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.

A Great Driving Day

Well, this was a very busy driving day. After we did the newspaper route this morning, I left Richland around 6 a.m. The first picture I took was just before sunrise, before I got to Spokane, Washington. I drove up through Spokane and Coeur d' alene and then went over some mountain passes. Had some snow, but not too bad and still made good time.

I drove till I got to Missoula, Montana, where I stopped and got gas, had a car wash and went to visit the Bitteroot Ford Dealership. I met the manager there and his name is Hal Woods.

Then I drove to Helena, Montana, which is the capital of Montana. Though I have been to Montana before, I had never been to Helena. I actually do like seeing Capitol Buildings, so I took a couple pictures of the one there.

While I was in Helena, I had an interview with a report from KXLH and it was to run on the 10:00 news tonight. I got to tell a lot about why I was doing this. I did this at the Ford Dealership there n Helena. I was in Helena for about an hour. Then I drove on to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Today I drove over 700 miles, so I am above 3700 miles now! Donations are still at $1775. Miles are going up faster than dollars....

My news story in Helena is at : http://www.kxlh.com/player/?video_id=7128

Have you every been to Montana? IT is beautiful!! I enjoyed some of the beautiful scenery and listening to 70's and 80's music for a while. Dates me, I know.

Thanks for the welcome and the car wash!!

We got up and left for Seattle around 7 a.m. (after the paper route of course!) We had an appointment for one of our daughters there at 11, but by 1:00 we were done and went out to lunch. Then, we drove over to Evergreen Ford in Issaquah, WA. Though it wasn't the first time most of them had seen a 2012 Focus, they were still pretty interested in seeing it again. They offered us a free car wash, which was definitely needed after having driven over Snowqualmie Pass in the weather. (Unfortunately it only stayed that clean for a short time since we had to go back over the pass with the wet roads again! But, it was pretty for a little while, and for long enough to get a couple pictures.)

Statistics: One new donation today: THANK you Laurie!
TOTAL: $1775 Any amount helps!!!

Miles driven : 2, 967 TOMORROW we will pass 3,000


Andrew was the one who washed the car. He liked the car and was happy to wash it for me! The dealership and the people were quite nice and I hope they have a lot of success with the new Focus when they get them.

Focus on the Legacy

I am happy to report that tonight when I pulled into my driveway for the night, I was at 2500 miles. That is 1/4 of the way finished. Tomorrow will make 2 weeks since I got the car. That means 4 more weeks to do 3/4 of the driving! Actually the next four days I will be gone quite a lot. Tomorrow: Seattle Thanks to Beth for the donation to bring us to $1755!



Do you see this very small Nanchuan Nutrition Program baby? So small and with so much potential. Because this baby is in this orphanage, where we send formula regularly, this baby has the opportunity have a high quality formula and hopefully will grow and have the opportunity to be adopted and have a family. That is the LEGACY that Love Without Boundaries gives children. Through different programs and in different ways, our volunteers work to help these kids...some of them receive medical surgeries and some of them get a chance for an educational program that they wouldn't otherwise have. Some of them get a chance to be in a foster care program that helps prepare them for adoption. And some of them get good quality formula to help them grow. Ford has already been part of the legacy for these children in our nutrition programs because they donated $10,000. I hope that because of this project I'm doing, we will be able to provide it for even more kids.



Today I drove to Walla Walla and showed off the car to some guys at the Ford Store there. I also returned to the Legacy Ford in Pasco (my own area). I was able to meet with Josh Sykes today and he was very interested in my project and in helping me with it. On April 2, in Pasco at LEGACY Ford, the public will have the chance to come and see "my" Focus and talk to me about my project and about the car. Because of this event, my project will also be helped monetarily by Josh and Legacy Ford. Thank you so much Josh for taking the time to talk to me today, and for your willingness to truly be a LEGACY for these kids...for helping me make a difference in the lives of these children.

And You Thought the Exciting Adventures Were Over

Well, today was somewhat interesting. This morning, I drove up to Yakima, Washington and met a few people at the the Valley Ford Dealership. Then I drove back to Richland. On my way back I stopped at a National Historic Site called the Teapot Dome Service Station. I wonder how many people visit this site every year? Doesn't this just make you want to visit the state of Washington?














I stuck around town for a while, but later I needed to take my son somewhere.
(Note to self: You are no longer on the Track in Spain, participating in "Driving Faster".)

(Second Note to Self: Be sure you tell everyone that yes, this car can go fast and is funner to drive than a Mini-van. )

I was not the only one to Start Something More than a Car today. Someone else started his flashing red and blue lights.

I had the opportunity to tell someone else about why this car was in my possession. ( I wonder if he really believed it all started with a Facebook contest?) I thought it was best not to ask for his picture.

