The Lost Brother

While at dinner with my family in San Antonio last week Jon said grace and in his prayer he thanked God that 'Our lost brother has come home'.  

Today I leave Memphis to return to New England to tell this story.  As you know I've tried in the past and either the timing or platform or partners didn't pan out.  Events that have transpired in recent months have convinced me the time is now.  

Admittedly the problem has primarily been me or more specifically the standards I set for it.  Just as with the two walks I wanted to do something no one else has before and relegating the story to the Christian book market or a PBS special was unacceptable.  Even a film festival documentary didn't seem sufficient.  

The epidemic of cancer in our companions demands and deserves the widest audience possible and I've always pushed and pushed to that end.  But one lesson I've learned repeatedly is you cannot depend on anyone else to realize your vision and like life on the road it's you and you alone.  

I now know how to tell this story and the manner in which to tell it so once again I set off into uncharted waters. 

Brother, I am lost no longer.  

YBD 2.27.17

Shadowcast

November is #PetCancerAwareness Month.  Now I don't know who made this month but for more than a few reasons, there's a cosmic irony about it.  The first of which is Malcolm (the first dog I lost to cancer and whose death inspired our travels) - his birthday was the eve of.  

It's been many years since his loss and I don't reflect on it oft but his light of life emanates from me still. And recently, it was all brought back.  

I was grateful to be invited to participate at the Connecticut Shoreline Puppy Up Walk last Sunday October 30th and it was an absolutely gorgeous day - a bit balmy but cloudy at times.  Everything was going great though the proceedings seemed to be delayed until the news came down.  The Dog Cancer Hero, Medalla, whom we all had been awaiting her arrival, collapsed in the parking lot, was administered CPR by her vet, but tragically passed away en route to the clinic.  

And everyone's crying and the microphone was given to me to keep the proceedings ongoing.  Those of you who know me I'm not usually at a loss for words but I wept, too, and publicly something I hadn't done so since Murphy.  After a moment of silence we all soldiered on and walked the two miles at Guilford Fairgrounds.  All of us except Medalla.  

Perhaps that's why I wept.  Some of us cross the finish line.  Some of us don't.  And with Murphy it was close. 

And while, at least for now, we don't know why, we should all give thanks that we're shadowcasted by the great brilliance of those we have lost. 

This month, more so than others, give some goddamn great love to your companions, with whom your time together is transient but will walk aside you for thousands of miles until the end.  

I want to thank MariAnne for sharing Medalla with us all and nearby is a bit about her in MariAnne's words.  

--------

Medalla was a mixed breed rescue from Puerto Rico. While I was there on business, we found each other on a secluded beach in the small town where I was staying.  She was just a puppy, between 3-4 months old.  From that day forward, she was the most loving and faithful friend I could ever hope for.  She never left my side. If you asked anyone at Guilford Vet Hospital, they would say she was a shy, quiet dog, but like most children, at home she was very talkative and the alpha of her pack.  

At six years old, Medalla was diagnosed with Lymphoma. After Chemo, she immediately went into remission.  This summer, she came out of remission for the second time. This was her third round of treatments. She immediately went back into remission again.  She was such a little trouper and took everything so well.  Unfortunately, I lost her to a heart attack, before she could finish her Chemo.  I want to thank Guilford Vet Hospital and all canine cancer research for giving me an extra 3 years with my wonderful baby girl. 

Puppy Up Golf

We all know the famous line from Apocalypse Now, "Charlie don't surf", but there's a lesser known one from my travels, "Pet parents don't golf".  

Never understood why really since alot of public courses let you take your companion with you. That's actually how Malcolm, my first great Pyrenees, and I became eternal mates.  Golf.  

That's him with Murphy's mum at the Alsatian golf club. He rode shotgun in the cart, never barked in my backswing, and gave me, ahem, a mulligan here and there.  What more could you ask of a mate?  

Well, he did have a bit of difficulty with yardages.  And squirrels. 

I've always wanted to promote golf as another way to spend more time with your companion and coming up in August, we're hosting the first annual 'Puppy Up and Putt it In' golf tournament in San Antonio, TX.  

It's hosted at the beautiful JW Marriott TPC Canyons Course and the proceeds from the event go to funding comparative oncology research and education and awareness about cancer in dogs.  

Come out and play 18 with us for the cause and to learn more about how you can participate as an individual golfer or sponsor, download the PDF or please contact lorraine.rose@marriott.com 

And yes'm we keep the tradition alive.  That's Indiana Jones at a golf course in Atlanta GA.  The question I get most about this pic - was he putting for par?  

