Sunday

If I were going to give a full recount of everything that happened yesterday, we'd never get going today. But here were some of the highlights.

Left the hotel at around 8:30, Jenn, Zoe and I on foot while Greg and Todd rode their bikes.

Took a pedestrian/bike path near the hotel to get to Arlington National Cemetery. About a mile into the path, we ran into a fork in the road and had to stop and ask for directions from a gentleman passing by us on his bike. When we told him we were trying to get to Arlington National Cemetery, his expression became serious. "I gotta be honest with you, you've got a long walk ahead of you." Little did he know.

Had a pleasant walk through Arlington, Georgetown and Chevy Chase. At Chevy Chase Circle we stopped for a break. Inside the traffic circle there is a small park with a large fountain. Despite the rather gross and green looking water, I took of my shoes and socks to give my feet a soak. The cold water felt wonderful after 12ish miles of walking.

Met up with our support vehicle a few miles later in the parking lot of a library. (Somewhere around mile 15). We had PB&J for lunch, except for Greg who eats only raw food. He had a portobella mushroom cap with guacamole spread on top, which looked pretty good. We got on our bikes then - amazing what a difference it makes going from 3mph on foot to 10-20mph on the bikes.

We were making good time on the bikes but it suddenly was getting extremely hot. I felt like I was bordering on heat exhaustion more than once, and I think I wasn't alone. I was really grateful to have Todd leading the way as we pedaled through some fairly heavy traffic.

Near mile 35, we were approaching Sykesville and some of those scattered thunderstorms we'd seen in the forecast decided to visit the area. While the girls and I rode through a merely refreshing (and brief) downpour, things were much more severe north of us. We soon came upon a car accident, which we were able to walk around. Then after a long and exhilarating downhill ride, we were brought to a stop by two trees that had fallen across the road. We phoned back to the rest of the group, who had taken a shorter route toward Hugh and Terri's house, and they too had run into a tree on the road.

We turned around and walked our bikes back up that long hill. My quads were starting to cramp up from lack of fuel. By the time we got, back the accident had been cleared away. My mom came and picked us up. We drove in a third direction to try to get around the blocked roads and ran into another fallen tree. Turned around and navigated to a forth detour. That brought us within 0.3 miles of Hugh and Terri's house where ANOTHER tree was down, along with some power lines. So we backtracked again and finally, we made it to the house, where everyone was sitting around in the candle light.

Terri had prepared some amazing food for us; chips, salsa, guacamole, sweet potato black bean burritos, corn on the cob and Soy Delicious ice cream for dessert with fresh berries on top. Wow. We stayed up and talked till around 11, then unrolled our sleeping bags on the floor for some well deserved rest.

Power is back on this morning. 44 miles ahead of us today. I'm going to take a shower and grab some breakfast. Hugh and Terri have been fantastic hosts and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. We won't see accommodations this nice again!

Driving Down To DC

Left at 8:30 yesterday morning. The first 4 hours were winding through country roads, some little more than seasonal horse and buggy paths. Incredibly scenic, but we had to pay extremely close attention to the map as the turns seem to come every half mile. In several places, road signs did not match our directions and we had to improvise. The afternoon found us on more civilized roads, but again having to improvise where Google maps wanted to send us onto less pedestrian/bike friendly roads. Pennsylvania Bike Route J looks like a promising alternate route for several miles. Arrived at TAFA at 7:30. Went to Bus Boys for dinner. Outstanding vegan quesadillas. Slept til 10 AM, the first real sleep in two days, and it felt great. Staffed the Farm Sanctuary table in the exhibit hall from 12:30 to 3 today, and talked with many great activists. We're anxious to get started tomorrow and meeting in the hotel lobby around 7:45.

 

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CrazySexyChuck!

A big thank you to Michael Parrish and the CrazySexyLife blog for posting this very timely blog about our efforts! This just went up yesterday and already we've had $150 donated by CSL readers towards the matching funds challenge of $300, made possible by Farm Sanctuary's own Erin Howard!

