Walking Solo

Cody just called from Waxahachie, TX. He and Scott went to the bus station last night for Scott to catch a bus to San Antonio, where Scott is going to visit his grandparents. Scott's not real sure when/if he's rejoining Cody. I think there's a Panama visit planned-- lots on his plate now, but Cody sure enjoyed having a month with Scott. In Cody's own words, "I salute noble men of valor and honor like dear Porter."

I don't think the stroller is missing Scott, though! Cody says it's driving like a Cadillac with just one person's stuff on board! Despite my dire forecast about the stroller in the last post, it continues to roll on. Last Tuesday, Scott and Cody stopped to watch the inauguration and found a Tractor Supply Company where they bought a rim for the stroller. It's heavy duty, and drives great now, but Cody's worried that the rubber on the tires is coming off in chunks!

Cody had a great break for several days in Mountain Peak, TX. He was at a friend's house for a Wednesday night Bible study, and they prevailed on him to stay at least until Friday, when several of their friends were arriving. Thursday and Friday, Scott and Cody got to laze around a bit. They did a little honest labor, pulling out some fence posts and clearing wire, for which they were amply repaid by a great meal at a steakhouse Saturday night! Friday night, there was a hymn sing and the guys got to meet lots of interesting people. There were quite a few with connections to different people Cody knows-- always interesting how many overlaps there are in friendships! Sunday, they stayed for a Sunday morning meeting and gospel meeting. They didn't really get on the road until about noon Monday! Not so great for mileage, but a nice time!

Friday was National Pie Day, which probably is second only to Thanksgiving in Cody's personal calendar. He got text messages from lots of his buddies around the country, as they made pies! (Julie and Gail, Bethaney B. and Sue, and others-- I couldn't hear their names as the trucks roared by!) While he didn't eat pie on Friday, he made up for it on Monday with an individual peach pie from Wal-Mart. Last year, he was working in Cle Elum, WA when I called to remind him about the date. That night, he went home and baked a pie for him and his roomate-- half peach, half cherry, to accomodate their different tastes!

Today marks a countdown from the 1000-miles-left marker! The mileage from Waxahachie to Savannah, GA is 995 miles. While the route will probably vary enough that it's hard to know exactly how much is left, it's an exciting milestone. Today is raining and in the 30s, so Cody is hoping he finds a good place for the night. At least he has a tent now, and it will probably be easier for one person to fit in their "Junior" tent! Cody is planning on walking far, far from the road if it actually starts snowing-- he figures all those drivers who aren't used to snow are going to be joining him on the shoulder or in the ditch pretty frequently!

Cody's next goal is to get out of Texas by the end of January. It's about 177 miles, so a pretty ambitious goal!

Stroller Blues

Well, I think the stroller is truly on it's last legs this time. Scott and Cody are walking from Glen Rose to Cleburne today, and the stroller is barely wobbling it's way there. One tire is holding together with some hydraulic hose (not sure where they found that!) and the other rim looks, "about as stable as water" as Cody says. As my aunt Barbara pointed out, though, 1600 miles is pretty impressive for a stroller mileage. Especially since many of those miles were not on perfectly clean surfaces-- and probably Cody's gear weighs a little more than the average toddler. The guys plan on hitting the Cleburne Wal-Mart to find their new travel system! I asked Cody if he wanted me to do a business search online so they could plan their route in Cleburne, and he said "Someone already told us where the Wal-Mart was." I asked if he needed to go anywhere else, and he said, "Why, when there's a Wal-Mart?" So maybe Wal-Mart is the company that needs to sponsor Cody!

They have been walking a LOT lately-- and not getting much sleep. Saturday night was about the worst-- they walked until almost three in the morning, then just slept beside the road until 6:15. After someone picked them up for meeting, they went out to eat with all the friends. (I thought Cody said they went to the Big and Tough Eatery, and I was really scratching my head over that name! I did a search of Glen Rose restaurants, though, and it must have been the Big Cup Eatery. A little more palatable title! That's why I need to talk to Cody sometime when semis aren't rumbling past-- I already ask him to repeat everything twice, and I obviously still don't get it sometimes!) They had a great lunch, and then they slept all afternoon! Sunday night they slept in the stadium of the school. It was one of the warmer nights. It has been getting down below freezing at night, but Sunday was around the 40s. Cody was thinking it was balmy, but the couple who owned the doughnut bakery (Sunshine Donuts) nearby felt sorry for them-- they invited them to come over for coffee and doughnuts in the morning! The guys ended up talking to the couple that owns the place for an hour and a half. They were originally from South Korea, and were there during that war. Cody sure has heard lots of interesting stories on this trip!

