Moonwalkers

Well, this morning was the first morning we were woken up not by Katelyn, but by the groundskeeper of the Dayville, OR city park telling us that we were not allowed to camp in any city park in Oregon. I guess the two people we passed who told us it would be fine to camp there weren't up on all the rules. Oh well, it's not like we knowingly trespassed and we were only up about an hour before we planned to be anyway.

We're definitely crossing the high desert now: it can be up to 110 degrees during the hottest part of the day and as low as 27 at night. We heard our first rattlesnake a few days ago, and hopefully that is the closest we will ever come to a rattlesnake. Katelyn keeps saying she wants to see one but not one that is coming to bite her, and I heartily agree. Maybe we can stop by a zoo at some point and see one that is safely behind double-plated glass.

We've been trying to beat the heat by walking either very early in the morning before the sun rises or later in the evening as the sun sets. Walking at night is a very different sort of walking; it's calmer and more peaceful on the one hand, as there are less cars on the road, but on the other hand every little sound and movement tends to set your imagination off in some directions you'd rather it not go. The coyotes howling off in the distance at the full moon don't really help too much either.

Oh well, though. We asked for adventure, and it's being delivered.

Our stay in Prineville allowed us to capture the most footage we have so far; talking to workers at the travelling carnival, getting a tour of the Crook County Fire Station, and of course the Rock Hound Powwow, where we were fortunate enough to meet Matt and Becca, and their two little girls, Olivia and Ada. This wonderful family live out of a big pink school bus that they renovated into a double decker, and they travel all up and down the West coast to shows and festivals selling their eclectic mix of rock-based jewelery and other such trinkets. Staying with them and playing with their children was a delight, and Jonathan and Lauren were even taught how to forage for food and different types of plants, so we've all learned a thing or two about how to use our surroundings. I think the most interesting discovery is mullen, a plant that feels as soft as a rabbit's ear. Plenty of it grows out here in the high desert and it's soft enough that if we really need to cut down on weight, presto! Instant toilet paper. Yes, I'm serious.

We have about 30 miles to John Day, the next big city or town we will encounter, so that's another good two days (or nights rather) of walking, assuming the weather holds up. For those of you wondering about prayer requests, please ask for safety at night, not just physically, but also, you know...mentally.

P.S. Sorry again about not having any pictures for you all...dial-up internet again.

when you try to be funny and it fails

Captains Log 62107

We decided to inhabit one more day the city of Prineville. The beings we have encountered appear to be friendly. Our night was spent squished between a shiny fire station and an in-progress carnival. We were met by Wayne, from the station, and Scot from the carnival. The sunlight in this part was hot, and I awoke like a baked potato heating in the oven.
We were able to travel more of the area after being interviewed briefly by a journalist, as they call it, of the name Kate. We then travelled to a rock show, which was not about rock music as we had thought. There were rocks on display for all to see. Muriel of Pele Creations and I chatted about the different arts of this world, and gave me something referred to as a web address for more information. That is www.handcraftjewelry.com.
The weather is hot and the crew is tired. We're looking for friendly ground to stay again for the night, before leaving for a new place to conquer tomorrow.

End captains log.

Tumbling stories

My mom complained that we do not write enough about the stories and adventures we encounter as we go. That we are too thoughtful in our blogs, and this is a resource for those of you (which is almost all of you) who do not hear from us very often. So I apologize for that, and I will try to tell you some stories, although the one I wanted to tell was the one that Matt told about Madelyn and Samantha and their parents. I think Jonathan or Lauren told the other story I wanted to.

Tonight we are probably staying in the back yard of a Fire House in Prineville, OR. We stopped by to have an EMT check out of various ailments, Jonathan's feet, my blisters, etc. The guys were nice and we'll be camping there tonight once I get off the computer at the library.

I can't think of a story I want to tell... so here's some things I learned about Oregon and things I've learned in Oregon.

