A First Class Farewell

Nearly a week ago, at 1am, outside the main entrance to Disneyland, I told the group from Stony River that I am not long on goodbyes. The trip to Disneyland, California Adventure Park, and Club 33 was Disney-licious, and we were all worn out from the seemingly endless string of activities of the past several weeks.

So the kids gathered around Jenna and me. We embraced in a group hug, exchanged a few thoughts and high-fives, I gave Robert some last minute advice to take with him to college, and we went our separate ways.

In the days since then, my thoughts about Stony River, the trip, the kids, the village, and the film have been maturing in my mind. I know that many are anxious to see the images on film; to see the adventure unfold on screen. I too am excited about the story of courage and encouragement, commitment and hard work, amazement and education, fun and opportunity, and the difference that each of us can make in the lives of others if we listen to the calling.

I am certain that it will take some time before I am satisfied with the telling if this story before it is ready to be viewed on film. But in the meantime, I will try to forward more bits and pieces like the link below to a wonderful story from the Santa Barbara Independent:

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/may/20/trip-lifetime/

There are two more newspaper stories, a TV news story, a radio interview and more photos to come so please check back every so often. It seems like once a week is the blog update schedule for now.

I do want to thank Cox Communications, Alaska Airlines, and Planet Solar again for making it possible for the film crew to get this far on the journey. In the coming weeks expect to hear more about sponsorship opportunities within the television half hour.

I also want to thank Debi Rubera, Brian Volk, Mary Macar, the kids from Stony River and all their parents for trusting us enough to allow us in to follow and document the trip. I know I can speak for Mike Braniger, Branden Aroyen, Paul Mathieu, and many others involved, who feel privileged to have spent time getting to know all of you.

Lastly I want to thank Santa Barbara, the home-school families who welcomed and provided for this group throughout their long journey, the businesses and individuals who went out of their way to show these kids a good time, the media who covered the trip and made the group feel "famous" while they were here.

Thanks to all of you, and please keep up your support for this blog and this project. I feel more strongly now than ever before that this story is INSPIRATION! Just Imagine what could come next...