T minus 10 Days! Yikes!

Okay, breathe....[inhale... ... ... exhale....]

Dear Chuck 300 supporters, I'm freaking out a little. Just a little. This thing is really getting close.

The 10-day weather forecast now officially extends to the first day of our journey from TAFA. Good news: it's supposed to be partly cloudy, with a high of 84 degrees. I am really, really hoping for dry weather on our trip.

Jenn and I have started to draft a meal plan, which I will finalize with mi madre tomorrow.

We have all our campsites planned out and just need to make a few motel reservations in Corning for our last night out.

We can do this!

We need a bicycle pump! I think my mom has one in her house somewhere. Also, I need to get a few modifications done on my bike before she comes out on (Thursday?) to pick up our dogs, our bikes and our other gear.

Shirts! We need to make t-shirts! This weekend. Definitely, we'll make shirts this weekend. And fliers. I think Jenn is going to write some press releases.

The first leg of our journey goes right through Arlington National Cemetery, which opens at 8 a.m., so I guess we'll be starting our walk at that time.

It should take my mom about 6 hours to drive from Westfield to our rendezvous point in Maryland where we'll get on our bikes for the first time. I don't know where that rendezvous point will be yet. But if she leaves at 7 a.m., she should be catching up with us at around 1 p.m., at which point we'll have been walking for 5 hours, which means we'll be (hopefully) about 17 miles in, somewhere between Kensington and Olney.

Terrain: It looks like the hills of PA really don't start to loom until Harrisburg. We should start Tuesday off on the bikes and switch to walking mid-day as we get to those hills. On Wednesday, we walk the hills in the morning and get back on our bikes around Sunbury where the road follows the Susquehenna River. On Thursday there should be more river to follow to Ralston. After that, I think the terrain is going to be a lot more choppy, with shorter stretches of flat road. I'm glad we'll get a chance to see all this on our way down and take notes. Friday afternoon and Saturday may be the most challenging, terrain-wise.

It will all be okay. We can do this! Right?

Yes! Yes, we can!

I think we can.

10 days to go...

Weekend Update

This was our first full weekend of training since Jenn and I left for vacation at the end of June, so I was hoping we'd all make the most of it. Things didn't quite turn out as I expected but I think it was a valuable training nonetheless.

On Saturday, Jenn, Zoe and I did an easy 10 mile

loop, hoping to ease ourselves back into the groove in preparation for a longer walk/bike on Sunday. Everything went well as far as that was concerned. We did our usual route up to the Cornell Plantations and back. Along the way we saw bird nests and adorable baby animals galore (baby raccoons, baby ducks, baby horse, baby donkey).

Also on the way, we happened across the makeshift outdoor stage for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. With very little encouragement from me, Jenn and Zoe quickly got swept up in the dramatic possibilities of the setting.

Once all this adventure was finished, we ended up at Robyn and Zoe's for some chocolate chip cookies. Then we went home to do some odd chores around the house, then back to Robyn and Zoe's for a feast of vegan quiche and vegan white Russians - yum!

Finally, we finished our training by getting our groove on at the Chanticleer where a dance party benefit was being held on behalf of Planned Parenthood. I consider it excellent cross-training. Honestly, I was more sore the next day from the dancing than from the walking. Busting a move apparently works your muscles in a much different way than simple ambulation.

On Sunday, Robyn joined us as we hiked to Buttermilk Falls, which is quite a climb in itself from bottom to top. Fortunately for us, we were taking the opportunity to try out for the first time our new walking sticks. Undoubtedly if you've spent enough time on hiking trails, you've seen people going along with something like a ski pole in each hand. When I first saw these in action many years ago, I thought, "Huh?!" But as it turns out, they really do help distribute the load a little bit and spare your knees and feet from some of the strain.

