Hello Everyone,

Well, I am still in Ashland, Oregon, enjoying my few days of rest. I felt a little antsy in the morning because I have been so use to my routine of packing up and getting ready for the day, and excited about whatever that day will bring. I had to remind myself that even being here is part of my trek experience and to enjoy the time here with the same open mind set because this is definitely a town with a lot of interesting things, people, and culture.

Ashland is not far from Medford, and not much different than most small towns that try to distinguish themselves from their larger neighbor. Most everything in town here is within walking distance, which is something most cities don’t have. There are a ton of different restaurants and I wondered how they all can stay in business, but I think it’s because they are all so different. There also seems to be a real mix of people here, but I think that’s what makes it such an interesting and nice place.

As I mentioned before, many of the houses are late 1800s and early 1900s, but update or well maintained. Walking down the streets you see deer walking the sidewalks and street, and front yards. They just look like part of the town.

Currently The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is going on here and all three theaters for the plays are within three blocks. There is a city park that parallels the Ashland Creek which flows through town and near the theaters. In addition to the theaters there is an outside area where there are free concerts and plays, Green Show, which runs from June until October, six days a week. Last night we walked over to the venue and saw Todo Mundo, a reggae, samba, rumba, middle eastern, eight piece band, from San Diego. Their music was a very interesting mix and it was quite good.

After the concert, Tom, Alenia (his girlfriend), and two others acquaintances, were standing around and talking when two of the band members walked over and offered us three free tickets to the play, Into the Woods. They were driving back to San Diego and couldn’t use them. The other couple took two of the tickets, and he handed me the other ticket. I asked if we could get three more, and he tried, but couldn’t. Then I did what I had made a conscious effort on my whole trek not to do, and that was to say no and not accept everything with an open mind. Tom and Alenia told me to go, but I decided not to, and ten minutes later, after the doors had closed, regretted it! It would have been another great trek experience and I didn’t take it! But, it reminded me again, and taught me a lesson again, to have an open mind and experience as much in life as you can.

I have found it a little difficult to be out of my trekking routine when I have these rest days, as I find myself staying up too late and running out of energy by seven or so. I am usually crawled inside my cozy sleeping bag and tent by then writing my blog. I actually felt tired during the day, something I usually don’t have time to feel while trekking. It’s like working hard all day and not realizing how tired you are until you stop and sit down.

But one of the other things I am more aware of and feel more now too is the pain from the plantar fasciitis in my left foot. As I walked around town, and even here at the house, I really feel the pain in my foot. I was hoping that some rest would easy the pain and make my foot feel better, but I have to acknowledge that one, two, or even three or four days of rest are not going to heal the plantar fasciitis. Last time I was troubled by it, about six years ago, it took over ten months to heal, and that was with months of ice treatments, stretching, orthotics, and sleeping with those wonderful Strassburg socks every night. After all those months the pain finally went away and never troubled me until now.

There were several times that I felt the pain was so troubling that I would have stopped, but something always gave me a little boost and got me over the hump. Usually it was just finding or meeting a great place or person, an new experience, and sometimes Advil. I really didn’t want to set a destination goal at the beginning because if I didn’t reach it, I would feel like I didn’t achieve my goal, so my plan was to go as far as I could, one day at a time. I had the plantar fasciitis when I started and knew that I might not be able to trek around the world at this time, but I wanted to try and make it as far as I could.

I have had many, many, people ask me why I am doing it, and my standard answer usually is, “because I can.” I guess sometimes I am too lazy to tell them all the reason because the list would take me too long. Maybe I should print it out and I could give it to them, but even putting it down in words probably would not cover them all.

Yes, “because I can,” is probably the number one reason, since I don’t know what may happen to me in my life tomorrow and I am blessed to be able to do it now. But also, I love to travel, meet other people, experience other cultures, see different and interesting places, experience new things in life, learn, staying in shape, and two other big ones, challenge myself and live my life to the fullest, and learn to become more accepting of other people, beliefs, cultures, and places. The list could go on.

I was talking to Mindee one day while trekking and I was telling her about how painful my foot was that day, and she asked me if I was still have fun. I didn’t know how to answer that and had to think about it. Interesting that the next day a man at a store asked me the same thing. I said that it was an interesting question that it was not just a simple yes or no, because if you asked a person that was climbing Mount Everest, on the final day of the ascent, in 60 mph winds, and -50 degree weather, if he was having fun, it would be a hard thing to answer simply as a yes or no. Not that I would even consider myself in that person’s category, but it feels good to challenge yourself, even though those challenges may tough, it’s the reward of knowing you can achieve your goals.

I am a little sad not to go on now. However, I feel that I can always start back here where I left off. I will probably take the train back home from Klamath Falls in the next few days, but the train goes back in the other direction too. I have already looked at the schedule and it arrives in Klamath, from Ventura, at 8:00 AM, which is a perfect time to step off a train and start the trek for the day.

Thank you again for your positive emails, and my wonderful wife Mindee for being by my side and supporting me in my life and treks.

As always, please continue to send me your positive thoughts and prayers. And while you are at it, excuse my typos, grammar, spelling, etc., again.

Ted