Success!!

Here is my last video: The Celebration....anyone who knows me well will know this is not just about a car, you will know that this shows a lot that I am passionate about. This shows a lot about me in a meaningful way. I really hope you will watch it. Thank you in advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApUwV6oPttI

Bye Bye Focus

Well the day arrived when the big truck drove into my neighborhood and they took it away. Yes, I am back to driving my mini-van. No more navigation and MyFordTouch. No more Handsfree phone conversations. It was really an adventure. The final donations/pledges as of today came to $5020.

The Adventure

Here is my first video about my Focus Global Test Drive Participation. Part 1: The Adventure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQydWOwJU0g

Almost to $5000

Tomorrow is the last day I am insured to drive the Focus. It will be picked up on Monday. I got a $50 pledge of a donation today, so I am now $59 short of $5,000! So close! Hopefully tomorrow I will reach $5,000. I have been working on my videos for Ford. I will be finishing and posting 2 more videos for them about the Focus and Love Without Boundaries. Stay tuned for those and for news of getting to $5,000.

New Chip-In

My other Chip-in has expired. I have currently raised $4891. I have a new Chip-in for last minute donations...thanks!

Only Three More Days

I want to thank everyone who has contributed in the last 6 weeks and helped me raise over $4700 for baby formula for babies who have special dietary or Preemie needs. 100% of this money is going to this fund. I know my original goal was $10,000, which was pretty lofty! But, I am hoping now to get it over the $5000 mark. In any case, what a success! Thank you for following me. If you want to donate even a small amount that is great. Every $5, $10, $20 or whatever, adds up and has brought me to where we are today. THANK YOU SO SO VERY MUCH. I am asking for one more post, one more push, one final Tell Everyone...Then we will send this Focus home.

I DID IT!! 10,000 MILES

We left began our trip home at about 1 p.m. on Saturday and drove and drove and drove. We arrived in Eugene Oregon, probably around midnight and stopped for the night. Above is a photo I took in northern California.

Here is another photo of Northern California. I wasn't able to take a photo of the odometer when it reached 11152, which was 10,000 miles. So, I got a photo of it this morning. I got the 10,000 miles finished not too many miles from home yesterday. I have also raised $4262. I still have the car until Friday and my goal 6 weeks ends Wednesday evening. I am still hoping that I might bring in some more donations since this is going 100% to the Preemie and Special Formula Fund for Love Without Boundaries.

Below is my final Capitol Picture, in Salem Oregon. I visited 6 capitols in the last 6 weeks: Salt Lake City, UT. Salem, Oregon. Olympia, Washington. Helena, Montana. Sacramento, California and Boise, Idaho.

Fun in California

Since I last posted, we have been staying in Merced, California with a friend I knew in high school and college. We have had a great time! Thursday, we drove to Monterey Bay and saw the beautiful area there. I am posting a few pictures of our time by the water.

"Hey, honey, have you EVER seen such a nice car as this 2012 FORD FOCUS in Moneterey Bay??????"

Yesterday, we drove to San Francisco and I got to go over the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. We took the kids to Chinatown there and had fun shopping and walking around and eating Chinese food. We also walked along Fisherman's Wharf a little. I am to the point where I need about 1,000 miles, so I chose to leave the Focus and go in my friend's car for this part of the trip, so I don't have any Focus photos in San Francisco.

Today we will leave for home, stopping in Eugene, Oregon tonight and on to home tomorrow. I have received a few more donations and am up to $3912. Thanks to all those who have donated in the last few days! I have the Focus for 6 more days.

What a beautiful day!

Yesterday afternoon, I visited Future Ford in Clovis, California. I didn't have my regular camera, so we got a video instead.

This afternoon, I visited Lithia Ford in Fresno. There was quite a bit of interest in the car and I'm hoping they will post it to their Facebook page and link to this blog! Thanks Folks!

I decided that today I would take a little side trip to King's Canyon National Forest and Sequoia National Forest and I saw some beautiful scenery and beautiful country. This photo was near one of the large trees in King's Canyon (but I had to walk to General Grant Sequoia, so I couldn't get the car with it.) But these are a nice size also. I drove on to see the General Sherman Sequoia tree which is the the largest (by mass, not height) in the world. I touched this tree! To the sides of this, you will see on the left, the Focus with some ORANGE trees...cool. To the right is just a beautiful view! I also noticed some nice wildflowers on my drive. I liked this shot of the Focus reflecting the flowers.

