Walking Journal

If you haven't given it the old one, two, three... stand down until you do. (Roy Dye)

Okay, wintertime again. Time to do a little finagling and keep the old fat burners churning. Nope… it ain’t easy, but it is habitual. Kinda sorta maybe, like golf. Keep at it long enough and you develop a pattern. That does make it a bit easier.

As long as we are walking and controlling our portion sizes we can be successful with our weight loss goals and regain a very healthful lifestyle. You bet, plain old golf course walking really does work too.

Which brings me to Maureen – the original golf course walker I wrote about last time. I heard from her recently. (Gary too, The World Walker – Walkingman.) Maureen sent me a picture of her skinny self and her escapades down in Texas over the holidays. Sort of jumping on me about not writing before Thanksgiving.

Turns out, I used the above line – controlling portion size - in an email to her after she went to Texas. She said it would have helped a bunch to get that kind of support before she pigged out on the tons of food they shared in Texas. What’s that old saying about, “The pig is in the ground – everybody come and chase a possum for the pot.” Uh oh, I know that’s not right, but you get the picture!

Anyway, she said not to worry, she’s learned to go right back to the tried and true methods that helped her lose a hundred pounds and turn her into the current skinny minny. I know she will not fall back, or off the wagon. She is too excited about her new lifestyle. Way to go Maureen. (Hey, maybe you have started a new ‘100’ club.)

Yeah, me too. I am through with my ‘old self.’ Walking and the golf course have helped tremendously. Not 100% mind you – it takes a lifestyle change, a mental change, and a few ‘attaboys’ from the folks around you. Look, sure it helps, but if no one comes up and say’s how great you look at your new size, shucks, go look in the mirror and say good morning to the new you!!! It’ll make you feel better all day – and that’s the name of the game. It is up to you…

Don’t push too hard and don’t slack on the protein. Your body and heart need a proper protein and carb balance to stay healthy and keep the energy level up. That’s why occasionally, in the early morning, on the way to the golf course, I eat a spoon of olive oil and a spoon of honey with 15 grams of protein powder.

You cannot starve your body of good healthy oils; else your body stops using them from storage (fat) and stores more. Nope, I don’t skip breakfast – or any meal (proper amounts). I eat as soon as I get off the golf course. But, the instant boost from the oil, honey and protein keeps the old midnight fires burning and helps burn off a few more calories while walking and golfing.

You must change your food intake as your metabolism changes as you grow smaller and/or older. In prior articles I outlined my basic food intake for the last eight years. Actually, it’s basic stuff like lean and green. Only basic fats and good oils with lots of vegetables, soy milk and pure 100% whole wheat bread. Portions are balanced between size, weight loss, exercise, and activity levels.

Yes, wintertime is here and I have the cold weather gear ready for the frigid temps walking and golfing when able or weather permitting. So far, I’ve only missed a few days this year, Mostly weather related or golf course closings (bad weather rules). (The treadmill does the same thing – only duller, dullishness!!!)

A recent check of the vitals by the doctor show that I am down to around 210/212 pounds. Heart rate 120/70, total cholesterol under 130 with LDL under 100. (Shucks, just like a twenty year old!!!) Very slow loss now but still 5 to 10 pounds a year.

Almost 8 years now and over 80 pounds down (100 since very first weigh in). Waist size down from 48 to less than 38. Another year and I’ll be at my desired level, 200. Not the doctors, he wants 180. So, I’ll keep giving it the old one, two, three at the 200 level. Heck, I just feel like I can make the 180 target now anyway! Guess I’m a lucky guy…

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and golfin’

America

and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Hello From The Golf Course Walker and Another Year Later (now seven years from the first steps of the journey)… (2001-2008)

So, am I the golf course walker or the golf course golfer? Actually, I am “Iron Man.” Better known as “Iron Man Walking.” My original moniker for several years. However, this is the name that was conflicted with another famous Ironman signature. And, as it states elsewhere, I elected not to fight over the terminology or spelling of Iron Man Walking. Another original Iron Man, the comic book folks by The Marvel Company, never complained. (Excellent movie.)

All reference to Iron Man Walking has been removed from the www.roydye.org web site and www.ironmanwalking.com has been removed and deleted. Therefore, I will forever be Roy Dye, Walking, Biking and Golfin’ America until… well until…

Okay, then who is the Golf Course Walker? Maureen Fortune. Click here for additional photos and info. http://roydye.org/2008_photos.htm You can tell by the pictures that she is very slim and healthy. Check out her email. She is from South Wales. (Email... ) A sack of ‘attaboys” for Maureen!

Wow, what a story. Maureen lost one hundred (100) pounds in eleven months! How? Basically by walking the golf course. Yes, the same golf course I walk and play at now every day to continue my walking venture.

Actually, she has been walking the same course about one year. About the same time I have been golfing there. However, times were different for walking and playing apparently until a month or so ago when I noticed her and her dog, Coal (yes, he’s jet black), walking alongside the fairway where I was playing. A slim trim lady indeed.

What a shock, as we talked, she said she had lost one hundred pounds in eleven months. I asked if walking only did it. No, she had joined Weight Watchers, stuck to the plan, and walks five days a week. More proof that healthy eating and daily exercise can change your life and add years to your life expectancy. She and her family must be very proud.

Take a look at recent photo... Wow... 100 pounds later! Way (weigh) to go Maureen.

Yes, I continue to walk and golf daily. I have posted to the golfing journal and photo gallery many, many times now in the past year. It’s been an amazing year since I have never golfed before in my life. But now, I am hooked. It is much safer than walking the road and I am actually learning the game of golf in an acceptable manner. I have signed up for several charity golf events (you don’t have to be a good player to sign up. Just have a sponsor or pay the entry fee and have at it). Fun, fun, fun…

And I wonder what happened to Fat Man Cycling, Eldon Ward and his sidekick Gene Jones! Just watched Eldon’s video again. He successfully cycled across

America

and lost over one hundred pounds in the process. A wild ride and a very exciting story. Hope they are doing well and still riding.

Okay, enough for the ‘catch-up’ portion. A bit more later. In the meantime stay up to date by catching the “Golfin’ Journal” entries and viewing the latest photos. http://roydye.org/golfin journel.htm

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and golfin’

America

and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Walking the highways and byways of America gives you a closer look and insight into some of the problems we are faced with in this green dilemma that’s sweeping the airwaves nowadays. I started carrying an extra trash bag on my cart and bike. Trash along the way is alarming and growing regardless of where you’re walking or driving.

Why, in today’s world, with such an advanced system of education available to virtually everyone, do we see fit to roll down a window and throw trash out alongside our green highways and byways? Almost hitting me on several occasions. Imagine what would happen to a walker or biker if actually hit with a bottle, can or meatless bag of chicken (gnawed!) bones.

Yeah, believe it. One walker was actually hit by a Pepsi container and sustained enough damage to knock him down with such severity that he had to lay there with no help in sight until nursing himself back into walking condition!

And all the odd trash and unmentionables, clothes of all types, shorts, briefs, bras, blank and blank, and blank and blank (you can fill in the blanks)!!! You bet, we need green – AND a lot of it…

Credit to Florida, or Jeb Bush, is due here. Florida had the best kept roads, highways, and byways of any state where I have walked. Note: I noticed they also have lots of prisons along the highways also. Yeah, you bet, they were also really clean and neat – green, you might say!!! Maybe prisoners work in THAT state!

Going Green IS A REAL ISSUE and global warming may be A REAL ISSUE also! However, it has turned totally political. For any of us to argue the issue only discloses your political standings.

