Reading Time: < 1 minute This morning I encountered hail the size of baseballs! Well, more the size of couscous. Small couscous. Still hail, though. (And it was cold, with a headwind, which was not fun.) My tent site last night was not ideal, but it was better than the side of the highway. This continues to be the problem […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute Tonight I was in a race with the setting sun. The sun won. The promised/threatened snow finally did arrive early this morning, leaving its evidence on the windows of vehicles parked in the motel lot. I decided that in spite of the low temperatures, I didn’t want to spend another night in Ponca City. So […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute It is noon, and I’m sittin’ and waitin’ for the predicted rain, sleet, and (maybe tomorrow) snow. Nothin’ yet, just gray clouds and 25 mph winds. Looking at my app, it predicts rain (51%) from 1 until 4 pm. (I keep thinking of Bill Murray’s weatherman character in Ground Hog Day.) I just walked across […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes I was carrying a lot of stress today knowing that tomorrow would bring an extreme temperature drop into the 20°s, with rain, thunderstorms, and sleet expected. So even after a 25 mile day yesterday, I walked hard knowing that the more distance I covered today, the less I’d have to walk tomorrow in the miserable […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes What a beautiful day to walk! Given the difficulties I encountered yesterday, I was seriously thinking about taking a “day of rest” today, and just hang out in my motel room. But when I learned that the sun would be shining all day and the wind would remain under 10 mph, I prepared myself mentally for […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes The wind, blowing 30 to 40 mph (with gusts even higher) was pushing me forward and to the right. It couldn’t decide whether to drive me off the road or just blow me down. I was out of my tent and on the road at 7:15 am, looking forward to getting to my motel early. […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes I waited until after 9 am to leave the motel, knowing it was supposed to warm up a little (or at least get out of the 30° range). The Gordini gloves Sharon sent me are working much better than what I was using previously. But what’s really helped the most is the quality of the […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes It did not rain today, but it was cold! So cold that I put on my rain gear just to cut the moderate but frigid wind. Sadly, once again my gloves did not do the job. It was gray, overcast, and just plain gloomy. Every time I took my gloves off to take a photo […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute From my motel room in Seiling to the town of Chester was less than 5 miles, but along the way I encountered major construction, an incredibly wide oversized truck convoy transporting I have no idea what, and a carload full of used rebar. When walking through road construction sites I’ve learned to “walk where they […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes When I left Vici this morning at 8:30 am, a dense fog enveloped the area. I proceeded with extreme caution. Drivers were moving slowly and their lights were on. The first hour was tedious—I moved off the narrow shoulder and onto the grass whenever an oncoming vehicle approached. I’m taking the “Be safe” advice seriously. […]