Stuck in Salt Lake

Actually I think Jonathan pretty much covered everything. I just really wanted to write a blog post with this title because that's what it felt like. Images of the Tom Hanks film The Terminal kept flashing into my mind yesterday as it looked as if the three of us would be living in the airport for several days, Lauren thousands of miles away with nothing to do but babysit our packs. I didn't even have a book to read and if you've ever been in an airport bookstore you know it's just not worth it. It was maddening.

But at last, here we are safe and sound. I can't wait to get to the coast and see the ocean again, and Mark was telling us last night that once we get out into eastern Oregon, the sky will be so black we'll be able to really see the stars. I am so excited to finally be able to really see the stars.

We have about a four of five day walk until we come back through Eugene from Florence. We're taking those first five days a bit slower and more methodical since it will give us a chance to really get a feel for how our walk will go; how often we'll need to stop, how we're going to carry food and water, what our filming will be like out in the open, and so on. Once we come back through Eugene we know we have a place to stay again (with a hot tub and a pool, no less!) and we'll be able to reconfigure our approach to some things if we have to.

The other thing I wanted to mention is how far I believe the four of us has come as a group in the past week. I think that without the added stress of school and classes, and the feeling that if we don't start listening and working together our dream will fall apart, we've been much better about putting the needs of the group before our individual needs. We've all had to make sacrifices, and some haven't been very easy for any of us, but in the end, we've been doing what we can to make this happen.

And, hey, look at us: it's happening!

Western Love

We are in OREEEEGGOOOOOOONNNNNNN. After a full day of travel and hanging out in Salt Lake City airport we all got to Eugene. Lauren flew in to Portland earlier in the day and was picked up and driven to Eugene by Carol Ann and Mark. Matt Katelyn and my self flew striaght to Eugene later that night. All our bags and gear made it to Portland and Lauren in one piece and undamaged, even after a bout I had with TSA about them not letting me take my boom pole on the plane. Not to mention the pvc waterproof case I made for my microphone looked like a pipe bomb so of course that had to be opened.
But any whoooo by the time we got to Carol Ann and Mark's we were dead. After tossing disk with their doberman for a good while we crashed in their wonderful shop behind their house. They are putting together a Ford Cobra which is looking really nice.
After about 8 hrs of sleep on two airmatresses and a hammock we are up and about getting breakfast ready and playing with the dog and goats once again. I'm sitting out on their porch stairing at the mountains with the warmest cool ocean breeze blowing through. Wind chimes and frollocking birds add their own mellody to this already gorgeous day and place. Now I'm off to finish my tea.

Argh Mate

Between camping, Pirates and saving turtles from oncoming traffic, the three of us stinky feet people have been a tight knit family the past couple of days.

First of all, I just have to say that this little group is definitely eclectic. I saw our varied personalities come out just in our little day camping trip. I won't elaborate too much because our habits may be embarrassing, but at least in the beginning of this trip I have no doubt that it will be stocked full of humor and ridiculous epiphanies. Don't worry- those of you who are already intrigued can read about it later in my upcoming book. haha.

Despite the downpour of rain this Sunday, the four of us managed to hike and camp this weekend without too many hitches. I remember at one point feeling as though I were on an episode of either Reading Rainbow or Barney. Within my first few minutes of leading the group along the woodland trail, a beautiful monarch butterfly flew right beside me and I discovered a turtle along our path. It almost gave me the desire to sing a cute little song, but sadly it's been too long since I have watched Barney with my sister. Anyway, we discovered that we may indeed survive this trip because we are decent with direction, can use a camp stove without blowing it up, don't mind walking in waist-high growths of poison ivy, are fine with peeing in the woods and love watching Jonathan save turtles that mindlessly walk in the middle of the road. With only ten or so hours before our flight to Portland (thanks Dad) I truly feel as though we are ready to conquer America! The only two fears that remain in the front of my mind include not being able to finish Bill Bryson’s amazing A Walk In the Woods before next year and pooping outside in a hole. They may seem silly, but they’re fears and I hope I don’t have to face them quite so soon. I sincerely hope that libraries along our trek will carry Bryson and that I might have a few minutes to hide away while the others are adding to the blog or producing copies of county maps.

