new update

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

Contact

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

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

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

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

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

Oregon

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

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

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

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

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

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