When I was talking to Cody this morning, he had to go because a reporter pulled up by them on the road and wanted to talk to them. I don't think this interview was prompted by the Abilene news story, they had just received a call from someone who had stopped and talked to Cody the other day. I would sure love to hear what Cody and Scott tell them-- it was fun to get a little glimpse in that interview in Abilene. Neither of them is a real publicity hound, so it's a little hard to picture them going the media rounds!

Cody and Scott have raised over a $1000 on their fundraising page for Doctors Without Borders. Thanks so much to all who have contributed!

Halfway There

Thanks to Emmy, one of the ladies who drove Scott and Cody back to their starting place after their weekend in Lubbock, we have pictures!That is some impressive packing job. According to Emmy, the back of this Prius contained "2 young men, a baby stroller, sleeping bags, tent, backpacks, huge plastic bag of food, American flag, plastic flowers, coats, old shoes, Yvonne’s suitcase & my backpack."

The two young men in question... or is it the two questionable young men?
All packed up and heading down the road again.

I talked to Cody Tuesday, after their day in Abilene. They had quite a tour of Abilene-- they came in on the northeast corner, and by the time they had visited a Wal-Mart and a shoe store (site of the news interview!), and got on the road out of town, Cody had figured they walked about 24 "non-progress" miles-- almost a complete circumference of the city. I asked if it was cheating to take the city bus on errands, and Cody said no, but it was too complicated to figure it all out. I guess he's just more energetic than me. Maybe the next time he's heading into a city I'll look up the bus routes and call him with some information!

Cody and Scott were unable to get to a Sunday morning meeting on Sunday, so some folks met them for breakfast Monday morning at a cafe in Hawley. They took them back to their house so Scott could take a shower (Cody had already bathed in a cold horse trough that morning!) and so they could press food on them! I guess they loaded them up with pudding cups and other non-perishable food. Always appreciated by the guys!

Speaking of food, I think Scott and Cody have sunk to abysmal depths in the culinary field. When I was talking with Cody, he told me that Scott had just bought a propane can so that they could use Scott's little stove for "hot Ramen." That seemed like an oxymoron, so I probed a little further and discovered that Scott and Cody have been eating Ramen noodles COLD! They add water to their cups and dump the noodles in, and after about 40 minutes of being jounced around in the stroller cup holder they are edible. Not good, but edible. Since they've figured out that Ramen is cheaper than PB&J, they've been having a LOT of cold Ramen. I don't know whether to beat them over the head until they come to their senses or airlift them in a 20 oz. T-bone! Either way, I'm sure they have appreciated the meals that have been served to them!

The 24-mile trek in Abilene ate up a whole day, so the boys were determined that they were going to up their daily mileage. Before Cody and Scott met up, Cody was able to average about 32-33 miles a day. With the increased luggage on the stroller for the two of them, though, Cody has been carrying a backpack, which cuts down on the miles. Now that Scott's more into the rhythm, Cody has decided to really abuse the stroller and just heap his backpack on the stroller and see how far they get before the stroller breaks down and they have to figure out a new strategy. Their goal, as of Tuesday, was to get to Glen Rose for Sunday morning meeting. That's an insane average of about 36 miles a day, so we'll see how well they do with that.

The trip really is about halfway behind them now. Since Cody started in the beginning of November, it's taken him about two and a half months to get halfway. Between working and visiting friends, though, Cody figures he lost about 3 weeks. Their goal now is to reach the Atlantic by the end of March. His long range (for Cody) plans are to spend the month of April on Mom and Dad's farm, then go to Minnesota for a few months to help out some farming friends there who are going through some difficulties. At this point, barring an accident or injury, the real limiting factor on how fast they can walk is finances-- Cody's going to have to find a job at some point to give him enough money to reach the coast.

The news interview that I linked in my last post has a print counterpart (for folks to access Cody's blog (here!) and fundraising site). It doesn't cover any really different ground, but if you have dial-up, it might load quicker! So here's the print component of that news story...
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=91471&shr=addthis

Lights, Camera, Video!

Cody and Scott had their first encounter with the media. While they were in a shoe store in Abilene, the manager got talking to them and found out what they were doing. The next thing they knew, there was a news van pulling up! Cody said he had contemplated throwing his jeans in the trash that morning, they were so dirty-- they were definitely not camera-ready! (As Scott pointed out, it could of been worse-- he could have been wearing sweat pants!) The reporter, Maria, talked to them for quite a while, and they were on the evening news! Cody made a plug for his fundraising efforts for Doctors Without Borders-- hopefully the folks in Abilene will help him raise money for that worthy cause. I'm not sure how long this link will work, but here is a link to the segment about Scott and Cody!

