Welcome to my Blog!

Hey guys! We're off soon to hike the Southwest Coast Path in England and I'll be posting pictures and trip updates to this blog. I'll get some pics onto Facebook but the blog format seems easier when I want to say anything other than "Look at me!" And for those of you who know me and my photography skills don't worry, I won't be hiking alone. I'll get good pictures from Rhonda and Matt for Facebook and for posting here too.

Posts and pictures will be on the main page, ordered from most recent to oldest.

Touching this little hamburger bun thing will show you what time it is in England right now, in case you want to give us a call or something.

Below the Time gadget is where you can sign up to follow the blog for updates, and below that is another of my awful selfie photos and an 'about me' blurb.

Touching the menu bar here where it says More...opens a page menu.

And there you'll find...

"Where are they?" a map showing the trail and our latest camp locations.

"Rick's Book- Walking Home" A convenient link to my Amazon page so you can buy another copy or two of my first book.

And three 'essays' about the why's of walking the trail and who's going out there with me. And maybe fodder for a possible second book.

At the bottom of each page is a little box where you can post comments.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy. -Rick

Comments

Home and some Stats

It’s nearing the end of summer and I’ve been home and off the Salt Path for a week. I was driving Matt home from a friend’s house when he made this observation. “Hey, Dad. T hose first few weeks I spent with you in England seemed like they were way longer than the whole rest of my summer vacation.” “Sorry about that.” “No, I mean they felt longer in a good way. I think it seemed like it was longer because we slept in a different place every night or something. It was different. These last several weeks just flew by, and now summer vacation is about gone.” “I think it was the novelty of it,” I said. “People remember things they see and things they do, but they don’t really remember how many times they did them. So a couple weeks of doing strange things will make more memories than a couple months of doing familiar things. Other than England you had a good summer though, right?” “Oh yeah, especially when I was over in Eastern Washi...

Day one on the Trail

Finally, onto the trail and doing something I'm familiar with! So happy to have done with all the stressors- catching trains, planes, taxis, reading time tables, jet lag, and just plain strangeness. There was some neat stuff too though, flying over the Arctic circle and seeing the midnight sun, the Greenland ice sheet, the inside of a 777. Then there were some neat but kinda strange things like watching a fellow in the airport high on something dragging a wheeled suitcase down an up-escalator. His emotional progression was a cool thing for Matthew to witness. First, triumph when he spied the escalator and abandoned the staircase for it. Then confusion and puzzlement when the bottom landing stubbornly kept out of reach. Then anger. For some reason, he thought the suitcase was responsible. He wrestled with it, it resisted, he prevailed but the effort and energy expended to secure his victory tipped him over into rage. When he reached flat ground, he banged it on the floo...

Done

I'm in London now and done with the Path. It was raining and windy when I finished, and I was dizzy so I muffled the End of the Path monument shot. So instead, this is what it looks like looking back towards it from the ferry taking me away. The last week on the Path was mostly rainy, like all the rest of my time on the Path. In addition to the rain, and mud, and damp, and cold, I entertained my old friend vertigo. Friends that know me well are already aware of my 'condition', where I occasionally experience persistent mild to moderate dizziness. Not bad really, but bad enough that for the last week I walked inland as much as possible, on the South Devon Ridge Path to avoid walking along the tops of cliffs. Still, there were a few that were unavoidable. These stairs, when you're dizzy, are annoying. This vertigo thing I've had before, and it stays with me for about a month. I'd like to think it's brought on by overwork or physical exhaustion, but it's e...

Walking Cliffs & Coves

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