Looking out the window yesterday morning I knew it was going to be tough to leave the warmth of the motel, the streets were covered in thick, fluffy snow. As beautfiul as it looked, it promised a long, cold day. Never the less, I got showered, got changed, packed my gear and headed downstairs for breaky. As usual I had a hunger like a wolf in the morning and knocked back 4 muffins, 3 danishes, 2 pieces of toast, a bagel, 3 orange juices, 2 coffees and an apple, I was ready to go.
Stepping outside in all my best cold weather gear I was hit straight in the face by the coldness of the day, and was immedietly thankful to my sponsors at Equip Outdoors for their down jacket I had on. It was a pretty straight forward day yesterday with the exception of the cold. At around 5pm I was wandering a tiny little road that runs in between the river and the interstate, I was thinking where am I going to put up camp for the night as to both sides of me it was just wet snow covered paddocks of the local farmers, but wouldn't you know it, I came across a little church literally in the middle of no where, and it was one of the most beautiful scenes I have come across yet. It was a little white church covered in snow and with the front yard part of it equally covered. The sun was setting just behind it as I arrived also and after a long day hiking through the snow, this scene made me laugh out loud as I could not have asked for something more perfect for the night.
This morning brought a new day and as I crawled out of my tent I was blasted in the face my the suns rays, I had not seen the sun in almost 4 or 5 days due to the weather, now there was not a cloud in ther sky. It was a magic morning with the sun out shining and all the churches garden still covered in clean, white snow.
I headed off and felt that energy and excitement I remember from my first few days of the trek up in northern Minnesota, the sun was out and warm on my face, I met two new little friends in two nice dogs that followed me for a while, jumping up on me and begging for affection. After heading down a gravel road for most of the morning I was forced to head west towards the interstate to cross over it and find the next trail I had planned on taking. As I was jumping a fence from a farm I was startled to hear someone yelling at me from the bushes on the fence line. I looked down along the fence to see a wildman, with a long beard half falling, half climbing the same fence as me. I continued on towards the interstate as I was not sure if he was crazy or what. As I was crossing the interstate I looked back to see if the wildman was still there, and found him still struggling with the fence and calling out to me and pointing further down the fence line. I followed his pointing down the fence line and saw a wildwoman dressed in some long, woolen, robe type outfit with dredlocks down to her bum running across the interstate, dodging the cars and waving her arms like crazy at me, she was pointing to a car that had stopped on the interstate that I realized was theirs and they were trying to get to me to offer me a lift, or to eat me, I was not really sure! I looked at the car and out of it came three mangy dogs with another shaved headed wildman in hot pusuit of them trying to rescue them from the oncoming traffic. This all happened in a matter of seconds and I did not know wether to laugh or take off running in the opposite direction. I called out to them thanks very much for the effort to help but I could not accept as I had to walk. They did not seem to understand and kept yelling at me to come over, these actions made me think maybe it would be better to continue on solo. I waved the flinstones goodbye and good luck and kept heading east towards the trail I needed to find.
Tonight I was walking past a motel and noticed a big area of grass just behind it. I thought I would try my luck and go in to ask if I could use it to put up my tent. I went in and said gday and explained what I was doing and the lovely ladies on the desk told me I could put my tent up outside under the outside patio which has a light and electricity in it, and that I could also come into the reception and watch the television and drink all the coffee I wanted, I can tell you I am a happy man at the moment!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Snow...
Well I must tell you that the snow has won the race. Today I saw the first snowfall since I have been in the states. I thought I was winning the race south, but as I found out, we can rarely beat mother nature.
Yesterday I met up with Josh at around 5pm in the town of Miner. I got off to a late start yesterday. I was about to head off after church when one of the ladies there invited me to her house for lunch. I said thanks but no thanks as I wanted to get going but she seemed very worried and concerned that I needed to eat before I continued south. we finished up lunch around 1pm, I thanked them very much and was on my way.
I made it only about 15kms to the town of Miner before Josh found me. But it was nice to see a familiar face and be inside a car out of the cold.
We arrived in Memphis around 8pm. Josh lives in a nice house with two other guys, Cameron and Murph, and what good fellas they are also. So there I was again in a house full of great people with a shower and a warm bed awaiting me. After washing my clothes, having a shower and organizing my gear for the next day we all sat around for the night chatting and laughing over Camerons favorite series on TV about zombies. It was again nice to be around quality people and just relaxing in a warm house.
Cameron was good enough to offer to drive me back out of the city to a spot where I could begin to hitch hike back to Miner where I would start back south. I said thanks and see you soon to Cameron around 9:30. As soon as he took off the rain started. Being windy, raining and around a temp of 2c I was hoping to get picked up quickly. 3 hours later I was still standing in the rain, jumping up and down to keep warm and giving every car that passed me the biggest please help me smile I could muster. Eventually a good guy, Dan, was to stop and he was heading all the way to Miner. I tell ya, getting into the warmth of that car was a blessing. My fingers had no feeling in them at all and my face was that numb it was dificult to talk properly, it was hard enough for poor Dan to understand me with my accent and now to add to it, a face and mouth that would not work properly due to the cold, well not for the first 10 mins anyway until the heater helped thaw me out.
We arrived in Miner around 2pm, but with heavy rain, strong wind and black clouds as far as we could see, I decided it would be best to dry of my clothes and rest up for the night in one of the cheap motels in Miner. So I am here now in a warm room, looking out the window at the snow falling, and it is falling heavier every minute. After just checking the forecast and seeing that the weather will be dropping to -4c in the next few days, it looks as though I am going to have to rug up and tough it out for the next few days.
Good news also, as I said in my last post, I am always misplacing things, and thankfully this is the story with my camera and it has turned up in a pocket of my backpack that I almost never use, so I will have some more photos up in a week or so when I get back to Memphis.
Thanks heaps to the boys in Memphis for helping out and I will hopefully being seeing you guys in 8 or 9 days.
Yesterday I met up with Josh at around 5pm in the town of Miner. I got off to a late start yesterday. I was about to head off after church when one of the ladies there invited me to her house for lunch. I said thanks but no thanks as I wanted to get going but she seemed very worried and concerned that I needed to eat before I continued south. we finished up lunch around 1pm, I thanked them very much and was on my way.
I made it only about 15kms to the town of Miner before Josh found me. But it was nice to see a familiar face and be inside a car out of the cold.
We arrived in Memphis around 8pm. Josh lives in a nice house with two other guys, Cameron and Murph, and what good fellas they are also. So there I was again in a house full of great people with a shower and a warm bed awaiting me. After washing my clothes, having a shower and organizing my gear for the next day we all sat around for the night chatting and laughing over Camerons favorite series on TV about zombies. It was again nice to be around quality people and just relaxing in a warm house.
Cameron was good enough to offer to drive me back out of the city to a spot where I could begin to hitch hike back to Miner where I would start back south. I said thanks and see you soon to Cameron around 9:30. As soon as he took off the rain started. Being windy, raining and around a temp of 2c I was hoping to get picked up quickly. 3 hours later I was still standing in the rain, jumping up and down to keep warm and giving every car that passed me the biggest please help me smile I could muster. Eventually a good guy, Dan, was to stop and he was heading all the way to Miner. I tell ya, getting into the warmth of that car was a blessing. My fingers had no feeling in them at all and my face was that numb it was dificult to talk properly, it was hard enough for poor Dan to understand me with my accent and now to add to it, a face and mouth that would not work properly due to the cold, well not for the first 10 mins anyway until the heater helped thaw me out.
We arrived in Miner around 2pm, but with heavy rain, strong wind and black clouds as far as we could see, I decided it would be best to dry of my clothes and rest up for the night in one of the cheap motels in Miner. So I am here now in a warm room, looking out the window at the snow falling, and it is falling heavier every minute. After just checking the forecast and seeing that the weather will be dropping to -4c in the next few days, it looks as though I am going to have to rug up and tough it out for the next few days.
Good news also, as I said in my last post, I am always misplacing things, and thankfully this is the story with my camera and it has turned up in a pocket of my backpack that I almost never use, so I will have some more photos up in a week or so when I get back to Memphis.
Thanks heaps to the boys in Memphis for helping out and I will hopefully being seeing you guys in 8 or 9 days.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
A Sad Loss...
Well he has served me well, really well to be honest, but it is time to say thank you and goodbye to an old friend. The old wagon - cart (or Carts as he became known) has finally copped one too many bumps and knocks and has climbed too many surfaces he was not built for and his run has come to an end due to the welding of the handle and front wheels splitting and coming away from the rest of the cart. I managed to get a little bit of metal to hhok onto the cart and drag it along the rest of the way today, but with this falling apart every 5kms or so it is time to go our seperate ways. Thanks Carts for ya help, reckon you saved my little legs a heap of pain and problems for the future!
The rain I was expecting for today did not come until around 3 this afternoon, so I managed to get a good start to the day. When the rains hit though, they hit pretty hard and have still not stopped and it is now almost 8pm. I was only about 5kms out of a little town ofBlodgett. I stopped at a local church and went to a house close by to ask if they knew the pastor. The family there greeted me warmly and informed me they knew him well and attended the church and that I could go ahead and put my tent under the shed roof as the rain was still pumbelling down. Thankful for this I went and set up camp, no more than 10 mins later the pastor tunred up to say hi and the lovely lady of the house came out with a bowl of hot soup and a large glass of iced tea for my dinner. Once again I stumble upon great people, and suprise suprise, at a church, a very obvious pattern there so far...
So how am I going to deal with the cart problem? A few days ago when I got caught in the rain without my raincoat, I had to hitch a ride to get out of there. I was picked up by a good young fella by the name of Josh who lives in Memphis. He recently got in touch to let me know he was back in St louis but will be heading back to Memphis on Sunday and if I needed anything. How amazing and always perfect is God's timing? So I will be being picked up by Josh tomorrow night around 6pm after walking through the day and heading to Memphis with him, where I will leave a bag of my clothes and things at his house. Then I will hitch back North to where Josh picks me up from with nothing but a change of clolthes and my camping gear. The walk to Memphis from here should take me maybe a week or more to do which will leave me smelly and ready for a wash, but is a good way for me to cover a lot of ground in good time. Thanks for the help Josh, is appreciated.