After a couple of intense packing, weight shaving, teary-eyed days, the stinky feet gang went to see our last “before the walk” movie- Pirates of the Caribbean Tres! Umm…it was interesting. It’s too bad we all returned home with headaches and not a clue as to what the story was about, but I’d say it was a fun time all in all. The couple to the right of us who fell asleep for about 30 minutes gave us a smile. All I can remember about the actual film is wondering why Captain Hook was included in the cast and why it reminded me so much of Little Mermaid. Does every witch-lady become a giant and then create a whirlpool when she gets angry? Hmm… How do the pirates say, “Argh, she blows”? Sadly…did it ever. The reason I bring it up is because the four of us had a great laugh after the film and the next morning while making jokes about the more outrageous scenes and completely random characters who continued to enter the storyline. All I have to say is that I ate my foot when I turned to Matt after the first 10 minutes and whispered that I had better get to see plenty of Johnny for the $7 I paid. Wow, did I ever! There were like a million on the screen at once! Haha! My advice is not to see it. BUT, if you’re as stubborn about it as I had been, then don’t worry about not drinking or eating during the film, there are plenty or boring scenes to take bathrooms breaks.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox now and just want to wish everyone I know, will be meeting soon, or friends-to-be who are just checking us out, a wonderful summer. Thank you for reading about our rants, worries, hopes and experiences.

I love you parents (the ten of you there are) very much. Thank you for your tight squeezes, damp eyes, hearty prayers and strong hearts. Siblings, you are all amazing and adorable and keep us on our toes more than you realize!


Since I may not have my input posted for a little while and since I love giving shout outs...
Here’s to you Karen! Thank you for all your help with the pins. I wish you many blessings ;)

from dawn rises our destiny

So tomorrow we leave...

This statement has been echoing in my head since 9 this morning. What has seemed like a week has been five months. I've laughed I've cried I've pulled my hair out sworn swerved and stumbled towards now... Now we leave for what to some seems like for ever and yet I don't think I quite understand that. I read an article from Backpacker Magazine (thank you Ann) from a wife who's husband is an avid adventurer/climer/mountainer not to mention blind. In an attempt to understand the drive of the adventurous her husband's climbing partner states, it is to connect with and accept the challenge presented by the terrain that lies before you. To continue up and up. I don't think of this trip in time or difficulty, I think of it as an adventure and opportunity to be out there away from the 9 to 5 mentality and to come back to some sort of aspect of we live in this land that we must understand connect with and respect. So to be reading about all of these people traversing the world one place at a time just to take in as much as they can throws me into an anxious state of "when do I leave."
As I go to bed tonight I'll finally be able to relax knowing we have, or will shortly, everything we need to start. This documentary is already a part of me and yet no one has hit record yet. Because of time and duty I have not been able to say good bye to or hangout with all of those who I have promised or would like to. To be short it sucks and to those I apologize and I swear it doesn't mean I don't love you. Many thanks to everyone who has helped out in everyway so far and I promise I'll be blogging more as we go, sadly I think this is my third post.
Here are a few pics from our weekend adventure we took on the Berryman trail. Although 2 miles in we got really confused as to where to go in a huge field we still had fun and next time we'll have a map with us. But all our gear works well including our rain gear which definitely got it's fair share of rain 15 minutes into our hike. But we all had smiles on our faces and the tents stove and everything else worked beautifully so twas a success. Must go cheers.


Lauren and her and Katelyn's new home


Matt and I have this thing with being next to each other :D

The Final Days

We've finally at long last booked our flights! Zero hour happens at 8:30am on Wednesday, May 30th. We fly out from St. Louis to a connection in Salt Lake City, then on to Portland. The only catch is we're all flying standby, so please, pray that we all get a flight on the first try. I'd rather not be stuck in an airport in Salt Lake City for three days. However, for only $83 a ticket, I'll take what I can get.

Once we all arrive safe and sound in Portland, Katelyn's cousin, Carol Ann, has graciously offered to come pick us up and drive us to Eugene where we can stay the night at her place. Then we'll get up bright and early on Thursday morning, be driven to Florence, dropped off, and start walking. Honestly, it's almost hard to believe that it's actually going to happen. If I weren't sitting here in St. Louis with the other three right now, our backpacks filled and ready for us, I'd hardly believe it myself. But here we are.

