Clarion Hotel Tucson Airport

We will post trip information here as soon as it starts. For 2010, we will continue planning the project and look for Sponsors that are willing to invest and support the Project. All indications in that regard is ...

We got up at 4:45am to leave for the airport. I think I only slept 4 hours. I was tired on the flight to Denver. I then had a 2 1/2 hour layover that was long.

I am so grateful to have had this oppurtunity to share my passion for donation. Hopefully, this will be a start to other bike trips to ...

... an outdoor living space to entertain. I cannot describe this beautiful home. The Bell family is so wonderful- they are warm, real and incredibly generous to let us enjoy their home. We had chili, corn bread, wine, desserts. etc. I am not sure if I liked the food or company more. It was a perfect ending to the day. The Bells had family and friends over to talk and meet the "Lizzie Bell bike team" It was a blast.

we left there pretty late....too much fun for us!

... Un Momento--a popular lunch place for locals.
Having been ignored and neglected by the city may have actually worked in it's favor, however. Too far from central Tucson for walk-bys, it's laid there deteriorating until folks started waking up to it's historical significance and simply cool possibilities. Okay, a chunk of it got bulldozed to make room for a civic center, but there's still a lot left to love.
It's ...

... which means she has an illness in which her body does not make red cells. So, she requires blood transfusions every 2-3 weeks. we are trying to make as many people aware that people have to donate blood so she can live. She now needs a bone marrow transplant- so we are informing others about how/why to sign up to be a marrow donor.

we left at noon to go to a little( I mean little) authentic Tucson Mexican restaurant. The owners ...

... whose company was sponsoring a particular charity. There are 17 charities that are benefitting from this bike trip. There were riders from Japan in attendance. The dinner was a start to our adventure. We picked our "rider packets" which had our time chip, number, general info about this bike race. We( four riders for Lizzie Bell) all laughed because we are not here to race but to have an adventure.

We then left to rest for the night.

... and not on the banks of a small stream?
We learned why as we investigated further.
Great care has been taken to restore, repair and revive San Xavier. Begun in 1783, it's been hit by lightening, shaken by earthquakes, and nearly ruined by water (go figure).
Surrounding missions have been deserted and drifted off into the desert, but San Xavier is a vibrant, working church with a dedicated ...

... pointless than planning and packing. Because I'm tired of trying to pretend I'm so damn enlightened, here's the truth: I've been lusting for a fight for a long, long time, and Mexico is going to give it to me. Something about traveling feeds my soul, if for no other reason than the excuse to act stupid, stand out, and be dirty. I'm going to enjoy having the vocabulary of a two-year old and being (or pretending to be) culturally ignorant. I want ...

... sure we weren't planning to blow up the dam. The dam was impressive even at night and Paul told me that we would stop on the way back and take photos by daylight. We pulled into the house of another Paul in northern Las Vegas after making a few calls for directions. We unloaded all of the bikes save the '59 Triumph that was going to Brian on the other side of town. Paul was graciously going to meet up with the guy from Utah that was taking the Triumph chopper and the Honda ...

... morning Dan went along with Mandy to watch Jack play soccer (Mandy is very busy at weekends during soccer tournaments!). I got up and showered. When Dan got back we played some pool and during the afternoon managed to sort out our final arrangements from Fiji to New Zealand. We sat by the pool in the sunshine and Jack made us a lovely Strawberry smoothie (one of his specialities!). As it went dark and after tea we sat outside in the back garden looking over the mountains in the ...