To rub salt into the wounds of losing my buddy Carts, I might have lost my bloody camera! Hopefully I left it at Matts up in Festus. I have some great photos of the last few weeks on it I have not yet saved to my computer so I will be a little crushed if I have lost that. lets hope it turns up, things like this with me usually turn out ok, I am just hopeless like that...
With a stomach full of good food and a nice, dry place to rest my head and sore body tonight I am off to bed. Tomorrow will be a late start to walk as I can go to church tomorrow as it is only 5 steps out of my tent to attend hey, then I will make my way towards highway 55 where Josh will be finding me. Hopefully I can still knock out 20 - 25kms tomorrow before Josh finds me.
R.I.P CARTS.......
The rain I was expecting for today did not come until around 3 this afternoon, so I managed to get a good start to the day. When the rains hit though, they hit pretty hard and have still not stopped and it is now almost 8pm. I was only about 5kms out of a little town ofBlodgett. I stopped at a local church and went to a house close by to ask if they knew the pastor. The family there greeted me warmly and informed me they knew him well and attended the church and that I could go ahead and put my tent under the shed roof as the rain was still pumbelling down. Thankful for this I went and set up camp, no more than 10 mins later the pastor tunred up to say hi and the lovely lady of the house came out with a bowl of hot soup and a large glass of iced tea for my dinner. Once again I stumble upon great people, and suprise suprise, at a church, a very obvious pattern there so far...
So how am I going to deal with the cart problem? A few days ago when I got caught in the rain without my raincoat, I had to hitch a ride to get out of there. I was picked up by a good young fella by the name of Josh who lives in Memphis. He recently got in touch to let me know he was back in St louis but will be heading back to Memphis on Sunday and if I needed anything. How amazing and always perfect is God's timing? So I will be being picked up by Josh tomorrow night around 6pm after walking through the day and heading to Memphis with him, where I will leave a bag of my clothes and things at his house. Then I will hitch back North to where Josh picks me up from with nothing but a change of clolthes and my camping gear. The walk to Memphis from here should take me maybe a week or more to do which will leave me smelly and ready for a wash, but is a good way for me to cover a lot of ground in good time. Thanks for the help Josh, is appreciated.
To rub salt into the wounds of losing my buddy Carts, I might have lost my bloody camera! Hopefully I left it at Matts up in Festus. I have some great photos of the last few weeks on it I have not yet saved to my computer so I will be a little crushed if I have lost that. lets hope it turns up, things like this with me usually turn out ok, I am just hopeless like that...
With a stomach full of good food and a nice, dry place to rest my head and sore body tonight I am off to bed. Tomorrow will be a late start to walk as I can go to church tomorrow as it is only 5 steps out of my tent to attend hey, then I will make my way towards highway 55 where Josh will be finding me. Hopefully I can still knock out 20 - 25kms tomorrow before Josh finds me.
R.I.P CARTS.......
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving...
If I have lost any weight on this trek I can tell you now I reckon I probably have come close to putting it all back on, and that all just happened yesterday at thanksgiving with Matt and his family, boy do those Yanks prepare a feast! Yesterday was the perfect day off. I awoke around 8am and stayed in bed until around 10am catching up with emails and so forth. Got up, showered and shaved (What a feeling) and then the feast began. Turkey, corn, mashed potato, sweet potatos, three different types of salads and cranberry sauce, all washed down with iced tea. This was just the begining. For dessert there were two apple pies, a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie, with cream or ice cream. After we had all done our best attacking this great food (Matts wife and mother are both extremerly good cooks too by the way) we retired to the lounge room to watch the football and take a nap only to wake up an hour later to head over to a friend of the families for more of the same food and hay rides which are a thanksgiving tradition over here. It really was a great day spent with really great people.
This morning I awoke though having to face the reality of leaving the comforts of Matts house and family. I will miss that house full of those beautiful people. After a hard slog through the areas of Northern St Louis and through the city itself I could not have come across a better family to spend time with and to find again the positive energy I need to finish the trek. To all the Johnsons I want to say thank you so much for all you guys did to help me out, I really will not forget it, you did more for me than you will probably ever know, thank you.
I was back on the road at around 6:30am. I needed to hitch hike back to the last point I had left off at which was the town of Fruitland. I arrived there around 10am. From there I made my way to Cape Girardeau to retrive my cart which I had stored there at the local rec centre. Being a good day with the sun out and a nice 17c I kept on going until around 7pm tonight until I found a local little bar in the town of Kesol. The crew there were good enough to allow me to pitch my tent out the back for the night.
Tomorrow we are expecting rain and on Sunday snow so I am not sure how the next few days will pan out.
Happy birthday to my big sister Toni to for the other day. I know it is really late but I hope ya had a great day, miss you and love you...
This morning I awoke though having to face the reality of leaving the comforts of Matts house and family. I will miss that house full of those beautiful people. After a hard slog through the areas of Northern St Louis and through the city itself I could not have come across a better family to spend time with and to find again the positive energy I need to finish the trek. To all the Johnsons I want to say thank you so much for all you guys did to help me out, I really will not forget it, you did more for me than you will probably ever know, thank you.
I was back on the road at around 6:30am. I needed to hitch hike back to the last point I had left off at which was the town of Fruitland. I arrived there around 10am. From there I made my way to Cape Girardeau to retrive my cart which I had stored there at the local rec centre. Being a good day with the sun out and a nice 17c I kept on going until around 7pm tonight until I found a local little bar in the town of Kesol. The crew there were good enough to allow me to pitch my tent out the back for the night.
Tomorrow we are expecting rain and on Sunday snow so I am not sure how the next few days will pan out.
Happy birthday to my big sister Toni to for the other day. I know it is really late but I hope ya had a great day, miss you and love you...
Thursday, November 24, 2011
My First Day Off...
Today is Thanksgiving which is a pretty big deal over here. Matt and his family have been kind enough to invite me to spend it at their home with them. Seeing as I might only get one chance to spend Thanksgiving in the states, and of course, them being a great bunch of people who I really like, I greatfully accecpted.
Since I met Matt life has been easier to say the least. From the begining when he was kind enough to help me out with another tent. I did not expect any more after that at all. He was thinking otherwise, every day for the last 4 days, Matt has dropped me off at my last point in the walk at arround 6am, and then come back to find me in the afternoon after he has worked all day to take me back to his house so I have a hot shower, a roof over my head and a hot meal. What a guy hey, a legend in my books!
The past two days have been good ones where I covered around 36kms and yesterday around 43kms. I made it as far as a little town by the name of Fruitland, which is 15kms from the next bigger town of Cape Girardeau.
It looks as thought the rain and bad weather has passed me which is a releif. I am sure I will cop another set of clouds at some stage (I dont think they will be as big and nasty as the last few which were basically thunderstorms for three days) but for the next few days it looks as though I will have some good walking days but I am happy to say, Not Today; today I am going to sit down with a bunch of people I have come to be very fond of and eat as much good food as possible while laughing and sharing stories of good times, then we will watch the football and fall asleep in the lounge room because we have eaten too much - how good of a day off is that after walking around 1500kms, I gotta say I could not have planned it any better...
Since I met Matt life has been easier to say the least. From the begining when he was kind enough to help me out with another tent. I did not expect any more after that at all. He was thinking otherwise, every day for the last 4 days, Matt has dropped me off at my last point in the walk at arround 6am, and then come back to find me in the afternoon after he has worked all day to take me back to his house so I have a hot shower, a roof over my head and a hot meal. What a guy hey, a legend in my books!
The past two days have been good ones where I covered around 36kms and yesterday around 43kms. I made it as far as a little town by the name of Fruitland, which is 15kms from the next bigger town of Cape Girardeau.
It looks as thought the rain and bad weather has passed me which is a releif. I am sure I will cop another set of clouds at some stage (I dont think they will be as big and nasty as the last few which were basically thunderstorms for three days) but for the next few days it looks as though I will have some good walking days but I am happy to say, Not Today; today I am going to sit down with a bunch of people I have come to be very fond of and eat as much good food as possible while laughing and sharing stories of good times, then we will watch the football and fall asleep in the lounge room because we have eaten too much - how good of a day off is that after walking around 1500kms, I gotta say I could not have planned it any better...
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Rain...
I have been walking in rain for the last few days and it does not look like improving anytime soon. The storm is moving south and seeing that I too am moving south, it looks as though we could be together for a while. I really hope the storm gets a move on or at least breaks up a bit soon as I am getting to dislike walking in the rain more and more each day, especially when the wind picks up, this does not make nice conditions.
It is 7am and I about to put on my wet weather gear and take to the road and rain again, hopefully I can try to ignore the weather and push out some kms to gain some groud I have missed out on over the past few days. Will write more soon when I have more time...
It is 7am and I about to put on my wet weather gear and take to the road and rain again, hopefully I can try to ignore the weather and push out some kms to gain some groud I have missed out on over the past few days. Will write more soon when I have more time...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hello Mr Policeman...
Well after saying farewell to the boys from Imperial I set off rather late around lunch time. With pretty good weather ahead of me but only 5 hours of daylight I was in for a quick, short day of walking. I pulled up only after about 4 hours and 20kms as I came across a church I was hoping I could camp at. Upon arriving it seemed nobody was there so I turned around after knocking to continue on down the road. just then a beam of flashlights came out of the carpark. I waved the car down and was met by an older lady who asked how she could help me. Again, I explained what I was doing but was to be informed that they did not have any grass on the property to get a stake in for my tent. But this lady (sorry I forget her name) was keen on lending a hand. She informed me her son lived around the corner and that it should be no problem to put my tent in his yard. So with a quick phone call and 5 mins later, I had met Matt. We bundled the gear into his ute and with a big thanks to his mother, we took off for his house.
Matt is a guy who is very easy to like, honest, relaxed and very genuine. As we pulled up to his house he said to me quite blatenly that "He loved his family and if I was some physcop-wierdo and messed with them, he would hunt me down". Is funny but from that moment I liked him even more.
