Going to Seattle

It is 8:30 mountain time and we have already been in the car almost three hours. I got up to take sunrise pictures only to find more clouds, so no pictures and an early start on the road. We should get to Seattle sometime this afternoon and are excited to stay in a hotel tonight. (The KOA Cabins are super nice, but the beds left a little something to be desired.) I am a little sad that the weather didn't cooperate in letting me get my dream shot on the west side, but I did get a couple OK pictures that I will post later. I will leave you with a picture of a friend we met while having a picnic by the lake.

Rained Out

So far we have been rained out on the west side of Glacier. And from the sounds of things that isn't going to change. We can't even see the mountains. :( We are headed into the park, but probably won't get to do much in the rain.

WDAY - Kevin Wallevand story

I just got the link to the story that Kevin Wallevand did for WDAY.

http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/22860/

Update

We made it over the mountains. Going to the Sun road isn't so bad if you driven trail ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park. I have one new picture but first I want to thank our new sponsors:
Sheri
Denise
Belinda
Anita

Night 2 - Morning 3

So far the weather in Glacier isn't cooperating with me very well. I got a couple of OK sunset pictures and a couple at sunrise, but haven't had the weather to get the kind of pictures I was dreaming of. On the other hand it has been beautiful outside the park at the campground, so we have been relaxing and enjoying that. Back into the park tonight for another attempt at sunset.

Highlights from day 2

A bit longer of a drive from Billings to Glacier than I thought it would be. We did see this really cool mustard field though.



I went out to shoot the sunset last night and was back out for sunrise this morning. I bypassed a spot called Wild Goose Island where there were about 10 other photographers lined up hoping the sunrise would reflect of the mountains. It didn't. I however did get some good pictures of the sunrise shooting back over the lake at another site. I will post them later today once I have had a chance to sort through them.

WDAY - Journey For Jess

Kevin Wallevand did a great job on our story last night. You can watch it here http://www.wday.com/pages/archive10 until 10:00 tonight when it will be replaced by tonights. It is the first story of the second segment.

New Sponsors, News, Getting Started

By the time you read this it will probably be Friday. Our story is supposed to run in the Fargo Forum today and our interview with Kevin Wallevand will be on WDAY news tonight.

We are leaving in the morning and should be making our first updates from the road from Teddy Roosevelt National park sometime in the early afternoon. See you then.

Thank you to our newest sponsors:

Amy Kronbeck
Heather Servaty-Seib
Roger and Kathy Haugen
Cetero Research
Ulteig Engineering
Jon Severson
Ty and Lindsay (last name unknown)

News Story

Hey Everyone. The first of what will hopefully be many stories got printed today at DL-Online.
http://www.dl-online.com/event/article/id/45807/

Also, Kevin Wallevand from WDAY is doing a story on us. It will air on Friday night at either 6 or 10PM. You can watch it on www.wday.com

Hello Montana

We will be headed to Billings, MT in two days to start the Journey For Jess. Here is a picture I took on Beartooth pass, just south of Billings, last summer.

Single Digits

It is 8 days until the start of the Journey For Jess.

If you ever wondered what the trip would look like in a web address, here it is:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=West+Fargo,+ND+58078&daddr=St+Mary,+MT+to:West+Glacier,+Montana+to:seattle,+wa+to:forks,+wa+to:Portland,+OR+to:redding,+ca+to:San+Francisco,+CA+to:Yosemite+Valley,+California+to:bishop,+ca+to:williams,+AZ+to:tuba+city,+az+to:springdale,+ut+to:Park+City,+UT+to:moran,+wy+to:livingston,+mt+to:West+Fargo,+ND+58078&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=41.869561,-111.137695&sspn=17.946019,37.045898&ie=UTF8&ll=41.738528,-110.654297&spn=17.982169,37.045898&z=5

I wonder if google maps has a limit for destinations? I made it to Q.

Grand Teton and Yellowstone

These are a couple of the pictures I took the last time I was at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.   I'm hoping to have similar success on the Journey For Jess this year so I can use the beautiful scenery of the national parks to raise awareness for seizure disorders.

Update

15 days until the Journey For Jess begins.

All the reservations have been made. The routes have been planned. (click here to view)

I'm still in the process of determining where the best places to photograph at sunrise and sunset are at each of our destinations. I have some ideas but will wait and talk to locals and see for myself when we arrive at each location.

I've been talking to businesses and trying to get in contact with media outlets, and although it hasn't gone great I do feel like we are making progress.

We will be updating periodically the next two weeks and then will update multiple times daily once the Journey For Jess has begun.

Please bookmark us and check back on our progress as we try to raise money and awareness for people affected by seizure disorders.

Thanks for visiting.

Jess Marie

Please remember to check Jess' blog where you can see and share memories of Jess. You can also post your memories by emailing or texting journeyforjess.marie@blogger.com

Journey For Jess brochure

Here is the inside of the brochure we had made for the Journey For Jess. It is a trifold flyer that details the reason for the Journey For Jess and what we are trying to accomplish. On the back is a form that can be filled out and mailed in for people who are interested in donating. We also have 5 page full size clear cover folders that we are using to give to businesses to try and get them to donate.

We need your help. If you know of businesses or individuals that you think would be willing to sponsor us please let us know. We can either get you the brochures and you can talk to them, or you can get us their information and we can either contact them or mail them the information.

We will be using this blog and the http://www.journeyforjess.com/ website to provide frequent updates while we are on our Journey (which is less than 2 months away).

We feel that our best oppurtunity to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation and TS Alliance will be while we are on the road. We have contacted numerous media outlets who will be running stories about the Journey For Jess and we hope to create some 'grassroots' type buzz by having friends tell friends and having everyone checking the blog and website for updates. The more people we get to follow us on our Journey the greater the difference we can make for people affected by seizure related disorders.

Ready To Go

All of my testing is complete and I am ready to tell people about my new blog. I wanted something that would be easier to update than the website and my photo blog are. With Blogger, I can post pictures and video through either my cell phone or by email. It is unbelievably customizable and super easy to use.

As soon as I figure out how to post a picture of a .pdf, I will add a post showing you the Journey For Jess brochure and asking for your help raising money.

Picture practice.

I'm trying to learn how to post pictures.
This was taken near Lake Crystal, MN.