Going Further South...

Before I begin telling about today's trek on the road, I'm pleased to announce that I've created yet another music slideshow. This one features some pictures from May 5 through today. Click to view the slideshow I made today! Remember, it is in Windows Media format (a .wmv file), so be sure that your video software is set to play that format.

The day is done and I am in a RV park somewhere between North Pole and Delta Junction, Alaska on Highway 2 (the Richardson Highway). Amazingly, I have an Internet connection! Today was a windy day on the road, but most of the wind was to my back. The day began with sunshine and as afternoon came on some clouds started to roll in. The temperature was around the low 50s. I believe a weather change is about to occur here. I only have 3 days (92 miles) remaining on this trek and so far have been able to avoid being soaked from a storm. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay dry all the way to the finish line.

As I was going down the road today I saw a couple of large moose along the edge of the road. I got a pretty good picture of one. Aside from that the only animals I saw were dogs... and I'm glad to report that none of them sunk their teeth into my leg! The shoulder of the road was pretty rocky today. That makes for slippery stepping and Bob doesn't roll as well on rocks. I averaged 4 miles per hour today, which is not a "cruising" pace but was sufficient for the conditions.

As I said earlier, I have 92 miles remaining to do over the next three days. What my legs really need is to be submersed in ice (an ice bath), which is something I haven't been able to do on this trip. The RV that I sleep in each evening only has a stand up shower. Usually, when I'm on a trek like this I try to get an ice bath 2 to 3 times per week. It really helps my feet, knees and hips. The joints, ligaments and muscles really need ice treatment when going over the marathon distance every day. It helps reduce inflammation, joint pain and helps to repair micro-tears in muscle tissue. Submersing the body from the waist down is very important, but I haven't been able to do that. So, I've been getting by with ice bags and putting my feet and lower legs into a bucket. However, I could feel the discomfort in my hips today from not doing my usual icing routine. I'll get through the trek, but it certainly isn't as comfortable as I prefer. This is Alaska... a place with a lot of remote wilderness. I'm fortunate to at least have the comfort of the RV at the end of the day (thanks to the wonderful efforts of my parents, as well as the donation by ABC Motorhome Rentals of Anchorage, Alaska).

I have many pictures that I would like to post, but taking care of my body tonight is of paramount importance. As you can see from the first paragraph of today's journal entry, I carved out time this evening to create another music slideshow so that you could see some pictures of what I've been experiencing. Thanks for checking in on my progress... even on a weekend! All is well and I'll continue down the road tomorrow. It will be a 31-mile day. Let's hope that the wind and rain hold off.

Have You Seen All Of The Music Slideshows So Far?

If you haven't seen all of the music slideshows I've posted on this web site so far (which contain many pictures from this journey), you can do so by clicking on the following links. Remember, these are all in Windows Media format (.wmv files). Those trying to play these on a Mac system will need to have the right codecs installed to view them. Here are the shows:

Slideshow Posted April 22, 2009

Slideshow Posted April 24, 2009

Slideshow Posted April 26, 2009

Slideshow Posted April 27, 2009

Slideshow Posted May 5, 2009

Slideshow Posted May 9, 2009

If you want to save any of the music slideshows above to your computer's hard drive, just right click on the links and select "Save Target As" from the pop-up menu that appears. You can then save the individual files to your computer and play them. That is suggested for the best viewing. You won't have the slideshow pause at all as it's trying to download and play at the same time.

Limited Time, Limited Access, Lots of Pictures...

I know that many of you have enjoyed the music slideshows I've put together, but many of you also want to see more pictures (particularly the ones that should be appearing daily in the column to the right where the little "Photo Coming Soon" graphics are). Please understand that there are limited hours I have for doing all of the work that you see at this web site - and yes, 99% of this site's updating is done by me (my friend Rob posts the daily audio files). As you can probably guess, my daily schedule is very full. I've managed to create 6 music slideshows so far and yesterday I posted six pictures of my stop in North Pole - at the Santa Clause House. You should go back a day in this online classroom to see those if you haven't yet. I'm doing what I can to get pictures posted, and you can always watch the daily videos that I post (when I have an Internet connection to do so). In fact, as of yesterday I had all of the videos uploaded from April 20 through May 8. Have you watched those? They appear in the right-hand column of each day's journal under the heading "Today's Video Files". They are all in AVI format, so be sure that your video software is set to play .avi files. I don't expect to have much, if any, Internet connections during the final few days of this journey. So, please be patient if information isn't being posted to this web site as frequently as you would like it to be during the final days of the trek. The wilderness around the finishing point - Delta Junction - is just that... wilderness. I may not be able to pick up an Internet connection, but if my cell phone allows me to call out then I'll get a message to Rob to post on this web site. We're nearing the end, but I truly remain in wilderness.

That's all from this Alaska milepost! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to run back here tomorrow.