I got my tent out and did the best to try set it up using a replacement pole of a fishing rod I had found whilst walking that day, as you could imagine, it was about as sucssesful as trying to stop a boat sinking by bailing water with a shot glass. Matt noticed my pitiful attempts and came out to give me a hand. Well more than that.. he gave me a new tent, and then told me that it was not just for the night, that he wantedme to take it for the rest of the trek! What a legend! After getting a lesson on how it went up, we had it up and ready in a few minutes. From here the rest of the family made their way out to meet the stranger in their yard. After a few laughs and getting to know everyone they invited me in for dinner of steak, rice, vegies and beans, washed down with a couple of Dr Peppers, - heaven!!
It ended up being a great night with us sitting up to almost midnight chatting and sharing stories over a bottle of wine. By a huge coincedence, Matt has a guy from Colombia living with them for a month or so. He is the local soccer coach and Matt was good enough to offer him a room while he waits for his apartment to be ready. So at around midnight, I thanked them all very much and crawled into my new tent for a sleep I was craving. Honestly I could have stayed up for much longer chatting with these new great bunch of people that I was lucky enough to have come across, beautiful people all round!
Up at 6am Matt, Jonny, Matts sons and myself sat down for some of Jonnies finest eggs for breakfast. The eggs tasted just like the usual breakfast from Colombia, Jonny turned it on he did, was a ripper breaky!
With breakfast done I went back out to begin organizig my gear for the day. I had managed to roll up my mattress and sleeping bag when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to find two police officers coming across the lawn. I am used to cops wanting to check me out by now, so I told them my passport was just there and asked if I could continue on with packing my tent while they checked it out. "No son, we need to ask you a few questions" came the reply! "What" I asked them. Seems the night before, at the church where I had met Matts mother at, had been broken into and robbed. I could not beleive it. I asked them at what time this happened and was told when I was there! They began the search through all my tent and bag and obviously found nothing. They apologized and wished me the best of luck and took off. Matt had been at work when this happened and arrived back a few minutes after they had gone. He had actually called the sherrifs office when he had heard from his mother about what had happened and vouched for me which I really appreciated. It definetly was an interesting morning. I have now been woken up or greeted by skunks, coyotes and police officers to date, I guess now I am heading south I better prepare for a battle with a bear or an alligator!
With that interesting experience out of the way I kicked on south. Today it rained all day, and heavily. I am know aware that my water proof gear has been taking a hiding over the last 7 weeks and now is only semi water proof, especially the shoes, with a couple of holes in them the water was in there and amongst it all within a few seconds, gotta love walking 20kms with saturated feet!! Luckily I have just recieved a new set of shoes from Keen Footwear and will be breaking them in shortly. The ascics I have used for the first part of the trek have been awesome, the best pair of walking shoes I have ever used. Thanks a heap to the crew at De Grandis Cycle and Sport in Geelong, real good stuff!
Tomorrow I have around 30kms to cover to arrive in the town of St Genevieve. Matt has offered to come down and meet me there in the afternoon. We will then take my cart down another 75kms to a town where his sister in law lives. Then we will come back to St Genevive and I will be able to cover these 75kms over the next few days with a lot lighter load.
A big thanks to Matt and his family for all they did for me. It was great to be around such a beautiful family, you guys really are blessed for what you have. Matt told me that night when he sees what he has, a loving wife, great children, a roof over his head and food on the table, he feels like the richest man in the world - what great words, and how very true...
Hopefully the worst of the rain has passed over us now and I can get back into covering some longer distances. Lets wait and see...
Matt is a guy who is very easy to like, honest, relaxed and very genuine. As we pulled up to his house he said to me quite blatenly that "He loved his family and if I was some physcop-wierdo and messed with them, he would hunt me down". Is funny but from that moment I liked him even more.
I got my tent out and did the best to try set it up using a replacement pole of a fishing rod I had found whilst walking that day, as you could imagine, it was about as sucssesful as trying to stop a boat sinking by bailing water with a shot glass. Matt noticed my pitiful attempts and came out to give me a hand. Well more than that.. he gave me a new tent, and then told me that it was not just for the night, that he wantedme to take it for the rest of the trek! What a legend! After getting a lesson on how it went up, we had it up and ready in a few minutes. From here the rest of the family made their way out to meet the stranger in their yard. After a few laughs and getting to know everyone they invited me in for dinner of steak, rice, vegies and beans, washed down with a couple of Dr Peppers, - heaven!!
It ended up being a great night with us sitting up to almost midnight chatting and sharing stories over a bottle of wine. By a huge coincedence, Matt has a guy from Colombia living with them for a month or so. He is the local soccer coach and Matt was good enough to offer him a room while he waits for his apartment to be ready. So at around midnight, I thanked them all very much and crawled into my new tent for a sleep I was craving. Honestly I could have stayed up for much longer chatting with these new great bunch of people that I was lucky enough to have come across, beautiful people all round!
Up at 6am Matt, Jonny, Matts sons and myself sat down for some of Jonnies finest eggs for breakfast. The eggs tasted just like the usual breakfast from Colombia, Jonny turned it on he did, was a ripper breaky!
With breakfast done I went back out to begin organizig my gear for the day. I had managed to roll up my mattress and sleeping bag when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to find two police officers coming across the lawn. I am used to cops wanting to check me out by now, so I told them my passport was just there and asked if I could continue on with packing my tent while they checked it out. "No son, we need to ask you a few questions" came the reply! "What" I asked them. Seems the night before, at the church where I had met Matts mother at, had been broken into and robbed. I could not beleive it. I asked them at what time this happened and was told when I was there! They began the search through all my tent and bag and obviously found nothing. They apologized and wished me the best of luck and took off. Matt had been at work when this happened and arrived back a few minutes after they had gone. He had actually called the sherrifs office when he had heard from his mother about what had happened and vouched for me which I really appreciated. It definetly was an interesting morning. I have now been woken up or greeted by skunks, coyotes and police officers to date, I guess now I am heading south I better prepare for a battle with a bear or an alligator!
With that interesting experience out of the way I kicked on south. Today it rained all day, and heavily. I am know aware that my water proof gear has been taking a hiding over the last 7 weeks and now is only semi water proof, especially the shoes, with a couple of holes in them the water was in there and amongst it all within a few seconds, gotta love walking 20kms with saturated feet!! Luckily I have just recieved a new set of shoes from Keen Footwear and will be breaking them in shortly. The ascics I have used for the first part of the trek have been awesome, the best pair of walking shoes I have ever used. Thanks a heap to the crew at De Grandis Cycle and Sport in Geelong, real good stuff!
Tomorrow I have around 30kms to cover to arrive in the town of St Genevieve. Matt has offered to come down and meet me there in the afternoon. We will then take my cart down another 75kms to a town where his sister in law lives. Then we will come back to St Genevive and I will be able to cover these 75kms over the next few days with a lot lighter load.
A big thanks to Matt and his family for all they did for me. It was great to be around such a beautiful family, you guys really are blessed for what you have. Matt told me that night when he sees what he has, a loving wife, great children, a roof over his head and food on the table, he feels like the richest man in the world - what great words, and how very true...
Hopefully the worst of the rain has passed over us now and I can get back into covering some longer distances. Lets wait and see...
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Back on Track
I must admit, I did hit a little wall in St Louis, I was stuffed, physically and a little mentally also. After walking every single day, alone, in cold, wet conditions, missing my fiance and having too many hours for thinking on hand, a little dummy spit, tantram or whatever you would like to call it, was bound to come. But I can happily report, I am back on track and feeling up beat, keen and motivated!
Last night, after a good 28km day of walking, I found myself in the middle of some ordinary suburbs on the outskirts of St Louis. I had been strolling along through the dark for some hours when I noticed a motel sign a little further up. Seeing as though I was in the suburbs with not much of an option for camping, I decided to call it a night. Seeing the first people I came across were two police officers questioning two people was a sure enough sign that I was not staying at the Ritz. Literally 5 mins after getting into my room and locking the door, I jumped as I heard a woman screaming and a man yelling. I ran to the door to find a couple screaming at each other and then the woman taking off up the street. With that introduction I was happy to resign myself to the room for the night instead of the tour of the area I had considered before!
With having had a very quiet night of movies and nothing, I was feeling tons better than the previous days. I made it to a small town around 33kms out of the city by the name of Imperial. I found a church to camp at for the night and began to set up. I was setting up in the dark and was being too lazy to get my headtorch out to make things a little easier, SNAP...CRAP... while trying to fit the smaller poles into the tent sleeve, some part of it got snagged and when I tried to eaze it in a little bit more, bang, it snapped into 5 little pieces, leaving me with an almost useless tent on a cold, windy, dark night! Now what was I going to do?
Earlier that night I had met a couple of young blokes from next door to the church. I went over to ask if they minded if I could put my tent up in between their house and the church. As I was pondering what to do with my tent situation, Jack, Jake and Aaron turned up to say gday again. They are three fellas at 20 years of age and I immedietly liked them, good country boys. They invited me to spend the night on their sofa bed and also the use of their washing machine and shower - that invitation is becoming very common - could not be the way I look and smell ya reckon? Thanking God again for his perfect timing, I greatfully accepted and we set off for the house. After meeting the rest of the house (Aaron and jakes girlfriends) me and the boys went out to the local hamburger joint for dinner - good tucker, did not dissapoint. We then headed back to the house to find it ful with another 6 or 7 people who were on their way out to party and had stopped in to say gday. So after a long night of meeting people and having a laugh we eventually went to bed late into the night. I can tell you as I fell asleep listening to the wind growing stronger and stronger outside, I was happy as a pig in mud, curling up and falling asleep in 2 mins flat!
This morning Jack and I have been trying to find a substitute for the tent poles. Jack found some fiber glass poles in the garage maybe we can rustle up something with these and the left overs of the tent poles I still have. Today I will be making my way to the town of St Genevive which is around a two day walk. I have heard good things about this place, with many people saying it is a beautiful place that thrives through its tourism and many wineries.
