Hello Everyone,

I made it home yesterday, Thursday, October 2, and figured I would send out my last blog update for this leg of my trek. I took the train from Klamath Falls, Oregon, to Oxnard, leaving Wednesday night (October 1) at 10:00 PM and getting into Oxnard, Thursday, at 7:00 PM. It turned out to be a more pleasant train trip than I expected, even though it was a 21 hour trip.

I spent the last few days before I left with my brother Tom, who took me around Ashland and the surrounding areas. We went to the parks, trails, surrounding mountains, saw views and various neighborhoods, and countless other things that really impressed me about the town and area. I had my own Huell Howser with me.

I also ate nonstop and found myself hungry all day long, since my metabolism still thinks I walking and making up for all my weight loss. I think Tom referred to my appetite as that of a teenager boy. I have lost about twenty pounds since I started my first trek, much of it on the first leg, and nearly the same on this leg. Luckily my brother is a good cook and kept me fed.

I was a bit conflicted with my decision not to continue on, but realized after a few days there that I made the right choice. I found myself waking up at night from pain in my left foot, and limping around the house and on short walks around town. Having those days off gave me the energy to start right back up, but I had to be honest with myself and acknowledge that it would probably have cause more problems to my foot.

It was hard for me to stop walking since it has been such an everyday routine. Even after having completed the first leg, I still found that it took over a week to get back into a routine this time. I found myself in more of a rhythm and had many days where I trekked over twenty miles. The day I left Ashland, I strapped on the Wheelie and walked to the shuttle pickup and just had the urge to keep going. Just in that short distance from Tom’s, a few people waved and stopped to chat, and it made me sad to think that this leg of my trek was over. Once on the shuttle it felt even stranger as the driver placed the Wheelie on the seat in front of me.

The ride to Klamath was a different highway than we had come and I found myself looking at the terrain and hills and picturing whether it would be hard to walk or if there was much of a shoulder. Funny thing most of all, I was looking for places that would be good spots to camp. I even found myself doing it on the train.

Once in Klamath Falls I had to wait three hours for the train and had a short block to the Amtrak Station. Even at the station I had a young couple that were biking from Portland, and taking the train to Davis, come over to me and chat about the Wheelie and my trip. Just talking about it made me want to keep going. As it turned out they sat a few rows from me on the train and we talked quite a bit. I will miss that instant friendliness with strangers that don’t hesitate to come talk to me.

Even though I was not trekking I looked at every day as part of my trek experience. I found myself looking out the window on the train and enjoying the view as part of that experience. As I mentioned, I saw a million places where I could have set up my tent too. Seeing how far the train was taking us made me realize too how far I had come. During my trek, I really didn’t think of it other than day by day.

I met a nice woman that was sitting behind me who was from north-east Washington. She was 65 and told me that she had been never really traveled and this was an adventure for her. She had been married for 42 years and had lost her husband three years ago. Interestingly, she was born in Santa Paula, graduated from Ventura High School, and was going back for her fiftieth reunion, and it was her first time back in over forty some years. She seemed very excited about her adventure, and I can see why. Unfortunately, the train stopped in Santa Barbara, and she got off to stretch her legs and missed the train. She was getting off at Oxnard like me.

Hearing her story just reaffirms the number one reason for my trek, “because I can.” We never know what tomorrow brings and I want to do as much as I can, for as long as I can. You never know how long we will be here?

As a matter of fact, I just found out today that an old friend of mine (Chuck Cooper), who I worked with in the CHP, passed away a few months ago. He was only 58 and had just retired four years ago. He has two kids, 23 and 24 years old. He had moved into the same condo project as me, and he and his wife, and Mindee and I, use to ride motorcycles together.

My most vivid memory of working with him was one night together on graveyards. We were at a red light with a car stopped in front of us when the car made a u-turn on a red light. That was it, red lights and siren, but he didn’t stop. Instead of stopping, he took off at a high speed swerving across all lanes and going into the opposing lanes. We hit speeds of 70-80 mph on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, going towards Santa Monica. He came around a curve and swerved completely into opposing lane and crashed into a big berm on the shoulder. Chuck was driving and stopped right behind him. The guy got out of the car, ran through a large puddle of water, over the berm, and ran up the hill. I must have had an adrenalin rush because I jumped over the water and berm, and ran up the hill after him. Later, I could not figure how I did it or how to get over the large puddle of water.

I ran up the hill and the guy ducked into the bushes. I had my gun out and couldn’t see him, and thinking Chuck was next to me, told him to go around the other side of the bush. Well, there was no Chuck! He had stayed at the car and was radioing for backup, but I think he couldn’t get over the water. Out of fear, I yelled that I was going to shoot, and the guy pleaded with me not to shoot him in a high pitched voice, almost crying. I was finally able to talk him into coming out of the bushes after a few minutes, but I was pretty scared because I couldn’t see him. I think someone was looking out for me because I was an open target because I had no idea where he was in the bushes. I handcuffed him, took him down, but couldn’t figure how to get across the water. A few deputies came around and got him from me. As it turned out he had burglarized several house and was high on PCP. I remember looking over at Chuck and asking where he was, and he just said, calling for backup because I didn’t think you’d chase him up the hill.

Sorry to go off with that old story, but my point was that life is short and I am very thankful that I was able to complete my trek as far as I made it under the circumstances. I had a great experience and would do it all over again if I could. I will work on healing my foot and hope that it is not a long lasting injury. I will see what the future brings me because I may start back up where I left off or start another trek somewhere else? I want to continue somewhere because I feel restless, and even on my first night in my bed at home, I wanted to sleep in my sleeping bag. Maybe, as my brother had suggested, I should sleep in my tent here on the lawn, and slowly move back into the house.

Thank you again for all the positive notes and support. Best wishes to all, until my next trek and blog. And one last time, since I am not reviewing this, please excuse the typos, grammar, spelling, etc.

Ted