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=126091#

I have many more stories to write, and even some pictures, but I also have three sick little kids, so I will let this be all for tonight!

"Abilene, Abilene... Sweetest Town That I've Ever Seen"

Not that Cody and Scott are actually in Abilene yet... but Cody was talking about going there, so now I have that old country song in my head! They are actually in Anson, TX (about 24 miles north of Abilene), where they just had dinner at a Sonic hamburger joint. Cody was saying they hadn't done very well with their mileage this week, but I was impressed-- 124 miles since Tuesday evening. They are in line to go straight through Fort Worth-Dallas, but I think Cody has decided to go through Abilene and cut over through Hillsboro and Corsicana.

I think I need to embarass Cody a bit and tell the story of their accomodations one night this week. Finding a semi trailer with an open door the other evening, they crawled in-- it had bunk beds and all, so they settled in. Around 5:30 in the morning, Cody woke up to the sound of a diesel, so he alerted Scott. "No, that's just on the road," Scott said. The next sound they heard was backup beeps! Realizing they better get out of there, they leaped out of their sleeping bags and started tossing their belonging out their door. Cody was comforting himself with the thought, "Well, at least they will still have to crank the jacks up," when he heard the sound of the jacks being electronically hoisted up! They did jump out and make it with all their belongings intact, but if they had been sleeping any deeper, they may have had a morning chat with the Border Patrol on their way into Mexico! Thankfully for my peace of mind, they have bought a tent, so they've slept in that a few nights, too. They didn't want to spend the money or the luggage space on a huge tent, so they bought a "juniors" size, 5'x6'. Cody doesn't think it's a true six feet, since he can't stretch out in it. Whatever size it is, they are in rather close quarters!

Cody and Scott sure enjoyed their time in Lubbock. I hadn't looked at a map before I posted the entry last Sunday, so I was wrong in envisioning that Lubbock was a town they'd be going through again-- Lubbock was actually quite a bit north of their route. They were dropped back off in LaMesa by two of our ministers-- they were driving a Prius, so I guess there was quite some packing to fit the stroller, tent, clothes and two guys in the back seat! I think it is the times they get to meet people and enjoy fellowship like that that makes this trip extra special for Cody and Scott.

Scott's $11 sneakers don't seem to be helping him out a lot. (Cody's bragging on his $20 pair still going strong after walking from Pheonix.) Scott thought that Crocs might be more comfortable, so he had his mom ship down his Crocs from Alaska. Cody, not a fan of Crocs, said he'd give Scott $100 if Scott wore them the rest of the trip. The stories about why Scott only wore them for 1/2 a mile vary-- Cody says it's because Scott realized they weren't working, Scott says it's just because he didn't want to wear them out before the Crocs got to see the Atlantic Ocean! Either way, Scott is still searching for something more comfortable for his feet.

Another week down, and they're getting awful close to halfway!

"And, as always, we thank for shopping at our friendly Massena Wal-Mart" Wait, wrong tag line... (I still can do the Wal-Mart voice twelve years after I worked there while in college.) And, as always, donations to Doctors Without Borders can be made at Scott and Cody's fundraising page.

Day of Rest

Scott and Cody are sitting in the lap of luxury in Lubbock, Texas. Ed and Colleen Johnson picked up the guys Saturday so they could be in a meeting this morning. They're related to some friends of ours up here in NY, and are all around nice folks. Cody reports he had pumpkin pie after supper last night (and for breakfast the next morning, and for snack later... Cody does love pumpkin pie.) They had lots of fellowship today, with a gospel meeting and hymn sing this evening. Cody and Scott are going to stick around tomorrow and help rake pecans off the lawn, and then some other friends are taking them back to their point of departure Saturday. Cody sure is a stickler about that-- I'm impressed he doesn't get discouraged about starting to walk Tuesday so he can maybe hit Lubbock again Thursday or so.



I've been advised by legal counsel not to mention where Cody and Scott spent their New Year's Eve, but they had a good time, including hot baths. They drank sparkling grape juice and played poker until four in the morning, then they found a mound of peanuts out in a field somewhere for a bed. They burrowed into the peanuts (he claims this was safe!) and slept a bit. Their sleeping bags still smell like peanuts. There are lots of other crops that probably wouldn't have been as comfortable!