I want to give a huge thanks to the boys - Jack, Jake and Aaron. After a pretty crappy last few days and then when my tent poles broke as I was trying to set my tent up in the darkness and wind, they turned up in my life with the timing of a perfect set out movie. The lads are all young in age, but with good, mature heads on their shoulders, and it was a real pleasure to have crossed paths with them.
Now with a rejuvinated soul and mind set, I again feel motivated and ready to continue on my journey south to see what stories, people and adventures lie ahead.
Thanks also to Cami for her last email. She had read my last post and as always knows just what to say and how to make me feel better and get my butt back into gear... Lets hope, no more dummy spits...
Last night, after a good 28km day of walking, I found myself in the middle of some ordinary suburbs on the outskirts of St Louis. I had been strolling along through the dark for some hours when I noticed a motel sign a little further up. Seeing as though I was in the suburbs with not much of an option for camping, I decided to call it a night. Seeing the first people I came across were two police officers questioning two people was a sure enough sign that I was not staying at the Ritz. Literally 5 mins after getting into my room and locking the door, I jumped as I heard a woman screaming and a man yelling. I ran to the door to find a couple screaming at each other and then the woman taking off up the street. With that introduction I was happy to resign myself to the room for the night instead of the tour of the area I had considered before!
With having had a very quiet night of movies and nothing, I was feeling tons better than the previous days. I made it to a small town around 33kms out of the city by the name of Imperial. I found a church to camp at for the night and began to set up. I was setting up in the dark and was being too lazy to get my headtorch out to make things a little easier, SNAP...CRAP... while trying to fit the smaller poles into the tent sleeve, some part of it got snagged and when I tried to eaze it in a little bit more, bang, it snapped into 5 little pieces, leaving me with an almost useless tent on a cold, windy, dark night! Now what was I going to do?
Earlier that night I had met a couple of young blokes from next door to the church. I went over to ask if they minded if I could put my tent up in between their house and the church. As I was pondering what to do with my tent situation, Jack, Jake and Aaron turned up to say gday again. They are three fellas at 20 years of age and I immedietly liked them, good country boys. They invited me to spend the night on their sofa bed and also the use of their washing machine and shower - that invitation is becoming very common - could not be the way I look and smell ya reckon? Thanking God again for his perfect timing, I greatfully accepted and we set off for the house. After meeting the rest of the house (Aaron and jakes girlfriends) me and the boys went out to the local hamburger joint for dinner - good tucker, did not dissapoint. We then headed back to the house to find it ful with another 6 or 7 people who were on their way out to party and had stopped in to say gday. So after a long night of meeting people and having a laugh we eventually went to bed late into the night. I can tell you as I fell asleep listening to the wind growing stronger and stronger outside, I was happy as a pig in mud, curling up and falling asleep in 2 mins flat!
This morning Jack and I have been trying to find a substitute for the tent poles. Jack found some fiber glass poles in the garage maybe we can rustle up something with these and the left overs of the tent poles I still have. Today I will be making my way to the town of St Genevive which is around a two day walk. I have heard good things about this place, with many people saying it is a beautiful place that thrives through its tourism and many wineries.
I want to give a huge thanks to the boys - Jack, Jake and Aaron. After a pretty crappy last few days and then when my tent poles broke as I was trying to set my tent up in the darkness and wind, they turned up in my life with the timing of a perfect set out movie. The lads are all young in age, but with good, mature heads on their shoulders, and it was a real pleasure to have crossed paths with them.
Now with a rejuvinated soul and mind set, I again feel motivated and ready to continue on my journey south to see what stories, people and adventures lie ahead.
Thanks also to Cami for her last email. She had read my last post and as always knows just what to say and how to make me feel better and get my butt back into gear... Lets hope, no more dummy spits...
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Halfway...
Sorry it has been a while since I have added a post. The first few days after I left Louisiana I did not have access to internet and yesterday and today I was without my computer.
After getting the opportunity from Pastor John to speak at the church about what I was doing and the cause, I got going out of Louisiana at arond 2pm. My destination was Clarksville which was only 15kms or so. I made that by around 5pm which made for a nice, easy day of walking. Clarksville is a really pretty, little place right on the river and is home to many artist which have their small galleries all along the river.
I was up early the following day and keen to make up some ground. After 30kms or so on a great day full of sun and with a slight wind at my back I had arrived in Elsberry. I stopped here as I was in luck and the little town happened to have a Subway store, my favorite takeaway and a place that always makes my days a little better when I come across one in these little river towns! I got talking to the ladies there and one of them, Cindy, offered to take my cart to a pub that was just next to her house further south. She told me the pub was only around 5kms or so, so I thought perfect and we heaved the cart up into the back of her car. 2 hours and 12kms later I arrived at the pub to find my cart waiting for me with the local crew of the pub. Seems Cindy misjudged the distance a little, but all good as this made the next day a little easier I guess.
The local crew there were great and let me pitch my tent on their property along with also buying me dinner and throwing me free drinks all night. Only soft drink though I tell ya, could not think of anythinjg worse than trying to walk 30+ kms with a slight hangover, it is hard enough as it is... thanks to Paul and the boys for their hospitality, it was good to sit back and relax and have a laugh with yas all.
Yesterday I only managed to get 10kms or so before the shoulder on the road become non existent, and also as I was approaching the big city of St louis, the traffic was getting thicker and wilder. After 20mins of dragging the cart over the gravel I again had had enough and put out the thumb and began to hitch hike. I managed to get a ride into St Louis. I found another church and they were good enough to let me store my cart there and then also they offered to drive me back to almost where I left off. I managed to get a little closer to where I wanted but finished off around 10 kilometers from where I needed to be, but with daylight running out I started heading back to the city. With that, I now have 10kms I need to make up somewhere on the river further south.
I walked to about 7:30 at night before finding a spot to pitch the tent in the suburb of St Peter. This morning I awoke with a good day of around 30kms to walk to get back to the church that was holding my cart for me. Arriving at 4pm I was stuffed. I think all this is finally catching up with me. Tonight I am spent and even writing this is taking it out of me. I have many little events and stories I want to talk about but will have to leave it to another day when I am feeling a little more alive.
After going out for dinner with some great people from the church, they were good enough to offer me a room in their church for the night. With the temperature expected to drop below freezing tonight and being as tired as I am, these words were like music to my ears. Thanks so much to Shannon and the crew for their kindness, prayers and company.
I am sorry for the very non colorful post tonight, usually I try to fill you guys in on the more eventful and interesting things that are passing me by, but tonight I am just not up to it. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a new day with new energy...
After getting the opportunity from Pastor John to speak at the church about what I was doing and the cause, I got going out of Louisiana at arond 2pm. My destination was Clarksville which was only 15kms or so. I made that by around 5pm which made for a nice, easy day of walking. Clarksville is a really pretty, little place right on the river and is home to many artist which have their small galleries all along the river.
I was up early the following day and keen to make up some ground. After 30kms or so on a great day full of sun and with a slight wind at my back I had arrived in Elsberry. I stopped here as I was in luck and the little town happened to have a Subway store, my favorite takeaway and a place that always makes my days a little better when I come across one in these little river towns! I got talking to the ladies there and one of them, Cindy, offered to take my cart to a pub that was just next to her house further south. She told me the pub was only around 5kms or so, so I thought perfect and we heaved the cart up into the back of her car. 2 hours and 12kms later I arrived at the pub to find my cart waiting for me with the local crew of the pub. Seems Cindy misjudged the distance a little, but all good as this made the next day a little easier I guess.
The local crew there were great and let me pitch my tent on their property along with also buying me dinner and throwing me free drinks all night. Only soft drink though I tell ya, could not think of anythinjg worse than trying to walk 30+ kms with a slight hangover, it is hard enough as it is... thanks to Paul and the boys for their hospitality, it was good to sit back and relax and have a laugh with yas all.
Yesterday I only managed to get 10kms or so before the shoulder on the road become non existent, and also as I was approaching the big city of St louis, the traffic was getting thicker and wilder. After 20mins of dragging the cart over the gravel I again had had enough and put out the thumb and began to hitch hike. I managed to get a ride into St Louis. I found another church and they were good enough to let me store my cart there and then also they offered to drive me back to almost where I left off. I managed to get a little closer to where I wanted but finished off around 10 kilometers from where I needed to be, but with daylight running out I started heading back to the city. With that, I now have 10kms I need to make up somewhere on the river further south.
I walked to about 7:30 at night before finding a spot to pitch the tent in the suburb of St Peter. This morning I awoke with a good day of around 30kms to walk to get back to the church that was holding my cart for me. Arriving at 4pm I was stuffed. I think all this is finally catching up with me. Tonight I am spent and even writing this is taking it out of me. I have many little events and stories I want to talk about but will have to leave it to another day when I am feeling a little more alive.
After going out for dinner with some great people from the church, they were good enough to offer me a room in their church for the night. With the temperature expected to drop below freezing tonight and being as tired as I am, these words were like music to my ears. Thanks so much to Shannon and the crew for their kindness, prayers and company.
I am sorry for the very non colorful post tonight, usually I try to fill you guys in on the more eventful and interesting things that are passing me by, but tonight I am just not up to it. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a new day with new energy...
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Company...
I just arrived back at the church an hour ago after a great day. After breakfast at Johns house, which is just across the road from the church, we waited for Kathy to arrive, then headed of at 7am. The day was looking perfect with a few, thin, wispy clouds here and there and a beautiful sunrise to start the day. We arrived at the top of one of the highest bluffs along the route, exactly 40kms from the church, this was our starting point. What a view it was, it was really magic, with the river winding its way through all the bluffs and crevices of the hills. It was great to be able to do the walk with some local knowledge of the area.
From the bluff we wound our way through a national park, where John, who is an avid bird watcher, pointed out to us many species of eagle, hawk and duck. We then hit some more hills and smaller bluffs which was followed by open farmland and two dogs that decided we looked like a good gand to hang out with. One of the dogs was actually a blue heeler which brough back memories of Australia. Arriving back at the church around 8 hours later we were all glad to be there. I gotta tell you, Kathy, at 50 years old is a strong, fit women and John, my god, I thought he was in his 50s as I had said in the last post, when I asked him his age today, I nearly fell over when he told me 68. What great shape this fella is in. Try walking 40kms up and down hills with wind in ya face in your 20s or 30s let alone high 60s. I take my hat off to them both for todays effort!
