We Did It!!

WE JUST ORDERED OUR TERRATRIKES!!!
Thank you to all who have helped us reach this amazing goal!
Our trikes should be here in about 10 days so stay tuned!

A Chilly Wet Walk at Jordan Lake

This is what a tree-hugger getting a hug from a tree looks like.  :)

While she eats a Sees sucker!

Jen's favorite hat.  It rolls up into a tiny ball she can put in her pocket.  :)

Those cedar limbs behind her will become two of Ken's gorgeous walking sticks.

The End of the Trail

We had to finally turn around and go back when we reached this part of the trail.  See the little arrow on the right directing us to the left?  It's pointing to where the trail used to be.

You can kind of see the boardwalk but most of it is under water.  The lake is unusually high right now.

San-Lee in December

Hmmm... I might need to get Ken to work on a few different poses...

This is a little outdoor church at San Lee.  When the light shines behind the cross it is really something.  I tried to catch it here with the camera but it sure doesn't do it justice.  This place is so peaceful.

This is an abandoned bee hive - um, I mean wasp hive (thanks dad) that we spotted high in a tree hanging out over the lake.  It was HUGE and we were grateful it was empty!  From far away I thought it was an owl.  So we crept up on it.  lol  Boy did we feel silly.

This is FRESH work done by a busy beaver and the wet stuff you can see on the tree is it's slobber!  We actually looked for the beaver after we saw this because he couldn't have been far away!

Rescued Hawks

This is a pair of Harris Hawks currently being cared for at the SanLee Park Wildlife Rehab Center.  There are just a few birds there and we usually stop to say hello to them when we're hiking.  Sad but beautiful.

Winter in NC

On an overcast and foggy day my light blue coat and red gloves made for some strong contrast.  People could see me coming from miles away!

Does this shadow make me look fat?  Yes, it sure does.  But that's okay.  Ken's shadow is kissing my shadow and that is what's important.  Even our shadows love each other! 

The leaf was gone, but you could tell it had been there.

North Carolina has LOTS of woodpeckers.  This one is a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.  Bad name for such a beautiful bird.  Almost sounds like an insult.  lol  This pic was taken from the truck.  More than once we have seen this bird when we pull in to park and it doesn't fly away.

You may recognize these places - I've taken pictures here before, only I took them during the fall season when the park was lush and full of beautiful colors.  It sure looks different and we still walk here every morning.  It is easier to see the hawks now and we usually see the pair of them every day.  They even let us get close.  It's pretty powerful to us getting to see them so often and so closely.

Now That's Macro!

This is a picture of an almond. I took this picture because I wanted to show you just how AMAZING our new camera is!  (You can click on it to really see what I mean.)  There will be more pictures up shortly.  Of things other than almonds.  lol  It's so great to have a camera again!  We LOVE it!

Wish List

We are getting closer and closer to our April 1st departure date and there is much to be done!  If you would like to contribute to our cause by donating some items that we still need, please visit our Squidoo lens to see our wish list.  There is a link to the lens on the upper right corner of this blog.  Once you get there, scroll all the way to the bottom.

Thank You!!

And a special Thanks to those of you who have already contributed.  Your support is invaluable to us and we really, really appreciate you!!!

THANK YOU SANTA!!!!!

Santa wrote to us and told us we are getting a new camera!
We love you Santa!
Thank you so much!

Dear Santa,

If you are out there and reading this...  Can you please get us a new camera?  We accidently washed ours in the backpack and now we can't take any pictures to put on the blog. 

Thanks Santa,
  Ken and Jen

P.S.  We've been very good.

Raven Rock

After all the rain we've had lately the creeks and the Cape Fear River were really full and moving fast.  We didn't think we'd see many people out there today since it was still muddy but there were alot of hikers, campers, and boy scouts.  We hiked about 5 miles and found some really great uncharted territory which is what you see in some of today's pictures.  Now we know why they call it Raven Rock!  lol

Ken and Jen and Simon

We were having fun.  Can you tell?  LOL

Just Another Walk in the Park

We saw some really cool things on today's walk, including a rare sighting of a hawk up close! 

Jen stacking up the rocks.  We collected some great ones today too for Ken to make Rune stones with.

A rare (and goofy) picture of us together!  Guess who finally figured out the camera has a timer.  LOL

The colors are really incredible right now especially after all that rain we had over the last few days.

Donate Life

If you've made your decision and are ready to donate your organs, then it's time to register.  To do this just click on the DonateLife link to the right, select your state from the drop-down menu and follow the instructions.  It is very simple and takes only moments, but this one act can do so much.  Don't live with regret later, register today!

Squidoo

Hey everyone!  We've just created a new Squidoo Lens all about the Just Be-Causes Trike Tour!!  Check it out at:  JustBeCauses

No Dogs Allowed!

 

We take Simon to San Lee to go for long walks because he can't go with us to Kiwanis.  This sign is on the ground at the trail heads there.

And this is what Simon thinks of that!

Trees

On an otherwise dead tree, this single remaining leaf really caught my eye.  It was sooo bright, it looked as though it was on fire!

We aren't sure what kind of tree this is, but it has prompted us to do some studying up on the trees in our area.  We feel like we should know these kinds of things since we love nature so much.  We walked about 5 miles today and gatherered a few special branches which Ken will turn into beautiful walking sticks.

Jen at San Lee

Today's walk was wonderful with all the fall colors and the crisp air.

