Murrs Across America

Great Cats! I just drafted a letter to Mrs. Obama! Thought I would capatilize on her announcement to tackle childhood obesity with the launch of the “Let’s Move” campaign. Please provide comments and suggestions. Exciting stuff!

Dear Mrs. Obama,

Thank you for being a champion of wellness for America’s future. I’m writing to ask you to consider involvement in my family’s effort to promote this cause.

In April, my husband, my children (ages four and two), and I will embark on a bike trip across America to raise awareness for family engagement, health, and environmental issues.

We’re creating partnerships to further joint causes through this creative medium. Many caring individuals bike across the country to raise money and awareness for an established cause like M.S. or breast cancer. Our straightforward decision to raise awareness for family engagement and health isn’t as tangible or conventional as other bikers’, but we feel that it will be incredibly impactful, since our message will be authentic, directed, and demonstrated through our family ride.

Is there an avenue through which the government, administration, or first family might like to participate in this endeavor? We are inviting sponsorships, partnerships, and the participation of riders and families.  We would love to have you along for the ride.

Please consider joining us in this epic adventure, which is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen families and communities across the nation, bring timely awareness to critical issues, and to inspire healthy solutions for America’s youth.

Thank you for your consideration and response.

 Sincerely,

 Kate Murr

The “end of the world” ice storm hasn’t actually hit yet, so after the kids and I finished dinner, I decided we needed milk and I needed a ride. We bundled up and grabbed our favorite toys and loaded up in the bike trailer. Actually, someone had to pedal the bike, and Jane picked me. So I tucked them in with a big fleece blanket, secured our bike helmets, turned on all of the flashing lights, and off we went. Riding in the crisp winter air at night is one of my favorite experiences. It is invigorating and makes you feel alive. It always seems so quiet and peaceful and your senses feel more acute. “Railroad tracks” yells Jane…followed by a “choooo choooo” from Brady as we bump across through Southern Hills and around the lake. “Let’s go fishing, Dad?” asks Brady. “Not tonight buddy”….”OK, Daddy”. We made good time to the grocery store and had our loot stashed in our race car shopping cart in quick order. We zoomed around the store a couple of times to see how fast that race car was, then loaded back up and pedaled the two and a half miles home….and in the morning, hopefully we get to play in the snow.

Skye generously helped set this up tonight, and he brought us frozen meat. Thanks, Skye. You’re a real champion gentleman (see how I didn’t mention the meat was a re-gift?). Thanks to all the friends who have helped us travel this far.

This update includes tales of glee and woe; Glee first.

Our Maps have arrived! Eyes a’ twinkle Stuart devoured each segment of the journey, just to explore. They actually are pretty cool! They’re built for cyclists, with compact design, and are sturdy, lightweight, and easily packable. They include information not available on typical road maps designed for motorists; for example, the locations of bike shops, sources for food and water, and listings of overnight accommodations, especially camping facilities and small motels. To see pictures visit the adventure cycling website here: http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/maps.cfm.

These maps are supplement to the 3×4 ft. US map adorning our dining room (aka. Mission Control), which has our map routed and our mileage marked at intervals so that we see on a daily basis the full 4403.2 mile game plan. (I’ll talk about the proposed route in entirety in a separate post…or several…)

We’ve started making a comprehensive budget for gear and supplies, and we’re writing language akin to business-plan-speak to pitch to sponsors, potential partners, and media outlets. We’re clarifying our intention and motivation for taking the trip, which centers around the experience itself (see mission statement post). We’re still determining whether or not we should align ourselves with a cause, and what cause that might be.

If you have any suggestions for media outlets (parenting/family, exploring/adventure, biking, or conservation oriented blogs or magazines) please post them below. Likewise, if you or your business would like to sponsor us or donate to our trip, or if you have any suggestions for sponsors, please express your interest below and we will contact you with more detailed information. We hope to have our website up and running soon, and you will then be able to direct your friends there to check out our unfolding story.

Woah. With all this glee, I almost forgot the woe…

MY BIKE WAS STOLEN! ARRRRRGGGGG! We’re planning on purchasing (better, receiving!) new touring bikes for the trip. However, Judy, my mountain bike, was stolen from a friend’s porch the other day. While this is a setback to our weekend rides, we hope to have new bikes very soon, and intend to do a practice ride on segments of the Natchez Trace trail before Thanksgiving.

Finally, Jane has declared that she will need new bike shoes for the trip: She says she will outgrow the ones she has in no time. Also, she asked if we would be able to camp out every night on our trip, and pointed out that when it is bedtime here it is still the middle of the day in China, which makes it hard to fall asleep, sometimes.

Thank you, again, for your continued support, feedback, and suggestions!

Last night was the first official public meeting for this biking across America endeavor. It was exciting! So, today’s Sunday afternoon ride felt especially luminous as we left the house (for the second or third time—diapers, water—nope. sunglasses, baby—nope…) to head west.

We intended to ride downtown and perhaps crash a friend’s home for dinner (Mel and Adam…maybe next week?), but instead, we heard drums as we approached Phelps Grove Park. This excited Brady greatly, and I remembered hearing something about an MSU marching band concert. We rode through campus then, to check it out. We wove through clusters of chatty young girls (really, are they getting younger?) and lanky, fidgety young men sporting MSU lanyards, groups of be-skirted and tie-dyed swaying smokers congregated around one bearded bard and his guitar, and fields of soccer players and carefree, shirtless disk tossers: an entire buzzy realm of play. To ride through the energy of a college campus this time of year is inspiring.

The band was warming up in sections about campus: here, a circle of fourteen tubas; here, on the steps in arrow formation, a flight of trombones; here, a perfect square of trebly trumpets blocking intense choreographic angles. (The atmosphere reminded me of attending music camp in Michigan at Interlochen when I was younger. In that place there were acres of music and dancing and acting; one walked through sonatas and arias and soliloquies daily, just to get to lunch, and then, after dinner, one enjoyed a full symphony with such greats as Itzhak Perlman. All this to say, like biking, I feel music is an excellent mode of transportation).

We grabbed dinner at Chipotle as the band continued to warm up, and made our way to the stadium just in time to watch them take the field for the concert. While Jane made friends with the mascot, whom she claimed was a girl because she was wearing sequins and a feathered hat, Brady informed Boomer Bear that we were here to hear the tubas. Which we did. After each song Brady said, “Mommy, AGAIN!” and he shook his hips to the music and Jane held her doll at strict attention. Tonight, at the end of summer, with the children mesmerized by the music, Stuart staring longingly at all those brass bells, and salsa pooling on my “Little Miss Green” tee shirt, I felt exactly at the right place.

After the concert we donned helmets and headed home through the cool (WHAT?) August evening, minus my tail light, which Stuart says is in his truck, for some reason. We approached our house from the back yard, where we ran into our back yard neighbor, Chandler, who was cooking s’mores and yard camping with a girlfriend on one of her last free nights before her very first day of middle school.

A bike ride. A band. A treat in the neighbor’s back yard. This is the essence of summer I’m happy to share with my kids. This is an excellent way to begin an adventure!