| A Pan-American Journey
an expedition and exploration of the road less traveled |
| The Journey | Route/Location | Journal | Photos | Trip Facts | Links | Support Us |
| Support Us | Special Thanks | |||||
It is impossible to adequately describe how important each and every contribution has been. There are so many people that we need to thank, and we do so with great appreciation, but there are also a few people who deserve special mentions. Jessica's parents (Darlene Mickey and David Permut) have been instrumental in the process of this journey. They have cleared the path for us to make this trip happen, allowing us to focus on the important elements of our dreams. We can't thank them enough for their generosity and constant support. Ken Schwarz, who we met through www.vannin.com, welcomed us into his home for many months while he patiently shared his expertise and carried us through the critical stages of rebuilding the van. We have many good memories of working late in his garage, and hanging out with the family, Deb, Kyrsten, Kyra, and Reina. David Swan, our web designer and developer is the mastermind behind this site. David has been impressively patient with our ever-changing minds and vague ideas of what we wanted, he has worked so hard (with little reward) to make this site everything we wanted and we can't thank him enough for his help. Andrew Mallon, a close friend and custom cabinet designer, was instrumental in the design and construction of the van's interior. Andrew took a photo-shop drawing of the floor plan we had designed and turned it into more than what we had imagined. Andrew was constantly making changes and or helping us with our other projects and always with a smile. Lynne Silva, generously donated a week-long vacation on Martha's Vineyard to our raffle which was critical to the success of our fund raising efforts. Troy's mother also hand made our beautiful window curtains, screens, sheets and more from scratch, Lynne's talents are endless and have been huge to the overall comfort of our van. Brad and Diane Smith were one of our primary financial contributers and deserve a very special thanks for their kindness and generosity. Millie Donlon is awesome! And we thank her so very much. Black Dog, a world renowned company based out of Troy's hometown of Martha's Vineyard is our sole commercial sponsor and deserves our deepest appreciation for supporting us and the Pan American Journey. David Tilton, a dear friend of Troy's family, generously donated a half day fishing charter for our fund raising efforts. David also got the Pan American journey started with a huge piece of freshly caught Atlantic tuna, which may prove to be the best meal we'll have in two years :) Ruth Goltzer and Jim Kohlmoos made a very generous donation to our raffle: a 3-day visit to a beautiful resort in Beaver Creek, Colorado, as well as to our travel fund. Henrietta Kundert, provided us with another great prize for our raffle: a wonderful massage, and gas money to boot. Quyen Ly, donated her skillful services for our raffle as well and we had a great shampoo, cut, and blow-dry package from Quinnessential Salon (Alexandria, VA) to offer. Cloudy most definitely deserves a special mention for coming and camping in our driveway, and fixing some of our electrical issues before we hit the road! Jeanne Cannon and Brian McDermott allowed us to camp out in their driveway in Fairbanks, AK and even let us stay in their cabin near Delta Junction for a few days as well; what a kind and generous family! Paul Wack (Wacko) saved us in Portland, OR, by getting us to a trust-worthy and helpful shop to have some work done on the van. He also drove us around while the van was being worked on and treated us to a yunmy dinner before we headed out of town. Paul is one of many Vanners who has offered us great advice and info on the van. There are so many more of you that we just can't fit it all on this page, but we sincerely hope that you all know you are greatly appreciated and thought of often. |