Without a degree in this area everyone else is just guessing, (judging the issues by slanted news programs and tabloids) including me. I DO NOT KNOW EITHER. However, a guest on a TV talk show may be on track, stating that, "SOMETHING is on the horizon and it's best to be prepared or start preparing." That is the logical take on things. No wonder he was one of the best CEO's ever.

General Electric is also deep into green. Wind, sun, hydro, generators, and all sorts of inventive electric energy technologies. They may have more “greener” ad’s running on TV than any other company presently! I mention GE only because it will take large giants like GE to overcome political blockades that would normally stand in the way of real progress.

However, with money and investor sentiment the driving force here, and behind all great companies, profits will drive inventive technologies and override political objections in the long run.

For instance, politically speaking, with Bush in the White House and Gore making headlines in the area of global warming, naturally all Bush followers will be against global warming because they are against Gore and his party.

That being the case, if the other party was in the White House and someone from the opposite party brought up the same information, naturally the sitting party would be against global warming with a vengeance.

This is natural because of all the party money, lobbying, and "under the table" funds, that push agendas and "green" (money). Money talks even at the expense of the economy, the planet or the universe!

It's never changed and never will with a country of only two parties. We will always be split down the middle. We will always be half and half. For, and against anything and everything, as long as a political aspect is applied to the situation.

As an ex-pilot, I can tell you that you must have a crash, burn and/or death situation before parties align and laws enacted to protect the public. Look for the same thing to happen with global warming (if there is indeed such a real phenomenon) and many mini crashes and disasters before any sufficient action takes place.

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and hiking America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Well, you might say – “We’re almost there.” Summertime…The time for us to get our gear ready and go find something to do other than sit – like all winter. No wonder all the athletic clubs are full and an ad running every five minutes on the tube. (Remember when you actually had to get up and touch your television to change channels? Heck, we only had three channels and an Indian at night!)

You don’t dress lightly during cold weather. So, you shower and put the big warm stuff back on. Nope, didn't look in the mirror either until fully dressed. Never did see that little bit of fat creeping up on the belly. Weigh? No way, too many clothes, couldn’t tell anyway. Yeah, wintertime is the perfect time.

Knowing this might happen, I tried to compensate. I had to buckle down quite a bit after the eight hundred mile walk. During the rest of the summer I walked or exercised every day to prevent weight gain. Didn’t completely work! (Some days I couldn’t walk anyway.)

With weight creeping up ten or fifteen pounds I had to take action fast because the last five years success was not going to be lost. Going from 4000 to 6000 calories a day during heavy walking to 2000 or less around the home front was not any easier than the walk. You have to really want to stay slim and healthy and keep the weight off.

I couldn’t remember what I was eating during the day most of the time, and without counting calories to sustain at a point that’s acceptable, you must remember all foods you consume while forming new habits and a new way of life.

Finally I found a computer program that list most of the foods that I normally eat and the numbers for each. It was easier and plain to see that my food intake was going a little haywire. I personally don’t think there is any such thing as a true diet that works. Only portion control has worked for me because I love all foods!

I had stopped walking at the Mississippi River weighing right at 220. (Down from almost 300 pounds!) I tacked on ten to fifteen pounds quickly after returning home. With the new program and sticking to my “on-the-road” program and reducing the intake by two thirds, basically down to 2000 calories, I quickly (no… that’s wrong – it took awhile and a lot of hard work) returned to my walking weight.

As stated previously, 220 won’t get it for me. The doctors have asked for 200 or better (189/200 actually) to comply with all the heart numbers and BMI charts without medicine. So far I have managed to do that without medicine. One clue here that might help some readers! The doctor said that if I kept up the exercise and walking she’d try another approach to lowering the vitals without medicine. They prescribed “Fish Oil” caps three times per day!

Wow, I told them, “If that worked I’d be a monkey’s uncle.” Numbers and weight continued down so the next trip they prescribed 2 caps with each meal. Six per day. Hey, I’m right at “uncle” now.

BP 110/68/72, Cholesterol 165, LDL 114. I am set for another exam later in the year where they expect Cholesterol to be less than 130 and LDL at 100 or less and weight approaching the 210 mark – ALL WITHOUT MEDICINE!!!!!!!! I still take NO cholesterol or heart medication…….

Look, if all this works – why all the expensive medicines on the market????? It appears that food from the earth and proper nutrition are key to normal health and longevity. (I still take Drinkables vitamins and Genisoy protein daily – just in case.)

Please don’t get me wrong here… THIS AIN’T EASY, especially after a lifetime of banana splits, sugar cereal for breakfast, and fast food available on EVERY block. You gotta have heart – AND YOU GOTTA WANT IT. “Better health and a slimmer you.” Basically I am “no sugar no flour” now – whole grain products only and very little salt.

Look at the pictures on the web site. At almost 70 you gotta admit that walking, good food and nutrients are key to a better life – for me anyway. Saying that because the doctor said, “Look Roy, fish oil treatment might not work for everyone. We are trying it on an experimental basis and it has worked for a great number of patients but not all. Some had to have medicine prescribed anyway.”

So, there you have if folks… get out the walking shoes and get cranking. Move it or lose it. I must confess – I did use all the equipment I could throughout the winter. Treadmill, Home Gym and a Stationary Bike. I USED ONE OR THE OTHER – EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE WINTER MONTHS, when too cold for street workouts. (May be our future anyway since the streets are now very dangerous – be careful and walk or bike in groups if outside.)

Go ahead, take off your shirt – get in front of a full length mirror and take a look!!!! If you need to get back on the bike or treadmill GET BACK ON IT… Don’t look through a foggy glass! Frankly speaking… If you are eating 4000 to 6000 calories a day while sitting in front of the television or a desk at work – YOU ARE GONNA GET FAT – simple as that, or become a Sumo wrestler!

Mind over matter? Well, I guess it’s because old habits are had to break. In fact some habits are so good you don’t want to give them up. Like food – because food is good. We crave sweetening – and flour’y things!!! We can easily backslide and go back to our old ways without proper precautions.

I know I could go back to eating like a pig and digging my own grave anytime – BUT, I’d have to give up all my gains weight-wise and all the healthy benefits I have received thus far. Nope – no way, I simply can’t afford it and it’s too late to start over or do it again, for me. I’m happy where I am and happy with the current plan. I find that it is much cheaper to be slim and healthy than the way I was – FAT!!! Hopefully the current plan will run out about the same time I run out. If so, “mission accomplished!”

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and hiking America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

With four years of training and one full year of walking - 800 miles of it walking and sleeping (camping) alongside the highway - I'm beginning to see the light. What kind of magic does it take? NONE... Just do it!

See the light? Sure, like how many ways a person can do this trick and accomplish the same thing. There's no doubt that the road has become very, very dangerous. With tragic accidents and outright criminal offenses targeted at folks walking, biking or hiking alone, even in parking lots across the nation, security is a major problem.

If you don't have group protection or a caravan to tag along, you must consider alternatives. Seeing the light or how many ways you can accomplish the same thing becomes the number one objective. Safety first... else all the benefits, health-wise or otherwise, cease to exist (and you too according to some of the most horrid reports).

So, you all (y'all down here) know your territory, neighborhoods and so forth... no need to dwell on gloom and doom news (as reported in most newspapers and newscast around the nation nowadays). There are safe ways to do all the mobility exercises and capture all the health benefits without undue risk. Just do it. Think about what your objectives are, plan carefully, and get it on.