Tonight there is a movie at the church with a heap of the regulars coming in to see it. The film is based in New Mexico in the town where John started his service in the ministry so I am looking forward to checking it out and then curling up for my last night under a roof for who knows how long, as the next strech of the trek will be in pretty barren and isolated area.
Thanks so much to John and Kathy for their company today. It was a pleasure to be on the road with such good people full of enthusiasm and energy, and also sharing laughs and stories of our travels. It has been a real good break in the routine since landing in the little town of Louisiana.
From the bluff we wound our way through a national park, where John, who is an avid bird watcher, pointed out to us many species of eagle, hawk and duck. We then hit some more hills and smaller bluffs which was followed by open farmland and two dogs that decided we looked like a good gand to hang out with. One of the dogs was actually a blue heeler which brough back memories of Australia. Arriving back at the church around 8 hours later we were all glad to be there. I gotta tell you, Kathy, at 50 years old is a strong, fit women and John, my god, I thought he was in his 50s as I had said in the last post, when I asked him his age today, I nearly fell over when he told me 68. What great shape this fella is in. Try walking 40kms up and down hills with wind in ya face in your 20s or 30s let alone high 60s. I take my hat off to them both for todays effort!
Tonight there is a movie at the church with a heap of the regulars coming in to see it. The film is based in New Mexico in the town where John started his service in the ministry so I am looking forward to checking it out and then curling up for my last night under a roof for who knows how long, as the next strech of the trek will be in pretty barren and isolated area.
Thanks so much to John and Kathy for their company today. It was a pleasure to be on the road with such good people full of enthusiasm and energy, and also sharing laughs and stories of our travels. It has been a real good break in the routine since landing in the little town of Louisiana.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Greetings Missouri...
I gotta tell you, from where I was in the last post, things have improved...
Last night I found myself wandering along searching for a camp spot for the night. I was on a country road, but it still had too much traffic on it to pitch the tent on the side of the road without upsetting someone or posing a danger to myself due to the chance of a stray driver. the night had turned freezing also, at -2c and almost dark I was getting pretty keen to batten down for the night. Eventually I came across a little old town hall, which was hidden off to the side of the road, it was perfect for the night. I set up camp and after a day of around 30kms I nodded off to sleep.
I was up early this morning, and boy was it cold, still below 0c at around 6:30am. I got my things together quickly as possible to get a good start to the day, but also to try to keep warm. It was pretty much smooth sailing for the first 18kms until I reached the town of Hull. I had ran out of water and food at this stage so was pretty keen for a feed and to refil the water bottles. I asked a bloke if there was any such place around that could help me out with this and he pointed me in the direction of the only restaurant in the town. I arrived to find them closing up for the day, but after a little pleading they agreed to russle me up a chicken and salad sandwich to keep me going. I thanked them and made off for Hannibal.
I reached the turn off to Hannibal an hour or so later but was to find I had made my first dumb mistake with my orientation. I did not notice on my maps that the bridge that crosses over the Mississippi river to Hannibal was an interstate road and can not be used by pedestrians. I thought about taking a chance with it but seeing the road and the bridge distance in total that I had to cover was over 10kms, I thought better not take my chances. I have had a good run with the police of the USA and did not want to jepordise that. My only other possibility was to continue on down the Illinois side another 50kms to the next bridge. But there was not another town that sold food until that next bridge. I was stuck. I must have looked like a lost soul as while I was pondering this a honking of someones horn snapped me out of my thoughts. A guy had pulled over and informed me he was heading to the town of Louisiana (yes the town, not the state) which was the exact town I was headed to. Perfect. I jumped in and we set off.
I arrived in Louisiana around 3pm. I thanked Gary and started wandering the town, looking for a bar or church - quite different places I know, but they are the best places to leave my gear when I need to backtrack the following day to complete parts of the walk. 10 mins later I came across a church. Two guys were entering it so I went up and introduced myself. After chatting a while to Jo and hs son Matt, they were quick to invite me inside, offer me the use of the shower (they offered a little too quick, think I might of been letting off a good odor) and asked if I would like to spend the night in the church - seems I had come to the right place. After I had showered and changed I went back upstairs and was to meet the Pastor of the church, John. After chatting for a while we decdided to head down to the local pizza place for some dinner. John invited one of his friends, Kathy, for dinner as he tells me she is an adventurer and would love to hear about my journey. To cut a long story short, I invited the two of them to join me on the walk tomorrow, it will be a long one of about 48kms. They both jumped at the chance. It will be great to have some company on tomorrows leg of the journey. John and Kathy are both in their 50s but are both in great shape so it should be a good day and I am looking forward to it.
We are going to be walking down the Missouri side of the river tomorrow which I have heard is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole river. John knows of some tracks that cut through some national parks also so it is shaping up for a great day.
Now I am off to relax in this huge church that I have all to myself. It has been a good day and an even better night, running into yet again, some truly lovely people...
Last night I found myself wandering along searching for a camp spot for the night. I was on a country road, but it still had too much traffic on it to pitch the tent on the side of the road without upsetting someone or posing a danger to myself due to the chance of a stray driver. the night had turned freezing also, at -2c and almost dark I was getting pretty keen to batten down for the night. Eventually I came across a little old town hall, which was hidden off to the side of the road, it was perfect for the night. I set up camp and after a day of around 30kms I nodded off to sleep.
I was up early this morning, and boy was it cold, still below 0c at around 6:30am. I got my things together quickly as possible to get a good start to the day, but also to try to keep warm. It was pretty much smooth sailing for the first 18kms until I reached the town of Hull. I had ran out of water and food at this stage so was pretty keen for a feed and to refil the water bottles. I asked a bloke if there was any such place around that could help me out with this and he pointed me in the direction of the only restaurant in the town. I arrived to find them closing up for the day, but after a little pleading they agreed to russle me up a chicken and salad sandwich to keep me going. I thanked them and made off for Hannibal.
I reached the turn off to Hannibal an hour or so later but was to find I had made my first dumb mistake with my orientation. I did not notice on my maps that the bridge that crosses over the Mississippi river to Hannibal was an interstate road and can not be used by pedestrians. I thought about taking a chance with it but seeing the road and the bridge distance in total that I had to cover was over 10kms, I thought better not take my chances. I have had a good run with the police of the USA and did not want to jepordise that. My only other possibility was to continue on down the Illinois side another 50kms to the next bridge. But there was not another town that sold food until that next bridge. I was stuck. I must have looked like a lost soul as while I was pondering this a honking of someones horn snapped me out of my thoughts. A guy had pulled over and informed me he was heading to the town of Louisiana (yes the town, not the state) which was the exact town I was headed to. Perfect. I jumped in and we set off.
I arrived in Louisiana around 3pm. I thanked Gary and started wandering the town, looking for a bar or church - quite different places I know, but they are the best places to leave my gear when I need to backtrack the following day to complete parts of the walk. 10 mins later I came across a church. Two guys were entering it so I went up and introduced myself. After chatting a while to Jo and hs son Matt, they were quick to invite me inside, offer me the use of the shower (they offered a little too quick, think I might of been letting off a good odor) and asked if I would like to spend the night in the church - seems I had come to the right place. After I had showered and changed I went back upstairs and was to meet the Pastor of the church, John. After chatting for a while we decdided to head down to the local pizza place for some dinner. John invited one of his friends, Kathy, for dinner as he tells me she is an adventurer and would love to hear about my journey. To cut a long story short, I invited the two of them to join me on the walk tomorrow, it will be a long one of about 48kms. They both jumped at the chance. It will be great to have some company on tomorrows leg of the journey. John and Kathy are both in their 50s but are both in great shape so it should be a good day and I am looking forward to it.
We are going to be walking down the Missouri side of the river tomorrow which I have heard is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole river. John knows of some tracks that cut through some national parks also so it is shaping up for a great day.
Now I am off to relax in this huge church that I have all to myself. It has been a good day and an even better night, running into yet again, some truly lovely people...
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Almost a Disaster...
I have just gotten back from making up the ground I missed because of the storm. I set out yesterday at noon in the direction of the town Warsaw around 50kms away. I felt good yesterday after a good nights rest in the hotel and covered around 35kms in 6 or 7 hours. The road I was on was almost unused so when the sun had left me for the night, I was able to just pitch my tent just to the side of the road. The forecast (I did check it this time) had predicted a cold night at around -3c and again tonight. They were not wrong about last night, as I awoke this morning I was to find my whole tent covered in ice, both inside and out. After forcing myself out of the tent to get changed and stuff a quick breakfast in my mouth, I was back on the move again as quick as possible as it was the best way to regain feeling in my face and hands.
After a good day yesterday on the road I only had around 15kms to walk this morning and covered it quite quickly with almost no issues. I was around 3kms out of the small city of Quincy wheh I felt the tummy begin to grumble. The people that know me know that when I need to go to the toilet, thats it, I have to go, no exceptions. I must admit, due to nessecity, I have improved this in the last 6 weeks on the trek and have learned more control when the issue arises. Unfortunately, last nights meal of macaroni in a creamy sauce was not real keen on helping me out with this. With my tummy doing backflips I managed to see just down the road a public park with what looked like public toilets, yes, my problem solved, if I could just hold on a little longer. With cheeks clenched, I shuffled along as fast as Icould, trying not to do any sudden movements to entice the macaroni. I got to around 50 meters of the toilets and began to relax, I had made it. I grabbed the handle of the door.. you would not beleive it, the bloody thing was locked. Panicking, I shuffled at a record speed around to the womens side, No, locked also. After letting my body and mind relax there was no stopping it now, quickly scanning the park for witnesses, I was forced to drop the strides then and there and let nature take its course. How bloody embarrasing. Thank God I had brought a little paper just in case of this type of emergency. After organizing myself again, I set back on to the task at hand, and just in time too. As I took my first step away from the crime scene, a car pulled into the park. What a lovely start to the family picnic at the park that would have been for them. Thank God he saved both of us the humiliation of that!
