| All journal entries are in reverse order, with the latest entry at the top. Clicking the "Location" link will take you to a map where you can see details of the area from which Wesley posted the entry. Thanks for all of your support! | ||
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Week 1: March 24th through March 30th |
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| WEEK 13 | June 16th through June 22nd | |
| Sun 6/22/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley Location: Dubuque, IA
I was wrong about Zwingle. I was about a half-mile from the turn to town. I saw a church and a restaurant of some sort. I didn't stop. The morning went well and around 10:30, I saw a restaurant off in the distance. It was about five minutes off the road but it was worth the walk. I was getting hungry now. It was more of a bar really, called Georgie's Skyline. It was fun. A local hang-out, so there were a lot of people. Now, I'm getting close to Dubuque. I passed the airport a mile back and came down the seemingly endless hill into the river valley. First, I'm taking my mid-day rest under an overpass. Under bridges is my new favorite place for breaks. It gets so cool and the breeze really gets going under here. The best shade around. I just have to deal with the car noise. Whoo, now that I'm cool and relaxed, my body's saying,"nap-time". Trying to keep writing is no use. Whew, good nap in a weird position. The top of my head is still asleep. Neato. It actually got chilly under that bridge. A good place to be. Well, I made it to Dubuque. This seems like a very nice town. I've been through it in a car; but, of course, this is very different. It's easier walking in the city because shade is everywhere and I always know that I can get to food and water. It's just kinda neat how my body feels different and I don't even think about stopping once I'm in a city. Good thing, I don't think it would be as acceptable for me to just lay down for a nap (or safe). I made it to Monty and Elizabeth Gilles' house. They're out of town until tomorrow but left me a key. How cool is that? No, don't answer. That was rhetorical because the answer is obvious. Anyway, I cooked up the dinner they left for me and they even left chocolate chip cookie bars. I watched Meet the Parents. It was funny (which I think was the point). Unfortunately, I didn't make it to church tonight. I could've wandered around town looking for an evening service but I was really tired. Are you gonna blame me for wanting to just sit? Jeepers. Ok, I have got to
get to bed. I'm really zonked (whoah, I don't think I've ever used that
expression before. Another first!) |
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| Sat 6/21/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley Location: Zwingle, IA
I had a great time with the Schmidts. They're a cool family. We hung out around the fire pit last night and talked. Carole asked some good questions; but, by now, even the unusual questions have been repeated. So, we tried to see if they coud ask a question about the trip that hasn't been asked. They succeeded which was fun for me. So, everybody start thinking of a question that you think I haven't been asked yet. I had a relaxed morning. It was just the mood of the house today. We all hung out and had breakfast. Nick talked to me about video games and I tried to respond. I kept talking about Sorry! and ConnectFour. I just don't get video games. Then, Kevin, Nick, Katie and I went to the Maquoketa Caves State Park. It was awesome. Those are some really neat caves. I had a great time. Tori didn't go with us because she had softball practice. I think she was disappointed. Don't frown about it too long, Tori. You have such a sweet smile. We had lunch, hung out a little longer and then the whole family drove me to the edge of town. What a dynamite crew. Now, it's the second half of my day. I started walking around 1:30 pm and have about 14 or 15 miles to go today. I'm headed to Zwingle. That sounds like a name of one of Frank Zappa's children. Oh, as if! Somebody just threw
a bottle of something at me from their car window! Jerks. That's the first
time anything like that has happened. Don't worry, I won't hold it against
Iowa. It's water under the bridge...well, half a bridge. I'll wait for
those people in the car to come back and build the other half. Then, when
we meet in the middle, I'll push 'em off! Jerks. Well, today's two days went well. I walked about 14 miles. I'm now in the town of MoonUnit. No, I'm in Zwingle. I wonder how many people got that joke. This is less of a town and more of a name area. Not even so much "less and more" as "none and all". Anyways, I did get to a gas station a couple miles back and had some dinner. It looks like I've got about 16 miles to go tomorrow. I'm camped behind a big patch of woods by someone's field. I don't have any idea who the owner is; so, I'm gonna get an early start tomorrow. I've got a place to get to so I don't need to worry about bumming around a town until dark. The birds should help with that. They don't even wait for the sun. They get yellin around 4:30 or so. The red-winged blackbirds were more fussy with me today. They're all out trying to teach their kids to fly, I guess. I've seen 3 permanently failed attempts today. Still, they think I'm the threat and not the big metal things whizzing by without regard. Why is it that these birds always seem to hang out next to the road? I wonder what Darwin would say? But, I'm on farmer time and