Make it fun. Set reasonable goals and change them as targets are reached. Don't make the mistake of setting the final goal when you began a program. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the time we fail because of the time involved and excessive expectations. I spent five years saving my own life. This is not a 'tomorrow' thing. It's a new way of life entirely. (At almost seventy, I DO NOT TAKE any cholesterol or heart medicine and only take one baby aspirin and one fish oil capsule with each meal each day.) I take one regular multi-vitamin daily. No need to go expensive here if you eat right anyway.

No need to explain meal breakdown again. Most are explained in previous journal entries and are basically maintained today. (Lots of fruits and vegetables.) Actually, no less than three meals are required per day for me but they are only about one third the size of five years ago. (Up to six meals per day during extended walking periods.) Size matters (portions) and are directly related to your activity level and your goals.

Just got the latest results from the doctor. Blood pressure 110/68 and cholesterol 135. But, I have not let up on my new eating style, walking, pushing the cart, or biking of some sort every week in safe or guarded areas locally. Weather permitting - it's outside. In none favorable conditions, I'm inside on the treadmill. (Get a good one - you'll use it until age and health prohibit it's use.) In fact, your treadmill will do all the things for you as walking or jogging across the U. S. of A.

Although the treadmill is enough - you actually need a little upper body movement to help achieve all your goals. On the last checkup the doctor explained the benefits of upper body exercises. Explaining that muscle burn was important and necessary to maintaining excellent body characteristics, weight and fat control. And, that all muscles of the body participated in the process. When unable to walk, she said, upper body exercises would do the trick just as well.

I lucked out (if you can call it that) - in this area - by being confined to a wheelchair many times in the past. If you every saw someone pushing themselves in a wheelchair, then you know how much upper body strength and arm muscle power it takes to motor along for any distance. Crutches do the same thing, which I have used for many miles. Muscle is muscle is muscle, when it comes to burning fat and calories. INTAKE MUST BE LESS THAN BURN to lose weight, and balanced to maintain weight without medication. As stated previously, I take no medication or mind altering drugs for weight loss. Believing that... If it is to be... it's up to me.

Although I will not be back on the road for extended periods, as before, I will continue locally to participate in as many activities as possible to assist others and maintain all the health benefits that I have received, and continue to receive, from these activities. Also, I still have many to thank that assisted me on the 800 mile expedition and all local help and assistance. Especially my two REAL hero's, Gary, Walking Man, Hause ( http://www.walkingman.org/ ) and Karl Bushby, Goliath, ( http://goliath.mail2web.com/ ). THEY are the reason I started training five years ago. Their letters gave me the encouragement necessary to believe in myself enough to attempt such a venture. (See FIRST emails, bottom of page, September, 2005 http://www.roydye.org/e-mails.htm ).Thanks guys, I'm still following your progress and wish you both all the luck in the world...

And, the most famous, in my opinion, Terry Fox ( www.sfu.ca/terryfox/about.html ) who, with one leg, ran across Canada but died on route before reaching his destination. Please visit this site and read his compelling story. He changed a nation and my life completely.

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and hiking America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Hel-looooooooooow… readers. A stiff wind is blowing and a CHANGE is underway. Basically, all summer I have been fighting for my name – Iron Man Walking. Seems someone else wants it more than me. More than I can afford to pay or fight for, that is.

Turns out that “Iron Man Walking” and “Ironman” share a similarity. Not according to the U.S. Patent Office, they approved the application. However, WTC, World Triathlon, that owns “Ironman” thinks the similarity is a bit much – and protested.

They have deep pockets and I’m walking with slim high pockets and a hole in my shoe. No way to compete. So, without a lot of jibber-jabber, I said if you want it that bad – then I don’t. So, to expedite the rat killing, I have opened a new web site “ www.roydye.org “ and will delete “ from the Internet ASAP, or as soon as the change occurs correctly. Hopefully the “click over” links will carry you to the NEW web site.

Still a lot of work to be done but basically the new web site www.roydye.org is exactly the same with a few refinements and all reference to “Iron Man Walking” removed. Many of you will receive “Lectric Letters” and others will be updated directly on the web site and some will receive snail mail. If any of you see a reference to “Iron Man Walking” that I overlooked, please send me a lectric letter back and let me know.

Oh yes, almost forgot…. (Just kidding – no way to forget the most important part of the walk since January 5^th, 2006.) I lost a ton of weight on the walk – almost 800 miles. The trick seems to be to maintain AFTERWARDS. I finally managed to keep the slim looking 220/225 (for my old age!) package intact after several hard-line attempts. (See photo.) Nope... can't eat the cake - maybe most of it. Can afford it once a year - see those skinny arms, face and gut!!! Wow, imagine the amount of walking and biking to burn up a cake that size! Truly junk food – good looking though – the cake. (By the way, I drew the bike picture on the right biking the chocolate highway.) Can't help dreaming...

Seems (from the web sites that I checked) everyone has (had) the same problem. Turns out that the 4000 to 6000 calorie walking – “eat anything you want diet” won’t work at home. Good thing I kept records of most of the food consumed on the road. It was a lot easier to start cutting back and eliminating many unnecessary foods and calories.

Although it’s been a drag – keeping computer records of daily consumption – it’s the ONLY way I can keep up. I forget what I’ve eaten if I don’t and certainly underestimate the calories. From the big six, 6000 calories, on the road to less than 2000 for the homebound portion of the year, IT WORKS. Of course, nothing is easy and wishing away fat just won’t work.

More later when I get the web site changed over completely to – “don’t forget now, you hear” - www.roydye.org – about foods and consumption. Look, it’s still a no secret, no diet plan to simply eat less than you burn calorie deal. Indeed the really healthy foods help in maintaining a healthy body while eating less. Junk foods kill all your plans and dreams of a slimmer healthier you. (Maybe they put dope in fast food to keep you on the hook!) No need for dope - sugar and flour will do the trick!!!

Yes, I am still walking or biking daily. I even built a cart – bike cart – to allow my “three legged” dog to go on all local rides. See photo. (Working on a cage for the top of my walking kart.) Kids in the neighborhood now look forward to seeing “Hopper” (my dog) on the daily rides. One day when I didn’t carry him, a kid yelled, “Hey Mister, where is your dog?” “Where is Hopper?”

Trying to get things underway for the continuation of the walk later in the year. (Heat has been a major obstacle.) Will update ASAP.

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking, and hiking America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Hey, we actually made it to "The Mighty Mississippi River." (And lost weight!)

05/05/2006 - Summer Time Sabbatical… A perfect time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of ones labor.

Actually, I need the fun of the sun more than I need the rest. However, the past few weeks have allowed complete restoration and healing which was badly needed. Let alone the repairs to equipment that was also needed. Mandatory, actually.

The first leg of the journey, from the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville, Florida, to the Mighty Mississippi River, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, a distance of almost 800 miles, is quite a chore for an amputee. However, it has given me something I never would have realized without the walk. Better Health. Much better health…

Hanger Prosthetics in Memphis, Tennessee has performed exceptionally well keeping the prosthetics in working order. Presently reworking two that have been used and abused beyond repair. Stump damage, weight loss and 800 miles have taken their toll on the limbs.

And the cart (Kart)! Yes, the cart is a life saver. However, I am not an engineer. The first cart was extremely well-built by the designer. In trying to adapt a lighter cart for the rest of the journey, I made some common mistakes. I used thin flat aluminum for the box bed that did not hold up well on the last portion of the trip.

The torture the carts go through with a varying and heavier than normal load, on and off road, especially off road, calls for a little extra attention in certain areas to hold the equipment on rough terrain. Problem solved and now ready for the next excursion.

So, loyal readers play and enjoy the summer months. I am. I certainly intend to enjoy the new-found health benefits and weight loss during the summer while I fine tune all the equipment.

