Here's the best news: Our friends Chris and Matt graced us with their presence this evening. Matt is a volunteer, and he rode along with us in India, and Chris is on our advisory board and has done a whole lot for the expedition. These guys are super cool.

Tomorrow is our return event, and, like I said, if you are in the area and don’t stop by, you are MISSING OUT.

Sunnyvale, at the Parkinson’s Institute, from 11:00 to 1:00.
(N.O.)

You're invited: Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Be there or be square!
(N.O.)

So, after snapping some photos, we headed off toward a local news channel’s building. On the way there, we saw a handful of Eyewitness News vans covering a nurses’ rally. Seizing the opportunity for a chance to get on the news by stealing another group’s thunder, we did a drive-by. A few cameras pointed in our direction, and the reporters shouted, “Who are you?” to us as we cruised past. We sent young Mark Cope and our very own Todd Borgie out to talk up the expedition, and just as the reporters were getting interested, Gov. Schwarzenegger appeared and took the media attention we had rightfully stolen. The reporters ran away from us to capture the action at the governator’s press conference. Schucks! We were so close!

We did laps around the building where the governor was speaking, and we wond cheers and applause from another group of kids, but we decided to pack it in before the governor reappeared. We dropped in on two TV stations and a newspaper, with little luck, and then we did a final drive-by at the press conference. The governor was already gone, but we bumped into his political advisor, and he invited us up to his office.

That visit spawned a beautiful friendship with George Gorton and his son, Steve Moore, who were both advisors to Boris Yeltsin’s campaign and can claim responsibility for his successful election. They’re a couple of highly successful political gurus, and we got to hang out with them for the rest of the evening. They brought us over to the Hyatt, where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver live, and we loitered there for a while. When he failed to appear, we went over to the Capitol building to roam around outside of his office. No luck there, either. It seems our man had left for L.A. So we hung with our new friends and enjoyed the rest of our evening. We didn’t meet the governor, but we were successful, nonetheless.

Tomorrow, we either head south, or we’ll hang out a bit longer in Sacramento.
(N.O.)

For now, though, we are in Sacramento, and we’re hoping to get some face time with the governor. So wish us much luck! THAT would be an extraordinary experience. The governator. How exciting!
(N.O.)

This evening, we hooked up with Nancy’s Aunt Penny and Uncle Bruce and went to their favorite Thai restaurant, Sivalaya. There, owner Jose treated us to a whole lot of food and Thai iced tea, on the house. It was delicious! Mealtime was a perfect opportunity for the team to present the birthday boy with his gift…Mark and Nancy had gone searching for a perfect gift for young Borgie, and they found it! At a local Army/Navy store, they happened upon a Mexican wrestling mask. Realizing that they had found the world’s most perfect birthday gift, they bought the object and brought it to dinner. There, we frightened a few of the patrons by trying on the Gimp-ish mask and laughing uncontrollably. Tomorrow, we’re off to Sacramento!
(N.O.)

We actually went back north to Seattle to shoot a quick interview for KOMO, the ABC affiliate there, before heading south to Portland. Portland is a beautiful city, as cities go, and the team is anticipating two good nights here. Todd has friends in the area, and Nancy’s aunt and uncle are here, so it’s really feeling like we’re getting close to home.

See you all soon!
(N.O.)

We arrived in Seattle in time to pay a visit to Land Rover Seattle, where the folks there held a wonderful reception for us. They were great, and we made some fantastic new friends. After that, we had another amazing reception at Land Rover Bellevue. There, we even got to drive their short little off-road trials course, where the Land Rovers demonstrated the wonders of traction control on a 45-degree uphill, and where we navigated a sweet little articulation obstacle and some nice down hills. It was fun letting the Landies show off some of their amazing off-road capabilities!

After those visits, we paid a final visit to Land Rover Tacoma in the city of Fife. They cooked up some fantastic BBQ for us, and we had a great time mingling with the patrons and employees. These are the folks who handled the immigration of our vehicles back to the U.S. from Russia, and they’re the ones who did some maintenance for us and then shipped the vehicles to Anchorage for our start. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. Thanks, Land Rover Tacoma!

Thank you to all of our Northwest Land Rover dealers. You sure know how to uphold the brand and promote the feeling of family that makes Land Rover so special. This was a good welcome home to the U.S. for us!
(N.O.)

