Friday, December 17, 2010
Today was somewhat of a dysfunctional day, but first to finish last evening. I hung out in the airport terminal for a while charging some stuff, and then headed back to the camp site. Stopped and talked to some guys at the terminal, and they gave me directions to get through Montgomery, plus suggested I change the camp site to another place because it would be safer. As I headed to the new site, it started raining for a few minutes and then stopped. I had time to get the tent set up, gear and myself inside, before it started again......harder, and lasted a while. I had set the tent up in a hurry, so was a little careless and some of the floor soon was wet. But, some wasn't, so everything went in that part! I was near a 24hr Chevron that caters to trucks, so there was some noise throughout the night, but I still slept well. In additional to being a regional commercial airport, the Alabama Air National Guard is also stationed here, and there were F16s lined up along one side. My grandson Kevin would have enjoyed seeing that.
I was awake before 6 and trying to figure out what was cold and what was wet. Sometimes the two are hard to tell apart. Anyhow, got things packed, and headed out around 645. I hate packing the tent wet, but no choice. I stopped at the Chevron for a paper, and a guy approached me, and handed me some money for my trip. He introduced himself as Troy Patterson, a salesman for Little Debbie snacks. How about having the Little Debbie guy for your Dad? I told him about the trip, and he said he would check out the blog with his 2 daughters. I asked about a place to get breakfast, and was told there's a Subway up the road a mile or so, so I headed there.
It's still raining and cool, but not too cold, and traffic pretty heavy. I covered the gear, put on the rain suit, and headed out. I soon found Subway, and stopped there for breakfast. The rest of the morning was about the same, cool and raining off and on. I had a call from Don Lawing, owner of Lawing's Garage in Gastonia. They call occasionally and check on me.....but they are usually a state or two behind. Also had a call from Jim Peters, W. Monroe, LA. He is sending me a "care package", and finally found a place in Phenix City to send it. We talked a while, and then back to walking. I spotted a Wendy's, and thought "what's better on a cold, rainy, day, than a cup of Wendy's chili?" So I stopped there for some of that, and also an order of their new fries with sea salt. I didn't think they were salty enough, but try them yourself.
Maneuvering around a big city is not fun, especially with the cart. I seemed to walk forever, but still didn't cover much ground. Not like in the countryside, walking in a straight line. Traffic was heavy, and not a good place to be walking pushing a cart. I never saw the city, instead think I was south of it. I passed the Ida Mae Young park, and the Blount Cultural Center.......both beautiful places. I'm walking on Vaughn Rd , and so many beautiful homes along here. I'm also seeing lots of Spanish moss, and can't remember seeing any before AL. The day is starting to improve.......a little bit of sun showing through the clouds, and not so cold.
Around 3pm, I reached the intersection of hwy 80 and Chantilly Parkway. It's been a long day, my stuff is wet, so I decided to stop for the day and camp here. I put up the tent, loaded gear inside, and then walked across the street to a Holiday Inn Express to use their wi-fi. They said ok, and that's what I did for a couple of hours. Jerome called to see if I'd made it through Montgomery......yes, finally! Troy, the Little Debbie guy, called to check on me and asked if I wanted him to bring a meal (why not a box of Little Debbie's?) I've been eating all day, so decided to not accept his kind offer.
I'll get back going early tomorrow morning, and will be back out in the country on the way toward Tuskegee. Doubt I'll get there tomorrow, but should get close. Hope my tent is still there when I leave here.
About the pictures:
Troy Patterson, Little Debbie salesman and good Samaritan;
I can't figure out when I would need these services......when I have a simulated illness?;
First Greensboro, and now Gaston/Charlotte......I must be getting close.
Radio Interview
Today was somewhat of a dysfunctional day, but first to finish last evening. I hung out in the airport terminal for a while charging some stuff, and then headed back to the camp site. Stopped and talked to some guys at the terminal, and they gave me directions to get through Montgomery, plus suggested I change the camp site to another place because it would be safer. As I headed to the new site, it started raining for a few minutes and then stopped. I had time to get the tent set up, gear and myself inside, before it started again......harder, and lasted a while. I had set the tent up in a hurry, so was a little careless and some of the floor soon was wet. But, some wasn't, so everything went in that part! I was near a 24hr Chevron that caters to trucks, so there was some noise throughout the night, but I still slept well. In additional to being a regional commercial airport, the Alabama Air National Guard is also stationed here, and there were F16s lined up along one side. My grandson Kevin would have enjoyed seeing that.