Note: All the food, weight loss tips, exercise and eating habits used by me on the first leg of the journey, really work. All in all it boils down to the fact that you must eat less than you burn!!! Simple as that. The more activity, the more you can eat – if that is your game! However, in time you’ll learn that food and meals are not the topic of the day with real weight loss experts and health nuts. It’s a NEW way of life!!! And, it goes without saying, I am really proud to be almost seventy and to have re-gained as many health benefits as I enjoy today. Shucks, it only took a little walking, biking and a little less eating!!!

Look, I am not funning about all the hazards, difficulties, or extreme danger that may be encountered by anyone undertaking such an adventure! However, all the benefits gained from walking or biking can be done in your own neighborhood or locality where it's much safer. Ninety-nine percent (99%) can be done on a treadmill or stationary bike in your own home or nearby athletic club or health center. So, don't sell yourself short. (Age does not matter - only a different plan.) Get up and move it, YOU WILL LOSE IT.... Hey, thumb wrestling don't count (it does but not much) unless you eat very, very small portions!!!!!!!!!

Until next time, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Rest Stop... An unplanned rest stop. A few more repairs are scheduled for the next week or so. Will update ASAP.

I Don’t Like Spiders And Snakes… And, thankfully, that ain’t what it takes. I’m down to 4, 6, and 8 miles a day and shying away from woods and camping. Guess that’s what happens when you have a bad experience. So, I planned and plotted the re-start to make sure there’d be a town or motel basically every 5 to 10 miles. Even though it would really slow me down and become excessively costly.

I just wasn’t ready to jump right back into camping. Especially since I had already seen the new crop of snakes – just hatched – trying to make their way “my way.” About a foot long but they could scoot. Not sure what kind – and didn’t care!!!! I didn’t want to walk where they were going anyway… (My wife said she spotted one close to home also.) It’s that time of year...

However, even with careful planning I ran out of towns and motels a couple of times on this leg. The new lighter equipment was great and I was careful how and where I pitched the tent.

Note to RD: (Liners not working out. New limb is really great, but had to switch back to Simplicity liners. Custom liners have too much give and stretch. They need an outer tough covering similar to the TF Adapt™ Liner 6Y80, tough as nails, bulletproof. This is hard mileage!!!)

Hopefully I’ll make Vicksburg, MS today. Only about 7 miles out this morning. A very old historical town and I should be able to get some really good pictures there. Especially of the Mighty Mississippi River. Very wide at this point.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

If you don't use it... You lose it! Now we know the real meaning of this little punch! If you are doing ANYTHING unusual, other than the norm, you are going to suffer a bit. You are certainly gonna know you are on a different path. In other words, if you are trained for a certain task, running, jogging, sports, work, or simply just moving, and you slack off a bit, you are going to quickly recognize the difference. Very quickly...

Yeah, lay off your favorite activity a few days and you practically have to start all over again. So, the point of eating, food, exercise and all other associations with health, activity, and weight loss quickly surface. Driving home the fact that if any of these goals are to be accomplished AND MAINTAINED, throughout the rest of your life, you must make some major LIFETIME changes.

Since all of these are habitual, both ways, good and bad, it does become a task, a little work, and most certainly requires a game plan geared to your needs. Else you will remain in the condition you are in, or trying to avoid, and may never reach your goal or attain the desired healthy benefits you seek.

Do I actually know the above to be true? You bet. Recently laying off a few days, repairs, new cart, and certain medical treatments, gave me a new view of the simple life. The good life - you might say. In other words, doing nothing. No exercise and eating mostly anything I wanted. Living high on the hog the way news stations were portraying America a week or so ago. Remember, the news was about America being to fat, and too lazy to do anything about it? Too many cars and too many fast food restaurants! Not enough walking and exercise and not paying enough attention to the proper selection of healthy foods!!!!

Do I like it? Oh man, you bet. IT IS INDEED THE GOOD LIFE. (Not healthy, or THE desired lifestyle.) Taking the easy way out, doing nothing, eating as you please, will lead you back to where you were or keep you where you're at. It's just too easy. I have been both (still am), so I can say this - IT IS EASIER TO BE FAT THAN SLIM, TRIM, AND HEALTHY!!!!!

Apparently I am prone to be fat and unhealthy. Especially at my age. BECAUSE FOOD IS GOOD. So to be slim, trim and healthy, I will have to commit to programs, food choices, and a way of life that will promote better health. Besides, it's cheaper to be well and healthy than to be sick and unhealthy. Who wouldn't want that???

Look how big (fat) before walk! (Still, even after training.)

After 700 miles!!! Hey, IT REALLY WORKS!

Since food selection is so varied, it's hard to point to certain items and say they fit all. However, fruit is fairly universal to all and can benefit almost 99% of the world. First brought to my attention by another walker with tons of experience, I followed suit. I now try to eat eight to twelve fruits a day while walking and doing heavy duty workouts or training. Does it work? You bet. I do eat a minimum of five fruits a day while on the road walking. More if I can get them. Several times I tried going without them, for cart weight control, or because I couldn't get them between cities. It didn't work. (A bag of apples weighs 3 to 5 pounds alone.)

After the second day of walking without a minimum of five fruits I noticed the difference in stamina immediately. I was having to rest more and longer at each sitting. Normally, I was resting every thirty minutes to an hour and without regular fruit consumption, I was having to rest every fifteen to thirty minutes. (I'm sure dietitians can pick up on the importance of fruit, health and stamina - the good carbs - you know!)

Although I used many, many types of fruit and nuts with a normal healthy diet, apples and bananas were the old standby's. Readily available along the road and in most small towns that I passed through. Many in Florida gave me fruit when they saw the newscast or newspaper as I passed through their cities. (An overabundance actually - more than I could consume.)

You can tell by the picture that the minimum fruits, apples and bananas, that I try to eat daily are not the most expensive, biggest, or best looking on the market. Normally, the cheapest, on sale, or available varieties that are not rotten and will last a few days is what I get. The fruit in the above picture, I got from a breakfast bar at the last motel where I stayed. No sir, I don't feel guilty. At the price they charged, I just figured this was my room discount!!!!! (With their knowledge, of course.)

More on the motels and why I am down to only 4 to 6 miles a day - as I get adjusted to the road again - in the next journal update. Hopefully, I'll be back up to 8 to 12 miles per day soon and maybe hit a few of the 12 to 20 mile days that I had planned on in the beginning. (Big ideas - remember!)

Here's a tip: My opinion only. Not to be relied upon without proper study, documentation, or advice from a dietitian or doctor for each individual.

I have found that eating an apple thirty minutes to an hour before each of the major meals (3) of the day cuts down on my food consumption considerably. Enough to create a weight loss condition??? Not sure, I do not have this documented yet. But, IT CANNOT BE UNHEALTHY.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Finally, On The Road Again... With more delays than you can shake a stick at, I finally got rolling again. With a brand new cart and a brand new prosthesis, they say I am fit to walk again. Luckily, the cart arrived in time to make enough changes and equip it with only one case, basket, or box as it is sometimes called.

With the new shorter, lighter frame and only one equipment trunk, things should be much better for me in the rough and on the uphill portions of the walk to the Mighty Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Besides the extra help from the cart weight reduction, Coleman has seen to it that my total load is much lighter with the addition, or replacement of heavier equipment, with much lighter gear. In fact, I used the new camping gear on the bike leg. See additional pictures on the equipment page. The new "Yellow" Airless Tires on the cart almost glow in the dark. Boy, they can be seen for miles.... Started to paint the cart Kelly green or bright yellow and put lights on the wheels for more visibility! (Just kidding Roger!)