If you go into a kitchen that prepares food for a number of people (not a family home) you will see a sign about how to wash your dishes. I want to get the label for my family.
The toilet paper comes individually wrapped in public restrooms and is wrapped in blue paper.
When they say sparse, they mean sparse.
Not all cities on maps exist. Sometimes, if you are lucky, they are a road. Other times they have fallen off the face of the earth into oblivion and your hope for a restroom withit.
There are a lot of logging trucks that go down the roadways.
Walking west to east was smart, except in the afternoon when the drivers are blinded by the sunlight and therefore can't see you on the shoulder.
Yelling out "SEMI!" in a loud voice means get off the road or prepare to be blown over by the after-wind of the truck.
Life does exist without computers.

Ah hah! I have a story, about Matt, because he's sitting here, and I know that he'll appreciate everyone knowing it. We were walking from...we were walking to Redmond. And the wind kept pushing us from behind. Dirt was flying, we saw our first tumbleweed. Matt was walking in front, and I was directly behind him. As tumbleweed ket going past, I kept laughing, imagining it being so monstrous as to take a person out. Matt asked what I was laughing at, and I told him. He said he wouldn't be knocked down by tumbleweed. Not too long after that, tumbleweed started flying again. Right before my eyes, before I could even warn him, it snagged the back of his leg making him stumble. Not enough to hurt him, I wouldn't laugh at that...but it did make him stumble and I did laugh.

Maybe you had to be there. Just imagine it though. Take a second to stop reading, and close your eyes....ahh..now you are laughing (unless you are Matt's mom or sister, in which you probably don't think it's all that funny...but he's okay and I swear if he had been hurt I wouldn't have laughed, and if it hadn't happened so quickly I would have warned him).

Well, my stomach is calling me to move on. I'm starving. I'll start storing up stories to tell, and not keeping them all to myself.

Clue and Marshmallows

Hi all! Greetings from Redmond, Oregon!

It looks as though our last post was ten days ago, so I'd like to thank everyone for waiting patiently until we get a chance to sit down in front of a computer for awhile and update our blog. I wish we could write a new post every day, but unfortunately it looks as though about once a week is as good as we're going to be able to do. But I would like you all to know that we have not forgotten any of you, or that you're waiting to hear from us, and that we are receiving all of your comments and E-mails and although we can't reply right away to every single one, they mean a lot and are definitely encouraging to each and every one of us.

We're taking a rest day today, to sit and spend time with Vern, the man Katelyn met on the plane to Oregon. Vern is a chaplain for the fire district of Redmond, a deeply spiritual man who lives alone with his adorable dog Peanut Butter since his wife died a year ago next week. Already he has told us story after story that make you stop and think, or tug at your heart strings a little bit, or make you laugh. He's one of the kindest gentlemen we have encountered so far, and he's more or less adopted us all as extra grandchildren. Sometime soon we are going out to see Smith Rock, one of the most famous climbing rocks in the entire world. I hear it's beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, we have many more pictures to share with you all, but since Vern has dialup internet, I think it's best we wait to share some of those. If you're interested, I have an account through Webshots under matchez312@insightbb.com, which have all of my pictures for the first half of our journey uploaded already. I'm not sure if you have to have an account or not to see those.

Anywho, it's been a wonderful albeit rough ten days. Our hardest challenge so far came when we went up and over an old highway, 242, that was open for three weeks only to hikers and cyclists. There were gorgeous views all along the route, also called McKenzie Pass, and we took many side trips to see waterfalls, giant beds of lava rock, and we spent the night at the summit (over 5,000 feet) in an old stone observatory. The wind was howling, but we all huddled together in one two person tent to stay warm. It was great to have an entire road to ourselves for several days, but since there were no towns for several miles, we had to carry all of our food and water with us. It only takes a few days of the same meals (oatmeal for breakfast, Velveeta sandwiches for lunch, bean soup mix for dinner) to really make you start appreciating a lot of other meals you realize you take for granted every day.

When we came out of the pass, we stopped in Sisters, OR for the evening at a campground and on our next night into Redmond came across a family (Dani, Phil, Samantha, and Madeline), where we got our first showers in a week (the longest I believe any of us have gone without showering) and our first chance to do laundry in a lot longer than that. If you thought we appreciate food more now, I can't begin to tell you how much more we appreciate hot water and some Tide. We spent the night playing with Sam (9, almost ten) and Madi (8, almost 9). When they accused me of cheating at Clue they got out some marshmallow guns and the four girls barraged Jonathan and I with clouds of the stuff. I think it was my favorite night yet. I really wish he had captured some of it on film, but I guess sometimes there are some things that just don't come out right on film...as we're learning time and time again with our documentary.

That's been my biggest struggle so far; getting the hang of making this documentary. The more we experience, the less inclined I feel to bring out the camera because the camerman has to be an observer and not an interactor...and I want to interact and experience it all firsthand. I keep waiting for the right time to get some filming done, but what I really wish I could do is record every second of every day, so that we could share all of it the way it was meant to be shared.

That's it for now. Keep praying for us, sending us your kind words in comments and E-mails, and keep rooting for us. We've already gotten some small media attention as well, so be looking for us in papers and on the news. And if you're going to call us and find out our cellphones are off, PLEASE leave us messages so that we know you called and we can call you back when we get them! We love to hear from everyone!

the value of family

It seems to me that when I sit down to write, I'm left wordless. There are thoughts in my head, and as we walk an our feet pound on the pavement I think, "Man, I need to remember this to write in the blog". And then I promptly forget.
But as we were walking today, and I was thinking about how long it has been since I've written on the blog, I decided today to write about the company the four of us have been blessed in the last couple of days.
When we were with Sylvia and Dale, right outside of Glode, it was my night to call home. None of us had phone service, but Sylvia let me use her cell phone to call home. The service was still sketchy and I had to stand over the sink in order to keep it working. I called my mom and recognized how excited I was to hear her voice, and my heart pinged a little in homesickness. I was in the middle of giving her the information she needed to pass on to the other parents and the phone went out. I felt terrible...I didn't get to say good bye or see how the rest of the family was...I didn't even get a choice. It just went off. I tried calling again and I couldn't get through. I leaned over the sink, let a tear drop in, then sucked it up to call one more time. It went through and I got to finish my conversation.
We met up again with my cousin Carol Ann and stayed with her and Mark another night in Eugene. I was so relieved to see a loving face, as was the rest of the group. The comfort of family was overwhelming and we all went to bed early for the night. We were slow moving the next morning, taking our time meandering...we took a long time running our errands as well. We actually took so long that we ended us not being able to walk at all and staying with my aunt for a night...it was hard the next morning to say good bye to her. It felt a lot like saying good bye to my mom. But we took so long again running errands, trying on backpacks and other various things, that we ended up again at my aunts.
Carol Ann and Mark brought me my backpack today while we were walking. We all bought new ones, but McKenzie Outfitters did not have another small in stock and they were gracious enough to work with Granite Gear to overnight it to the store. Once Carol Ann and Mark left us, I started thinking about all the wonderful things they had done for the four of us. Feeding us and putting up with us as we are still very much beginners and are slow...
I don't know what we would have done without them. We'd be lost in Oregon, desperately trying to find someone to carry us around, to love us, and to guide us where we needed guidance. We're staying tonight about 13 miles out of Eugene at Mark's sisters. They took us is in because they are Mark's family.
And even more importantly, as Lauren keeps saying, the four of us are growing together as a family. We trust, rely and share with each other, knowing that in this family, no one is left behind.
I wanted to write this awhile ago, but on our plane ride out of St. Louis I sat next to a wonderful man named Vern. I will post a picture of him later, but he was a wonderful plane partner. His dog Peanut Butter was so cute and little. Vern was encouraging to my very nervous self. He told me a lot about his life and he listened while I told him about mine. I still get a little agitated on airplanes, I don't like being cooped up and sometimes taking off and landing scares me...but being next to Vern relaxed all those fears.
So Vern, if you read this, thank you.

Alpha and Alive!

We're alive!!!
Captain's Log, Day 8
The four of us stinky people may have finally found our hiking niche. It's kind of crazy to believe that we've been in Oregon for over a week hiking over small mountains, pumping water from (and sometimes falling into) flowing streams and staying with the coolest people ever. We're a long way from St. Louis now!
As I sit on the porch, relaxing in the shade and allowing a cute dog to lick my dirty socks, I find my heart so filled with joy because I am finally looking at the area we circled on our maps during our planning. It seems so ridiculous now that we just randomly hight-lighted areas that sounded funny or interesting without a real thought as to what we would actual encounter. It was all paper and words while we were in Webster, but now it's nothing but a giant world with fast cars and mile markers that I could swear are actually 5 miles between each other. This state sure has its share of beauty and really sweet souls. Heck, I think if I were to quit this trip today I would have enough to say about the generosity in America.

Here's my really, super, duper, short story about life in the slow lane:
Wednesday May 30
Early in the morning the four of us eager travelers were chaperoned to Lambert St Louis airport by our bodyguard Dee Goines (haha). Our send off song was the delightful and always poppin' "The Way You Move" by Outkast. Well boys, the way we move is kind of like a turtle. My story separates from the group's when I took a seat on a flight to Portland. I left the other six stinky feet to track down our luggage and make room on the standby list. Unfortunately that never worked out...as you can read from Stuck In Salt Lake. Life on the way to Portland was...boring, that is until we reached MOUNT HOOD!!! Oh my gosh. Anyway, after picking up luggage and sitting for Carol Ann and Mark to pick me up, I met a guy who had overheard me talking about my trip. I thought he had been asleep in the uncomfortable airport chairs behind me while I was explaining myself to a curious woman (Starla), but once she left he turned over and sparked a conversation with me. I thought it was a joke. I mean seriously, how often does one come across people who've walked across America. I've searched for them, but they don't usually fall into my lap. The man's name was Rick and though I wish we had had more time to chat, the one very valuable bit of knowledge I've remembered is to stop and smell the roses. Thanks Rick. Immediately, I felt at ease and comfortable with the trip ahead of me.
Thursday May 31
The four stinky people walked four miles from to beach to...almost Florence. The Pacific Ocean made an impression on me...gray, windy and COLD. :) I loved it!
Friday June 1
After 17 miles on our of shape bodies, the four of us were practically crawling to the town of Mapleton. Without breakfast or lunch our stomachs we eating themselves inside out, but fortunately we were able to salvage the rest of our bodies when we stumbled into (the most amazing shop/restaurant) Alpha-Bit. It was 5:50pm when a man appeared from nowhere to tell us about the Alpha-bit shop and all of its vegetarian options. Turned out that the restaurant usually serves a la carte, but every friday night at 6pm they serve a meal. The owners Caroline and Jim made a place for us at the table, fed us a feast of a meal and gave us the coolest place to stay. We took a trip to what is pretty well known and respected in Oregon as the Alpha Farm. It's a community-based living environment compiled of some of the most precious individuals I've ever met. I won't say too much because this should be short and you should read my book after the trip ;). Anyway I played with a six year old genius named Gabrielle and learned to "release (my) sense of urgency." Thank you J for the banana pancakes. I only wished we had learned our lesson earlier, but your words have meant much.
So...the days are flying by, but we're moving so slowly that for the first time I feel as thought I am enjoying every moment of life (including the aches and pains in my back and legs). In only one week, I have started figuring out what I really want out of life. It's good to take this time to think. I don't like sitting and thinking because I'm an antsy person in general, but walking and reflecting is a whole new world. The scenery always changes and perspective is always fresh. :)

Here's my shout out: Kate, you make the best grilled cheese EVER! Thanks for lunch.
And Gabrielle, I miss jumping on the trampoline with you.

tit for tat: counting ounces

We've made it to Eugene again and are now frantically trying to cut as much weight as possible. I've been fighting for the past 3 days to regain feeling in left hand side of my left big toe and it's slowly but stubbornly coming back. Besides audio gear which I've already cut down to the barest minimum I'm carving out everylast living flair that is in my pack. It's fun... no seriously it really is. We are learning what we really need to survive... for the most part anyway, there are still somethings that we are holding on to, give us another 100 miles and we'll gladly give it up. :D We are on our way to the store to check out the possibility of getting new packs instead of our 5 to 6 lb packs getting a 2 lb ultra light pack. Considering we rejoice when we can cut half a lb this is a huge leap. But that my dear readers is for the next chapter. I'm sad to say this is going to be the end because there have been some wonderful people we have met so far and I want to make sure we tell you all about them. But as time shrinks down on us I must run. Cheers peace and love to you all.

Burnt Socks and Other Adventures

The four of us on the coast before we began!

Hello dear readers! Sorry it's been nearly a week since our last post but we've been hard pressed to find regular computer access out here...we've made it back to Eugene in six days, which was twice the time we originally planned on, but we've been taking it slow at the start, spending time meeting people, and having many adventures.

I'll let some of the others go into detail a little more about who we've met and what we've done, but I was saying yesterday that I think with the people we've met and places we've seen so far, I could stop walking right now and feel fulfilled. Oregon is a beautiful state, and the people we've come in contact with have been so amazing and interesting. Anyone who has a pessimistic outlook on the American public should spend some time walking the country, because it will totally restore your faith in the kindness of others. Whether it's a cold Pepsi freely given at a public rest stop (thanks Betty!) or a hot meal of soup and crackers at the end of a long day (many thanks Sylvia and Dale!), I am no longer in doubt that at any time in our long journey ahead will we be in need of anything.

The other day we were out walking when we realized we had to find a place to stay soon before the daylight was lost, but there didn't seem to be anywhere to camp so we started looking for houses that seemed inviting. We saw a sign posted on a tree that said "Food Ahead" so we decided to stop and ask someone how far the food was. We saw a couple outside of their house, so Katelyn and I approached the couple and explained to her what we were doing. Their names were Sylvia and Dale, and they were living out of a trailer in their driveway since the roof of their house had been demolished in a windstorm six months ago. When we told them we needed a place to stay for the night, they willingly offered us their abandoned house and when Sylvia learned that all we had to cook for dinner was beans and lentils she whipped us up four bowls of soup, including two vegetarian soups for Jonathan and Lauren, deviled eggs, crackers, and peanut butter cookies. In the morning we awoke to a table set out for us with cereal, eggs and cheese, toast, pears, and milk. Before we left we said a prayer for their house, and I sincerely hope that the permission they need to rebuild (not to mention the money!) comes through for them soon. Maybe you can say a prayer for them as well.

There are many other things to tell, but I shouldn't hog all the good tales for myself. Our spirits are high, we've been doing some great filming, and our only ongoing battle is the constant challenge to shed more ounces. Tomorrow we're all going out to see if it will be worth it for us to buy lighter backpacks, since the ones we carry now are five to six pounds alone with nothing in them. As I said, we're taking our time with it now so once we get into the mountains we'll be able to go faster and farther.

Oh yes, I've also learned that it's not a good idea to attempt to dry out your wet socks by laying them next to a campfire, unless they're made of wool. I burnt a hole through one pair of good hiking socks by being impatient, so I'll be sending those home shortly (sorry Mom and Dad, I just realized I forgot to mention that one on the phone). The others got a pretty good kick out of that though, so at least I'm providing some humor for the group...