Of course, the carbon fiber "hiking poles" you can buy at REI cost about $75 and up (way up) per pair. We picked up some nice bamboo sticks at Pier One for a fraction of the cost (about $3 per pair), and they worked great! Might need to get some cushy grip tape though, and I'm sure they'll wear out faster than the REI version.

Anyway, once at the top, we took the Bear Trail to the Lake Treman Trail, which loops around - you guessed it - Lake Treman. Only, to make things more interesting, we did the Bear Trail and Lake Treman trail barefoot. This is something Jenn and I used to do often when we first moved to Ithaca. If you've never gone hiking through the woods barefoot, I highly recommend it; you experience the trail in a whole new dimension. Actually, Zoe's first words on the subject, just a few feet into the barefoot segment was, "Oooh, it feels so - OW!"

Okay, so there are sharp rocks you have to watch out for, but it makes for a good practice in mindful walking. Making up for the painful sharp rocky parts are the soft cooling dirt parts, the luxurious squishy mud parts and the sensuous soft mossy parts, to name a few.

At the far end of Lake Treman, there's a small creak that feeds into it, and we went off the trail to follow that a ways. Not far back, we discovered a great natural swimming hole. Though the water felt a bit chilly on the toes, we were hot enough to jump in. Wow! Talk about refreshing! It was definitely the highlight of the day.

Unfortunately, between the dancing on Saturday night and the prolonged balancing on slippery rocks during our creek walk, Jenn's knees were pushed a little too far. Not three blocks from home, her right kneecap suffered a dislocation (see patellar dislocation). This is a recurring problem she's dealt with for years. Sometimes she can go almost a year without incident, sometimes less. The severity can range from mild soreness afterward to severe swelling and weeks of recovery time. This episode was somewhere in between and we're hoping she'll regain full mobility by the time we leave for TAFA. She's been very diligent about keeping it elevated with ice and periodic gentle massage. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

Due to that injury, we pretty much called it a day at that point. We probably only covered around 7 miles altogether, but up until Jenn's knee went out, it was probably one of the most fun days of training we'd had yet. We have only 9 days before we leave for TAFA and only one more weekend for serious long-distance training. I expect a lot of the time between now and then will be spend putting together all the last minute logistical details. But ready or not, here it comes!

Thanks, Sean!

Thanks to Sean Owen for the latest $100 donation! That brings us within striking distance of 35%!

Back From Vacation

Hello dear readers, walk supporters and fans of Chuck,

Jenn and I just returned from our week-long vacation in SC/NC/WesternNewYork. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, and I'm not sure I feel entirely rested, but we had a great time nonetheless and got in plenty of walking and other exercise.

But now it's back to business and yikes, there are less than three weeks left before we start our 300 miles from DC! There are a lot of last minute logistical details still to be figured out and I have a feeling that the days between now and then are going to fly by like a freight train.

I have to also take a moment and give out some appreciations to new contributors.

First, a huge thank you to the fine folks at Roots Market in Clarksville, MD for their contribution of $300! If you live near Clarksville (or Olney), please pay them a visit and tell them how much you appreciate their philanthropy. With so many fabulous organic, fair-trade, and natural foodstuffs on their shelves, I have no doubt you'll come away a happy customer. If you're not hungry yet, just check out their delicious Website for inspiration.

Also, my Dad has challenged his Rotary Club to donate up to $1,000 to the Chuck 300 fund, which he will match with an in-kind donation to Rotary's Polio Plus campaign, a program to eradicate polio worldwide. After more than 20 years, this program is on the verge of finally stamping out a terrible disease that still creates so much suffering in developing countries. Now, Rotarians in my dad's club (and beyond) can help both Polio Plus and Chuck in one act of generosity, and so far we've had one member step up to the plate with a $100 donation. Thanks, Ben!

We've also had $100 donations from John M Mulcahy and Shannon Lynch - thank you both!