That and is Hudsy giving him a read on the break?  

Puppy Up and Putt It In.

Hudson

"With every damn dog I love, I learn something I didn't know."

Since I've been off the road from the West Coast Walk and perhaps what I witnessed while on it, I've been wondering why Hudson has had 3 mast cell tumors in less than 2 years despite favorable path reports and negative genetic indicators.  

Even though we've had two allergy tests on him for some odd reason I never thought to consult an allergist.  Until Tuesday.  We met with Dr. Shanley at Hope Vet Specialists in Malvern PA on our way to the Puppy Up Walk in Madison WI and our conversation confirmed that I'm not alone in my suspicions that there may be a correlation between allergy prone dogs and mast cell tumors.  

That Hudson is my third son with cancer, I always feel I'm so far behind no matter how far I walk.  

  

No More

It was no choice
That set this course

Astep, astride
The road abides

And through its length
I cried,

'Oh beauty burns
Your trail etern.

The silence of your roar
That swept me neath

No more. No more.'

--------

YBD's Notes1:  The west coast walk was long and hard, harder than any stretch of the road we've been on before.  But the much bigger lesson here is we're in this together if we have a ghost of a chance to eradicate cancer in us and our companions in our lifetime, puppy up damnit

YBD's Notes2:  Happy XMAS

We Made It Murphy

At 11;30 PST, in the shadows of the Laguna mountains we walked the length of Coronado Island to the edge of Oneonta slough and Hudson, Indiana and I completed our border to border West Coast walk.  

And like most of our Southern  California days, it was sunny and 70.  Indeed, it was a glorious day.  

And like all great endings one not without its comedic twists, cosmic ironies, and poignant moments. 

The morning began with a seven mile hike to the meeting place for our Final Mile which Ginger joined us though I'd quickly learn less for the honor and privilege of partaking in such a powerful experience but more for showing off her new kilt.  Really Ginger???  There can be only One Who Rocks The Kilt...

A couple dozen friends met us to walk the final mile, some we had met along our travels, some were new.  But to my utter shock and surprise, two of my oldest and dearest friends were there:  Jim and Renee with Tripawds.  Man was that way awesome.  And it made a circle round.  You see, they were in Austin to launch our first walk and now at the ending of our second.  Yep I got all choked up. Thanks for the avocados guys - only noticed yesterday you put them in a poop bag.  Hee hee.

Inspired by another of our friends, John Stalls, who walked from Delaware to San  Francisco, I had hoped to jump into the Pacific Ocean to punctuate our tremendous accomplishment but was greeted by this sign.  Apparently Tijuana thinks the slough is a dumping ground for their sewage sludge.  Precise opposite of the pristine Canadian border where began our adventure but the two constants throughout all of it were mountains to east and the ocean at our west.  And my companions by my side.  And that includes not only Indiana who made the entire trek but Hudson who made it to the California border and Malcolm and Murphy in spirit.  

--------

There are so many people to extend great thanks to - the friends we made along our path, kind and courteous strangers, and even the idiot drivers who although from no lack of trying, didn't kill us on the PCH.  Walking through and across 19 states now, I know of no more treacherous stretch of road.

Thanks to my team and all of the volunteers who helped out in various capacities to ensure our safe passage and make this experience matter, to those who walked the virtual final mile with us, and to our sponsors.  

I have lots of thanking and reflecting to do in the coming weeks but without a moment's rest, I leave now for Texas to catch up on a lot of work, rest a bit, and spend a week with family....

#GoFuzzybuttsGo

Twelve days til touchdown in San Diego.  We made it to LA and ironically, we've had only four rains days the entire West Coast walk, through Washington, Oregon, and Northern California and the week we arrive in LA, we're greeted by a monsoon.  

Completely drenched in Malibu and now navigating around mudslides and flooding, we're making our way through the 75 mile swath that is the LA area.  

Still, we've been trudging onward in the dreary drizzly, record breaking rainstorm sharing the message and spreading holiday cheer, the nearby pic was walking on Rodeo Drive, 

We're on schedule to walk the final mile to the Mexico border Sunday December 14th and our friends are making final plans for the day's events.  Between now and then we have a couple of events planned leading up to the final mile:  

Saturday Dec 6th.  4-6PM.  The Shore Break Hotel. For details, 714-465-4528.  

