Bringing up the end, Wendy, Erik and their two young children come in last at this weekend’s colon cancer 5k in Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek Park.
As I’ve been remaining in DC to participate with different cancer-related groups and events (as I also await soon-to-come word from TFA), it was a great pleasure to take part in the 5k benefit. Given the good turnout of participants, and given the fact that I by no means was displaying any WALKING ACROSS AMERICA signs nor walking with my cart, I interacted with a very small portion of fellow participants. The only reason I came to talk to Wendy & Erik is because they were pushing their daughter in the same model Chariot that I pushed for thousands of miles.
We struck up a conversation quickly, where I learned that Wendy just had surgery for stage 3 colon cancer, and is about to undergo further intense treatment as she makes her way toward better, stronger health. As we met early on in the race, and quickly established a special rapport, of many questions I asked–some of which I told her I’d understand if they were too sensitive to answer–I asked her what it’s like to be this age, the mother of small children, and suddenly learn that you have a potentially fatal disease. Her answers enlightened me as to what my mother must have experienced, having been in the exact same scenario in 1984.
The crowd cheered as they brought up the rear, coming in last. When speaking to the group after the race, as a colon cancer patient, Wendy emphasized welcoming more humor into the colon cancer world: “We need to feel free to make more butt & poop jokes as we go through this process,” she laughingly explains…
Happy I am to have more wonderful new friends across the miles!!!

OK–I’m doing it!!

This Sunday, September 22 (my birthday), I’ll continue the Walk– from the White House to the Atlantic. (How can I walk across America, from the waves of the Pacific, and not reach the salty sands of the Atlantic?)
In private conversations, I’ve actually been talking for years about continuing the Walk all the way to Portland, Maine. Having walked from my home in Washington State through California and later Florida, reaching Maine on foot would complete the “4 corners” of the continental United States– the “Lower 48.” I’m confident I’ll make it all the way to Maine someday, but I don’t see reaching Maine as being likely this year– and maybe not next year either.
Though 100% of my commitment of walking from Washington (state) to Washington (D.C.) is complete, I’ve come to the decision that walking till my feet reach the waters of the Atlantic would be a good aim for the rest of this calendar year–and Long Island, NY, appears to be the perfect port on the Atlantic to achieve this aim. (I’ll walk New England some other time.)
From the White House, I’ll walk through the rest of D.C., and then Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City. I plan to reach the shores of the Atlantic Ocean at Long Island–which will probably take me till this December. These upcoming miles will largely proceed in the form of previous miles: I’ll connect all the steps from DC to NY, I’ll speak to schools and other groups as much as possible, I’ll blog on my website (enjoythewalk.org) and update FB, and I’ll have a somewhat flexible timeline and path en route to New York’s Atlantic seashore.
All that said, while it’s highly likely that I’ll reach NY on foot by December, I’ll stop short of making a firm commitment to finishing these miles this year. Though I’m pretty confident I can make it through, there’s also a small chance that exhaustion could get the best of me, as I’ve been on the road for a looong time. I’ve also learned to expect the unexpected–and I have no idea what sort of surprises may occur between now and then. (E.g., If I sustain another injury as serious as the bloody left-foot laceration in Richmond, I’ll immediately have to suspend the DC-NY Walk indefinitely.)
Financially, can I afford to do this?
No. But, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to afford to walk all the way from home to D.C. either, and strong determination coupled with plenty of help from my friends (new and old) made it happen.
Therefore, especially given that calendar year 2014 could very quickly bring me up to my neck in many other life and work commitments, and given that I still feel great residual walking momentum within after only having reached DC at the beginning of summer, I’ve decided it best to use this fall to continue the Walk from DC, aiming for the Atlantic via Long Island, New York.

Ready, Set, Go!!!

This map is a semi-rough sketch of the route I’ll walk from DC to Long Island, NY. I won’t walk all of these exact roads, and will often follow the guidance of locals as I continue along my path.