Of course, it was all my fault for picking and using extra heavy duty equipment in the beginning anyway. I thought the heavier and stronger the better. Never giving a single thought to it that it could be so heavy - combined total weight - that I'd have difficulty pushing or pulling this much weight up a hill. Oh yeah, you got it. I practiced in the beginning around town on flat streets where weight made no difference. It's a good thing the designer put really good downhill brakes on the original kart, else I'd have a skinned nose from being dragged downhill. They "really" work.

Same with the artificial limb, prosthesis. Me and the builders thought bigger, heavy duty, and stronger was better. Wrong again. Now, with the new lightweight prosthesis, it's much easier walking, especially in the rough where you are kinda "high stepping" it quite a bit.

It was determined at Hanger Prosthetics in Memphis that a new artificial limb was required because of the number of miles on the other one and more weight loss, and the spider bites. So, normally I wait about six weeks or longer for them to fabricate one but this time was different. In less then 14 days they had me walking on the new one. Actually, five (5) working days. It was totally computerized, zipped back and forth on the Internet - email actually - to carving, where a final cast was formed and sent UPS overnight for testing. After a few minor changes a final about 1/3 the weight of the old one was formed locally and ready for test walking the fourth working day. Wow, can you imagine the amount of product and money American production could turn out if all production could be sped up this much???????

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Boy, am I glad to be in Jackson. "Come on in here June and help me sing this song. We got married in a fever - hotter than a pepper sprout - we been talking about Jackson ever since the fire went out - I'm going to Jackson...... Look out Jackson Town!" Hope everybody saw "Walk The Line." It got "Little ol' Reese Witherspoon" the top actress award. And, they said she sang her OWN songs!!!!!!! Folks can do most anything if they set their mind to it. Just take a look at little ol' me. Almost 700 miles and the fat just keeps rolling away. No diet, nothing fancy, I just burn more than I eat.

Dang man, that's no diet... No secret brewed-up never before heard of recipe for guaranteed weight loss!!!!!! Is it? Surely it can't be that simple. Well, I don't know... here's part of the CNN News clip from the noon news (just after I arrived in Jackson). "The World Has A Global Weight Problem." Yeah, even Japan is now concerned whereas they never were before. Reason (according to TV) they have more cars - fewer bikes, and more fast food restaurants. (It's easy to blame it on Japan.)

Of course, if you can get food (fast food) on every block and ride there to get it - 200 or 300 hundred feet anyway - how many calories you gonna burn when a "Big........... whatever" has over 1200 calories. Lets see.... if you sit in the car, turn on the key, and hold the wheel...... well, maybe you burned 2 calories - at least. It'd be really hard to build a deficit there, huh?

So, too many cars and too many fast food restaurants! Is that it? It very well could be. Cause, you could have walked with me on a few of these legs across Florida, Alabama and Mississippi and you absolutely would not have had the car problem or the fast food problem. In fact, on a few occasions, while camped out, I thought I'd have to pull the old wild west trick and capture my own food. I doubt you'd end up eating more raccoon or rattlesnake than you could burn off in a hurry, but you'd eat enough to get by on and maybe, lose a little weight in the process. Its easy to eat less than what you burn in these situations. (Nope, didn't see a rattlesnake but did have a raccoon come into camp.)

Even the foods I carry are not enough to make you want to hurry up and set up camp so you can spread the old table with the mouth watering delicacies I carry. Like, oatmeal, soybeans, protein powder, peanut butter, fruit and nuts and my Drinkables liquid supplements. And, if you're walking or biking, ain't no way you gonna come up on a fast food place every mile.

But, please folks, don't rush out there in the morning and everybody start walking or biking to work or doing your errands on foot! Shucks, the whole world would come to a stand still. Then YOU couldn't walk.... Be sensible, it's going to take time to get all the cars off the roads and remove all the fast food restaurants. In the meantime, work on your plan to get healthy. Dieting is just the wrong word and never works.

How many calories will you burn if you walk a mile? Okay, say 200. (Many of you that are really active can accelerate these numbers considerably.) Alright then, if you walk one mile, you get about 1/8 of the big fast food sandwich we talked about above. (If you still insist on these things - you can actually eat almost anything - within limits - and maintain your goals.) While losing, gaining or maintaining your present weight. If you're not concerned about a healthy body. This is just weight control.

So, if you want to really eat the whole thing - big fast food sandwich - just walk eight (8) miles. You won't gain a pound - or lose. Want to lose? Simply order a smaller sandwich. Say, 700 calories instead of 1200. With the same activity level you'll lose one (1) pound per week. All other things being equal. That's fifty (50) pounds a year. Come on, I can make you a 700 calorie sandwich that is twice as big as their expensive 1200 calorie fat, greasy burger!

You make all the choices. All of them. You choose the be the way you are. Look in the mirror, do you see anyone twisting your arm? Making you eat that fat greasy burger! Or, not eat, if you are starving yourself....

Little Chole, the little twelve year boy back in Florida that had lost his leg to cancer wanted to do better. His mother called me and asked me to stay over so he could meet the "Roy Dye." I stayed. The best thing I ever did. He had a gleam in his eyes. He wanted to walk better and re-join the world of the living, running, jumping and playing peer group that he use to belong to.

As I wrote before, you can't see yourself - in most cases. So, he was limping quite a bit and really didn't know it. I told him he could walk further with practice, a chair and a mirror. If no big mirror at home, go to a shopping center with large windows. Walk in front of them. Away and back again until he had his walk back to where it was before. Also, take a chair, he was a new amputee, and sit it in his yard. Walk as far as he could and place the chair there. If you walk as far as you can, normally you can't get back home. But, if you place the chair that distance away, you can rest until you are able to walk back home.

In a few days you can move the chair or stool (you don't need any of these props if you find a suitable resting place along your selected path) further down the yard, line, path, sidewalk or road. (Chole, I did all of the above and I just walked through your town in Florida, and I am almost seventy years old. So, I know it works - and now you do.) Chole's story and pictures are elsewhere in the journal.

Once again, you make all the choices. Look, how many amputee's wouldn't give anything to have both legs and just be fat! Something they could do something about! How many folks that have lost a body part wouldn't be happy to trade places with you. How many that lost two legs wouldn't be thrilled to have just lost one! How many ladies that lost two breasts to cancer wouldn't be thrilled to have lost only one! How many folks would be just overjoyed to be just plain fat and still have all their body parts!

And so, you are perfect and healthy. Yet you are bitching and griping about the car you are driving, the house you are in or the job you have. Come on, think of all the folks that would be happy to have your old car in any condition rather than to be walking. Or a house of any kind to live in. Or a job to go to so they could earn enough for food, housing and to take care of their family. A car, or buy some of the things you already have and are griping about!!!!!!

With the latest news about Dana Reeve and lung cancer sweeping the nation. Peter Jennings, my wife's step father, and hundreds of others. Let alone all the regular cancer patients, breast cancer patients and many that we do not hear of, or that do not make the headlines, our hearts go out to them. We walk for them and we pray for them. And, we can only say to the rest of us - as Stephen King said it so well.

Get busy living, or get busy dying... (Stephen King)

The choice is yours.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Roy Dye,

Walking, Biking, Hiking across America

Perceptions – An attitude or understanding based on what is observed or thought. That is very interesting! So, if you’re old, young, fat, skinny, and big at the little or bottom at the top, chances are that you DO NOT see yourself as others see you, in most cases.

So why mention it? Well at the last stop I had a room for the night. The next morning housekeeping knocked on the door and I answered. When they started to walk away one said, “Man, that is an old dude, I thought he would be much younger.” All of them knew about me walking and biking across America.

