We're back!
More later...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Newport, OR
I had a fun time with Trevor's family, running on the beach and listening to hours of stories. Trevor and I are with our bicycles again (if you ever ship something with Greyhound you must watch your luggage very carefully!) and preparing to head out from Newport tomorrow! The wind will be in our faces, but we're excited about this last short stretch of our journey.
Thank you for your love and prayers,
William and Trevor
Thank you for your love and prayers,
William and Trevor
Thursday, June 19, 2008
We'll be home sooner than previously planned!
That's right, rather than returning from Oregon to bicycle up the coast from San Francisco, we've decided to bike up from Newport, which should have us home around the first of July! We're excited.
In considering our options for moving forward, neither Trevor nor I wanted to "cop-out" or miss out on some great last part of the adventure that God has in store for us. That said, we didn't want to bike 1,000mi into the kind of headwinds that there are right now blowing down the coast, and seeing as how we're both going up to Newport anyway...
So, that's that. We'll be biking a mere 300mi from Newport to Seattle, and then home!
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Love,
William and Trevor
In considering our options for moving forward, neither Trevor nor I wanted to "cop-out" or miss out on some great last part of the adventure that God has in store for us. That said, we didn't want to bike 1,000mi into the kind of headwinds that there are right now blowing down the coast, and seeing as how we're both going up to Newport anyway...
So, that's that. We'll be biking a mere 300mi from Newport to Seattle, and then home!
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Love,
William and Trevor
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Pictures!
Thank you for welcoming us back! Trevor and I are apart at the moment, he spending some time with his girlfriend, and me with my father. I don't know if I'm adjusting to being back, but I haven't gone entirely crazy yet.
Without further ado, here are the pictures:
I got to do some work with my Dad, which was wonderful, but when I went to deposit the check I found I'd kind of forgotten how to do so. It was nothing serious, but while I knew I wasn't supposed to stick the bare check in the machine, I couldn't quite remember what I was supposed to do with it until I looked over at the man next to me and saw him with an envelope. Eureka!
Love,
William and Trevor
Without further ado, here are the pictures:
 |
| From the High Plains to San Francisco |
I got to do some work with my Dad, which was wonderful, but when I went to deposit the check I found I'd kind of forgotten how to do so. It was nothing serious, but while I knew I wasn't supposed to stick the bare check in the machine, I couldn't quite remember what I was supposed to do with it until I looked over at the man next to me and saw him with an envelope. Eureka!
Love,
William and Trevor
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
And I'm proud to be in America, where I can flush my toilet-paper...
Of course, we haven't actually left the Americas, but so goes the song...
Seriously, though, we're back and happy. The three of us (we met Fernando at the airport) managed to get to the gate with plenty of time to get on the plane, and yet missed our flight. We had, perhaps, too much time. Rather than get on the plane and wait, we went to goof off and spend the last of our Chilean money. Goofing off was so successful, however, that, while we did return to the gate before the moment of departure, it was less than a minute before, and the airplane door was already closed.
So, we missed that flight. The nice Delta folks were generous and booked us on another airline on a flight that would have us arriving in SF twenty minutes earlier than we would have had we not missed the flight. So, despite our efforts, we got home on time.
And now we're here! Megan (Trev's girlfriend) and Gunnar (his ex-roomate) are here and we're enjoying the city with them and my Dad.
Oh, it's so strange and familiar and different and good to be back. I think it'll all work out...:)
We really are doing well and I am indeed grateful to have adventured as we have. And, it's not quite over yet!
Love,
William and Trevor
Seriously, though, we're back and happy. The three of us (we met Fernando at the airport) managed to get to the gate with plenty of time to get on the plane, and yet missed our flight. We had, perhaps, too much time. Rather than get on the plane and wait, we went to goof off and spend the last of our Chilean money. Goofing off was so successful, however, that, while we did return to the gate before the moment of departure, it was less than a minute before, and the airplane door was already closed.
So, we missed that flight. The nice Delta folks were generous and booked us on another airline on a flight that would have us arriving in SF twenty minutes earlier than we would have had we not missed the flight. So, despite our efforts, we got home on time.
And now we're here! Megan (Trev's girlfriend) and Gunnar (his ex-roomate) are here and we're enjoying the city with them and my Dad.
Oh, it's so strange and familiar and different and good to be back. I think it'll all work out...:)
We really are doing well and I am indeed grateful to have adventured as we have. And, it's not quite over yet!
Love,
William and Trevor
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Packing
Trevor and I are in Santiago again, ready to fly home. We did a lot of work preparing and packaging our bicycles to make them fit within the airline size restrictions. We felt rather good about ourselves until we got to the bus Terminal in Arica.
As Arica is a frontier city, we had to pass through customs again before getting on the bus to Santiago. While offering our bags for inspection, the agent asked us if our oddly shaped bags were bicycles, I replied that they´re luggage. "Are they bicycles?" He asks again. Yes, I reluctantly reply. 5,000 pesos ($12) each. What? Why?
"Bicycles are cargo, the busses don´t transport cargo, they transport luggage, luggage is clothing."
I was feeling a little indignant there. There were people who are checking through huge bags packed full of who-knows-what, bags much larger and heavier than our bicycle packages.
