Meet Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, two Muslim American friends who are now in the second week of their road trip from Alaska to New York City. Last week, Ali and Tariq marked the begining of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by setting off on their cross country journey, on which they’ll travel to a new Mosque each day.

They’ve kept a blog about their journey, writing, "the true stars of this project are the readers that have supported the initiative. In less than a month, readers gave more than $12,000 in online donations to this project to make this half-baked idea to go across the country a reality."

So far, they’ve made their way out West and stopped along at mosques in Washington state, California, and Nevada. In one visit to a mosque in Corvallis Islamic Center, Ali and Bassam asked young Muslims what they would say to Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the young muslim Oregon State University student who was arrested last November for trying to detonate an explosive device at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon. The result was a a mix of compassion, and frustration. "The biggest fear in fighting a monster is becoming a monster yourself," one young man writes. "The path toward peace and prosperity is paved with patience."

For more glimpses of their adventure, check out this beautiful video of their visit to a mosque in Washington: