Sleepless in Eugene

We left at midnight from Monroe to beat the heat and the traffic. A county officer directed me to the back roads and to my delight in four hours I saw two cars and a truck. Weary from three days over fifteen miles I must rest.

Nice walk...

We left the state park at four in the morning and followed the old road until it converged with the new old 99 just as it became light enough for us to be seen. We humped it into Corvallis getting to town just as the heat of the day set in. We walked. To downtown stopping for shade many times. A young couple called as we walked through town and offered to help later in the day. Once I got to the Fire Department downtown where noone answered the door I asked at a few places not getting a safe feel for leaving the world while I got a ride fifteen miles away so I opted to deflate the world for an afternoon so I could drive to Albany and get my phone serviced and then clean my pile of dirty clothes. The sweet couple invited me for dinner and a shower. I then went back to 99, fouund a place that would let me park, reinflated (blew up) the World, glued a few spots that inevitably come apart when I let the air out and crush it in the van. I may have skipped a couple miles but my van doesn't smell of dirty clothes and blankets, my phone will now again send photographs, I too am clean. Well worth the time I would have spent getting to this spot. If I can again get going early we can get half way to the next town before it gets hot.
Thanks to all the people who have been there for us going out of their way to keep us safe.
Now I must get some sleep for the early start.

The bike path to Monmouth from Rickreall was a welcome sight with only two joggers , seven cyclists and one on roller-blades were all I had to contend with. The wheat fields and wild rose pouring onto the path that runs along beside the highway were the hardest obstacles to avoid. Only one person stopped to talk from the thousand cars and trucks. A woman about my age who, after I told her I was walking to help show walking can help control, prevent or turn around diabetes, enthusiastically agreed. She was walking two miles during the weekdays and getting seven to nine miles in on the weekends saying it makes a world of difference for her. She said you can diet but nothing gets those toxins out like exercise to keep her diabetes in control. As I reached town I had to stop to pour the wheat harvest from my shoes. I stopped at J's 99 Grill, it looked like the place in town that serves everybody who is anybody in town. I like to find the place where the patrons come to eat while solving the difficult questions facing the World. For the first time since I was given my "Gen-you-wine ruff and Tuff big Texas" cowboy hat I swung through a set of cafe' doors to the grill. Blame it on those "spaghetti westerns". The air inside smelled like a grandmothers' kitchen cabinet sour with the oils of a thousand meals. There I was given a phone number to call for a man I met yesterday as I walked by his job sight on the pipeline. I made my way down the old 99's route for a few more miles to a small state park. While I walked along I came upon two men fishing over a small bridge with just a guardrail spanning the creek. One was walking back a forth tending his poles, the other at first looked from a distance like he was sick. He was a very large man bent over the rail laboring to even breath. His large shirt hardly covered the underside of his belly. His shorts had no chance of covering his "plumbers" crack. His exposed calves rippled with cellulite and were larger than my own fat thighs. He never raised up or did more than turn his head my way and looked as if he was weary from standing. I left it alone and walked by. The man who gave me a ride brought his son who , during the ride back to Rickreal said he had seen a man in the gas-food mart who had to be over for seventy five to five hundred pounds getting a pile of suger filled drinks and snacks. I asked about the clothes confirming that it was the man fishing. The young man said he would have felt for him had he not had so much on the counter. He left it alone too. As I rolled up I saw a great view of a huge old bird flying along the tree by the river and all afternoon I heard the cackle of the bald eagle in the trees close bye. I hope to leave early in the morning to get our walking in before the heat. During the hot summer days this will be our pattern, to start early and end in the early afternoon. It is sixteen miles to the next city and if we don't get there early we will spend a lot of time under some shade tree by the highway.
I don't mind repeating... It's a Movement-movement. Love yourself, go for a walk.

Rickreall

The sky was clear as we walked the "baker's dozen" from Amity. While strolling from shade tree to shade tree along the road we passed miles of new gas pipeline construction, progress. As always many who stopped to talk were diabetic, too many. We had hardly passed Rickreall's signpost when a man walked from his home and offered to help. After we got the van parked by his driveway and had some homemade hummus made with a substitute from the garden, zucini' (I can't spell). I was asleep well before dark and slept well. We probably will not walk over ten miles today as we are getting used to the increasing heat. Nothing like the east's heat wave but it is getting hotter.
Enjoy the day, maybe have a walk to take in some fresh air and scenery.

Amity

Nice(the dog) was in no mood all day for anything but laying down (and protecting his World). We were hardly out of the college parking lot when he wanted to lie in the grass for the first time. I was patient with him. I had taken him through some bad spots the past few days. We were at the edge of Amity when we met a family who has a lot by their house for us to park overnight. It was next to the school where the fireworks were. I touched up the world, had a nice dinner then Nice(the dog) and I fell asleep before the last fireworks had gone off. I was up before dawn but we didn't get going until six thirty. We've walked about six miles in the sun going from shade to shade this morning. Nice is feeling better as long as we go at his pace as much as I can. We obviously have a good working relationship to get this far.
It's time for us to leave this shade tree...

Doggy Nap

When Nice (the dog) doesn't feel like walking the best thing I have found is to find a spot and let him get some sleep. I have a good view of the trestle we just ran under and have place to sit on a guardrail in the shade where if someone has to pull off the road they can. It is a holiday, I can relax a little. There is,however, a sharp smelling dead thing up wind...

