Week 1: Sunday, August 5, 2007: From the Road, Kingman, AZ to Sedona, AZ (Via Flagstaff, AZ)

Today, we awake at 5:15 with Janet Attwood calling from The Passion Test Certification Course in Miami. She has been so supportive of the www.unleashamericaspassion.com tour, and we are so grateful for this. She knows that we only have $1100 dollars left from money we have raised. She also knows that we are looking for sponsors to help us get across the rest of the country. So, she asked that we say a few words about the success we are having and our monetary needs. Fortunately, whether a supporter lives in the US or Canada, a charitable tax receipt for donation will be issued. It is really very easy. There is a paypal account from our website that is already setup that goes directly into the non-for-profit The Learning Forum Foundation under whose auspices this tour is working. We have empowered over 450 kids through our presentations, reached just under a million people through the media, and told our story to countless others through our blog. This in only the first week! If you enjoy seeing these post and want to see the tour unfold, please contribute for your charitable tax donation here.

Shah, awake from the phone call, is ready to prove himself today. He hits the road at 6:00am and burns it for over 3 and a half hours. Throughout that time, he repaired a flat, got water from a truck stop, and loved the 40 mile ride. Unfortunately, as what happened to Kristian the day before, Shah is stranded with little food or water.

Ali, Christy and Shah roll out of bed at 8:00, not really paying attention to the time, knowing that we told him we would try to leave by 8:30. At 10:15, there is a call from an Arizona Highway Patrol phone patching us to Shah's cell phone that only has emergency reception. He's out of food, water, and feeling a little stranded in the desert sun. By the time the car is packed and ready to go, it is 10:30. Ali suggests we check the engine fluids. The oil is bone dry and the radiator fluid is low. We go to the nearest gas station, and after filling up with gas, oil and water, we're off to pick up Shah. We find him under an overpass at just before noon. He is really grateful.

Shah being finished for the day, Ali and Kristian do 18 mile switches back and forth for most of the rest of the day. Unfortunately, on one of the last switches of the day. Kristian gets a flat tire, and waits outside in the now much cooler climate 25 miles outside Flagstaff. Predictably, a torrential lightning rainstorm begins. Ali, Shah and Christy pull off the road 15 miles before Kristian to escape the rain. The car leaks, and they didn't want to risk getting any of the materials wet.

After 1.5 hours, Shah, Christy and Ali finally pull out of the overpass, catch up to Kristian who this time really does have mild hypothermia. We decide to drive straight from this point to Sedona.

About 10 miles out of Sedona, Ali and Shah cycle down the canyon to the town. The scenery is amazing. It changes so quickly to this carved out canyon of red rock. When Shah and Ali make it to the town, Ali suggests we go to one of the Vortex's, a channel of tremendous energy, around the city. Ali and Shah cycle there while Christy and Kristian drive and hike to the top of this mountain that houses the vortex. Eventually, we are all together overlooking the Canyon. Then we realize that everybody has left, and the parking lot is empty. We realize the storm has followed us, and we are caught in it before we can get to the car.

Again, we find refuge, this time in a closed gas station. Soon, the rain lets up, we get some food from the local Safeway and head to where we are staying.

We are put up in a multimillion dollar house just outside Sedona. The owners are away, the neighbours are taking care of it, and figure it is OK for us to stay here. Life is very good here in Sedona as we get ready to settle in the next four nights.