Well, despite having the best initial intentions of continuing this blog on a weekly basis, I have to apologize to anyone who may have checked here weekly for something posted from me. I’m more consistent with posting to my personal Facebook page (something far easier to do from anywhere, and from the smart phone), but even my Facebook posts have slowed tremendously in recent months, as I’ve been inspired unto and enjoyed many days of digital fasting here and there. (Yes– I find it healthy and recommend it!!)
All that said, life hasn’t slowed down at all: I spent July back home in the Pacific NW, and in addition to catching up with many wonderful friends and family (not quite all of you, unfortunately), I began to face the gargantuan task of narrowing down the lifetime’s worth of possessions that my parents have been very helpfully hanging onto for me. My goal is to ultimately get everything squeezed down to what will fit into my small sedan, and drive to Atlanta (to join Rocio). As I’ve been an avid bibliophile through my adult years, narrowing down many shelves worth of books to that which will fit into the back of a small car is a very formidable task (despite the assistance of now owning a Kindle). And I own plenty more than books…

PERU:
Early this year, Rocio stumbled upon an awesome airfare deal where she could get 2 tickets to her native Peru for what one normally costs. She asked me if I’d care to join her– and I couldn’t say yes fast enough. So, we spent over half of August in Peru, where I enjoyed the wonderful privilege of meeting her parents and her four brothers!! Rocio also escorted me onto the sidetrips of Nazca and Machu Picchu–which were utterly fascinating beyond all imagination!!!
Tonight finds me at a meditation center in southern Georgia– not far from Savannah or Jacksonville, Florida. I just finished a volunteer commitment to assist with a silent course which ended yesterday, and later today, I’ll become a student meditator for the coming eight-day silent course. I’ll be out of contact with the rest of the world till the end of next week, as I both clean any dirt and mildew from my mind after bouncing around non-stop for years, and feed the necessary love and strength for where life takes me this fall.
THE ROAD AHEAD:
I’ve been leaning heavily toward continuing the walk beyond D.C.; however, I never wanted to commit to that until reaching D.C. on foot. (Intuition would be followed from there.) This was the perfect path. I’ve been very happy to take these past couple of months away from the road, and though I won’t make a final decision till I finish my eight-day meditation course (the end of next week), it’s likely I’ll return to the Walk later this month. After all–having walked so many miles of the Pacific Ocean– I should really walk to the Atlantic Seashore, shouldn’t I..?
Stay tuned…

PICS from PERU:

Having lunch with Rocio’s parents and four brothers in Lima, Peru!

Rocio & her mother in Lima, Peru’s central square, the “Plaza de Armas.”

Rocio, Amigos, Familia

Rocio and I in central Lima

All aboard to Machu Picchu!!

Verdant Inca Hills of Ollantaytambo!

Yet another form of transportation (just before seeing the Nazca lines!)

Machu Picchu!!!
I HIGHLY recommend a visit to Machu Picchu to every living being!!!

Climbing to the top of WaynaPicchu, looking down to Machu Picchu

Yard “Sale” Give-Away!!!

Not a dime was charged for anything I had to offer. Almost everything was taken. Giving everything away for free felt 1000x more satisfying than the few bucks I could have or would have made for the day (and nearly everything is now gone, too!). Of course, I wasn’t able to sort all my life’s possessions in time for the free yard “sale,” so I may be having another similar “sale” some time soon .

Highlight of the day: when a young man who was raised partially in a homeless shelter took a crisp, clean suit jacket offered freely: “Great!” he said, “I’ll use this for my job interview this coming week!”
Thanks so much, Barbara Richardson, for use of your front yard!!  — feeling awesome.