I don't have coffee so it's time for bed. |
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| Fri 6/20/03 |
Note from Brett: Wesley just informed me that there was a post for June 12th, which I had not previously received. It's been added now, scroll down to view it. Journal Entry from Wesley I added something to my "no fun, try to avoid" list today -- walking through fields of thistle bushes. Yep, no fun, but a lot shorter than winding entrance ramps. I'm sick of barbed wire too. But, today was a good day. That camping spot was just right. It stayed cool and relatively quiet enough for me to sleep in. I was so surprised. It felt great. I backtracked to the gas station for breakfast. It warmed up some today which means it was hot. I worked on my tan lines. It was a well-spaced day. I got to the only town around lunch. Took my middle of the day break and talked with a guy who used to do a lot of hitch-hiking. Interesting stories. Other than that, it was just me and the highway all day. Enjoying the shade when I found it. I even stumbled upon (not literally) another mulberry tree during one of my breaks. The birds cleaned a lot of it up but left me enough for a great snack. They holler at me all day but I guess we're still cool with each other. If a bird tries to bomb me, I'm gonna teach it how to play stick-bird (it's a lot like stick-ball, the name says it all). I was on schedule and getting close to the Schmidt's when Kevin and Nick found me. So, I rode home the rest of the way with them. We had dinner and then went to Nick's Little League game. Wait, maybe it was PeeWee League, which is obviously way cooler. PeeWee anything is awesome (except for Big Top, that was a stinker). Anyway, that was fun contrast to the last baseball game I saw (Cardinals on Memorial Day). We went out for ice cream (these people know how to do things right) and I got a tour of the town. It's a lot bigger than they think. I know what a small town is. I know what a tiny town is. Oh yeah, I know. Maquoketa is...modest. No,quaint? Something like that. It's still a treat to be in a house even though it's been pretty regular. Tonight, I'm sleeping in Katie's room. I hope she doesn't hog the covers. (she's sleeping in another room, duh.) |
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| Thu 6/19/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley Hey hey hey, what a beautiful day. It's actually nice out today instead of being so dang hot. Very easy to walk. That and I only have 15 miles to go today. Double easy day. I'm takin some nice breaks when I get to shade. I had a great time staying with my new friends in Bettendorf. I have a two-day walk to Makoqueta. I got laughed at for mispronouncing that name. That's what the English language gets for not using accent marks (yes, I realize that name isn't English). I kept passing lots of woods today. I even saw a pine forest and thought I caught myself drooling. But, people around here love their barbed wire. They put it everywhere. I hiked through grass taller than me towards some woods to find that there was an 8 foot fence topped with our local favorite. Dang. Anyways, I'm in DeWitt now. The highway is big and busy at this point and the trucks were getting really good at kicking up rocks and hitting me in the face. People say I'll see things differently after this trip. No kidding, my eyes are caked in gravel. I hung out and killed some time on the edge of DeWitt. I ate dinner at a Happy Joe's. I learned yesterday that Joe (later to become happy) was originally from Bettendorf and the headquarters for the restaurant is there (on Happy Joe St.). I found a nice place to camp in the woods behind a park. It's very out of the way. I had a great spot on some leaf-covered dirt but it was solid rock or pavement or something not even a half inch down. So, I found a clearing of sand. The tent isn't as sturdy. Yeah, I know the foolish man built his house on the sand but have you ever tried staking a tent on rock? Yeah, not so easy. It looks like it'll be a great night. It was only 69 degrees at 7 pm. |
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| Wed 6/18/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley Location: Bettendorf, IA
I went with Tammy and Taylor to deliver Meals on Wheels which is another first. Oh, another first: Yesterday, Shannon and I got to take Frank's car out. I drove. An Audi, which I believe is referred to as a luxury vehicle. Sweet! Shannon and I went driving again today and went to the local ice cream hot spot, Whitey's. They needed an expert opinion. It passed my test. So, I'll be headed out tomorrow morning. I was checking out all the maps last night and it looks like I'm right on schedule. I'm feeling very ready to walk
tomorrow. There was a very short thunderstorm today and things have really
cooled down. The predicted high for the next three days is 81. What a
relief for a while. We'll see how long that lasts. |