Saturday Event: Tri-Cities Washington

Last week, I did radio interviews and there were ads run on TV and radio about the upcoming event on Saturday, April 2. It was held at Legacy Ford from 10-3. Josh Dykes at Legacy arranged and paid for all the advertising to get the word out about this event. I took the Focus over to the dealership on Friday and left it there for detailing. (Yes that meant I had to drive the not-so-fun mini-van for a little while!)The next morning, I went over to the dealership and the car was sitting there outside the glass doors, shiny and ready to be driven in to the showroom floor. They moved it in. I set up some information about Love Without Boundaries that some of my kids had put together for me the night before and we were ready to go. We did get a few people during the day to show the Focus to and we raised $1240 in funds for LWB. $1000 is from Legacy Ford, so I really appreciated that. Josh did an amazing job of helping me by promoting this event and allowing me to do it in the first place. Thank you so much to him and all the others there that supported me in this. I really do hope it helps them also in the future when they get the 2012 Focuses in for sales.

After the event, I went home and we loaded up our bags and left just before 5 pm for our next trip. I took my 3 youngest girls and we drove to Klamath Falls, Oregon, arriving about 1 a.m. It was a long drive, but it got us around half way to our destination (Fresno). Above is a picture in Oregon at sunset and a picture in Oregon with windmills.

Fortunately, we had the day (Sunday) to rest before the next leg of the trip.

This photo was taken Monday with Mt. Shasta in California in the background. There was some beautiful country up there in Northern California.

Another Day on the Road: Monday

It has been an interesting weekend, actually an interesting week. I got back from Salt Lake over a week ago and then was dealing with illnesses from a cold to an allergic reaction. Since I wasn't driving much, and was sick, I didn't get much posted last week. BUT, this past weekend was very busy, and then today we left for another day of driving. I will try to go back and write about Saturday and the events, but for tonight, I will just say that I was in Klamath Falls, Oregon this morning and I visited the Harvest Ford Dealership. They kindly gave me a car wash and I wanted to thank them!! We drove on down into California and I stopped quickly and showed the Focus to some of the people at Corning Ford Dealership in Corning, CA. We stopped and got a picture of my 5th capitol building of this project...Capitol of California, in Sacramento. We continued on in our travels today to Fresno, where I am going to stay with one of my sisters for a couple days. As far as mileage goes, I am past 8300 now. After Saturday's events, we had $3640 raised and it is still the same as of tonight. Time is short now, with a little over a week until my goal date of April 13. Got to get some rest, but I'll try to catch up tomorrow.

Catching UP!!

The end of the trip was a bit of a challenge because I was sick on Sunday, which was the day we had a long day of driving ahead. Before leaving Salt Lake City, we went and got the capitol building. Hey, that is where I went to my JUNIOR PROM many years ago!

So, we made it home, but then I have been sick for 3 more days. Not many miles driven. Hopefully I will be rested up for the big trip coming up. (I've had respiratory cold stuff, intestinal stuff and Allergic reaction stuff...NOT FUN!)

However, we have increased our miles to 7235 now and our donations to $2385. Thanks Margo, Cherrie and Ken!!

Ford Featuring Me Today

http://www.facebook.com/fordfocus?sk=app_162456890471414

The Latest News: UTAH

Ok, I hope this turns out ok. Since I am not on my own computer, and not being extremely talented in the technology department, I was able to upload some photos, but don't know how to cut and paste without a real mouse. Pictured to the left is the car in Provo, with a part of the Rocky Mountains which end at the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys. I have lived in Sandy, Bountiful and Provo at times in my life and remember how beautiful the mountains are (in comparison with the small hills in Richland). The Rockies are gorgeous.
Yesterday morning, around 5:30 a.m. we left for Utah. We had quite a few stops, so short and some longer.


I took a picture just before going into Utah from Idaho with the brewing storm ahead. We got a bit of hail and snow. The most exciting part was the fog, and I had to slow down. But, then I realized that most of the fog was on my side of the windshield and things were quite a bit better after we put on the defrost. See how good I am at these kinds of things?

We stopped for a photo with the Great Salt Lake. I was too cheap to pay $10 to go into the park, so we went looking for a free spot for a photo. This took us off the paved road onto the dirt road with holes filled with dirty water, so we got in our little bit of FOCUS OFFROAD excitement.


I had to document the need for a carwash (above). Later, we did get a car wash, just before meeting up with Heather, who is another LWB volunteer who lives in the Salt Lake Valley. She has been helping me with donor communications in Nutrition and Orphanage Assistance. We met, and got a few photos. THANKS Heather!!