I’m now deep into a very laborious personal project. Over the course of the years and the thousands of miles, something which has nothing to do with walking, and which I didn’t physically carry with me, nonetheless weighed down upon me from afar. I left all of my material stuff at home, with my parents. My many shelves of books, all of the clothes I didn’t bring with me on the road, furniture that I hadn’t given away, photographs, childhood love letters, even my 2nd grade report card with the personalized message from the heroic Mr. Barry.
Across the years and the miles, I’ve almost never “missed” any of these possessions, and I know that I can easily do without nearly every one of them. That said, when I open the boxes and find the postcard collection I worked on throughout my childhood and into my adult years, when I hold the two fuzzy blankets that Grandma knitted me as a child, when I wear the familiar clothing, when I see the old letters, drawings, and so much more, I can’t help but feel some serious paralysis in making those necessary stay-or-go decisions.
Fortunately, my parents are allowing me to continue to keep a smaller amount of my possessions, and I’m finding a plethora of papers that can either be recycled or otherwise economically archived. Otherwise, as I narrow down clothing and other personal items to a fraction of the volume they once occupied, before placing any such item into the give-away, throw-away, or recycle boxes, I often initially feel that I’m giving away something important and valuable. However, as soon as over 99% of the items reach either of those boxes, the personal attachment seems to just shrivel and die. Consequently, I quickly feel marginally more light and free with each extra item that fills each of those this-one-goes boxes– even a bit more “clean” as well .
While most of my possessions hold more sentimental value to me than any material value, I’m still planning on having a garage sale before leaving town (Aug. 04). Instead of calling it a garage sale, I’m thinking of instead calling it a “garage giveaway.” I’d love to simply give away nearly everything I’m not keeping. I may leave a donation box if anyone wishes to deposit, but otherwise I’ll be happy just to find good homes for much of which I’ve collected over the course of nearly 38 years on Planet Earth
I wasn’t really looking forward to this– I faced it the way I would face many marathon-long days filled with hills and no roadside shoulders– beginning with a “let’s get this over with” attitude. Deep into the process now, I also predict I’ll feel the same as I do once those back-breaking marathon days are completed: like I’ve made a huge stride forward, accomplishing something great and worthy.  ;)

Just a fraction of all the “stuff” I have to go through…

After having delivered this paper for years as a kid, the day has come where they run a feature story on me (the Walk): http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/jun/29/man-finds-footing-on-4-year-trek/

Since arriving, the week has been a whirlwind. I’ve had some down moments, and have enjoyed the peaceful feeling of not needing to research and plan any more committed miles. My Washington-to-Washington commitment is complete!
That said, plenty has been occurring in the DC metro area itself, and I do plan to eventually post many more pics and write about meeting and being hosted by Eric, Ali & Alex, Sam, and others soon as well. My blog-writing pace may slow to 1 per week for a while, but depending on what the future brings, I may end up writing much, much more as well.
I fly home this coming Tuesday. Rocio will arrive later that night, from Atlanta, and spend six days with me in the Pacific NW. It will be her first time in the Portland/Vancouver area. She’ll be meeting my family. I then will be meeting her family in August, in Peru, where we’ll spend a couple of weeks.
“What will you do after arriving to D.C.?”
This is a question that has been asked of me time and again across the miles. Pretty consistently, my response has been: “Well, have walked from the state of Washington to southern California, to the Florida panhandle, if I were to simply walk another 600 miles to Portland, Maine, that would complete the four corners of the Lower 48 states. I don’t know how soon I’d complete such a mission, and I will not commit to doing so before reaching D.C., but I’m strongly leaning toward continuing on.”
Well, now that I’ve completed my Washington-to-Washington commitment, I’m finding that I really don’t feel like “committing” to more at this point. However, especially after walking so many Pacific Ocean miles, I do still feel a calling to walk to at least the Atlantic, and very likely to reach Portland, Maine, someday as well. That said, I have no clue how soon I’ll commit to the whole package. I’ll be leaving my stuff in the D.C. metro area for now though, preparing to at least do some more walking later this year. I’ll wait a while before making any devotion on just how many more miles I’ll walk, and how soon that will occur.
I’ll follow the golden voice of intuition through the remainder of this year and into 2014 as well. Intuition guided me onto the Walk, and will continue to light my path ahead as well. I look forward to whatever is to come, where I’ll be going, whom I’ll meet, etc, etc!