Tuesday Dec 9th. 2-4PM. VMSG. 31896 Plaza Dr. San Juan Capistrano.  

It's been great having folks coming out and walking with us on our final stretch. To find out where you can join us for a mile or a day on our historic trek, the following sites will be posting our locations: 

www.facebook.com/PuppyUpFoundation

www.2dogsAgainstCancer.com

Or on my Instagram - 2dogs2000miles.  And on Twitter hashtag #GoFuzzybuttsGo

Scenes from the roadside 3

Of course there's a zombie foot on our travels.  This was on the sidewalk in Florence OR

Curious moss covered listing ship in rogue river bay

Ummm did someone contact the marketing dept before putting a spout on the company van grill?  

The head shed?  Ok

Untouched

I've got one more night in this hotel until we start the next leg of the journey to 20 and up into the mountains and my thoughts return to High Street.

I almost got hit by oncoming traffic like a half dozen times and I do not exaggerate here.  I took this photo of a warning sign about falling rocks and I was like, screw that, beware of the rocks in the heads of the drivers coming down this mountain.

There was one driver who came around a hairpin curve texting and she came within inches of hitting me.  And I swore to the top of my lungs at her.  And then came the voice from up high.  

--------

'Hello'  

Shaking, almost pasted against a rock wall in hesitation to continue up this mountain, I looked up and there was this old guy calling out to us.  'I saw you on TV', he said.  'I was worried about the dogs'.

'You and me both' I thought to myself unsure how to respond or what to say to this godlike figure although his Lebowski-esque attire didn't fit the whole supreme being image in my head.

'Is it always this bad on this road?' I inquired hoping for a hail mary.

'Yep'.

--------

Don't Should Me

'You should've taken 7th Street', he answered.  I'm a poker player and there's always a 4th and 5th street bet that you called or should have laid it down but when you're in a hand, you're down in it.   And that's where we were.

Ginger Morgan, the Director of our foundation, taught me that lesson.  There is no 'should' in life.  And I thought about that after almost getting killed on High Street.

I thought alot about why.  Why put myself and moreover and more importantly the lives of my boys at risk?

--------

'Do you need help?'

The old man asked me. 'No I don't', I replied.  And I lead my boys up to the top of the mountain unscathed and untouched.

Indy Turns Three

This week has seen the third anniversary of Murphy's passing and Indiana's 3rd birthday and to me, the two are inextricably intertwined. And this photo captures it.  

On Instagram I entitled it 'Between a Rock and a Jersey Wall' but there's greater context to it.  

--------

Indy the Scrabbler

Didn't have a good feeling of 99E south of Oregon City so I chose to take Google Maps alternative route High street and after scrutinizing it on my iPhone it looked suitable.  So we took the Promenade Park and were greeted with sweeping views of the Willamette River (don't even try pronouncing it).  

I should've known that just like Long Island was, well, long, High street was high and that miscalculation by me nearly cost us our lives.  

Don't have time for the details of the harrowing experience but we made it to the top and in no small part to Indiana who, like Murphy would've, lead the way behind me with Hudson willfully following.  

--------

Murphy Smiles

Still.  In each of us.  

In one of my training blogs I wrote about how I suspected that I'd have to keep up with Lil' Nana on this walk and he has not disappointed.  I see so much of Murphy in him.  

The good, the bad, and the fuzzybutt.  

That's the birthday boy with Vince and Diane and their gal Lucy.

Oregon Ho

A Gathering of Pyrs Is?

We call a group of geese a gaggle.  Of turkeys a rafter.  Quite appropriately enough, vultures are a committee.  And beavers are a lodge.  These things I thought of during Walk 1.  

So when Hudson Indy and I were met on border crossing day by a gathering of Pyrenees from the local club, I wondered what to call them.* 

Thanks to the Columbia Cascade club for coming out last Saturday and cheering us across into our second state.  

The 'Interstate' or I-5 bridge into Portland looked intimidating at first since it's a vertical lift draw bridge and the two that were impassable on our first walk were of similar construct.  The steel grating of those in Baltimore and Philadelphia scared the hell outta the boys but this footbridge was all concrete so we crossed over the Columbia River into Oregon and it was a good day.  

-------

The Garden of 10,000 Roses

The following day one of our supporters in the area took us to one of the most stunning and spectacular places I've ever been.  Portland's International Rose Test Garden.  

It's a testing ground for new varieties and part of the much larger more expansive Washington Park that spans over 400 acres.  What's noteworthy here, aside from the sheer beauty of this place and that it should be a destination point for all, is that my father has had a lifelong passion for roses and on Father's Day I would find myself here.  