Below also is a photo of me at Larry H. Miller Ford in Provo Utah. It is the only Ford dealership I will stop at on this trip, though I have passed by several others, but just was too pressed for time to stop.

The Capitol City of the State of Washington

Well, today, I added to my Capitol City photos by posing in the car at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. I also was on the Olympic Peninsula in Shelton. I drove about 600 miles today and we are now a few miles above 5600. I visited 2 Ford Dealerships today also. One was Lakewood Ford and the other was in Olympia and was called 20th Century Ford.
I ate lunch at a Chinese buffet today in Shelton and just wanted to report what my fortune cookie fortune said: "You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously." WOW, I sure hope this one comes true! So, if you are that unexpected support for me in this project, I'll thank you in advance!! (My dollars are not increasing very fast. Again, I am still at $2235!) I still have a long way to go to get to $10,000 and I sure am spending a lot of time on this project! But, I am grateful that I have brought in another $2235 dollars for the formula, and either way, I plan to succeed at the 10,000 miles part of the goal!

5,0 0 0 MILES Reached!!!

I am officially halfway through with my goal of 10,000 miles. This odomoeter photo shows 5 miles past 5,000 miles. Today was the 3 week mark since I got the Focus. Three weeks to go, 4,995 miles to go!

I am hoping that donations will pick up to help me get closer to my goal of $10,000. We are still at $2235. Any amount would be greatly appreciated!

I have also posted a photo I took this evening while I was out. It is near a part of the Columbia River in Richland.

We are getting there!

I've been back from my latest trip for 3 days, but still managed to get in a little driving. I am now at 4,867 miles. We are definitely getting there. I did get a nice picture this evening just before getting to Richland on my way back from Kennewick. It was taken before sunset. Another thing I've done a lot more of lately is get car washes, since I'm supposed to be keeping it nice and clean and shiny! So, I documented that for you all here.

Please consider helping me get closer to my $10,000 goal. We are still at $2235.

Moving Past 4,000!!!!

Last night when I got back from Idaho, it just wasn't on the list of things to do before I got some sleep! I got up this morning and drove back down the road about 2 hours and after a new wash and shine up, showed it to the very interested sales staff a Legacy Ford here in LaGrande, OR.The general manager here, Greg, told me that they would donate $1.00 per mile from Richland to LaGrande for me. ($260) Thank you so much Legacy Ford of LaGrande!

I am updating sitting here at someone's desk. They really liked seeing the car...like young kids at Christmas! In a while, I will head back home. TOTAL donations: $2235

When I got home last night, I was at 4318 MILES!!! Now, going backwards from last night (Friday). We got home about 9:30 p.m. We had just driven through a rainstorm, so my car was quite wet, as it was still raining at my house. So, I put the car in the garage and vacuumed and shined it up, hoping that when I left in the morning to go back the way I'd just come to LaGrande, over the pass, that it would not be wet, snowy, dirty, or raining. Risk I took but didn't happen. Still had to re-wash this morning. This last photo was taken at Meridian Ford yesterday in Meridan, Idaho, which is near Boise. This dealership was very helpful to Deb Mann when she was trying to get some photos of herself with a Ford Focus for one of my upcoming videos. This is family owned and operated and I am pictured here with one of the guys whose family owns and operates it, Patrick Chetwood.

As I may have indicated a couple days ago, I enjoy seeing capitol buildings. And since I was in Boise, we found this building and took a picture here and started a new mission for me as I drive this car around, to add the capitol buildings I get to. I had just met Deb Mann at her place of employment. This was the first time we met and she gave me the banner she had made that was in her photos with the Focus that will be shown in my last video I make. It was great to meet Deb. THANKS for your help and support Deb!

Previous to meeting her, I picked up my daughter and her friend in Gooding, Idaho and they kept me company for the rest of the day's trip. I told my daughter's friend Mai, about my project and in Boise she handed me a check for $100...thank you so much Mai. This got me to my current amount of donations ($1975). We are closing in on $2000.

This is a very good friend of mine that I met up with in Blackfoot, Idaho near the start of my day's journey. We ate breakfast at McDonald's and had a nice little visit! Great to see you, Loralee!

After breakfast, I visited 20th Century Ford in Blackfoot, Idaho and Courtesy Ford in Pocatello, Idaho.
More showing off the car! Good luck to them all in their work to sell these Focus 2012's

In the morning, in Idaho Falls, at my sister's house, I took a picture of her son Eli. Eli needs an 8 hour project for service for a merit badge. He is going to do work for him mom and she donated $100 to my project. THANKS so much Eli and Carol and Mark. This brought me up to $1875.