Grand Canyon, Arizona.  Walking 22 miles from the southern rim into the Grand Canyon and up the northern rim seemed like a simple undertaking.  However, the 110+ F temperature added a different element to the task.

The sprint down into the Canyon was fairly quick & easy.  Once I got a good pace going the only person who passed me was a trail runner, which I thought was cool.  I miss running and was actually a little jealous.

I chilled at the canteen for a bit drinking several cups of lemonade until my belly ached and talking to Noami, the girl behind the counter.  I took another siesta at the eating table, woke, filled my water bottles, and kept trucking.

At this point I had 15-miles to go to reach North Rim and I was seeing less and less people.  After wiping dripping sweat from my face several times, I knew things were about to get serious.  That trek down to the bottom was to easy for me.  They advise park visitors not to go down and come back up in one day, but I'm hard headed and had to do it.

The journey back up to the other side of the Canyon was long, hot, and uncomfortable at times.

Once the sun went down 6-hours after I left the ranch.  Shortly thereafter it was completely dark and the Canyon took on another personality.

The colorful landscapes were gone, besides the area in front of me lit by my headlamp all I could see was the black silhouette of the scaling Canyon walls surrounding me beneath the stars and satellites.  Seeing the Milky Way spanning across the sky for the first time I realized this was the clearest view I've ever seen of the heavens.

I then stopped took off my pack, sat down, took a ibuprofen, two sips of 5-Hour Energy, and several gulps if water.  Cleared my mind while massaging my feet for a bit.  I played DJ Shadow's Gi Mix (from "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Beats"), I got up and was ready to go!

With all of the switchbacks and being in the dark, the last 3-miles were the toughest.  I seemed to be going nowhere, the elevation would rise then fall for quite some time, and it was extremely frustrating.

"Don't think... be", a Bruce Lee quote and "Battle physically, conquer mentally" line were somewhere in that mix (along with a nice Whitney Houston track) and at that point I was fully engaged going full speed being careful not to slip off the ledge on one of the turns while working my way up.  

I finally made it to the top and felt accomplished. I wanted to pass out but the adrenaline was still pumping.  Great walk, beautiful scenery -- this is probably No. 4 in this trip's greatest challenges.

SoilTrek.com

North Platte, Nebraska.  Musician and a man of many talents, Rob was gracious enough to let me stay with him for the night while I was traveling through western Nebraska.

Rob plays in a great sounding jazz swing band and a rock band as well.  He also plays a major role in most of the music events that take place in the North Platte area.

That night he invited me to talk at an event he was hosting titled "Shoestring Travel".  It was held at Michelle Stephens' POP Co-working (peopleoreintedplanning.com) which is a new business workspace & incubator for creative entrepreneurs located in a great space downtown.

It was an intimate turnout, I met some great people, and enjoyed speaking about my experiences through Couchsurfing (couchsurfing.com).  That night I also learned to play "The Settlers of Catan" board game (catan.com).  It is a very interesting multiplayer game that I can see people getting very addicted to.

That night I slept in a Craftmatic adjustable bed.  It was God sent, my legs were elevated the whole night and felt brand new the next day!

Rob is a spectacular host, smart guy, excellent musician, and just a great individual!  I'm really glad I got the chance to be Rob's guest.


4/19/13
SoilTrek.com

Exira, IA. When approaching a town I've come to enjoy the anticipation of having a good meal, nice place to stay, or a great conversation -- regardless if it happens or not. Knowing there's a chance gives me enough satisfaction to even deal with it not actually coming to pass.

Down the road I could see the town where I may have my next meal, the Red Barn Restaurant was my target, and I had 3-miles to go.

As I was marching towards the eatery a SUV pulls over, a woman jumps out and hands me a bag of M&M Rice Krispy's, a coffee with sugar, and offers to pay for my meal at the Red Barn. I thanked her profusely, said good-bye, and she drives off.

After devouring the treats and consuming the coffee I no longer was hungry hungry (just hungry) and had enough energy to part Lake Michigan. New plan: Eat light & quick to fill reserves and keep walking to the next town of Atlantic, Iowa (The Coca-Cola capital of Iowa and the halfway point between the Atlantic & Pacific Ocean).

As I'm about 1.5 miles away Judi pulls up again. She informs me Red Barn is closed, offers me a place to stay, and invites me to a community fish fry. Wanting interact with some people and also feed my belly I agreed.

On the way to the fish fry I had the delight of meeting Judi's husband and brothers who were also wonderful. As for the fish fry it was great, it's held weekly at a church in Audubon on Fridays and people from the surrounding townships attend. It's an excellent way for the community to get together.

