Hopefully, if social security stays solvent, and......

the stock market doesn't completely crash, this will be the only type of business card I'll need in the future. I had these printed to hand out along the way, thinking it will add some credibility to two grubby looking guys pushing a cart loaded with lots of stuff. A friend in Gastonia, Gene Minges, of Minges Printing, designed and printed the cards.....as well as a couple of posters to hang on the cart. Thanks Gene and Anita for producing the cards.

Three weeks now until the walk starts. I'm flying out of Charlotte, NC, Sunday morning, August 29. Alan will arrive in LA later that day, and we'll have to find a way from LAX to San Juan Capistrano. On Monday we'll do some organizing, walk to Dana Point and back (about 6-8 miles round trip), buy a few supplies, and do a little sightseeing. Tuesday morning, August 31, we will head East to our first destination, Lake Elsinor, CA.......about 2 days walk.

Most everything is packed and ready to go. I loaded up the backpack, slung it on my back, and it felt like I had 50 or more pounds in it. Turned out it was less than 20 (!), so even a little bit of stuff can feel heavy. Hopefully most of the time it'll be riding on the cart, and not on my back. The cart has been disassembled, ready for shipping to the west coast.

Other than that, not much left to do. Finalizing a few things around the house, and continuing to look over maps, and get Google directions, to plot out the best route. Google does both walking and driving directions, and it can get confusing. There can be several routes, each with a different twist. It's very easy to get bogged down in this.

I can't seem to resolve how to get from Cabazon, CA, to CA-62, a distance of approx. 10 miles. I-10 is the driving route, but walkers are not allowed on the interstate. There appears to be a frontage road that runs over half the distance, but not sure beyond that. Might have to walk along side the interstate.........is the desert dirt or sand? Would hate to pull the cart thru sand! But, am sure the locals will have some suggestions of how to get there. Just a few miles in a long trip.

There are 3 new links on the blog: "Where we've been", and "Where we're going", "Walk Across America Pictures." "Where we've been" will show locations that were marked with the SPOT II gps locator device. Each entry will stay on the page for 7 days. "Where we're going" is the web address of the next major destination. The pictures link is to a Flikr account where, hopefully, I will be able to upload some pictures along the route. Check these out.

That's all for now.......