Now I am about to head off south again. The next main town I will be reaching will be Hannibal, the home town of writer, Mark Twain. Known for his famous tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and thier adventures along the Mississippi River, it will be a nice place to check out on the way, with a little connection to where I am these days, with an adventure of my own down the Mississippi...
After a good day yesterday on the road I only had around 15kms to walk this morning and covered it quite quickly with almost no issues. I was around 3kms out of the small city of Quincy wheh I felt the tummy begin to grumble. The people that know me know that when I need to go to the toilet, thats it, I have to go, no exceptions. I must admit, due to nessecity, I have improved this in the last 6 weeks on the trek and have learned more control when the issue arises. Unfortunately, last nights meal of macaroni in a creamy sauce was not real keen on helping me out with this. With my tummy doing backflips I managed to see just down the road a public park with what looked like public toilets, yes, my problem solved, if I could just hold on a little longer. With cheeks clenched, I shuffled along as fast as Icould, trying not to do any sudden movements to entice the macaroni. I got to around 50 meters of the toilets and began to relax, I had made it. I grabbed the handle of the door.. you would not beleive it, the bloody thing was locked. Panicking, I shuffled at a record speed around to the womens side, No, locked also. After letting my body and mind relax there was no stopping it now, quickly scanning the park for witnesses, I was forced to drop the strides then and there and let nature take its course. How bloody embarrasing. Thank God I had brought a little paper just in case of this type of emergency. After organizing myself again, I set back on to the task at hand, and just in time too. As I took my first step away from the crime scene, a car pulled into the park. What a lovely start to the family picnic at the park that would have been for them. Thank God he saved both of us the humiliation of that!
Now I am about to head off south again. The next main town I will be reaching will be Hannibal, the home town of writer, Mark Twain. Known for his famous tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and thier adventures along the Mississippi River, it will be a nice place to check out on the way, with a little connection to where I am these days, with an adventure of my own down the Mississippi...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Lesson Learned... Check Forecast...
On the Sunday I found myself walking into the town of Dallas City with a population of 1000 people at around 5pm. I grabbed some food from the general store and headed toward the river to find a camping spot. Upon arriving I found a little riverside bar named "Ikes". I went inside and met the owner whos name was, you guessed it "Ike". He was agreat old fella who pointed me to the outside beer garden. Here there was a stage where local bands play in the summer. He told me to make myself at home on the stage, seeing the stage was undercover and around 4 by 4 meters it made for a perfect little spot for the night and with the added incentive of not having to set up my tent I went to bed a content man.
The next day I had the town of Nauvoo on my sights, a town famous for its Mormon population. I arrived here earlier than I had anticipated, so instead of finding a good camping spot around one of the local churches or local parks with some coverage, I opted to move on further south down the river, a decision, later on I would regret. I usually take a look at the forecast for the next few days before heading into wilder areas, but with a string of good days behind me, I had hoped the beautiful weather would follow me on.
Two or so hours from Nauvoo, and along some of the most beautiful strech of the walk so far, darkness started to arrive and I was forced to make camp on the edge of a small cliff above the river. All seemed fine at roughly 8pm with clear skies and a light breeze, so I happily curled up in my sleeping bag and off to sleep.
Bang, I was woken up by a crack of lightning and then a huge downpour of rain. If I had of checked out the forecast I would have seen a huge storm coming my way. When I say it rained, I mean it poured. With wind whipping against my tent, rain smashing down upon it and lighting and thunder flashing through the skies above me, there was not much sleep going on. It got a lot worse. Usually these things pass in a few hours, however this storm was going to hang around I was to find out. My tent though water proof, I do not know if it is the wear and tear of the trip, but I gotta tell you, it is not 100% water proof anymore. After a while of heavy rain, water started to drop down off the inside of the roof, and as time passed, more and more and more water started to come in. My cart was outside also with my clothes inside it under the tarp. I made the dash to the cart to grab my towell as it was getting messy inside the tent. I jumped back in the tent and started to mop up the tent as best as I could around my matress and bag to lessen the damage that was getting done. So this started at roughly 9:30pm and you would not beleive it, but the storm did not pass until 5:30am - yep 8 hours later. I did not get any sleep and spent the entire night trying to keep my gear from being saturated. When light finally arrived in the morning all my gear, both in the tent and under the tarp (the wind and rain had just been too heavy and the water had got into the cart also) was drenced. I had no choice but to pack up as best as I could and soldier on. Luckily I had put clothes for the following day in my backpack when the rain started, so I had moderately dry clothes to walk in, but with everything else wet top the core, and after 20kms of walking in the morning, I had to hitch a ride to the next big town to find a motel to sort out and dry all my equipment.
I tell ya, it was a tough night and morning, but now I am in my hotel, I have dried all my equip, have just had a good meal, showered and spoke with my Mum and Cami on the phone, and with that I am looking out the window now to see a fair amount of rain again, I am a happy and content man to be where I am now.
I can tell you I have checked the forecast for the next week and am happy to report no thunderstorms. I will make my way back up to where I was picked up today to continue on the trail of the trek. Now I am going to sleep to catch up on what I missed out on last night...
The next day I had the town of Nauvoo on my sights, a town famous for its Mormon population. I arrived here earlier than I had anticipated, so instead of finding a good camping spot around one of the local churches or local parks with some coverage, I opted to move on further south down the river, a decision, later on I would regret. I usually take a look at the forecast for the next few days before heading into wilder areas, but with a string of good days behind me, I had hoped the beautiful weather would follow me on.
Two or so hours from Nauvoo, and along some of the most beautiful strech of the walk so far, darkness started to arrive and I was forced to make camp on the edge of a small cliff above the river. All seemed fine at roughly 8pm with clear skies and a light breeze, so I happily curled up in my sleeping bag and off to sleep.
Bang, I was woken up by a crack of lightning and then a huge downpour of rain. If I had of checked out the forecast I would have seen a huge storm coming my way. When I say it rained, I mean it poured. With wind whipping against my tent, rain smashing down upon it and lighting and thunder flashing through the skies above me, there was not much sleep going on. It got a lot worse. Usually these things pass in a few hours, however this storm was going to hang around I was to find out. My tent though water proof, I do not know if it is the wear and tear of the trip, but I gotta tell you, it is not 100% water proof anymore. After a while of heavy rain, water started to drop down off the inside of the roof, and as time passed, more and more and more water started to come in. My cart was outside also with my clothes inside it under the tarp. I made the dash to the cart to grab my towell as it was getting messy inside the tent. I jumped back in the tent and started to mop up the tent as best as I could around my matress and bag to lessen the damage that was getting done. So this started at roughly 9:30pm and you would not beleive it, but the storm did not pass until 5:30am - yep 8 hours later. I did not get any sleep and spent the entire night trying to keep my gear from being saturated. When light finally arrived in the morning all my gear, both in the tent and under the tarp (the wind and rain had just been too heavy and the water had got into the cart also) was drenced. I had no choice but to pack up as best as I could and soldier on. Luckily I had put clothes for the following day in my backpack when the rain started, so I had moderately dry clothes to walk in, but with everything else wet top the core, and after 20kms of walking in the morning, I had to hitch a ride to the next big town to find a motel to sort out and dry all my equipment.
I tell ya, it was a tough night and morning, but now I am in my hotel, I have dried all my equip, have just had a good meal, showered and spoke with my Mum and Cami on the phone, and with that I am looking out the window now to see a fair amount of rain again, I am a happy and content man to be where I am now.
I can tell you I have checked the forecast for the next week and am happy to report no thunderstorms. I will make my way back up to where I was picked up today to continue on the trail of the trek. Now I am going to sleep to catch up on what I missed out on last night...
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Battling the Wind...
At the present I have just finished a meal at the local bar in the town Lomax. I gotta say, as much as I love the small town feel and the people in them, I am getting a little sick of the foods in them. The food is good, but with limited options. In the small towns you might be lucky to come across a small service station that with the small chance, might sell a bannana or apple. Apart from that the diet is prett consistent of sandwiches, burgers and the ocasional energy bar. But, who am I to complain, I have food, that is good enough for me!
Yesterday Benita cooked up a storm in her kitchen of bacon and eggs with a delicous cheese cooked through them. After sleeping like a log, and a gutfull of good food, I forced myself again to leave the comforts of a warm house and warm people at around 9am. Oakville has a great story behind the great people there. Oakville was destroyed by floods in 2008 (or 2009 I think). It took them a long time and a lot of work, but with people like Benita, Dave and many others, they rebuilt it to a beautiful little town again. It was a pleasure to be around the country people of Oakville, they had so much pride in their little town and in each other, it was a real close community and a breath of fresh air. I loved sitting back and listening to the locals talk of their passions which were their their town, their husbands, wifes and children. Maybe a little different to the conversation that might take part at a dinner table in a big city where the passions usually lie within their property port folio, shares or the next big investment
Last night I made it to the state of Illinois. I crossed the big bridge around 5:30pm and the light was beginning to fade. I walked for another hour before coming to a service station. I met the two ladies maning the tills and asked if I could pitch the tent out the back. With a free coffee shoved in my hands they told me no problem and shiowed me where I could put it. But if I say I slept well I would be lying. Around midnight I was woken up by Coyotes again fighting outside of my tent. It wakes ya up I tell ya! This only loasted a minute or so but now the wind had picked up and the tent was copping a batterring. I slept on and off until about 7am and on exiting the tent, I could see the wind had not ceased, it was going to be a long day as the wind was coming directly from the south, right where I was headed.
So after 6 hours of walking I can tell ya, it has been a hard day. Walking into a strong wind for 6 hours, carrying 30 kgs takes it out of ya. Looking out the window now it does not seem that the wind will be letting up either.I have another 10 or kms to go until the next town of "Dallas City". This will leave todays distance of arond 26kms which is a little shorter than usual, but it does not feel it with that wind in my face! The last two days I passed around 45kms and 40kms so it is not too bad to pull up a little short today. Best get cracking, I could write for hours more as an excuse to stay indoors, but where will that get me...