I was awake before 6 and trying to figure out what was cold and what was wet. Sometimes the two are hard to tell apart. Anyhow, got things packed, and headed out around 645. I hate packing the tent wet, but no choice. I stopped at the Chevron for a paper, and a guy approached me, and handed me some money for my trip. He introduced himself as Troy Patterson, a salesman for Little Debbie snacks. How about having the Little Debbie guy for your Dad? I told him about the trip, and he said he would check out the blog with his 2 daughters. I asked about a place to get breakfast, and was told there's a Subway up the road a mile or so, so I headed there.
It's still raining and cool, but not too cold, and traffic pretty heavy. I covered the gear, put on the rain suit, and headed out. I soon found Subway, and stopped there for breakfast. The rest of the morning was about the same, cool and raining off and on. I had a call from Don Lawing, owner of Lawing's Garage in Gastonia. They call occasionally and check on me.....but they are usually a state or two behind. Also had a call from Jim Peters, W. Monroe, LA. He is sending me a "care package", and finally found a place in Phenix City to send it. We talked a while, and then back to walking. I spotted a Wendy's, and thought "what's better on a cold, rainy, day, than a cup of Wendy's chili?" So I stopped there for some of that, and also an order of their new fries with sea salt. I didn't think they were salty enough, but try them yourself.
Maneuvering around a big city is not fun, especially with the cart. I seemed to walk forever, but still didn't cover much ground. Not like in the countryside, walking in a straight line. Traffic was heavy, and not a good place to be walking pushing a cart. I never saw the city, instead think I was south of it. I passed the Ida Mae Young park, and the Blount Cultural Center.......both beautiful places. I'm walking on Vaughn Rd , and so many beautiful homes along here. I'm also seeing lots of Spanish moss, and can't remember seeing any before AL. The day is starting to improve.......a little bit of sun showing through the clouds, and not so cold.
Around 3pm, I reached the intersection of hwy 80 and Chantilly Parkway. It's been a long day, my stuff is wet, so I decided to stop for the day and camp here. I put up the tent, loaded gear inside, and then walked across the street to a Holiday Inn Express to use their wi-fi. They said ok, and that's what I did for a couple of hours. Jerome called to see if I'd made it through Montgomery......yes, finally! Troy, the Little Debbie guy, called to check on me and asked if I wanted him to bring a meal (why not a box of Little Debbie's?) I've been eating all day, so decided to not accept his kind offer.
I'll get back going early tomorrow morning, and will be back out in the country on the way toward Tuskegee. Doubt I'll get there tomorrow, but should get close. Hope my tent is still there when I leave here.
About the pictures:
Troy Patterson, Little Debbie salesman and good Samaritan;
I can't figure out when I would need these services......when I have a simulated illness?;
First Greensboro, and now Gaston/Charlotte......I must be getting close.
Radio Interview
I will be doing another interview with Keith Larson on Tuesday, December 21, @ 10am EST. Keith broadcasts on WBT AM, 1110, in Charlotte, NC. We'll try to put the interview on the blog in case you can't listen on Tuesday.
Another Christmas song for you.....
Another Christmas song for you.....
I believe I found the tandem couples blog ( http://tandem10.wordpress.com/ ). They even mention the Walkingman:
ReplyDelete"Often on this trip it’s just the two of us, the tandem, the open road… oh, and the wind, the trucks whistling by, the ‘fragrant’ smell of dead… (actually sometimes it’s hard to tell what kind of creature it was).
But recently we’ve had a couple of interesting encounters on the road. Leaving Dallas, we rode a few miles with Jack Morris who first walked from Jacksonville, Florida, to Seattle to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital – and then decided to cycle back! A couple of days later, we passed Jeff Rudisill who – retired and in his late 60s – is walking across the USA from California to North Carolina because it’s something he’s always wanted to do.
Meeting fellow travellers is always interesting and it’s reassuring to know there are other people undertaking great journeys for a cause they believe in – or just because the challenge is there.
Then, just as we were leaving Louisiana we were delighted to get a call from Don and Debby Welker. We’d stayed in their beautiful Kuhns Bros log home in Angel Fire, New Mexico, over a month earlier. They were driving back from visiting family in Florida and by lucky coincidence our paths crossed in time for lunch!
Now, after a few long days across Louisiana and Mississippi, we’re having a rest day in Hattiesburg. So far, we’ve given a couple of talks this week – to the Hattiesburg Sunrise Rotary Club this morning and to a class of fifth graders at Lipsey Junior High in Brookhaven on Monday morning. The school talk was perfect timing as the class we met had just finished studying natural disasters!"
Hope you enjoyed some of those F16's for me Papaw!
ReplyDeleteKevin