Day 2: 19 miles uphill, with a full pack..........

on a twisty, dangerous, racetrack that they call Ortega Highway, all on a breakfast of a 20 oz Coke, a bag of Chips, and a piece of pound cake. And for what? A dinner of a bag of beef jerky, a can of pineapple, and a bottle of warm water ....What's wrong with this picture? I am going to have to go back and revisit my plan.

We wanted to reach a certain campground today. Since we had sent our cart ahead , we had to carry all our supplies in our backpacks. The campground was 19 miles from where we left, and most of those miles were uphill. It was like walking on a racetrack, cars flying by, but we made it.

But is wasn't all bad. Julie's friend Jennifer and her daughters Amanda and Autumn stopped by this morning to wish us well as we headed off. Before we had walked a mile, a guard in a booth outside a gated community ran out and gave us 2 bottles of water. We stopped after 3 hours of walking for lunch and met Larry Beesley, a park attendant at Casper Park, then shortly after the All Girls Highway Crew. We saw deer, a hawk, and some beautiful countryside. And we found pennies, nickels, and quarters!

Mr. and Mrs. Bouquet, Alan had a really great day. It was hard on him, but he hung in there and you would be really proud of him. It is hard for me not to like a guy who order a Coke with his breakfast.

Being able to complete 19 miles uphill, makes me feel more confident about our plans for the rest of the trip.