Thursday, July 31, 2008

resting

As you can see in the previous pic, I'm taking a brief rest before moving on. I'm just off I-84, along which I've been walking most of this time, having taken Exit 51 (Wyeth campground exit) to get away from traffic and enjoy a spot of shade. I've been walking for about two hours, and have been moving along at a surprising rate of about 3mph. I attribute this more to the generally smooth terrain than to my improved physical condition; I still have a long, long way to go before I can declare myself "in shape."

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Barb and Bob, pictured earlier, for being such gracious and friendly hosts during my four-night stay at their KOA campground. All the staff were friendly and quick to help out; I had a good time. (Now let's see about introducing $15/night hiker/biker rates, like many state parks!)

Also, a big GET WELL SOON to Malcolm, who's been laid up in the hospital. Meanwhile, his group of Job's comforters have been hammering at his naturalistic take on morality (or at least the origins of morality); scroll down and have yourself a read. One post has over a hundred comments!

Yesterday, my brother David told me his longtime boss very suddenly died of a heart attack. Everyone at his office is in shock; the lady in question was to all appearances in perfect health, and was preparing to retire. You never know when death's gonna come a-knockin', so make sure you enjoy each moment as fully as you can.

And with that, break's over. Time to saddle up and head on to Mile 56, Viento State Park, where I'm stopping for the day. Tomorrow, I'll be staying at a Couchsurfing home across the river in Washington (this apparently requires a hitchhike across the bridge, which means I'll have some distance to make up by walking). More on my schedule once I settle in later today.


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3 comments:

Becky said...

Hey, when's your new ETA for Walla Walla? I'm working on finding you someone to talk to and a place to stay.

Kevin Kim said...

Becky, I'll get back to you shortly on the probable date of arrival, but I'm actually thinking of stopping in Walla Walla for a few weeks (maybe a couple months) to do some temp work and earn some cash, preferably while living somewhere VERY cheap.

I've still got a few thousand dollars, but the last two months have shown me how badly I underestimated my expenses. So before things get truly bad, I need to bolster the cash reserves.

But, hey-- if you know some philanthropist who's just dying to throw $20,000 my way, that'll do!


Kevin

Anonymous said...

A thought/suggestion...

Maybe you can have your ground crew search on RV forums for potential campsites. Start publicizing your trip there, find some invites to crash...

Lots of campgrounds allow RVs to have a tent as well as the RV on their particular little patch of land. Many of the RV folk (if not most) probably don't bother- that's kind of the point of having an RV, right?

So if you can get linked into that community, then you might be able to get some free! campsites, plus built-in interview subjects.

I say this because as I was reading your update, I realized that my mom uses her computer quite a bit more than you'd think. And she lives in an RV in Arizona (it's more like an "apartment on wheels" than an RV).

Granted, most of the parks that are more dedicated to being RV campgrounds and catering to the wired crowd (or, actually, the Wi-Fi crowd) are private instead of federal or state or county. And they tend to be more in the towns and cities than in the wilderness areas.

BUT... hey, it's a thought. Find some RV forums, start talking up your trip, see if you can mooch some free spots to pitch your tent, probably even have some people offer showers and toilets and laundry services (some of these RVs are incredible with what they have inside of them) and meals... mmm.

And you're still within easy driving distance of Seattle so if you get into a real pinch, just holler. ;)