Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

We paused our walk on November 4th with the birth of our grandson. That was almost a month ago. I miss the walking – a lot.

I am trying to find a way to be back on the road. What is holding me is the mundane task of finding a job. I don’t want to be walking in January, so I need some employment.

I updated the “About” page of this blog to reflect the progress so far.

by Dwayne Phillips

I sing to cows while walking. Now and then I pull out my little iPod and listen to music. I tend to sing along sometimes. There is no one to listen but the cows in the pastures.

This is one of the things that make this walking so much fun.

by Dwayne Phillips

Most of this walk passes through rural areas. That is perhaps why I am enjoying it so much. As such, we walk by many grazing cows.

The cows are quite entertaining. They are accustomed to all manner of motor vehicles. Tractor trailers, tractors, pickups, motorcycles (really loud motorcycles – are there any other kind?) pass by and the cows don’t blink. They keep there heads down and munch on grass.

Then we walk by and all the cows lift their heads and watch. The turn to see us coming; they slowly turn their heads as we walk in front of them, and they turn to follow us into the distance. Maybe it is my bright yellow windbreaker that attracts their attention.

I believe it is that we are an unusual sight. Not many people walk up and down rural highways.

I find their behavior much like small children. Ever notice how a small child watches as you walk past? Their head is on a slowly and steadily turning swivel. Turn, turn, turn. Eyes fixed.

I talk to the cows as I walk by. Why not? There isn’t anyone else out there to talk to. Besides, I seem to have their undivided attention, and that doesn’t happen often with people.

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes when on the road it seems that my legs have forgotten how to walk. They move one at a time and propel me forward, but something isn’t right. Actually a lot of somethings are not right.

Something hurts – a blister on the heel of this foot, a blister between the toes of that foot, a twinge of pain in this hip, and so on. My foot lifts, it approaches the ground, but my legs rebel in anticipation of pain. They twist or bend and attempt to avoid the ground.

I don’t know how I look to an observer. I feel like I am falling and hopping and other things that have little to do with walking properly.

I find myself concentrating on walking. Step left, step right, step, step, step. I stare at my feet as each one touches the ground. Roll my foot from heel to toe. No, don’t land on my heel, land on the middle of my foot. No, is that right? I am confused. Concentrate. Step, step, step.

This struggle usually happens after sitting for five minutes. I walk an hour or two, and force myself to rest. I know my body needs to rest a bit, but I hate to do it. That rest puts my muscles to sleep and they wake in this confused “remind me how to walk” state. I hate to stop once I am going correctly, but I know my body needs the rest.

Sounds strange? Walk all day for a week and it might make more sense.

by Dwayne Phillips

I suppose I should have written this post much earlier in the blog as it relates to what is where.

We are walking U.S. Route 11 from North to South, at least that is way it is in theory. In reality, Route 11 goes from the northeast to the southwest. Often, we have been walking from East to West instead of from North to South.

For example, look at Google maps at Greeneville, TN. Route 11 passes through Greeneville going directly East to West. When I wrote that we saw such and such on the “north” side of Greeneville, I meant as walking North to South we saw such and such before entering Greeneville. What I referred to on the north side of Greeneville was actually on the east side if you used a compass and a map.

So, for convention, when I wrote “north side of town” I meant the side of town we saw first while walking from Virginia to Louisiana. If I write that something is on the “geographic north” side of town, that means that it is really on the north side of town.

If you are not confused by this point, please write and let me know. I am confused.

by Dwayne Phillips

Another often-asked question is, “what is your day like?”

A typical day, hour by hour

1. wake
2. 06:30 breakfast
3. Do my Tech blog from the motel room (if the WiFi access is working)
4. Bible reading
5. 08:00 pack, load the car, checkout, drive to starting point
6. 08:30 start walking
7. 15:30 stop walking
8. drive to motel, check in, unpack
9. 16:00 move photos camera to computer, photo database
10. shower and wash the day’s clothes
11. 17:00 dinner
12. 18:30 write this blog and put photos on Wikipedia
13. 19:30 either read some fiction of play the guitar
14. 20:30 breathe a bit
15. 21:00 go to bed

Monotonous? Maybe as each day tends to be the same as the day before schedule wise. Early schedule? Yes. We seem to live on an early schedule.