--------

Washington in The Rearview

Our first full day of walking in Oregon, from the Delta East Park to south of the Ross Island Bridge, we had two complete strangers came up to us and asked what we were walking for and if the dogs needed any food or water.  And that was two more than the entire state of Washington.  

I must admit I'm bumfuzzled at that reality especially since, well, that's never happened to the fuzzybutts in any state ever.  Granted, the Evergreen State has countless homeless and our best guess is that, unfortunately, we were just being bunched up in the fungible forsaken even though I carried a banner that said, '#PuppyUp'.  

In an area that's home to such tech giants as Microsoft and Amazon, the sign would be clear that it's a cause. So in Tacoma we decided to amend the sign nearby.  But the folks got the dimensions wrong and I had to use my sports tape to make it fit in my backpack.**

Surprisingly, still bupkis.

--------

We Walk On 

Washington is a state of inestimable beauty and memorable but in our short time in Oregon we've made so many new friends and thus far it's been a great experience.  

At present, we've made it to Salem and about 37 miles from Corvallis at which point, we'll pickup Highway 20 and head over the Coast Mountains to the PCH for the remaining 4.5 months of the walk.  

--------

*YBD's Notes:  A Gathering of Pyrenees should be called a Preponderance I think.  

**YBD's Notes:  This was no small feat but we've since had the sign cut down and re-grommetted (is that even a word?).  Going forward, this is OUR sign.  

Month One

You cannot move forward by looking behind*

--------

One of the funniest things we continually encounter thus far is walking to a hotel and after sharing our story they still ask for the make, model, and license plate of our car.  Irony is often scarce out here and you take it when you can get it.  

--------

I'm holed up in a hotel in Longview WA feeling pretty lousy so it's an opportunity for me to reflect on our one month anniversary on the road.  

--------

Urban Sprawl 

It may come as a bit of surprise but city miles are much harder on us than the country and the stretch between Everett to way south of Tacoma was tough.  Elevated ambient temperatures, street detritus, miles and miles of monotonous strip malls, car lots, box stores, and blaring street sounds require a higher degree of focus. Plus, it's boring for the boys and part of my job is keeping them engaged.  

I must admit a prior unfamiliarty with the precise use of  the word 'sprawl' until now and I have a greater appreciation for it.  So from Roy to Longview WA we've enjoyed the rural setting, though at the expense of cell service which is why posting has been sporadic. One bar.  No bar.  Two bars Go.  

--------

Tom Sawyer

Centralia WA was a weird kinda stretch that I still haven't really processed yet.  It was like my past life converged in this previously unknown and unchartered part of the world in two ways.  (1) A high school band mates lives up here that I had lunch with and (2) A host home we stayed at reintroduced me to the band, Rush.   

It's been years since I've listened to them and Tom Sawyer was exactly what I needed to hear.  The River. 

--------

The Columbia

Speaking of...  If you're in the area, come out and join us in crossing the Columbia River into Oregon, our second state.  Saturday the 10th.  High noon.  At the intersection of West 6th and Columbia near Esther Short Park.  Hope the instructions are correct but go to the Puppy Up Foundation page to be sure.  

--------

*YBD's Notes:  Kinda depends on your behind though.  

466km

That's 300 miles darlin.  

Tomorrow is the 10th of June and our one month anniversary on the road.  We've zigged and zagged through mountains, farmland, swampland, sea ports, and urban sprawl and Oregon is now in our sights.  

This Saturday, the 14th, join Hudson, Indiana, and Yer Big Dog at the Esther Short Park at 12 noon for our crossing into Portland, the second state on our historic cross country trek.   There will be a meet and greet at the park and then we'll walk across the I-5 bridge into Oregon.  

For more information, contact ginger@2milliondogs.org  

Photo Album I

Every few weeks I'm gonna try to post random pics from the road for those that aren't on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram.  I've already taken about 2,000 photos thus far and we're not even out of Washington State yet.

The Chaos Before the Calm - our Super 8 Hotel Room prior to launch.


I'm guessin that's Hudsy's way of saying goodbye to Red or ordaining her to a higher office or something.




That's Confucia and Super Cooper we met while walking thru Bellingham WA.




Polar opposites - even posing for photos in our tent.

An evening of R&R at the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham.



Waterfalls find their way down the westside of Chuckanut mountain.

