The Mongol Charity Rally

It’s nearly upon us. Next week Randall and I will be starting in London and driving 10,000 miles across Europe and Asia to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Julia will also be joining us for the first week of the journey. After some sightseeing in Istanbul, we say goodbye to her as she hops a plane back to England. She will visit a friend there while Randy and I continue on. In all, we will visit 12 countries, navigating large cities, traversing mountain ranges, and crossing vast plains.

The end goal of this crazy adventure is to raise some money for some good causes. With the help of some generous givers, we’ve already raised over $1600 for Save the Children (www.firstgiving.com/tate-ziebell). In addition, the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee we’ll be driving will be donated to Go Help/Charity Rallies in Ulaan Baatar. Our vehicle, along with other participating teams’ vehicles, will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to local charities. To date, the 2009 Mongol Charity Rally has raised over 46,000 UK pounds ($75,000 US)!

I know most of you already have these web addresses, but for those that don’t, you can track our progress, read blog entries, and view posted pictures:
www.charityrallies.org/thelostcrusade (Our team page on the official Charity Rallies website)
www.randalltate.com/rally (Our site, created by Randall the Great. Also, drop the “/rally” to check out some spectacular photos)
chrisziebell.blogspot.com (This site, silly.)