Amidst all of our last-minute errands and group work we have left, I've had some time to read about thru-hiking, the term used for long, extended hikes of 2,000 miles and more. I guess we're not that special after all; people do this sort of thing all the time. We're not even the first ones to make a walking documentary - we've been in contact with Lee Kazimir, who just finished making a documentary about his walk from Madrid, Spain to Kiev, Ukraine. He gave us a lot of advice on what to take and what to watch out for.

The thing that I keep in mind is that each case is different. As Lee explained, since there will be four of us, we won't have to worry about getting lonely like he did; we'll just have to worry about not killing each other.

The other thing I've learned about long-term hiking is a tip we've heard over and over again: It's all about your state of mind. You can be the best hiker in the world with thousands of dollars worth of gear, but if you don't want it badly enough, you'll be ready to go home by the second week. I guess it's the same as with everything in life: if you want to make it happen, you will find a way. I try to keep this in mind as our leaving date looms closer and closer, and I'm constantly thinking about how far we've come since Lauren and I first talked about this idea over a year ago, how much time and money and daydreams we've invested in this trip, and I know we're going to be okay. Because all four of us want this very, very badly.

Then there are people, like Joe Hawkes-Cates and Vicki Watts from Active and Creative Teen Theater in Springfield, who hold an open mic fundraiser for us and raise $401 in a single night, on a Friday no less. They also donated all of their concession money, money that would usually go to their organization. There are old teachers from high school and friends from college who will write checks to us from $20-$50, and in spite of my deepest gratitude for their generosity I also begin to feel a gnawing fear, a large tug of responsibility because now it's not just the four of us who are invested in this walk; there are people who have given lots of time and money and love and support to make this happen for us and I really, really don't want to let them down.

I don't really know how to end this particular post, so I'm just going to say all that there is left to say:

Thank you to all of you who have already proved that you believe in us. It has given us the courage to believe in ourselves, too.

We're Getting Close!

So it seems that the hour is almost upon us...

It's always amazing how prayers can be answered and things can be worked out last minute. Welcome to the story of my life. As of two days ago, two out of the four of us didn't have a way to get to Oregon. Needless to say, the idea of shelling out a $250 plane ticket when we thought that money could go towards other things put a bit of a damper on our spirits. But things looked up when I received a phone call yesterday and we learned that all four of us are going to be taken care of after all. It seems as if someone up there is looking out for us, after all...

Now all we have to do is figure out the best time to leave. I knew when we set our tentative starting date that we wouldn't really get a summer break, but for some reason I thought I would get SOME sort of break. Not the case. At the most we'll all be getting maybe one week at home before we have to head back to St. Louis and spend some time getting everything finalized.

I think that, for the most part, we're ready. Mentally, I've been ready for over a year. Physically, we have most of the stuff we need, and everything we don't have we know where to find. Still, it seems sort of like graduating from high school: no matter how close it gets, it doesn't really hit you into a few days later. I'm guessing we'll be a week or so into Oregon before I sit down at night and go, "Holy cow. I'm in the middle of Oregon. And I'm walking to South Carolina. What is wrong with me?"

Our group's been doing a lot better. We finally had time to sit down and figure out who's going to be in charge of certain tasks, like making sure we have enough water, finding a campsite, keeping the camera working, etc. We've had our fair share of disputes and arguments, but it's been healthy because each time something comes up we've been able to talk about it openly, say our apologies, and move on. I've been telling people that this walk is going to be like training for a marriage, and when I say that, I'm only half-joking.

Our biggest breakthrough, for me at least, was when we decided we were dropping all pretenses about what our documentary was going to be about. Every time someone asks about it, a small twinge comes to my stomach because honestly, I don't know. I know that we've been saying volunteering and community service, but that's because that's something that all four of us are passionate about doing ourselves. But really, who knows what story our final project will wind up telling? We have no idea what or who we're going to encounter on this trip, so why should we try to limit ourselves to any one thing or subject?

I know we might look like idiots when people ask what our documentary is going to be about and all we have to say is, "Well...we don't know" but it's the truth, and the truth is a lot better than some unintelligble answer.

So, here's the deal: We're walking across America, and we're taking a camera with us. We're documenting everything we can, and when we're done, we'll have a pretty awesome film to show for it. If you want to know what it's about, then like us, you'll just have to wait and see.