Don't even know what to say about this other than the the photo was taken in Edison WA and it appears to be a flamingo headed dude with a cryptic and misspelled message nearby.


Hudson and the mini-donkey farm.

Fields of purple irises in Mt. Vernon WA.

Perhaps the most surprising and unbelievable fact about our travels thus far is that we've only had 2 rain days since we launched May 10th and had to break out the fuzzybutt ponchos.  No one up here believes it but it's true.  Fair winds and following seas keep with us.



Spring seems eternal here as the dogwood trees and rhododendrons continue to bloom in unabashed beauty.

Reflections on Week 2

'Shave Yer Ears'

Funny the things you think about before embarking on a six month journey - mine was this and I stored it in a voice memo on my iphone just in case I forgot my last thought before I got on the road.

--------

It's always fascinated me how much life experience can be condensed down into a mile, a moment, and even a microsecond.  We're on week three and already it feels like eons have passed.  We've zig zagged the coastal mountains and the farmlands of northern Washington down into the city proper and witnessed a whole lot.

--------

Seattle:  The City of ???

Walking amongst the innermost guts of a city, you kinda get to know it on an visceral level.  You don't need to read municipal code, do a Google search or even check in with Wikipedia - just walk through it.  And though I have done all of the above I have torn feelings about this place perhaps because of and despite of itself.  

--------

Bare Naked Baristas?

From Everett to the George Washington Bridge is pretty much a continuous row of used car dealerships, box stores, strip malls, and these curious salacious sexy time coffee shacks like this one. 

And this one.  (FYI - Neither of which convinced Indiana they were worth their weight in Expresso to pop in).

I tried to look up what Seattle's sobriquet is and I got bupkis other than 'Rain'.  Perhaps this place and its people aren't even sure what it is.

--------

To Be Sure 

The beauty here is boundless.  From Pike Place Market to the Chihuly Garden and Glass to the Waterfront District and countless soundside nooks surrounding Elliot Bay, the rusted steel structures of the Gas Works Park and the magnificent Madrona trees that are only found in this part of the world.  

Perhaps then, Seattle is a city of contrasts as its expertly manicured landscape is mottled with the misbegotten.

I have never seen so many homeless people in all of my travels and it's now perfectly clear to me how the Grunge genre got its beginnings here.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm nothing more than a passing observer but taken as a whole, my Seattle experience has been a bit disappointing.

--------   

The Second Long Island?

Only once before have we walked through a community that not a single person stopped to inquire about our cause or mission.  Or offer a warm greeting of welcome to the fuzzybutts.  And that was the stretch between the Brooklyn Bridge and Port Jefferson on our first walk.  Seattle now has the distinction of being the second.  

I've spoken with a few folks about this and the best guess is due to the breadth of the homeless population people are desensitized to them.  And by 'them' I mean 'me' since I have a backpack and look kinda homeless.  

At least the chap whose backpack I snapped a photo of at Pike Place Park has some panache.  

--------

Cat Town?

Don't know how to sum Seattle up really and maybe won't have the context for some time. That's why it's taken me a tad longer to post this blog. I suppose I had a preconceived notion of this place and it just didn't play out like I had hoped. The media was kinda 'Meh' I guess from so many who pass through here for some cause or another.

Is this where grumpy cat lives?  Maybe we're just cat-less in Seattle...

--------

Annuit Coeptis

We've been granted safe passage thus far and that's the thing to be grateful for. A few close calls and some rough and tough stretches but we're making progress and as our dear friend Buddy pointed out yesterday, we're at the midway point to Oregon.  And we made some new friendships and revisited old ones, too.  

But it's time to move on.  

It's not always up to us if the message we deliver is received but no community can be deaf and dumb to an epidemic so broad reaching and indiscriminate. That's why we talk loudly and carry a big stick.  

Twinkle Toes

Last week I noticed a blister on Hudson's paw and he's been sidelined since. Just as in people it's not an uncommon occurrence but in all of the miles we've logged together, not one we've ever encountered before.  

Perhaps it was a jagged stone, or a thorn from the wild strawberry bushes that abut the backroads we travel, or a shard from a discarded bottle that caused it but it's healed now and tomorrow Hudson will rejoin the ranks and our pack is back again.  

--------

To Booty or Not to Booty

... is the question.  There are many many mitigating factors for an answer but for me, it's three.  (1)  Breed.  Some do better with footwear than others and some are better suited than others.  With double hind dew claws - Pyrs aren't.  Plus, dogs in general just don't like them.  