16 February, 2005

Dear friends of Drive Around the World,

After 16 months, four continents and countless cans of Red Bull, your LONGITUDE Expedition has some exciting news to share. After reaching the northernmost point of the journey Feb. 5 at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, our Land Rovers turned south and are pointed toward the finish line at the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, Calif.

We’re coming home!

If you’ve followed our journals and dispatches, you know where we’ve been. From California all the way to the road’s end in Tierra del Fuego. Across Australia’s Gunbarrel Highway. Through the muddiest parts of Southeast Asia, the highest roads of the Himalayas, the most treacherous parts of Pakistan and the coldest corners of Siberia.

You also know who we’ve met. The Dalai Lama, for starters (though we couldn’t tell anyone until we made it through China)! We’ve rallied celebrities like Michael J. Fox, Jay Leno and James Cameron to our cause. We made friends on the streets of Bangkok and the reed houses of Bolivia.

And we met with people around the world who live with Parkinson’s disease. Don Tito, a sheepherder from Patagonia, can no longer climb into his saddle and tend his flocks. Wang, from Singapore, gave up his career as a commercial pilot. Naomi, from Australia, thirsts for literature but cannot hold a book.

Their hands may tremble, but their hearts do not. The determination and strength of these people touched us, inspired us and reminded us that Parkinson’s disease does not recognize international borders. It is a disease desperately in need of awareness, at home and especially abroad. In Laos, a country of over 6 million that likely has thousands living with Parkinson’s, we found just one person who had been diagnosed with the disease.

Our expedition has been about bringing hope to Parkinson’s sufferers. It’s been about promoting cross-border understanding. In the most essential sense, it’s been about raising money to fund research to find a cure for PD, which the National Institute of Health believes will happen with the proper funding.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the virtual ride as well, but the expedition isn’t over yet. The truth is, this final leg is the most important of the expedition. We need your support to reach our fundraising goal and make a sincere difference in the fight against Parkinson’s disease.

Land Rover Certified Pre-Owned and 60 other companies have made contributions to defray the expedition’s costs and ensure that 100 percent of funds raised go directly to the Parkinson’s Institute. To donate, visit www.drivearoundtheworld.com/support.

But more than anything, our drive around the world has been about making a difference. I felt helpless when my big sister, Jackie, was diagnosed with PD. So did my friend and team member Todd Borgie after his father began to shake. We took to the road not to escape our problems, but to challenge them and become part of the solution.

In the process, we used our Web site to take students back home on virtual field trips, where they learned about geography and cultural diversity. They also have a rough idea what Peruvian guinea pig tastes like.

We hope you will tell your friends and neighbors about us. We hope you will continue to contribute. And we hope to see you at the finish line celebration, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. at the Parkinson’s Institute!

You’ll meet the team, see the vehicles that traveled 41,000 miles, hear all our tales and adventures and eat some unusual foods from around the world (no guinea pig, we promise). You will witness a major event in motor vehicle history – the culmination of an unprecedented adventure, the longest drive ever undertaken to raise money for a charitable cause.

Just by joining us, you’ll become part of the greater Parkinson's community. You’ll be supporting our team and its philanthropic mission. You’ll be part of the solution.

Until then, you can track our daily progress at www.drivearoundtheworld.com. Don’t forget, a minimum donation of just $10 will earn a chance to win one of the 2003 Certified Pre-owned Discovery vehicles, identical to those that went around the world. The vehicle, which is signed by Jay Leno, Michael J. Fox and director James Cameron, will be raffled off in conjunction with the New York Auto Show in April.

Also, if you work in the media, we invite you to help us spread the word and defeat Parkinson’s disease. We are available for interviews as we make our way towards the finish line, and there’s still time for reporters to ride along as part of the “Take Me With You” program.

Until Feb. 28, we will carry all of you, in spirit, with us to the finish line. We thank you for your past support, and we hope to see you at the Parkinson’s Institute!

Sincerely,

Recently, we received a letter from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. It was sent in October, but we just caught up with it. We had the pleasure of meeting the Dalai in Dharmasala, India, back in September, on the 14th. It was, to put it lightly, incredible. (N.O.)