TerraTrike Fund

As some of you may have seen we have changed our goal amount of $1500 to $2000. We were going to try and buy the TerraTrike Path 8 which is a great all around trike for town and trails. This is a photo of that Trike. I called and was going to go ahead and purchase this particular trike but after talking with Wayne Oom we changed our minds.  Wayne said he wanted our trip to be a complete success with the minium amount of problems and he and his team has offered us a new deal that follows: We will be able to purchase 2 TerraTrike Tours At the price of one Cruiser. This is a fantastic deal. The Tour TerraTrike is much more suited for what we are going to be doing especially when we hit hit the mountain ranges through Virginia and Colorado. (Wayne said we would really be thanking them for this then) and I must agree with him. Though it seems it will take a bit longer to purchase the trikes but I believe it is the best way to ensure our success.  We have made another change in plans as well.  Instead of getting a ride to Virginia and starting there we will instead be leaving directly from home.  This does not affect the start date of the trip, but it will make our trip right at 7000 miles!  Wow! We wanna thank everyone for their support and help in this and thanks so much for your patience and kindness. I have also listed a pic of the Terra trike Tour for you all to see. Peace be with you all.

IZZI

Hey folks, I would like to talk a little about "Izzi." Jen and I came up with this name for our Higher Power a little under a year ago on our first bike trail where we had our first experience together in the wonder of God in nature. We at that time called God "The Great Is." We thought this an appropriate name for God because all that we experience has the essence of God within it. We began to notice Izzi working more and more in our lives - to the point where we changed very much and grew very stable in our spiritual nature. Today we see Izzi in most all things we do daily and especially in nature.
The reason I am speaking of this today is because I have really seen Izzi moving powerfully in the endeavour we are undertaking involving our trip across country. I remember when this was just a seed in our mind... and how Izzi planted that seed when we were on that bike trail last year.  At times I wondered if we were going down the right path with this trip and Izzi just kept showing us over and over again that we were. The confirmations were uncanny, actually, and undeniable. I thought perhaps because we would be so needy in the task that it was not the right thing for us to do...but I see now how wrong that thinking was. Because of our needs we reached out to people and found that we had support in what we were doing.  In fact, if Jen and I had the money to just buy the TerraTrikes we might not have contacted any of the wonderful people who are now supporting us. Now we have developed a network of people that are working together with us to ensure our success. I see Izzi working through these people and we are seeing our endeavour growing larger and larger and we haven't even started the trip yet!
I suspect that we will be able to touch a lot of people on our tour not only through meeting them face to face on the road but also by blogging and through feeds to other websites such as Donate Life and TerraTrike. We have gone from nothing to being at the start of something really great!  It is like throughout our whole lives we have come to this one thing that we were meant to do and have been practicing for all this time. So we move on in our endeavour and look forward to what Izzi has in store for us on our trip... I am sure it will hold many blessings and a lot of healing, for not only us but for those around us and those that are interested enough to follow along as we go. May Izzi bless you all,  Ken (and Jen)    

Happy Hallowe'en!

Ken's spider turned out really good!  We got a carving kit and did this ourselves with the little saws.  It was really fun since neither of us had done this in years and years.

Mine turned out a little goofy looking, but I like that about him.  He looks like he is laughing.  :)

Carving Punkins

Before.

After.

Ken's Scary Spider!

Jen's Goofy Pumpkin.

Jen Wins Second Match!

Here's Jen playing her second league match yesterday against Beth.  They played at a great little public court in Raleigh even though all day it had threatened to rain. 

This is Beth.

Rained Out

When we got to the courts in Apex yesterday afternoon it wasn't raining.  But by the time Ken's opponent arrived, so had the rain.  This was taken right before the downpour that prevented Ken's first ever league tennis match.  We are going back today at 6:00 to try again.

Please Watch This

Don't Miss This Video - Wow

The Tour Route

As many of you know by now, April 1, 2010 will be the start of The Just Be-Causes TerraTrike Tour.  Many of you have inquired about our route, so I am posting the map so you can see exactly where we will be heading.  Once we get on the road there will be regular updates to our location and daily blog entries as well so please keep coming back to check this site! 

Our starting point will be in VA where we will begin the TransAmerica Trail portion of the trip.  This trail ends in OR and from there we will take the Pacific Coast Trail to San Francisco.  Then we will take the Western Express Trail back into Denver.  From there we will take a train back home to NC. 

Total Trike Miles:  6675   

Jen Wins First Match!

Jen and I recently joined the Peach Tennis League put on by Prince. Today was Jen's first match and it was an interesting and fun day. The match was in Cary....that is about 36 miles away from where we live. So this morning we got ready to go and packed all the Frescas to take with us....and headed off to Cary. Of course Jen was kinda nervous since this was her first match and she had not played in a league since she was a teenager. I, of course assumed the role of reassuring her that everything would be great...  Well that got harder to do when we got to the tennis courts and realized we'd forgotten the racquets. Hmmm.... So we figured they would have loaners in the Tennis Center....and they did... so we tried to get a court but two of our credit cards would not work there.... kinda embarrassing....  What a start... Jen was getting so upset and I was running out of ways to convince her that it was going to be ok.  Not sure what we were going to do, Jen was on the verge of tears when the phone rang.  It was her opponent Lisa, and boy did she save the day. She said she had an extra tennis racquet, a can of balls, and a place to play for free....wow....she was so very understanding. When we met her at the tennis courts she put Jen completely at ease and Jen played a wonderful match without being so upset about the earlier events.....thanks so much Lisa!  Below are a few pics from todays event.  Oh yeah.... this is the first time I could really watch Jen move on the court while not worrying about watching the ball....I realize why I lose all the time.      ~Ken

This is Lisa. 

Jen's forehand.