POST 1190; NOVEMBER 01, 2013; BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON

Sincerely apologize for the absence of blog update.  Many a time I sat before my computer to post an update...realizing that the past two months have been absurdly boring with not much of interest to share.

Have, in the past two weeks, returned slowly to walking.  SAM has been modified...and the tendon(s) have come along nicely.  Walking 2 - 5 hours every other day or so.  Still incur some swelling in the left foot and lower leg.  Yesterday I set off on a 40-mile walk to the nearby tourist village of LA CONNOR, Washington, where on Saturday (tomorrow) I plan to join a walking group outing from SEATTLE.  As La Connor is close by, decided I would walk there and back to Bellingham, making for a 4-day outing, camping along the way.

Reached the 1/4 point, walking the beautiful cliff-side roadway - CHUCKANUT - which skirts the waters of PUGET SOUND.

For whatever reason, my body reached a weakened state giving clear signals that it would / could not continue.  I turned back.  Reaching my apartment by literally crawling the final two miles, I dragged myself into bed and crashed in early evening, not waking until 5:00 am this morning.

Obviously, the three months of little or no exercising (walking) has resulted in severe loss of body strength.

Nonetheless, I am faced with a major cross roads.  I can no longer afford to stay in my apartment.  Within the next two weeks, SAM & ME will once again continue our unending walk of the by-ways of America.

Since we must complete the final 900 miles from the North Dakota / Montana State borders...and recognizing the Winter cold / snows block our passing over the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, SAM & ME plan to walk South along Route 101 bordering the Pacific Ocean to the Los Angeles basin...then hang a left paralleling the Mexican border to Texas...then another left walking North across the Colorado Great Plains, across Wyoming, South Dakota, ... and finally, reaching I-94 at the North Dakota / Montana border.

From I-94, SAM & ME will head North West across Montana to the town of WOLF POINT on US Highway 2, which we will follow to within 30 miles of Bellingham. We should return by May 2014.

In so doing, SAM & ME will have completed our 5th walk across America...AND... will have circumnavigated the Rocky Mountains from the Peace Arch (BLAINE, WA.), South to near the Mexican border, East to the state of Nebraska, North to the Canadian border...,then, back to the Peace Arch.

SAM & ME will have walked / rolled some 25,000 miles.

We hope to become associated with a "cause", promoting awareness - and donations - for the "cause".  To finance our continuation, we will give up our apartment (become truly "homeless"), thus freeing up the $750.00 per month previously paid for our monthly apartment lease...which for the past one year, stood EMPTY...empty since our apartment has been subsidized for "seniors" by government program(s).  Such subsidized apartments PROHIBIT sub-leasing or even access by family or friends unless I am physically occupying it.   In actual fact, such government rules required me to THROW AWAY nearly $6,000.00 last year, when SAM & ME so desperately needed $$ walking across America.

Whether or not SAM & ME become associated with a "cause", our primary message will remain to promote AWARENESS of the LYMPHATIC SYSTEM...in my mind, the third most important organ of our body; the Lymphatic System, controls amount and movement of WATER within our body...AND is the center of our IMMUNE system.  Body fluids flow through our body -  essentially by means of our Lymphatic System.  Within our Lymphatic System are Lymph Nodes, wherein are created  WHITE BLOOD CELLS.  As body fluids flow through Lymph Nodes, all elements are challenged by our White Blood Cells...a continuous FRIEND / FOE interrogation.  All "Foe" elements are immediately engaged  in battle AND KILLED by our White Blood Cells; i.e., our IMMUNE SYSTEM in action.

We have discovered that nearly NO ONE of us knows we even have such a Lymphatic System, let alone where to find it or how to make it function...YES, HOW TO MAKE IT FUNCTION...because the Lymphatic System does not / cannot function without OUR daily life-long activation !!!

Enough for the moment...

At the moment, I am fine.  Must "prime the pump" so to speak, to gain strength lost during non activity while the ligaments have healed.

Trust all are happy and well.

Will drive to La Connor tomorrow to participate in the Seattle-group walk.

GO HAWKS !!!