Someone told me that Pedal the Pacific opens your eyes to the best and worst of humanity. We are six days into our journey down the coast and I already can see how this is true. During launch weekend, we had the opportunity to hear from one of our community grant beneficiaries, REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade) Seattle as well as BEST (Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking). During these conversations, we learned about the realities of trafficking in Seattle and how collaboration across organizations such as REST & BEST provide a full range of services from prevention to survivor care. Hearing the stories from these organizations right before launch day centered us in our cause and has fueled us through our first few days of riding. On the ferry ride out of Seattle, ship captain Scott found us (courtesy of a connection through BEST) and thanked us for what we were doing a took a photo with us. Later in the day, we ran into several others who saw our van and were interested in our cause. A few even donated on the spot!
At our stay in an RV park, the owner graciously welcomed us with homemade cookies and told us that a survivor was staying at the park and wanted to thank us for what we are doing. Later, police officer Jake and Chuck from the Chehalis reservation approached us at a rest stop to bring us free water and ice. At the end of the day, Ryan from the Jackson Hole Bar and Grill (!!!) in Centralia, Washington donated free meals and threw in some extra appetizers without any prompting.
Through all of the long miles and big hills the goodness and kindness of strangers has kept us going.
After a lunch stop yesterday, we were approached by a man named Cheney who is a federal police officer. He asked about our route and we told him we were going from Seattle to San Diego. He said “But Seattle isn’t a big place for trafficking? Mostly just California right?” To which we replied, after having just learned this statistic at our dinner with REST, that actually 2,000-3,000 people are trafficked EVERY NIGHT in Seattle. I gave Officer Cheney our business card and encouraged him to check out our website. We also encouraged him to educate the people working under him and other people in his office.
Conversations like this center us in our purpose and have been so fulfilling! We feel grateful for our van and jerseys which shout our message to the rooftops and invite all kinds of conversations with strangers.
Some days, the bike is scary. Between roads with small shoulders and big trucks that blast exhaust behind them, we are not always having the time of our lives. These moments are balanced by laughter, joy, and conversations started by our bikes that remind us that we are doing something hard but worth it.