It was very nice to randomly meet such a caring person such as Judi. She let me stay in her father's house (who had past away last year). When he was alive her father would often put walkers and hitch hikers up for the night, so through Judi he was carrying on with the tradition even after he's no longer here.

Thank you for everything Judi!


3/22/13
SoilTrek.com

Elwood, Nebraska. Getting the proper gear while traveling can be a bit tricky. I went ahead and ordered some stuff online and had it shipped "General Delivery" to their local post office so I could pick up the items while passing through town and thats where I met Perry.

As soon as I walked in Perry had my packages waiting right there on the side. He was very cordial and gave a great recommendation on where I could get a replacement NY to LA sign. I packed up my new gear, thanked him, and said good-bye.

Sign & place to stay: Fast forward, that night I made it to Cozad and stayed a night at one of the motels in town. I received a wakeup call the next morning from Perry who offered to drive me east to the town of Lexington to get a new sign from the place he recommended the day before.

Got my sign done in record time and now it was wind proof as well due to the attached bungee cords. Kurt at Lexington Sign Pro did a stupendous job, highly highly recommended!

Much thanks to Perry for his assistance in managing my packages at the post office and orchestrating me obtaining a new sign. I am grateful in so many ways, thanks again!

Also thanks to Kurt for a great job with the sign and to Patty for covering my breakfast at the A&D Cafe in Lexington.


Lexington Sign Pro
Kurt Benet
(308) 324-8000
112 West 6 Street
Lexington, NE


4/17/13
SoilTrek.com

Geneseo, IL. Today's 29-mile trek will take me to my next state, the state of Iowa. I'm still tired from yesterday but I must carry on. Tonight I will be staying with Shawn who was gracious enough to host me. I'm pumped, stocked up, ready, and can't wait to see the Mississippi River!

2/26/13

Channahon, IL.
2/15/13

London, OH. Sunday morning as I walked into town unshaven and feet sore looking for a hostel to rest, about a block away from my destination a pickup truck pulled up alongside me.

The gentleman that pulled up was John and he informed me of "service" that was about to commence in 20 minutes and invited me to join. I quickly weighed resting verse meeting new people, so I asked its location and navigated my way there. I wasn't sure if "service" meant Christian, Jehovah Witness, Buddhist, or whatever. I just knew it had been 10+ years since I attended any worship service and I was overdue in some regard.

Restoration Worship Center, it turned out to be a Christian church and service was great. Pastor Gary Noble spoke about "real peace", internal & external. This is something personally I work on daily and is very important topic that is a big part of my current existence.

After speaking with John I discovered he was a great guy, he is a people's person, energetic, very social, humorous, man of God, encouraging, and real. He spoke to me about his full recovery from a long-standing battle with drugs to now holding substance abuse classes and guiding those who need it. The relationship with his daughter, who is now married, has also been rekindled which I think is wonderful.

After church service Pastor Gary & his family took Jon, John's lovely wife Cindy, and I to lunch which I wasn't expecting especially after the church had already made a donation to my cause. I'm glad I ate well before arriving into town and the previous night or else I would've wanted to eat everything put on the table and maybe even the table.

John & Cindy invited me to stay at their home for the night which was great. We watched sports on TV, which I haven't done in months. Cindy cooked a nice dinner and later we enjoyed John's birthday cake. I'm not the biggest cake person but I thought it was delicious, carrot cake with strawberry frosting. It's not a combination you would commonly think of and as I am writing this, my thoughts are craving for another slice.

Him and wife are currently working towards establishing a local halfway house for women which I believe is a noble cause and will be accomplished.

John told me that God told him to go after me when he first spotted me and to invite me in. To John: Thanks for everything you've done, keep doing what your doing -- fighting the good fight. Take care my friend!


1/13/13

Columbus, OH. My whole Ohio visit was planned around spending time with friends of mine -- the warm-living couple (above), The Pethtels.

I originally met them along with their beautiful daughter, Alex, while working at my job in New York as a concierge.

Through my dedication working the front desk making sure their daughter was well taken care of we formed a strong bond. A bond that was made even stronger after I suffered from a gun shot in my left torso two and a half years ago.

With a bullet permanently lodged in my spine I was unable (for 2-weeks) to work, partake in physical activities I enjoyed, do anything for my son, or even stand for longer than 5-10 minutes.

The Pethtels helped me spiritually through that dark time with phone calls, text messages, letters, and even a care package -- and for those loving thoughts I am forever grateful.

In the past week I had a wonderful time with them in their home and around the Columbus area. They made sure I was not just fed but full after every meal and constantly gave me helpful suggestions about my journey, my son, and life in general. I'm really going to miss them!


1/5/13 thru 1/10/13

Ashland, OH.