The Right of Way, the Wrong Way and By-way

Out of Newburg the road was wide enough where I didn't have to walk in the ditch-line. When we got past Dundee that changed, the edge was too narrow and the ditch was more of a steep trench. The railroad tracks looked inviting. I checked the GPS and saw it ran with the road for a long stretch with the occasional drive or road intersecting. Morning traffic was heavy so I jumped on the "right of way" and hopped down the tracks. It's more of a dance, with the uneven ties of varied age from new to crumbling. At each crossing I would check to see if the road widened before going on. Everything was going well when I came upon a trestle. It didn't look very long, the cross ties were close together, I had a good view of the line each way but when I got high over the water the view gave me flashes of vertigo while I watched my step. On my walkman radio the song """Locomotion" encouraged me, keeping my rhythm and my brain from reverting to my childhood fear of heights. "Come on everybody, do the locomotion with me.". At my next opportunity I went back to the ditches, thorn scrubs, fast cars, ever stronger wind in our faces and road-kill. I ran a tight bridge or two and made my way to a bypass around most of McMinnville with a wide shoulder where we could all walk without having to balance on a fine line twixt' death and the briar patch. With the long and straight bypass that turned just enough we made up some pace until we got to the well groomed grass in front of the airport where Nice (the dog) flopped down for a rest. I didn't mind, I was ready to let the wind cool my wet back and give my legs a moment. We were about to go after I had some fresh cherries and Oregon Hazelnuts I had gotten from a nursery we passed earlier when the city police came in response to a call. I had been stoped by a State trooper a half of a mile back so we deduced some concerned citizen was calling in the calvary. The county officer drove by just as I got going again but didn't stop. They were the only cars that I'd seen all day. He came by just as I was frantically waving to someone who had stopped in the middle of the road to snap a picture with cars barreling down on them. I guess he saw my animated frustration, there was a wide emergency lane to do that in a safe way.
I did not get far past the airport when I found a place to stop and our ride to relay the van appeared. A warm and happy working mother.
It's getting late in the morning so I must get going to get some miles in before the Forth of July celebrations get too rowdy.
Have a sane and safe Holiday. Oh, and enjoy your walk.

Tigert to Newburg

Leaving the van in the parking lot we walked south on 99. Early we came to a "jersey" wall dividing the narrow pedestrian walk. I had to balance the world atop the wall that was very, very long. I bobbled once when someone slowly paced beside us but kept the World in control the full length. " The main thing is - don't get excited!" I talked to an officer from one of the four or five small cities we walked past. He gave me a patch. I stopped at the Sprint store to see how I could again send pics to Facebook. No luck. I had loaded the newest version two weeks ago and have not been able to share the sights. Apparently the link to my FB page from here is broken too. Oh, woe is me! How will I go on without a complete facebook experience? I met a man who offered his home as a stop for the night. At the time he said he was 3 miles away.6 would be closer to accurate. I had to push up a long hill then push down the longer opposite side because the wind was blowing so hard. The walk to my host's house was laborious from then on. I finally made it and after getting back with the support van I got a shower. It felt so good I fell quickly to sleep. This morning I will keep walking in this beautiful cool Oregon weather.
Love yourself, go for a walk.

The power of Fingerpaint

Yes, the previous post was a cry for help. I almost didn't post it thinking I should give Portland a chance. It's not only Portland but all large cities people live in a rush. I was pacing myself for a long steady walk through the night when I got a call from a woman (road angel) who saw the worldguy.org tags I crudely have painted on the world. She looked it up, read my last post prompting her and her husband to action. They came to give us a ride to the north side of Portland. Thinking I was just letting off steam turned out to be a cry for help. Thanks to Karla!

the big busy city

In the cities people are way too busy. Time for a picture. Little conversation. I may have to walk until I am out of the metro area of Portland just to find someone for a ride, or perhaps a cab. The folks in Portland are enthusiastic enough and still distant. I need to have patience. Or maybe I need to walk all night.

Scappoose to Portland

Overcast all day with a little rain when we got closer to the city. I don't mind a little sprinkles. Will take it over a hot sun. I will enjoy it while I can. It is hot over most of the nation. The first person who stopped was nice woman, we talked for awhile. She even gave me her number in case I needed a ride. As I was leaving she recited a list of friends and family with diabetes. I have met few who have no one in their life who does not suffer from it, heartbreaking. Along the river the shoulder was tight with a high retaining wall and a few feet to the white line. The dirt and grime built up on the soggy world. I passed the St. Johns bridge, the Golden gate-mini as I was told by a father who stopped so his tiny children could say hello, along industrial buildings and train tracks. A young man asked if he could make a portrait of me with his camera, that I was probably asked that all the time. Actually he was the first ... Everyone else takes a picture, I felt special, really I did. Like my father once said, "It's the presentation. When serving toast, make it pretty." I passed Linnton, the last row of business for miles. The world was already wet and dirty so I kept walking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some people waving me over from a dead end side street across from the industrial side by the river. Before I could finish the meal they served from the family gathering we were swept back to Scappoose and parked on the street overnight. The rains moved in just after I got settled lasting all night. Not a hard rain but constant. Still amazed at the help I get, the perfect timing.
Now the mist has lightened so it is time to get my things together and find my way through downtown Portland.
Find a few minutes, walk.

A finish

Start with that fresh off the line gleam.
After a time the wax melts. True color, bare to the sun.
Red fades pink, purple matures violet.
Dirt and grit blast, wind and storm buff, nick, fleck.
Bump, brush, trip, fall.
Gladly join to your color, patina... your finish.






Shine.