(2) Trail conditions. Some situations necessitate them, surely, as Hudson and Murphy wore them many many miles on our first walk.  And (3) Temperature.  The weather has been favorable for us since we first left the border May 10th barely reaching above 70 during the day but it's on the rise which is why we try to reach our daily goals before noon time before the ambient temperature of the sun has yet to heat up the pavement significantly.  

--------

Hudson has always had 'soft paws'.  It's part of his charm.  Can't wait to have him rejoin us on the trail tomorrow as we have 10 miles to Tacoma.  

The Trailer is Live

Thanks to all of the walk sponsors:  TAGG the Pet Tracker, Hollywood Feed, Orijen, EMS, P2 Collars, Rudy Greens, Everlasting Memories, Institute of IMT, Toki Poki,  

One walk sponsor was inadvertently left out of the graphic in the trailer and that's Easter Mountain Sports (EMS).  They donated a sleeping bag, head lamp, and other camp gear. There are other individuals who have made this journey possible and my heartfelt gratitude goes out to them as well.  Puppy Up!

Speaking of, I have to promote the Puppy Up song that Joshua Louis composed - this is the instrumentation of it but you can purchase the full version of it on iTunes.  

Reflections on Week 1

Friday we made it to Edison WA wrapping up week 1 of 25 of our journey. By my estimates we logged about 55-60 and given the week we had, I'm pleased with our progress.  

The Launch

Our sendoff Saturday the 10th at the Peace Arch Park was great. Folks from five states were there including two of our PUPS (Chris & Hope & Lori & thanks to Valerie for helping plan and coordinate), Erick with TAGG, and Sarah Charney the veterinarian oncologist from Boundary Bay Specialty Hospital in Vancouver.  

Iliopsoas 

Unless you're an extreme backpacker you're prob unfamiliar with this anatomical reference. It puts the G in grind and the work in twerk.  It's a subset of pelvic muscles that are quite possibly impossibly capable of being trained.  But after a few days with a fifty plus pound pack they hurt.  

But for me, the term is also a metaphor for what the onset of a massive undertaking is like. There are things that just can't be planned for or anticipated. Like Hudson throwing up in our tent.

Yep, just two nights into it, I had drifted off into the good sleep only to be abruptly awakened to the sound of retching.  Hudson had vomited earlier that Mother's Day morning and I didn't give it much thought since he occasionally has a heave and a hurl and seemed fine from then on.  But after five more times in the tent Sunday night, I made the decision to pull him from the road for a few days rest.  

Google v Reality

Planning our route from Memphis is a whole lot different than getting up here and scouting out the terrain.  I had planned on a more direct path but road conditions sometimes dictate otherwise.  

To be sure, the options are kinda limited since I-5 is the only direct highway from border to border so I anticipated zigging and zagging until we got to Southern Oregon at which point we'll pick up 1/101 the rest of the way.  But I've made the decision to stick the shoreline as much as possible because they be mountains up here.  Speaking of....

Chuckanut

Only in my world would our first great technical challenge be a mountain named Chuckanut.  

And though it did try to toss us a few times, its native name means long beach and even on the occasionally treacherous stretches, we bore witness to some of the most stunning bay side vistas.  As well, the mountainside is lined with cascading waterfalls pictured nearby.  

It's also home to Larrabee State Park, a destination point for anyone travelling in this area.  We took a days rest there and the beach on Sammish Bay was so totally alluring.

The whole area, including our time in Bellingham WA, now known to me as the City of Backpacks, reminded me of the Sirens of Shenandoah in the shadow of the Blue Ridge mountain back on our first walk.  I didn't want to leave.

The people I met here are all so beautiful eclipsed only by the presence of their surroundings.  From the Bellwether Hotel to Boulevard Park to the Interurban Trail we picked up for a bit, this is a special place in the universe and I'm surprised I've been tempted so early on in the walk.  Indeed, Erick my walking companion for a few days remarked many times that this is a place he'd like to relocate to.  But the journey must continue...

Testing the Mettle

The first week is always unkinking - adjusting weight load, routes, and all sorts of last minute adjustments physically and spiritually.  It's a curious truism one which I can only suspect because god's just making sure you're serious.

We were picked up Friday and transported to Seattle for the Petapalooza and it was great to spend time with Buddy and Ja-Cee, our PUPS up here in the area and their kiddos - Fonto & Sabrina.

In a few hours, we'll be back on the road.... Until next time here are a couple of other pics to tide you over...