Yesterday Benita cooked up a storm in her kitchen of bacon and eggs with a delicous cheese cooked through them. After sleeping like a log, and a gutfull of good food, I forced myself again to leave the comforts of a warm house and warm people at around 9am. Oakville has a great story behind the great people there. Oakville was destroyed by floods in 2008 (or 2009 I think). It took them a long time and a lot of work, but with people like Benita, Dave and many others, they rebuilt it to a beautiful little town again. It was a pleasure to be around the country people of Oakville, they had so much pride in their little town and in each other, it was a real close community and a breath of fresh air. I loved sitting back and listening to the locals talk of their passions which were their their town, their husbands, wifes and children. Maybe a little different to the conversation that might take part at a dinner table in a big city where the passions usually lie within their property port folio, shares or the next big investment
Last night I made it to the state of Illinois. I crossed the big bridge around 5:30pm and the light was beginning to fade. I walked for another hour before coming to a service station. I met the two ladies maning the tills and asked if I could pitch the tent out the back. With a free coffee shoved in my hands they told me no problem and shiowed me where I could put it. But if I say I slept well I would be lying. Around midnight I was woken up by Coyotes again fighting outside of my tent. It wakes ya up I tell ya! This only loasted a minute or so but now the wind had picked up and the tent was copping a batterring. I slept on and off until about 7am and on exiting the tent, I could see the wind had not ceased, it was going to be a long day as the wind was coming directly from the south, right where I was headed.
So after 6 hours of walking I can tell ya, it has been a hard day. Walking into a strong wind for 6 hours, carrying 30 kgs takes it out of ya. Looking out the window now it does not seem that the wind will be letting up either.I have another 10 or kms to go until the next town of "Dallas City". This will leave todays distance of arond 26kms which is a little shorter than usual, but it does not feel it with that wind in my face! The last two days I passed around 45kms and 40kms so it is not too bad to pull up a little short today. Best get cracking, I could write for hours more as an excuse to stay indoors, but where will that get me...
Friday, November 4, 2011
One of Those Days...
I awoke yesterday to look out the window of my room in the old church to see a miserable day - wind, rain and with dark clouds as far as the eye could see. The smell of potatoes, eggs and toast wofted through to my room which gave me hope that the day could me on the mend. Cindy (the pastors wife) was kind enough to prepare this feast and this lady really had a knack for cooking let me tell you, delicous. Washing this down with freshly squeezed orange juice we finished breaky around 9am, I was to sit at the window for the next 2 hours, hoping the rain would subside. The best result I got was the rain easing to a heavy drizzle. At 11:30 I had had enough, I put on my wet weather gear and took off into the rain. After walking in the rain and wind for two hours I noticed a car coming to a stop up in front of me. Cindy and her friend hopped out of the car and began to stuff my cart with all sorts of goodies for the rest of the day. Thank you so much guys for all your kindness and hospitality, was a pleasure to have met yas...
I reached the outskirts of Muskatine and camped for the night on some old property with an abandoned shed and a few trees for coverage. I always like to try and remain unseen from the locals if I can when camping.
This morning I was awake around 7:30am and for the first time on the trip, the insides of my tent roof had a thin layer of ice crystals over it, it had been a cold one! I quickly packed up as moving was the only thing keeping me warm and was on the road by 8:30. As cold as it was this morning (-2 or -3) today was one of those days that make you happy to be alive. The sun was starting to melt the ice and dew, causing a slow, rising steam to float off the trees, grass and the river and there was not as cloud to be seen, a sign for a good day of walking.
Being off the freeway I already had an extra spring in my step. Making my way through the old farms of the area I noticed that there is now no more corn crops left, the farmers have taken them for the year before the snow could get to them. After maybe 10kms or so I heard some dogs barking in the distance, preparing myself for another stand off I was happy to see a little fluffy thing and a beautiful labrador came running out from behind some bushes. The Lab was an affectionate one and was immedietly by best friend, the little critter took a little longer too earn my trust, barking and darting around my legs for the next 5 mins before finally giving me the nod and coming over to say gday. We continued on as three for the next hour or so. It was great to have the company and I found myself chatting away to the lab as if it was an old mate from back home. We parted ways as the little critter noticed a bunny in the bushes and took off after it deciding it had more to offer than me.
Not long after I was abondoned a man and his young grandson suddenly appeared beside me riding upon their big ride on lawn mower. After chatting for a while, Hanlan was to invite me to his house for lunch, I was happy to comply! Hanlan has a great property overlooking the river and was good enough to cook me up a meal of meatloaf, corn and mashed spud washed down with a snapapple iced tea. Before I was able to say thanks and take off he had also produced home cooked brownies, cookies, some energy bars and a bag of nuts and sultanas. This was as you could imagine a boost to an already good day. Thanks so much Hanlan, it was a pleasure to have met you, your granduaghter will be in my prayers.
From there I kicked on, with around 3 more hours of sunlight left I hoped to make the next town, and aren't I glad I did! As I was closing in on the town, a car was to stop next to me and the fella in the car informed me "the next town is only around 4kms away, keep going, we will be waiting for you there". "What" I thought, who will be waiting for me there? I arrived in the town of Oakville around 7pm and was to be greeted by a group of 6 or so people including the Mayor Benita and Dale who was the guy I had met earlier. This was something I had not expected, and what a great bunch of people. After meeting and greeting everyone and taking a few photos we all headed of to the local restaurant for a feed. It seems my mate from lunch, Hanlan, had gotten in touch with the crew and informed them on my potential arrival. After expecting another cold night, alone in my tent, munching on ham and cheese sangas, I am happy to tell you we all spent the night laughing and tuckin into a big steak and vegie plates. I am now spending the night at Benitas who is just a lovely lady.
It really was "One of those days" where every little thing made me smile, or reminded me of a friend or loved one back home. It seems God is adamant on walking every step of this journey with me and making sure I see the best of this country and its people! You will not hear any complaints from me...
I reached the outskirts of Muskatine and camped for the night on some old property with an abandoned shed and a few trees for coverage. I always like to try and remain unseen from the locals if I can when camping.
This morning I was awake around 7:30am and for the first time on the trip, the insides of my tent roof had a thin layer of ice crystals over it, it had been a cold one! I quickly packed up as moving was the only thing keeping me warm and was on the road by 8:30. As cold as it was this morning (-2 or -3) today was one of those days that make you happy to be alive. The sun was starting to melt the ice and dew, causing a slow, rising steam to float off the trees, grass and the river and there was not as cloud to be seen, a sign for a good day of walking.
Being off the freeway I already had an extra spring in my step. Making my way through the old farms of the area I noticed that there is now no more corn crops left, the farmers have taken them for the year before the snow could get to them. After maybe 10kms or so I heard some dogs barking in the distance, preparing myself for another stand off I was happy to see a little fluffy thing and a beautiful labrador came running out from behind some bushes. The Lab was an affectionate one and was immedietly by best friend, the little critter took a little longer too earn my trust, barking and darting around my legs for the next 5 mins before finally giving me the nod and coming over to say gday. We continued on as three for the next hour or so. It was great to have the company and I found myself chatting away to the lab as if it was an old mate from back home. We parted ways as the little critter noticed a bunny in the bushes and took off after it deciding it had more to offer than me.
Not long after I was abondoned a man and his young grandson suddenly appeared beside me riding upon their big ride on lawn mower. After chatting for a while, Hanlan was to invite me to his house for lunch, I was happy to comply! Hanlan has a great property overlooking the river and was good enough to cook me up a meal of meatloaf, corn and mashed spud washed down with a snapapple iced tea. Before I was able to say thanks and take off he had also produced home cooked brownies, cookies, some energy bars and a bag of nuts and sultanas. This was as you could imagine a boost to an already good day. Thanks so much Hanlan, it was a pleasure to have met you, your granduaghter will be in my prayers.
From there I kicked on, with around 3 more hours of sunlight left I hoped to make the next town, and aren't I glad I did! As I was closing in on the town, a car was to stop next to me and the fella in the car informed me "the next town is only around 4kms away, keep going, we will be waiting for you there". "What" I thought, who will be waiting for me there? I arrived in the town of Oakville around 7pm and was to be greeted by a group of 6 or so people including the Mayor Benita and Dale who was the guy I had met earlier. This was something I had not expected, and what a great bunch of people. After meeting and greeting everyone and taking a few photos we all headed of to the local restaurant for a feed. It seems my mate from lunch, Hanlan, had gotten in touch with the crew and informed them on my potential arrival. After expecting another cold night, alone in my tent, munching on ham and cheese sangas, I am happy to tell you we all spent the night laughing and tuckin into a big steak and vegie plates. I am now spending the night at Benitas who is just a lovely lady.
It really was "One of those days" where every little thing made me smile, or reminded me of a friend or loved one back home. It seems God is adamant on walking every step of this journey with me and making sure I see the best of this country and its people! You will not hear any complaints from me...
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Yelling Lady - Champion...
Forecast showed me last night that today was going to be wet and cold... couldnt have been more correct!!
After a great breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked for me by Lotti, I thanked Amber and Lotti for their hospitality and with great effort, left the comforts of the little house and good people behind me.
The morning wasnt so bad with only a few clouds bobbing past, but when 11am came around, so did the rain. It poured for 15 mins or so and then stayed steady all day. With my Disney poncho (a gift from the great family I stayed with in Praire du Chien) and other water proof gear on, I put my head down and pushed on. It was a beautiful path I had for the day to follow but unfortunately it was a little hard to enjoy with little rain droplets slapping me in the face. Around 5pm I reached the little town of Montpelier. I had hoped to pass this and camp a few kms further, but with the rain beginning to come down harder and harder, I was pretty keen to call it a day. I wandered on and as I came to the edge of town I noticed a small church up on the hill. Churches and the people in them have been good to me on this trip, so I thought I would go and ask if I could put my tent up in their front yard. As soon as I entered I was hit with a beautiful, dry, warm room. You know that feeling when you are out in the cold wind and rain and the moment you enter your house or car and the heater is on, oof, gotta love that feeling!