I went back and forth with the customs man a couple of times, pointing out the small size of the bags in relation to others, and each time he countered with, "Luggage is clothing, these are cargo!" He finally threatened that, should we wish it, the bicycles could be sent through a seperate company that could get the bicycles to Santiago three days after our flight and, that said company would happily charge us twice as much per bicycle. That, he advised, would be the proper channel for cargo.
I shut up for about 5 seconds, aware that arriving on time with our bicycles was an incredibly valuable aspect of our journey, but after those five seconds, I burst a little. As the man was walking away, I cried with all my marginalized-foreigner fury, "This is madness!" Without a pause he cried back, "This is Chile!"
We paid the 10,000 pesos for both bikes and are happy to be in Chile. I did tell Trevor that I want to get to the airport with plenty of time for ranting if they try to charge us extra for our bicycles simply because they´re bicycles and not because of their size or weight or anything of that sort.
I still feel a bit of what seems to be righteous indignation over the whole matter...perhaps I need to spend some time talking with God about it.
Our plans on returning to the states do not involve bicycling north right away. We´ll be met at the airport by my Dad and some friends and enjoy a couple of days in San Francisco. From there, Trev will be heading up to Newport, OR with Megan for a family reunion on the 22nd of June. I´ll stay in SF and spend Father´s Day with my Dad for the first time in several years, possibly doing a little work with him while there, and then join Trev and his family in Newport for a couple of days. After the reunion, Trev and I will return to SF to begin the journey back up the coast and expect to arrive around the third week of July.
Soon we´ll be back in our home country. Soon, Trevor and I will spend more time apart than we have in almost 8 months. As difficult as it has been at times, spending so much time together, I will most definitely miss it. We´ve gotten into eachother´s lives in such a good way and I´m a little sad when I think about living with so much distance between us. We are planning to get a place together after Trev gets back from India (did you not know he´s going to India for a couple of weeks in September?).
Anyway, off we go! Vroooooooooooom!
Will and Trev
As Arica is a frontier city, we had to pass through customs again before getting on the bus to Santiago. While offering our bags for inspection, the agent asked us if our oddly shaped bags were bicycles, I replied that they´re luggage. "Are they bicycles?" He asks again. Yes, I reluctantly reply. 5,000 pesos ($12) each. What? Why?
"Bicycles are cargo, the busses don´t transport cargo, they transport luggage, luggage is clothing."
I was feeling a little indignant there. There were people who are checking through huge bags packed full of who-knows-what, bags much larger and heavier than our bicycle packages.
I went back and forth with the customs man a couple of times, pointing out the small size of the bags in relation to others, and each time he countered with, "Luggage is clothing, these are cargo!" He finally threatened that, should we wish it, the bicycles could be sent through a seperate company that could get the bicycles to Santiago three days after our flight and, that said company would happily charge us twice as much per bicycle. That, he advised, would be the proper channel for cargo.
I shut up for about 5 seconds, aware that arriving on time with our bicycles was an incredibly valuable aspect of our journey, but after those five seconds, I burst a little. As the man was walking away, I cried with all my marginalized-foreigner fury, "This is madness!" Without a pause he cried back, "This is Chile!"
We paid the 10,000 pesos for both bikes and are happy to be in Chile. I did tell Trevor that I want to get to the airport with plenty of time for ranting if they try to charge us extra for our bicycles simply because they´re bicycles and not because of their size or weight or anything of that sort.
I still feel a bit of what seems to be righteous indignation over the whole matter...perhaps I need to spend some time talking with God about it.
Our plans on returning to the states do not involve bicycling north right away. We´ll be met at the airport by my Dad and some friends and enjoy a couple of days in San Francisco. From there, Trev will be heading up to Newport, OR with Megan for a family reunion on the 22nd of June. I´ll stay in SF and spend Father´s Day with my Dad for the first time in several years, possibly doing a little work with him while there, and then join Trev and his family in Newport for a couple of days. After the reunion, Trev and I will return to SF to begin the journey back up the coast and expect to arrive around the third week of July.
Soon we´ll be back in our home country. Soon, Trevor and I will spend more time apart than we have in almost 8 months. As difficult as it has been at times, spending so much time together, I will most definitely miss it. We´ve gotten into eachother´s lives in such a good way and I´m a little sad when I think about living with so much distance between us. We are planning to get a place together after Trev gets back from India (did you not know he´s going to India for a couple of weeks in September?).
Anyway, off we go! Vroooooooooooom!
Will and Trev
Friday, June 6, 2008
Safe at Sea Level
We have made it back to sea level and are delighted. The air no longer attempts to suck the very life from my hands after sunset and I don´t get light headed anymore after bending over.
The last stretch of our bicycle journey in South America was beautiful and difficult, and now we´ve a 31hr bus-ride to return to Santiago and catch a plane to the US.
We are excited for all that is to come on our return.
Thank you all for your support, love, and prayers,
William and Trevor
The last stretch of our bicycle journey in South America was beautiful and difficult, and now we´ve a 31hr bus-ride to return to Santiago and catch a plane to the US.
We are excited for all that is to come on our return.
Thank you all for your support, love, and prayers,
William and Trevor
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