48 Across the 48 Day 1 Journal

Here’s where you can give to The Carolyn Held Memorial Fund

Your contribution is 100% tax deductible.

You can also support me directly:  If you have extra to share, I welcome you to contribute to my food, camping and equipment expenses. These donations are not tax deductible. However, they do help offset the cost of being on the road for 48 days, working to raise funds for the Carolyn A Held Memorial Fund.

 

Checks or Money orders can be made payable to: George Maurer, 111B Island Avenue West, Minneapolis, MN 55401

Paypal donations, please use account:  gmjazz@yahoo.com

Day 1 JournalI got my start off at 0 feet sea level at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle at 8:15am this morning, after a restless last night of final preparation.  It was a cool day, and Pat Held saw me off.  I was excited to try out the new bike, and to see if all the planning I had done, both for the bike as well as for the route, would go smoothly.  For the most part, it did!

 

 

I also had a special surprise from fellow Badger Boys State counselor, Eric Weiss, who is a lawyer in the Seattle area, so that made me feel really special.  Eric made a contribution to my effort today, too, so “thank you!”, Eric!

“We come here from miles around…” goes the Badger Boys State song, and Eric travels from Seattle to Ripon, WI every summer to give a week of his life for Badger Boys State.  Its no wonder to me he showed up today, and his enthusiasm, as well as all of you who are supporting this benefit ride in Carolyn’s name, is encouraging to me.

 A big goal of mine on this ride is to find opportunities, when they make sense and when they arise, to get off the medians of roads and highways, and to ride as many of the numerous “Rails to trails” as I can along the way.  I had the chance to ride about 4 different systems today, and I saw a lot of great things along the way.  Below are a few images from the ride.

I’m ready for bed!