Much Love, Strength & Peace to You All!!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!         June 22, 2013            (photo: Rocio Sotomayor)

I’ll have a whole lotta follow-up to give on this one. I’ve only just begun to review pics from yesterday afternoon, and I selected this one, taken by Rocio (my girlfriend), to post.
I may say “mission accomplished” above; however, the mission was actually accomplished long ago. I left home with the intention that if my mission could even inspire one person to make one positive change in life–to take one personal step forward–the journey would be well worth it. I’ve been told of positive changes that have been inspired by the Walk– and these changes have really helped to fuel me across the miles. I will be meeting with some high-profile politicians + others before leaving DC, but from the very beginning, and evermore so across the miles, the focus of the mission became the many people I was coming into contact with– learning from and being inspired by them– transmitting sparks of inspiration to them, cultivating new friendships and relationships across the miles. Before I even left the Pacific Ocean to begin the eastward portion of the Walk, the Walk had easily become well worth it on so, SO many different levels– as if throwing a seed into fertile ground was simultaneously yielding a flowerbed full of flourishing results.
I have plenty more to add and to write about– and plenty more to digest before issuing a fuller “follow up”– for now, however, I wish to thank all of you (friends new and friends known), very much, for all of your wonderful support to me through the forests, deserts, coastlines, plains, mountains, swamps, savannas, and many seasons. Thank you for the sweet song of your smiles, your positive vibes, and your well wishes across the many challenging miles of the greatest project of my life.
Strength, Love, Light, Peace & Many Blessings, <3

George

My Lady Love came especially to end the Walk with me. She’ll be here till Monday night, and as I won’t be seeing her again till August, I won’t be working on much in the way of updates & follow-up during the brief period of time she can be here…

I otherwise look forward to more follow-up soon!!!

I’m utterly exhausted; however, despite the fact that it’s past 2:30 AM here in the greater DC metro area, I’d really like to update this blog to reflect that YES, I’ve arrived safely into the DC area. I’m now staying with a friend in Arlington.
I’m slated to walk with ANYONE who wishes to join at noon tomorrow. From the Virginia side of the Key Bridge, we’ll proceed north into Georgetown, and on to the Capitol Mall and the White House from there!
A mixture of feelings swirls within as after nearly four years since beginning, my Washington-to-Washington commitment is within hours of completion. Exhaustion, excitement, sadness, achievement, LOVE, dedication, “enlightenment,” and so-so much more!!
I’ve taken hundreds of photos in recent days, but not till after reaching DC will I find the time to scan through them, choose the winners, re-size, crop, touch up and post here. (Look for more in a few days!)

Just as the Old Town Alexandria Hilton offers up their top-of-the-line Presidential Suite, my Lady Love Rocio arrives right on time, to share it with me .
I “surprised” her by telling her I got us a room at the Motel 6. You should have seen her face when I welcomed her in here, lol!
That said, she & I love each other regardless of whether we’re sleeping in a Presidential Suite or cuddled up on someone’s floor somewhere– which will soon come to pass again as well
Life is Lovely
<3

Having reached the Potomac, rounding the corner of the waterfront trail at Tide Lock City Park, still on the Virginia side, I catch my very first glimpse of the Capitol and the Washington Monument.

After all many long days of tough miles up Hwy 1, today’s sight of a multi-mile pedestrian and bicycle path was like emerging dry and parched from the desert to a chilled water fountain. I walked nearly a dozen miles today up the George Washington Parkway, into southern Alexandria from Mount Vernon, and I absolutely loved it!!

I took hundreds of pics today, so there are plenty more to come, as time provides….