As this new acquaintance of mine was running my background check or whatever it is that they do while you are waiting, I also had the opportunity to remember that as I was there on the side of the road, in my ALL NEW 2012 Ford Focus, with the identifying information on the side of the car, other people were driving past. How many of these people told their passengers "Hey, isn't that the lady we saw on the news a week ago?" "Yeah, I think she's the one that is trying to drive 10,000 miles for her charity!" "Well, she must be trying to do it all today."

Well, despite this little setback, we are up to $1705 in donations! Thank you Yueben and Weijun, Jan, Marcy, Jeannine, Deb and Betsy!!

I have now driven 2,325 miles.

A Little Morning Drive

Saturday morning, I left for a little drive, to get the mileage to 2,000. I was successful and and actually got to about 2,040 miles. I drove into Oregon again and drove to Pendleton. It was quite uneventful, which isn't a bad thing. I did stop at a convenience store in Pendleton. On the way back, I took this picture at a rest stop. The sign says "Oregon Trail". If you drive around in Oregon and Washington, you are at times going along the Oregon Trail or the routes taken by Lewis and Clark many years ago. You may be thinking at this point that after having the car for about a week and a half, with only 4 and a half weeks to go, and only being at about 2000 miles that maybe I better be stepping it up. You are right. And my longest trips are still ahead. I've only just begun to drive!

I am still at $1400....I also need to step up my work at trying to find people who are willing to help me out with my goal of $10,000. I have 4 and 1/2 weeks to go...Ford is providing the gas money to help me with this project, but the fundraising is up to me. If you feel you can donate 20 or 25 or another desired amount, please consider this. It is for baby formula for babies in China. Please consider helping me with this!

Almost to 1900!! Friday's Adventures!

First of all, I found a dream car in Portland, complete with many hood ornaments and stickers. Now why couldn't I be test driving this one?













Two of my daughters had doctor appointments at Shriner's Hospital in Portland, so off we went. (I had to get up at about 4 a.m. so we could get newspapers out before I left for Portland). On the way, I stopped at Bonneville Dam for a quick photo.


After the appointments and a lunch together, I used the handy dandy MyFordTouch navigation system to find out where some Ford dealerships that I could visit were located.

First, I visited Courtesy Ford outside of Portland. It's actually kinda fun to pull up knowing that people will be excited to see the car that they will soon be selling but have heard about!


The second stop was at Gresham Ford, in Gresham, Oregon. I showed it to several employees, who enjoyed seeing it. Then the manager came out. Her name is Bess Wills. She was pretty interested in my project and offered to make a donation of $100 from the Employee's donation fund, so this donation is from the employees of this dealership. THANKS Gresham Ford employees and Bess!



She had already made the donation before I got home! She also may try to help me get the word out or with some other ideas to help me with the fundraising. If anyone wants to go buy a Focus (or other FORD) from her, be sure you tell her after the sale is complete and she will donate $100 to LWB (or your favorite church or charity), which is somethings she does if you mention it after the completion of the sale. Thanks so much Bess for your help!

With this donation, we are now at $1400.
Mileage update: 1868 miles driven

The third dealership was in The Dalles, Oregon, called Ray Schultens Ford. Here I met more employees, and pictured here are my friends Izzy and Austin. I hope you have much success selling the new Focus! After leaving Portland, we had also stopped for another quick picture: this was at Multnomah Falls.

Check out THESE!

Here are a couple of pictures. These are babies that are currently in Nutrition Programs through Love Without Boundaries. They don't yet have families of their own, but I hope they will someday. Until then, one thing they do have is people who they don't even know who are trying to help them by providing one of the most important things they need: Formula. That is why I am going to drive 10,000 miles, hoping that I can match Ford's $10,000 with a 2nd $10,000 to help provide formula for babies like these. Aren't they beautiful?

Update for today: Only drove 35 miles, but I am now at 1400 miles driven.

New donations today: $100 to take us to $1300.

Would you like to help babies like these? Any amount helps me to my goal of $10,000. I have 5 weeks to do it. Please consider whether you could help. There is a Chip In that goes through PayPal just to the right of this entry. Thank you so much for your support!

A Kind Donation in Hermiston

This morning, I drove back to Hermiston, Oregon. While there, I met one of the Ford Company's Regional leaders, Sean Weingarten. I chatted with him about the car and told him I didn't want to give it back and teasingly asked if he could make it so I didn't have to. He asked me what I like about the car and I told him I like that I can't lock myself out of it (this is a big plus for me) and the Navigation system. I also met Tom Denschel who owns this Hermiston store and also the Ford store in Prosser that I visited yesterday and Tim Buffington who is his business partner. They talked with me about the car, and my experiences.







Then Mr. Denchel pulled out his wallet, and took out two $100 bills and gave them to me for the baby formula. It was so kind of him....





Current Statistics: $1200
1365 Miles