We do this same schedule Monday through Saturday. We don’t walk on Sunday. One day of rest each week is necessary for 49 year old people.

Boring? Absolutely not. One surprise in this taking a walk is how busy I am.

I wish there were a couple more hours in the day so I could rest. Walking 15 to 20 miles each day does introduce some measure of fatigue. Trying to sleep in a different motel bed each night is not restful.

by Dwayne Phillips

While walking, we generally know where the “towns” are along the way. We do have maps and Google maps and those things. Still, while on the road I wonder how far or close or whatever the next town might be.

Another question in my mind is, “what is in the next town?” The maps show the relative size of towns, but they don’t tell you what is in the town.

One indication of approaching civilization is the trash along the side of the road.

Side note: Yes, there is a lot of trash on the side of the road. At times I have thought about carrying a trash bag and collecting the trash, but I would have to carry dozens of bags and I don’t know what to do with them once filled.

The beer can is still one of America’s most seen roadside detractions. Nothing has replaced it in this high tech 21st century. The plastic Coke bottle is a near second to the beer can. These things travel far. Towns are on average ten miles apart. Beer cans and Coke bottles travel at least that far, so seeing them on the side of the road doesn’t indicate anything more than you are neither in the middle of Nevada nor on Mars.

The one indication of approaching civilization is the McDonald’s cup or bag (substitute any other national fast food chain for McDonald’s as it works for all of them). Fast food trash only seems to travel three miles on average. I suppose this is a measure of how fast you can eat the food and how quickly you tire of the trash in your vehicle.

Therefore, when I see McDonald’s trash on the side of the road, I know that I am within an hour’s walk of a town that has a restaurant. That is if you consider McDonald’s and the like to be restaurants.

It is strange how seeing trash can raise your spirits. Most of the spirit raising comes from the knowledge that McDonald’s have bathrooms.

by Dwayne Phillips

Okay, what is the most popular business in America?

We have seen plenty of car and truck repair places on the road. Other frequent businesses are:

1. gas stations
2. yard sales
3. flea markets
4. tractor supply stores

But what is the most popular national franchise business? The fast food places like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell?

No, it is the humble dollar store.

Add up the number of Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree stores and you dwarf everything else. A town has to have a certain population to qualify for a McDonald’s. The population required for any of the dollar stores is minuscule in comparison.

We have walked through many small towns that had a gas station, a post office, and a couple of dollar stores. These dollar stores are the “general stores” and “five and dime” stores of the past. Not everything in these stores costs a dollar or less, but just about everything you would want is in the store.

by Dwayne Phillips

I have mentioned Hunt Brothers Pizza a couple of times. This is a franchise that supplies a store with a small pizza oven and pizza-making supplies. We have seen many gas stations along Route 11 that serve Hunt Brothers Pizza. They have a sign in the window or on the building the one shown here.

The thing that I find interesting is that there is a small country store a couple of miles from my mother’s home in Southeastern Louisiana that sells Hunt Brothers Pizza. That is one of the treats my sons enjoy when we visit my mother.

It is simple pizza, but since it is so close to my mother’s home, it is hot and fresh. Another reason we like it is that the toppings do not cost extra. One topping, two toppings, three toppings – all the same price.

We saw many Hunt Brothers Pizza places in Virginia, but not so many in Tennessee. That is odd as I notice that this company is based in Tennessee.

by Dwayne Phillips

The third most asked question about this taking a walk is,

Why are you doing this?

One big answer comes on the afternoon of October 30th (just one example of many I could give). The sky is clear blue, the sun is shining brightly in its low-in-the-sky autumn position. I am walking by green pastures and trees ranging from brilliant green to burning red. Dogs occasionally bark with their false bravado. An elderly couple is trimming a bush in front of the house where they have raised a family and grown old in grace together.

And my outdated iPod plays the haunting and inspiring french horns of Aaron Copland‘s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

This is simply so much great fun.

Some people believe this is the random combination of atoms. I don’t understand that.

The deceased writer Jeff Cooper often wrote of his hunting expeditions. In one recount, he sat on a rock above the clouds and watched the sun rise over them. He expressed his thanks for the ability he had been given, the ability to appreciate the wonder of it all.

That is one of the big reasons I am taking an 1,100-mile walk.

So I can appreciate the wonder of it all be and thankful.