Day #184;
22 miles (35.4839 km's)...44,575 steps...$0.01 in change...findings for the day: 1 container of assorted tie-down straps, 1 screwdriver and 1 penny...wildlife sighted: I lost count of the 'gators at noon at about a dozen...the day ended on route 41 east just east of Monroe Station, Florida in the Everglades
Week #42:
105.2 miles (169.6774 km's)...216,677 steps and $0.90 in loose change
Walk-to-Date:
3,887.8 miles (6,270.6452 km's)...7,611,480 steps and $82...right now I feel like I walked that ALLLLLLLL today!!!
more to come but I am beat...thank you Samantha, thank you Rocky, thank you Jack and thank you Al & Emma...here is the updated post:
Today I The Walk was dedicated to a friend of mine, Paul Snellinger, a WWII veteran and all-round nice guy and his wife Doris who passed away from cancer several years ago. Thank you for your service, Paul, and very best wishes to you. I look forward to seeing you very shortly.
Shortly after we got started we made a "pit stop" at a Mobile station at the junction of route 41 east and state road 29 going to Everglade City. While stopped there an elderly couple came by on their bicycles and struck up a conversation. They had read about us in the Naples newspaper (thanks, Michael!) and wanted to stop and chat. Al and Emma are from Ontario where they ran a dairy farm. They originally came from Switzerland. Thank you for your interest in The Walk and thank you very much for your generous contribution. Dr. Dave Okubo will surely put your gift to good use at Camp UTADA. While I was chatting with al and Emma another gentleman came up to me to see what I was up to. I unfortunately did not get his name. He is living with diabetes, battling cancer and a veteran. Thank you, sir for your service and VERY best wishes as you fight the diseases. At one point my driver, Valerie, stopped and a little roadside eatery (Joanie's) to investigate their facilities. While there she met Rocky (Roxanne) and Jack. Rocky was kind enough to buy Valerie an adult beverage and both she and Jack where kind enough to make a contribution to Camp UTADA.
When The Walk was over for the day we stopped by to see if we could have dinner but they were sort of closed. We were invited in for a cold one and in the process got to meet the owner, Joanie, from Miami and several other people. Jack was kind enough to give a Cuban cigar which found a home in the humidor, anxiously awaiting a spare two hours to enjoy it! Since we had not eaten and it was getting late we drove into Naples looking for a place to eat when Joe's Crab Shack caught our collective eye. I look like a clown when I walk, yellow shirt, hat with a big feather in it, medicine bag over my shoulder and probably smelling like a moose (apologies to moose!). I had my maps with me and our waitress, Samantha, asked if she could be of assistance in our navigation.
Once we shared with her what we were up to she started to tear up and indicated that she had two relatives losing to cancer and one living with diabetes. Suffice it to say a few more terse were shed, hugs exchanged and pictures taken. Thank you, Samantha for sharing your story and once again bringing home what I would consider the significance of what I am doing. I know I am not curing anything, however what I like to think I am doing is spreading some positive energy. Like the sign on the truck I saw several months ago, "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE, NOT EVERYBODY LIVES", I would like to think I am, in some small measure, encouraging people (self included) to live, WHATEVER that looks like for each one of us. I do know that my life is richer for each experience I have along the road. I would also like to think that in some measure I am dropping grains of sand, pebbles, rocks and perhaps even boulders into the ponds of lives (self included) that create ripples that go out to make a positive difference in this world. Just one "Samantha Experience" makes this journey worth while, in my case I have had a thousand of them. I am indeed and very, Very, VERY lucky man! See ya'll down the road, CHEERS!!!