins...

We first arrived in Seattle on Friday, June 27.  We had some time to explore the sites- so we drove by the Space Needle, camped out in lovely Dash Point State Park, and saw where Dave used to be docked when he was with NOAA for a summer job doing bathometric surveys.  Then the next morning we went to the largest, most grand and awesome REI.  It was amazing.

Larry (Dave's dad and fellow cyclist- woohoo) was busy trying to tie up some business, but we were able to drag him out of his hotel "office" to catch some bites to eat now and then.

And then...we drove to the University of Washington on Saturday to register for the SEA TO SEA TOUR!  Ack!  Here's a photo of all of us Meyer cyclists- you can kind of see the tops of our bags- 100 pounds worth just between Dave and I.  You should have seen us lugging these puppies around the airport...

So, here we are in Seattle.  It's so beautiful here at the University of Washington that we're picking out degrees to pursue our Masters in.  We hear from fellow cyclists though that we shouldn't get too settled in right here yet because there are amazing places to still to see this summer.

Everyone's a little jittery about our first day out cycling (tomorrow, gulp), but it's just a gentle 50 mile day starting with a tire dipping ceremony- so it should, relatively speaking, be an easier day.  We've gone through cyclist training, posed for group shots with the other 125 folks who are doing the entire coast-to-coast journey, had an awesome commencement ceremony courtesy of some local churches, and done a load of laundry.  So, here we go I guess.  It's all feeling very surreal.  I doubt sleep is going to come too quickly or easily tonight.

Here's a shot of some of the group in front of the semi truck that will be functioning as our mobile kitchen for the summer.  Very impressive.  ->

(and yes, that is the back of Dave's head in the front right)

Update on the Stats

We have less than three weeks before we vacate our apartment, say goodbye to our places of business (Dave will be back to start in September), and depart for the epic adventure that is the Sea to Sea Tour 2008.  Oh my goodness.  

It's a busy time.  Dave is on the road a lot with work.  And we're trying to squeak in some good bike rides before the really big one catches up to us.  We biked 45 and 50 miles over the Memorial Day weekend.  And I've biked to work once since...  We're trying, we really are.  Our odometers are reading upwards of 1700 since we began training for the summer.  

And our fundraising numbers are up to about $5,500 each.  

We're visiting a CRC church in Scottsdale this Sunday to share the DVD about the Tour and talk to the congregation about our own involvement with the group.  We've had amazingly warm receptions at all the churches we've visited.  We're more excited than nervous to make these trips- even though public speaking does not top the list of our favorite things to do.  We love how excited people are for the trip, the cause, and our opportunity to participate.  It's a tremendous blessing to be so supported.

We should be keeping this blog up-to-date this summer.  The crew is attaching some sort of satellite receiver to one of the SAG wagons for internet purposes, I believe.  We'll be certain to take lots of photos.

Looking forward to see so many of you friends and family members along the way!

Wish us luck!  Pray for us!  Don't tell us to "break a leg!"