I was met by the pastors wife who told me immedietly that they had a room and it would be no problem if I used it for the night. I also joined the family for dinner which was ravioli, salad, asparagus, mushrooms, bread and tea. What more could a man ask for after a lond day walking in the rain? Maybe a hot shower... yes, thay offered me that too...
Earlier today about 15kms out of Montpelier, a woman stopped her car beside me and started yelling questions at me from the window "What are ya doing", "Are ya hungry", "Where ya going". I went to say gday and answer her questions and she sped off down the road. Getting used to strange people and events I laughed it off and continued on. A half hour later a familiar looking car came speeding towards me from the opposite direction and the yelling lady was back again. She produced a little can of oil from her car and told me I had to oil the wheels of my cart as they were too noisy and would not make it much further. She then produced three bannanas, a mountain dew and a box of carrot cookies (better than they sound beleive me) and thrust them into my arms with all the affection of a rottweiler. I told her she was a hero and she had made my day, she gave me her first smile, told me "God Bless Honey" and sped off again. I usually think myself as a good judge of character, but how wrong was I and maybe have been in the past also, many times. If I lined up all the people that drove past me today while I was walking in the rain, I am sure I would have chosen many more people before this lady that I thought would have helped me out. She was a ripper, a real good soul and a character when I think about her... I am sure she will not be reading this, but I still want to thank her for a valuble little lesson for me today, and of course, also for the food and drink...
Am off to have my shower now and then off to bed, even though I did not walk a huge distance today, walking in the wet and wind kind of wears ya down and I am stuffed. Dont know when I will have internet again as I will be walking along some pretty isolated patches for the next few days, will wait and see how I go, we never know what will happen hey...
After a great breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked for me by Lotti, I thanked Amber and Lotti for their hospitality and with great effort, left the comforts of the little house and good people behind me.
The morning wasnt so bad with only a few clouds bobbing past, but when 11am came around, so did the rain. It poured for 15 mins or so and then stayed steady all day. With my Disney poncho (a gift from the great family I stayed with in Praire du Chien) and other water proof gear on, I put my head down and pushed on. It was a beautiful path I had for the day to follow but unfortunately it was a little hard to enjoy with little rain droplets slapping me in the face. Around 5pm I reached the little town of Montpelier. I had hoped to pass this and camp a few kms further, but with the rain beginning to come down harder and harder, I was pretty keen to call it a day. I wandered on and as I came to the edge of town I noticed a small church up on the hill. Churches and the people in them have been good to me on this trip, so I thought I would go and ask if I could put my tent up in their front yard. As soon as I entered I was hit with a beautiful, dry, warm room. You know that feeling when you are out in the cold wind and rain and the moment you enter your house or car and the heater is on, oof, gotta love that feeling!
I was met by the pastors wife who told me immedietly that they had a room and it would be no problem if I used it for the night. I also joined the family for dinner which was ravioli, salad, asparagus, mushrooms, bread and tea. What more could a man ask for after a lond day walking in the rain? Maybe a hot shower... yes, thay offered me that too...
Earlier today about 15kms out of Montpelier, a woman stopped her car beside me and started yelling questions at me from the window "What are ya doing", "Are ya hungry", "Where ya going". I went to say gday and answer her questions and she sped off down the road. Getting used to strange people and events I laughed it off and continued on. A half hour later a familiar looking car came speeding towards me from the opposite direction and the yelling lady was back again. She produced a little can of oil from her car and told me I had to oil the wheels of my cart as they were too noisy and would not make it much further. She then produced three bannanas, a mountain dew and a box of carrot cookies (better than they sound beleive me) and thrust them into my arms with all the affection of a rottweiler. I told her she was a hero and she had made my day, she gave me her first smile, told me "God Bless Honey" and sped off again. I usually think myself as a good judge of character, but how wrong was I and maybe have been in the past also, many times. If I lined up all the people that drove past me today while I was walking in the rain, I am sure I would have chosen many more people before this lady that I thought would have helped me out. She was a ripper, a real good soul and a character when I think about her... I am sure she will not be reading this, but I still want to thank her for a valuble little lesson for me today, and of course, also for the food and drink...
Am off to have my shower now and then off to bed, even though I did not walk a huge distance today, walking in the wet and wind kind of wears ya down and I am stuffed. Dont know when I will have internet again as I will be walking along some pretty isolated patches for the next few days, will wait and see how I go, we never know what will happen hey...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy to See The End of That Highway
Amber had organized for a friend of hers to come and pick me up this morning at 9am. We headed out to Eldrige, the town where I finished off yesterday. Today was only a short walk, 18kms back to Ambers house where i am going to spend the night again before heading off again tomorrow. I could have continued on south and gotten a few more kms on the clock, but a bed, shower and a house for the night was too good to pass up on.
Upon arriving at Ambers house I was to meet her roomate, Lotte, who is a Norweigen girl studying to become a Chiropractor. I got home and grabbed a quick shower as I was my usually smelly self after walking for the day and got chatting to Lotte, who after a while told me she had her Chiropractors table in her room. She went and got it and proceded to crack my back, hips and kneck. I love Chiropractors, they had helped me out a lot with some problems I had when playing football, and after today... still I love them, my body already does feel a lot better, thanks for that Lotte.
Now that I have finshed that boring, hard leg of the trip on highway 61, I will rejoin the river tomorrow morning and continue my way south. This little rest here at Ambers has been a blessing. Not just physically but mentally and spiritually aswell. I feel rejuvinated and eager to continue exploring the remains of the Mississippi River. Just arriving into Davenport today and seeing the river made me smile, it has almost become like an old friend.
Upon arriving at Ambers house I was to meet her roomate, Lotte, who is a Norweigen girl studying to become a Chiropractor. I got home and grabbed a quick shower as I was my usually smelly self after walking for the day and got chatting to Lotte, who after a while told me she had her Chiropractors table in her room. She went and got it and proceded to crack my back, hips and kneck. I love Chiropractors, they had helped me out a lot with some problems I had when playing football, and after today... still I love them, my body already does feel a lot better, thanks for that Lotte.
Now that I have finshed that boring, hard leg of the trip on highway 61, I will rejoin the river tomorrow morning and continue my way south. This little rest here at Ambers has been a blessing. Not just physically but mentally and spiritually aswell. I feel rejuvinated and eager to continue exploring the remains of the Mississippi River. Just arriving into Davenport today and seeing the river made me smile, it has almost become like an old friend.
October 30th
It is 8:30 in the morning and I have packed up camp in the town of Maquoketa and am sitting outside of Subway, under the side roofing to keep from the rain that has just started. A little squirrel is running around the grass in front of me carrying a nut that is as big as his head in his mouth, from a distance it appears he has two heads, try that with a pumpkin, impressive feat I think.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, a little cold but with blue skies and no wind, but I was to encounter a little hiccup on the road early on. As I left the city of Dubuque, the shoulder of the road I was walking on turned into gravel - thick, chunky gravel. This made it a huge pain to drag my best little mate, the cart. After about 2kms of this I thought to myself, there is no way I am dragging this thing all the way to Davenport ( 120kms away). I thought I would try my luck and crossed the road and began to hitch hike south with the plan to get to a town, find a place to stash my cart, come back the point where I was picked up and continue walking. After a frustrating period of watching a perfect day for walking go by, I managed to get a lift. I hopped into the seat after chucking my bag and cart into the back of the ute (pick up - for you Americans) and we set off. The fella who picked me up was a nice guy, but maybe a little too nice if you ask me. Not long after we started chatting, he began to comment on what great physical condition I was in, and that I had a beautiful accent. From there he asked me what I did for romance on the long, lonely trip I was on – I tell ya, I could not answer this question quickly enough and explained with the “enthusiasm” of a man in love about my amazing fiancé in Colombia. The rest of the trip was spent with me talking about her and Colombia with me trying not to let gap of silence enter the car for the chance he might comment next on my “high cheek bones” or “strong hands”… but in the end I made it to the town and must say, he was a nice guy and he did help me out with a lift to my destination, thanks buddy…
Apart from this incident, yesterday was a good day. I found a good place to leave my cart (at the local Baptists church) and headed back to the highway to grab another lift to where I left off. This time I got picked up my the local pastor (not from the Baptist church), and what a good guy he was. He explained to me that I will not have much luck getting picked up by people around here as there are a lot of prisons in the vicinity and these days’ people are scared of almost everyone around here and might think I am an escaped convict. Bidding Pastor Jim thanks and goodbye, I set off with just a few things and my gear from camping. With Maquoketa being more than a 50km hike I was expecting to camp for the night. After a long day I reached a service station (the only one on the whole stretch) around 5pm, grabbed a burrito, chips, energy bar and an iced tea and immediately felt better. I had planned on camping around here but felt good so I decided to take advantage of it. I was also annoyed at the lost time I had collected waiting for lifts whilst hitch hiking. I had already walked around 30kms and if I wanted to arrive at Maquoketa, another 22km to go. I put my head down and continued on. Around 7pm it got dark and cold. I was lucky I had brought my Thermaltech down jacket, I quickly wacked that on and the upper half was toasty. My legs however were only protected by shorts. This is not as bad as it sounds, as long I am moving the legs stay pretty good to weather a little below 0c. So after a long day, and night, I arrived in Maquoketa around 9:30pm. As there were no clouds, I found a good little sheltered place where I lay out my mattress and sleeping bag, without setting up the tent, and I was asleep in a few minutes dreaming of a foot massage and chicken parmigana….
With rain here this morning, and looking like settling for a good part of the day, I am now going to eat a lot of subway, head to church, and then, if the weather has cleared at all, hit the road for a less strenuous day! After my longest day of 52kms yesterday I am not overly stressed on a big day today. Davenport is about 65-70 kms away, I plan to take the same pack with me today with all my camping gear and I should have no problems with reaching Davenport in two days. Upon reaching Davenport I will then have to come back here to retrieve my cart which is a bit of a pain, but I am beginning to learn to roll with the punches…
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