Then my wife called and said our neighbor passed away yesterday. He was only sixty four and a smoker. He had just retired. My daughter reminded me of the time she said I was really old. I said how was the school function you went to? She said, “A lot of old people, but not old as you dad!”

So in the last few days I went back and re-read some of the articles about walking, hiking, biking and losing weight. I was really surprised that none of them really realized their actual size, weight or age until it was pointed out to them, including me.

That’s how I got into trouble in the first place. Even now, I am conquering the weight thing but not the age. I still think I am around thirty or forty, while most everyone, like the housekeeper thinks, “Wow, look at that old fat man, how can he still get around!”

Then James from FatManFit.com pointed out what fat really was. A BMI of 25 or greater will do the trick. Good God man, we are all fat. So, how do you know when you get there?

Say I was almost 300 pounds, lost 80 and now I am 220. Am I fat? My wife says yes. Am I old? My daughter says yes. What about the rest of the folks around me! What do they think?

Well, I can tell you this… They figure out a way NOT TO SAY!!! Look in the mirror and think about it. I just saw a guy with a shirt on that said, “I am naked – UNDER THIS SHIRT.” Okay, so take it off – IN PRIVATE. Know thyself.

Are you fat???????? Are you old???????? Both???????? (Like me.) I just saw the guy on TV that was over 800 pounds. He lost over 300 at the screening. At 480 pounds – was he fat? If you lose 200 pounds and still weigh 200 pounds – are you fat? Only you can answer these questions. Even your closest friends WILL NOT TELL YOU. You have to figure it out. And, laugh when you read some of the articles that constitute a goal for certain people.

Me? I’m old (to some folks) and can’t change that. But, I can act young and foolish – AND I INTEND TOO. Fat? Not as fat as I was. Ideal weight or BMI? I’m going with FatManFit and shooting for a BMI of 25 or better. And, I’ll stay with the doctors suggestions – that I am still forty pounds over his (my) ideal weight numbers and keep walking and biking to better health. After all, it has certainly paid off in the last four years.

My last heart numbers clocked in at 120/70 with 120 total cholesterol, and LDL at 93. I TAKE NO CHOLESTEROL MEDICINE. By the time I reach the ideal weight, as prescribed by the doctor, I will have lost almost HALF of my body weight….

Oh yeah, the last few days were better than the previous days. It takes time to get into the grove I guess. Especially after reading FatManFit Cycle Notes. Seems like you can always find others with the same, worse, or more problems. Guess I’ll stop looking for “Easy Street” and get on with the program!

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Well, whatdoyaknow! I made it to Selma, Alabama. I never have given up so many times! Almost every mile I tried to find a good excuse to be going the other way! Then when I got here I had an email from Gene Jones. Basically, he said, “Hi Roy, I wrote you recently and don't know if you got my e-mail or not. I'm the nut that went out and road with Eldon Ward (FatManCycling) last month.

Good choice to try cycling to reduce time between towns. Much tougher exercise too. I mentioned you to FatManFit.com and he gave you a great write up on his site, under "Fat Men Walking". Give it a look when you have time (ha!).

Apparently you're doing this for you and not all the notoriety since the press isn't chasing you all over the country. Good man. Keep it simple and keep it moving. It CAN be done and WILL be done. Good luck!!” Gene Jones.

Anyway, when FatManFit.com wrote, But the "mother of them" all must be Roy Dye - I had to rethink my position. Here is the article from their website. Many of you will have interest in this website… Lots of very good information. I really appreciate the write-up. Thanks Gene…

Steve Vaught is walking across the United States from San Diego to NYC to lose weight and regain his life. His story and travelogue is HERE at www.thefatmanwalking.com

" Four years ago doctors discovered a heart problem brought on by tension, inactivity, added weight, and a right knee problem caused by a torn cartilage and added stress associated with the prosthesis. Eventually they had to operate and open the amputated leg again. Pack it and let it drain because a new infection had popped up. Talk about a set back. Back in a wheelchair and on crutches again. Weight out of control. Up to almost 300 pounds and cholesterol up over 250. Give up, or do something about it! I had never given up... why start now?

I followed the doctor’s instructions, declined any operations on the right knee for the torn cartilage and took cortisone injections while I tried to regain my walking ability once again. I now have proof and I am a firm believer that if you don’t use it you lose it. With prosthesis on one leg and a damaged knee on the other, I started practicing walking again. They have already explained the benefits of replacing the right knee with an artificial knee, but why hurry! If it has to be replaced eventually why not wait as long as possible?

Although it’s taken four years to get to this point I feel I have accomplished the impossible. It’s very hard to exercise and lose weight with sub-par limbs an overweight condition, or both. However I have lost over fifty pounds and have lowered my total cholesterol to less than 120 with the LDL under 93 (without cholesterol medication). Still my ideal weight is forty pounds below where I am now.

Although at seventy I can’t run any of the funding events, I walk in many of them and have decided that when the time comes I will participate in a wheelchair if necessary, providing I am able, which is why I am walking today, while I can. Corporate sponsorship is becoming extremely difficult since corporations, out of necessity, have geared their efforts toward groups and pre-established charities. Many individuals with outstanding abilities willing to contribute are passed over because of this ever increasing corporate change.

If successful, I intend to use proceeds to establish a charitable trust, or foundation, IRC Section 501(c)(3), and continue helping others.

If I can help someone regain their health, learn to walk again, slim down, get their lives back, and enjoy life a little more, then the “Roy Dye Walking, Biking, Hiking Our Way Across America Marathon Expedition” will be worth it. However, make no mistake, I am walking for me. I need to walk across America for me and my family, past and present! If I can accomplish this, many will benefit. I realize the odds are great and that some have died trying to accomplish such a feat"

Text is from his site www.roydye.org and many thanks to Gene for bringing Roy to our notice

A great resource for those who are just about to start walking can be found at www.walking.about.com

If you have any further news or stories on Fat Men Walking please use the contact us pages

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Not A Good Day At All... Nope, to change from walking to biking for this leg is not something you do lightly or hurriedly as I had to do for this leg of the trip. Luckily I had friends that helped with the basic things that mattered. Gary Hause - Walkingman - got me through all the walking legs so far with his excellent detail of the basic needs and survivorship training for walking. Even the "dog stick" came in handy a few times. Of course, most of the time, camping out, I used the big stick for making trails and guarding against alligators. (I never saw a single one.)

I was really up a tree about the biking portion until Jason and Elizabeth cam alone, whom I met while walking across the Florida Panhandle. See the pictures of them in the photo gallery. They completed their cross-country biking trip in record time.

The information they supplied has been fantastic. Even though they are back in California working they have answered many important questions that has helped me greatly. With their suggestions and the pictures I examined of their bikes I was able to equip mine so that it looks like a REAL biker instead of a bike traveling bum. Even Elizabeth sent me an email after I sent her a picture of the bike right before I left. She said, "Well, Roy, I'm very surprised, your bike looks really great and you have some really good equipment." Wow, how you gonna beat that. See the pictures of the setup to the right. (Thanks Elizabeth and Jason.)

But, with all the planning, things didn't go real smooth. With me, not the bike. It's was much harder than I had imagined. The road was the biggest problem. I made a mistake selecting Hwy 80 for the trip west to Dallas. So far, at least. There are basically no shoulders along much of the route. I had to stay in the lowest gear and peddle like crazy for each mile. With sand and gravel, and tall grass, it was a nightmare. I fell twice and only made about a third of the miles I had planned for. But, with each mile Elizabeth's one liner kept sinking in, "Roy, it's gets easier with each mile and each day is better than the last." Of course, it's easy for her to say, she is one of the "under thirty" crowd, and she is talking to a guy almost seventy! But, the pep talk works. I did feel better at the end of the day while setting up camp.