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| Tue 6/17/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley I slept pretty well last night. I didn't think I'd even use my sleeping bag because it was so hot; but, Iowa is kinda like a desert of corn. It doesn't hold heat. It got quite cool by midnight. I set up my tent to the west of a tree so there was lots of shade on it this morning. Helped me sleep in a bit. Donna came out and greeted me this morning. She fixed me an egg and cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. Then she gave me some cookies and apple sauce. Good deal. I didn't even need to backtrack for gas station food. Donna and Ray were very nice. They seemed pretty pleased about hosting someone in their yard. It was a first for them. It took me a while to get back on the highway because I didn't want to follow the long, out-of-the-way, entrance roads but there was barbed wire fence everywhere. After traipsing through pricklers and grass and eventually scrambiling over some barbed wire, I made it. It must have been cooler this morning because I walked 4 miles without even needing to stop. It went fast. Now, it's getting a lot hotter and I've found some shade. I'm in Davenport where I'm meeting Tammy. Well, they found me. I've had lunch and a shower. I even got online and checked my classes for this fall. I have classes. I have reason to go to school! Yay! Well, I've had all of my meals for the day. I even got my Moose Tracks ice cream. There are two daughters in the family aged 14 and 15 (16 in 3 months). I hung out with Shannon most of the evening and got the dish on all the drama amongst friends and boys. It makes me feel old and glad to be old. Taylor hung out for a while with us too. We discussed music and they laughed at my lingo. Whatever, as if. My lingo is rad. I got my map of Wisconsin today and now I have to decide on which route I'm taking through there. I've got a few days to decide, I guess. I also got a bunch of cards from Savannah, Missouri, Illinois, and Minnesota. It's my birthday again! This'll probably be the last place where I'll get that excitement before I get home. Maybe I'll get cards when I get to Winona. Maybe I'll get lots of hugs and ice cream. Maybe I'll get honeys asking for my digits. Word. |
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| Mon 6/16/03 |
Journal
Entry from Wesley Location: Muscatine, IA I had a very nice stay with John. He's a cool guy and I loved hearing him tell me about when he was a kid growing up on a farm in Missouri. I slept in a very, very comfortable bed. I still woke up just before 6 but easily talked myself into sleeping until 7. I had a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and John and I went to the edge of town. Another on my list of new friends. Now, I'm in Blue Grass (a name I'd expect to see a little earlier in
the I'm only about 9 miles from Davenport, but I need to stop for the day. My contact there isn't expecting me until tomorrow. Also, I'm on a bit of a schedule to arrive in Winona when my family will actually be there. If I get too ahead, I'm headed for a big anticlimactic finish. It looks like I'll be having fried chicken again because the grocery store deli counter is the place for food in town. We'll see. I'm trying to just sit in the shade for as long as I can before looking for a place to camp. I've successfully stayed sun free for an hour and a half. I don't know what I'd do without the breeze. Probably shrivel up. 'Cus the Sun is one bad motha-Shut yo mouth. Hey, I'm just talkin' bout the Sun. Ok, time to find some food and continue staying in the shade. ... Oh man, I just realized what day it is. It's only 8 months until my birthday. Anyway, my evening went from seeing how long I could sit in the shade to being very rushed to being very relaxed again. I got some dinner at the grocery store. More fried chicken. I'm really starting to feel gross from all this crap I've been eating. I'm getting sick of meat. I'm gonna do some fruit fasting when I'm done walking. I talked with the ladies in the store about places to stay and we tossed around some ideas. None of them stuck quite right. The ideas weren't al dente. Then, they mentioned that there was a camping area and park about five miles up the highway. It sounded like a great idea. And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for those pesky kids and their dog. Really, the problem was that it was 7:30 pm and there was no way I could walk there before dark. I got to the edge of town before I realized that I really couldn't make it. So, I turned around and walked across town a couple more times looking for people at the city hall or fire dept. I continued praying and turned off onto a residential road on my way to church. Next door to the church, I met Ray and Donna. So, I'm camping in their yard. Yay for Donna and Ray! Donna offered to fix me a hamburger, but I was full of chicken already. I got a thermos of ice water instead. I'm always hoping that people will offer me ice cream and once in a while it happens. Not tonight, oh well. I'm getting fat anyway. So, I'm headed to Davenport
tomorrow and will meet up with my contact there. Right now, I'll enjoy
the warm summer night. That idea sounds like it'll stick. |
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Week 1: March 24th through March 30th |
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