I don't know if it's because they're getting into more inhabited country, but they've been offered meals several times. They slept in the field of some Mennonite farmers the other day, and were awakened by the people there offering them breakfast-- coffee and some cookies. A guy named Oscar met them somewhere west of Hobbs, TX, and returned the next morning with breakfast burritos and hot chocolate.



I ran some mileage estimates this evening, and Cody's been over a thousand miles, with about 1300 to go. Getting awful close to the halfway mark! It would be interesting to sit down with him sometime and plot his exact route and calculate more exact mileage.



I was informed by FactChecker.Org (i.e. my brother Owen) that I totally screwed up the horse pictures the other post. The pictures I posted were of another Belgian horse Owen owned, Mary, with her foal Heidi. That definitely is Cody in the picture, just not Molly, the recently deceased horse. I did think the pictures didn't really look like Molly (who, I've been informed, was also half Owen's horse) but the details of who foaled who were lost in the mists of my mind. Anyway, here is a genuine picture of Molly, with Cody riding her bareback. (Don't tell Owen, who owned Mary, but Molly was much prettier than Mary).


I wonder if it would be more or less comfortable to try to ride a Belgian mare coast to coast bareback than to walk it...? I better not pose the question to Cody, or he will have to take up that challenge!

Two in Texas!

Cody has officially been joined by Mr. Scott Porter on his walk-- welcome aboard, Porter! When I talked to them this evening, they were investigating a peanut processing plant in western Texas as the site for their New Year's Eve festivities (mainly consisting of sparkling grape juice picked up at a Wal-Mart this afternoon). They wanted to turn in early so that they would be off the road before the drunks were on the road! They had found an unlocked, heated trailer, but were calling the numbers for the company to ask permission before they crashed. Not a fun day to sit in jail for trespassing-- too many drunks puking in the holding cell! They were in negotiations when I talked to them, so Cody had to go to exert his personal charm on the person on the other end of Scott's cell phone line.

Scott is holding up to the walking well. Thanks to moleskin, and the cooler temperatures, he hasn't had a real problem with blisters, but his feet are sore. I can only imagine-- from the luxury of Tanner's truck to walking 20+ miles a day has got to be a shock to the system.

Scott, Tanner, and George Allen (a cousin of Tanner's and a friend of ours from AK!) found Cody Christmas day. They had told Cody they were in Mississippi the last time he had talked to them, so Cody wasn't even thinking they were anywhere near him. He was walking in Artesia, NM, when he heard honking, and turned around to see the Truck With Trailer! They even cooked him a meal for Christmas. Sounds like they had quite the Christmas, and Boxing Day. They played Monopoly (one of Cody's stronger obsessions) until 4:00 in the morning, and never left the Wal-Mart parking lot all the next day. Cody says trailers take being lazy to a whole new level-- you can sit on the couch and never have to stand up to reach all the amenities. I believe the only time they DID stand up was to walk into Wal-Mart for potty breaks and more snacks. Quite a change from the empty road and the continuous hunger.


Cody had another run-in with the law-- but this time, in a good way! A New Mexico state trooper stopped to ask Cody if he was all right one day, then stopped by again on his way home to check on him. He then saw Cody as he drove his wife back into town for dinner. They stopped and offered to take Cody in with them, but Cody told them he had to keep walking. So they returned after dinner with a whole pizza and a couple of Diet Pepsis for him! Despite a few exceptions, the people Cody have met have been so generous and excited to help Cody.


One of the hard parts of being on the road thousands of miles away from home came up on Monday. Molly, Cody's beautiful Belgian draft horse, had to be put down. She was extremely old for a draft horse-- around 26, though no one knows for sure. She had been failing this summer, but had seemed better the last couple of months. On Monday, though, she couldn't even stand up with assistance. Here's a picture of a much younger Cody with her on the day her filly, Heidi, was born. This was back in the day when horses were everything to Cody. While his older brother Tyler worked on old trucks and schemed ways to drive places, Cody subscribed to draft horse magazines and planned to use horses for everything his whole life . Within a few years, Broncos (of the mechanical sort) had captured his imagination, and the harnesses were set aside. He always loved Molly, though, and she had many happy years grazing along side the various animals on Dad and Mom's farm.Happy New Years to All, and here's hoping for Scott and Cody to have a great 2009 as they continue across the country! And if you want to think about those who are in less fortunate places in the world, contribute to Doctors Without Borders through their fundraising site.