Monday, February 9, 2009

Happy Birthday, Cody!

Today is Cody's 24th birthday. I hope he gets a cake somewhere!

Cody has "stashed" the stroller and is backpacking from here on out. While out West, the stroller was a necessity because Cody had to pack several gallons of water at once. There was also broad roads to push a stroller. The further East he goes, he's finding that water is becoming more plentiful and the road shoulders are disappearing. He was finding it hard to push the stroller without being dangerously close to traffic. This is going to slow him down, though. He's found that he can average about 17 minutes per mile with the stroller, and 23 minutes with the backpack. (I was thinking to myself, "I can do a mile faster than that," and then I remembered that I rarely DO a mile, let alone a couple thousand miles...) There's a real difference between taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood and putting in the steady miles to walk long distances.

Cody's post office tragedy has a happy ending. Tallulah is a friendly little town, so an obliging mail carrier went in the P.O. and sorted through the mail to find Cody's packages-- his backpack Dad had sent down, and a package from his brother Owen, and his wife, Ashley. Cody had homemade banana bread this morning, compliments of Ashley.

Saturday evening Cody found a small gas station/truck stop. They let him take a shower and do some wash. By the time he was done his wash, it was almost midnight, so he walked a little ways and found a place to sleep on a bluff overlooking the Mighty Mississippi! So he walked the whole way width of Louisiana in exactly a week.

Tonight's photos are of Cody's Christmas visitors.

Scott

George

Tanner


I don't know if this post needs any caption. I think your reaction will determined by your sex and/or age. I thought, "Oh, gross!" and my husband said, "Awesome!"

The four guys before Cody and Scott set out, and Tanner and George headed back to Alaska!