Yeah, camping. My big ideas and big plans about biking to each town so as not to have to camp out as much ended the first day. However, this part was also exciting because of Coleman Equipment. New ultra-lightweight camping and hiking gear was a pleasure to transport and setup. Once you own Coleman and have to change, everything works really great. Basically it's the same patterns and setup system. Even the zippers are the same and the sleeping bag are familiar also. So, thanks Coleman (Ann).

Okay, short update but I have to get with it and try and improve on today's performance tomorrow. Plenty of Deet for this leg. So far, no pest problems.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

02/18/2006 (Other journal entry’s 02/10/2006 thru 02/17/2006 will precede this entry – when published. Lots of notes...)

Emergency Medical Leave…. An understatement for sure. Well, I'm back on the road again. Whoa, what a round I've had with the "Arachnia" world of the mammoth spiders! Well, from the damage, you'd think that. However, the doctor said the spider might be as small as the head of a match and pack enough punch (poison) to do this much damage.

Wow, if you have never incurred a bite from a brown recluse spider, or seen one, then it’s hard to imagine the damage they can do. And, two bites, one on each leg, is debilitating for sure.

Apparently, the skin dissolves (rots away) and if not stopped will leave a space or hole where the skin once was. I don't want another round with them regardless of the size. He said one spider could have done the damage to both legs. Normal antibiotics (like Penicillin) would not combat the poison and tissue rot according to the doctors. They upped the antibiotics and gave me another round of ten days.

However, they have allowed limited use of the prosthesis and full use by next week. I will be back in full form by mid-week. If I had not rented the car and got to the Memphis VA Hospital, all my records are here, as quickly as I did more damage might have occurred. As is, once healed; only small scaring will be visible and should not have any effect on walking in the future.

I should be back in Montgomery, Alabama and ready for the next leg of the marathon by the 25th or 26th of February. I have already selected a bike for this leg of the trip and I am using a stationary bike in the garage for leg and hip training with a special prosthesis (I have several including a couple with cutouts for damaged areas) that will allow leg work without putting pressure on the infected area, or the bottom of the stump for that matter.

I am equipping the bike with pannier racks and bags. Hopefully I can get everything, including tent and sleeping bag, arranged and loaded on the bike without having to pull a trailer (Bob-trailer). And, hopefully, I can make it to more towns and cities without having to camp out as much, which is why I incurred the damage in the first place. With as much camping as I had to do - things - were bound to happen.

It's just too easy for something to get into the tent or sleeping bag camping in "wild" woods about 70% of the time. I figure this will cut down on camping to around 30% of the time (unless, out west where I may have to camp more and/or pull a Bob-trailer). Damage to the stump and prosthesis should be reduced considerably and healing accelerated, guaranteeing completion to Dallas and San Diego in due time. 400 MILES OF WALKING IS PROOF OF GRIT....... (2100 to go!)

Tip: It is HARDER to bike than walk!!!! (Yeah, surprised me too.) Walking is (too) easy. If you want real exercise, get a bike or a stationary bike and peddle away...

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking, biking and hiking across America and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go.

Magic Mark, Dothan, Alabama.

________________________________________________________________

My sweet daughter-in-law, Kathy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer as of Tuesday of this week and she is at the surgeon's now for advice and will go to another one tomorrow. Please pray for her and Steve as he needs to be strong for her. We are all devastated as you can well imagine.

A call from Windy, the mother of Billy Chole Alford, in Marianna, Florida, changed my walk plans and the journal entry for the 3^rd of February, 2006. The call from Windy Bundrick, Chole's mother was very rewarding.

I am still up tonight writing because I will be out of touch with the world (camping) for the next few days. Windy's son has a rare form of cancer called Ewing's sarcoma and lost his leg to the disease. They live here in Marianna, Florida and called to see if I would meet with them in the morning so their son could talk to me. He is twelve years old and his name is Chole (cole). He was so inspired by the newspaper he told his mother he had to meet me!!!! Wow, can you beat that! I said yes, yes, I will talk to him, shoot his picture and put it on the web site. My whole walk is worth letting him know that he can lead a normal life.

It doesn't take much to make a difference if you'll just reach out... When you help others you actually help yourself... in MANY ways. I was just here at the right place at the right time for him. Strange!!!!!

I will try to talk, get the pictures, and put it on the website before I have to check out. Else it might be up to a week before you can see Chole and he can see his picture on the www.roydye.org website.

Okay, alright, today there will be two of us walking around Marianna, Florida. In case I run out of time – PLEASE watch for the update and pictures of Chole later. There is much more to this story that I'll post at the next stop.

The newspaper called back and is trying to do a follow up story on Chole. Hanger Prosthetics in Tallahassee made the prosthetic he is wearing now. The same people that made mine (Hanger, Memphis, Tennessee).

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

Just when you get use to all the folks around you patting you on the back, reality sets in. You’re out of town, the sun is fading and you have to find a campsite… FAST. As I said before, I won’t use fire or lights at night for safety reasons. So, you have to pitch the tent, arrange all the items inside, basically at feel distance, so you can find needed items in the dark, before it gets dark!

However, since I don’t cook or use fire, it’s kinda easy to get all the grub lined up, my big stainless steel spoon and my little unbreakable round bowl out and mix the vittles for the night. Basically the same as the morning meal.

I am still using the same receipt for the road that I used during training (that I learned from “Walking Man”). Oatmeal, soy protein, a spoon of honey, a can of tuna (3 oz) and various and different fruits and nuts that have been available along the way. Oh yes, you heard right, in another part of the journal where I said, I mix them all together and occasionally add a spoon of instant coffee, and a half cup of water. After about a minute of brewing (soaking) it’s rather good. And I get all the nutrients and vitamins I need for this kind of grueling task.

I actually slept on a waterbed. It rained so hard I sat up part of the night waiting for the tent to blow away. The heavy foliage and trees saved me form severe wind damage. But, not the water. Oh yeah, thanks to Coleman, the inside of the tent stayed totally dry. But not outside. I use a second floor, tarp, to protect the tent flooring and of course the second floor caught a ton of water. I thought it would come through the tent floor but did not. The bottom of the Coleman tent is a bathtub type that is sealed around the bottom and up around the sides about twelve inches. Actually, water would have to get about ten or more inches deep to enter the tent.

The next morning I had my breakfast (the same as last night) and broke camp in a hurry. Had to pack a lot of the equipment wet. Intending to dry it out in the next town if I could make it. Otherwise, it’d be another wet night in the woods. Maybe that would help dry it out!!!

By noon, I had decided I could not make the next town. Marianna, Florida. Then, a lady passed me, turned around and stopped in front of me. She jumped out, holding out her hand and said, “I am Deborah Buckhalter with the Jackson County Floridan newspaper, and we’d like to do a story on you.” Wow, that’ll make you kick up your heels. She agreed to meet me the next day, whether I camped or made it into Marianna. So, I pushed on. I shave every morning whether in the tent or not. Yeah, cold water works and it helps if you shave every day. Less to scrape off – you know! I wanted to look like 'city folk' and I had a special cap I wanted to wear for the pictures (it shows up too), and I keep clean clothes in the cart.

Just a short time later another car turned and stopped. She introduced herself as Brandy and said she was in the Guard Reserve. She said she had missed the man coming through town bearing a cross form coast to coast not long ago and said she would not let that happen again. When she saw me, she said I am going to talk to him, and she did. Man, how nice, straight and honest when she would speak to you. She was impressive and goes along with what I said about the under thirty. They KNOW where they are going and HOW to fix the world.