Happy New Year! There is something about starting on a clean slate that motivates one to take on goals, tasks, & challenges with renewed rigor or a different approach. I myself didn't set any traditional resolutions, nothing against them, I'm still working on my multitude of goals previously set. Some will be completed soon, others later in the year, and some I'll be working on for a lifetime which I'm totally fine with. Whether your goal is to lose weight, get out of debt, make more money, etc. as long as made it clear in your mind and have made the first step toward the goal (regardless of the circumstances you may face), you are on the right track -- just don't give up!

My New Years was very low-key which I was fine with. I spent large portion of it planning my donation process from receiving contribution, to distributing donation gifts, to giving the proceeds to the American Diabetes Association.

It is a lot of work and still have more work to complete. I'm not complaining because it is something I whole heartedly believe in. I'm not afraid of the word "no" so I will be contacting everyone I know, people I meet, asking for referrals, and asking individuals I don't know via phone, email, text, Facebook, this website, mailings, and face-to-face -- can't stop, won't stop.

I ordered a large quantity of business card to hand to people I meet. It will help getting the word out so people will remember me and most importantly remember to donate. Business cards will make the bond between myself and the person I'm interacting with that much stronger so even when I'm gone down the road to the next town that card is still in their presence.

Above are the boots I just ordered, from a recommendation from Brother John. My current shoes could not stand 16-hours of marching through the deep snow. That issue lead to me marching over 5 miles one night, so I have to keep my socks covered in shopping bags (McDonalds plastic bags work the best) until I get my boots. I just hope the height of the shoe doesn't restrict my ankles.

I've been truly blessed to receive free food along the journey. I don't look for it, it just happens out of the blue. Subway is my favorite restaurant because they are the friendliest so I know they will continue to hook a brother up, on the other hand McDonalds workers seem very programmed and scared. Sometimes I know they want to start a dialog about where Im going or doing but something always holds them back.

This week I'm headed to Lexington, Mt. Gilead, Delaware (the city), and then Powell/Colombus. This is my home stretch before I spend some time in Powell and Columbus, and then I pick up pace and work my way south to start walking the American Discovery Trail. The ADT is the longest non-motorized trail that stretchest from coast to coast.

Day 39 was a tough day. It was the coldest, windiest day I have experienced and was so cold I took no breaks unless I had to eat or go to the bathroom. The only way to make it through was to focus on my breathing, turn my thoughts off, go into a slight walking trance, and focus on the snowy & icey 5 feet in front of me.

It worked perfectly until another police officer pulled me over. He told me it was too cold to be walking the highway and offered me a ride, I declined and told him why I walking and that I was on a mission. He didn't like the sound of that, they never do, and proceeded to ask me for ID. How does it go from offering me a ride to running my record? Anyway, I went through the regular "yes'm boss" motions, he gave me my ID, and wishes me a good trip.


[Just deleted a whole rant.]

While walking the last leg of that day's walk, a couple pulled over and offered me a ride (which happens often) and I graciously declined. They respected that request and told me if I was hungry the house was a mile down the road, so I thanked them. That mile was the longest mile in the world. I was cold, tired, and hungry.

I finally made it, almost walking past the house. Jeff greeted me at the door and welcomed me in and introduced me to his beautiful wife Stephanie, his two children Samantha (whose going off to college in Venezuela) & Steven (who works doing construction) and their very energetic dog, Terrapin.

Their family lifted my spirits and fed my belly with both German stew and Spanish soup along with grapefruit juice, one of my
my favorite beverages. The way their family interacted wasn't anything extraordinarily, but I was in awe because it was just something I had and then lost after my mother passed away 17 years ago. Anyway, I talked with them for a bit, thanked them, said my good-byes, and then departed as I finished my day's journey near the heart of town.

A big part of life is loving and helping others, I try to practice this daily, and if an individual is not... they're truly missing out.

Burbank, OH.

-Woke up it was snowing.
-Lost shades in snow, will replace soon
-Met some great people at the Stop n Go gas station, one of the guys told me I inspired him (which I very hear often).
-Got a handful of car horns for encouragement which keeps me motivated.
-Walked through so much snow today. 
-Encountered a lot of snow plows. 
-Endurance was good today, no pain. 
-Wrapped feet in shopping bags (over socks) to prevent walking half the day with wet feet again. 
-Distance today was about 10 miles I believe, so I took it easy. 
-Once I reached the Lodi Hotel they had no vacancies unfortunately.  
-Visited the local Subway restaurant and had a great sandwich made by Malissa who's a college student studying accounting.  
-Then proceeded to walk 3 miles to the closet hotel, The Plaza Motel (shown in the photo). 
-In bed now listening to some Fela inspired music on Pandora. 

12/29/12