They will straighten out the mess we’ve made in the last thirty or so years. Most are campers, hikers, climbers or bikers, and seem to shy away from the night life in the big cities. They like the fresh air, the country, and most don’t seem like drinkers, smokers or anything like that. Companies are now pitching “Highbrow” outdoor equipment their way. And, they are buying and using it. One company donating part of their proceeds to charities has already donated over twenty million dollars. Imagine the profits!!! They are simply high on life and it shows. You can see it in their eyes. Look at her picture.

So, I was now walking faster trying to make the next town. Besides, Brandy said, “You’ve made it; you are in the city limits of Marianna, Florida now.” She said the motel was over the next hill on the left.

I could see the motel sign when I stopped to let a car pass at an intersection. A lady driving an SUV backed up and motioned for me to walk on in front of her.

As I passed she motioned and said, “Are you really walking to California?” I stopped beside the passenger door and she rolled her window down and said, “That is AWESOME.” Like I said before, the under thirty crowd is by far the most impressed with what folks can do if they set their mind to it.

She was off work that day feeling a little sickly – lucky for me; else I’d never have met Christina. Even sickly she had a beautiful smile that made you feel better in spite of one of the longest hardest walking days ever. They both certainly helped lift my spirits for the day.

You can see the results of all the hard days of walking. From "Big" Roy Walking (with estimates from the media all the way from weighing 275 to almost 300 pounds) to "Slim Iron" and weighing in at just over 200 pounds now, the proof is in the walk. Can't wait for the next doctors checkup to see the cardiovascular numbers!

As I turned into the motel, I thought, what a wonderful day in spite of the heavy rain last night. Deborah showed up as promised and did a wonderful story for the newspaper.

The next morning, with article in hand, the motel operator said please stay another day, it’s on me, because heavy storms are moving in and it will be very dangerous. Good thing I stayed. It really roughed up New Orleans and headed right across us. My tent would not have survived the night in the storm.

At least I have a forecast for fair weather in the morning. I hate to leave but duty calls. One big sack of Attaboys for ol' Jeb Bush. As I leave Florida, I must say, the highways and byways are some of the best I’ve been on. Well kept, neat and clean. And I can’t say enough about the people all across Florida. They all had smiles, all had a sack of Attaboys, and not one, not one mind you, was ever out of place. Thanks to all of you. And for all the blessings and prayers you offered almost daily. I needed all of you and all of your prayers. I made it across Florida safely. I really appreciate it.

Tomorrow I’ll be departing Florida heading toward Alabama so…. Thank Y'all again!

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

Next, at the top of a long hill stood Steve and Ann, from Channel 6 - WCTV6, a CBS affiliate. Both news crews were excellent at their jobs. Especially making a person comfortable enough to get enough decent camera time for a few second clip. And, I made it to the next town in time to see the late news and the early news the next morning. Wow, for a person sleeping in a tent and walking the highway, I looked pretty good on TV. Thanks guy's, y'all are great.

Oh yeah, I ALWAYS ask them if I can shoot a picture of them too. Most of the time they agree. And, I always tell them I am going to put the pictures on the website. Many townsfolk must have seen the news. They honked, shook my hand and made pictures a good part of the day.

A short distance away, I stopped for a rest and across the street was Barkley Security Agency. A gentleman came running out and said "Hold up Roy Dye, we want to talk to you." The gentleman was crossing Hwy 90 coming to my side when a car from Barkley crossed the street also and pulled up behind me. Turns out the lady in the car was Reverend Earnestine Barkley! Her sidekick, Torie Anderson brought me a six pack of water. They had seen me on TV and said how great the walk was and hoped it would indeed inspire others.

They walked me across the street to Barkley Security where we had a really nice social gathering. Many came from the office to talk and shoot pictures. Second picture, above right. Besides the water they gave me a nice donation to buy water and food. I really had a good dinner in the next town, thanks to them. I'll have to say again, what I've said many times on this walk. America IS NOT being portrayed correctly by the media. Hey Barkley send me an email... with names...

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

“Surely you can’t be worried about the world coming to an end today! It’s already tomorrow in China” (Shultz) But, what would you do if your best friend, or close family member, died tomorrow and you never got to tell them how you felt? Maybe you should tell them today, “I just wanted to say, even if I never talk to you again in my life, you are special to me and you have made a difference in my life.”

I hope walking across America gives the reader a glimpse of living, breathing America as it really is today. Not as it’s portrayed by most media. From the folks at Enterprise rent-a-car in Jacksonville that bent over backwards to help a stranger in their town to all the friendly faces along the way that prove America is switching off and tuning in to life.

Like Sharon at Enterprise, who was shocked that my web site displayed a link to Terry Fox, my hero from Canada that died trying to perform the same task in Canada. Sharon who informed me that she was from Canada was impressed that someone in Florida even knew about Terry fox. Today the Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $300 MILLION dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society. I hope I can do as well some day…

However, life does have an expiration date and to make your mark you must make the journey. And if you are gonna do the talk you gotta do the walk. At times you think it’s now or never and you can’t let yourself get bound by mental borders or boundaries. Give it up – or just do it! As I said elsewhere in the journal, I had never given up, why start now!

There’s another quote on the top of Iron Man Bio, “If you have so many things it would be hard to die, you need to wake up.” (Wayne Webb) For those not from the area, Wayne Webb is the Pastor of Macon Road Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. The best enunciator in the business for clarity with his sermons. My wife and I have commented on him many times on Sunday mornings.

His point? If you have so many things… possessions… toys, you might say, that your life revolves around them… wake up, you ARE NOT living! What do you want? What will you sacrifice for it? Hold on… maybe sacrifice is the wrong word.

Do you really sacrifice when you gain? Maybe not. I realize that I have given up the easy life (not good life, mind you – easy life) to try and accomplish this extraordinary feat. I also know that I face many difficulties that normal athletes do not face.

But, now is not the time to quit. If it was, this was the week to throw in the towel. If you expected smooth, it wasn’t. If you thought you could make that extra mile, you couldn’t. When you thought everything was hunk adore, it wasn’t.

So, we have reevaluated the walk, route, time, speed, distance and what have you. The torrid push in the beginning is slowly settling down to a known instead of an unknown. I don’t believe a disability should afford you a special pass. A parking spot or a ride on a cart when others are walking (golfers). I don’t believe you need a “Home Store Scooter” if there is a chance at all that you could walk without it! I don’t believe you should “pray” to lose weight and stay the same.

It’s TOO easy to throw in the towel. King David Hughes said he has seen the over indulgence over and over in his business and he took it upon himself to start changing his life. He eats better, lower fat foods, wheat, the whole bit. Oh, to be under thirty and know these things… once again. He is only 24. Wow, I told you the new generation has seen us suffer in our own greed for food, things and other fineries around us that has turned us into the fattest, laziest society in the world. (Hey, I’m not excusing myself – me too for sure – BUT, I am starting to do something about it…)

Sacrifice? No I have gained much more than the comfort I gave up to do the Roy Dye Walking Marathon Expedition. I had forgotten what it was like to have time. Just plain time. At night by the tent, I see and hear things that I haven’t heard since I was a kid when we searched for these strange things and listened for strange sounds. I have never set the clock as I walked across the state of Florida. I was always ready to get up at daylight and start breaking camp. It was a new day.

Nope, for sure, there are faster walkers, runners, bikers, joggers and hikers, but they all have their place. Like cars, more kinds and brands than you can count, but only a few in each category and class can compete against each other. Same here. I have my place. I am not competing against any of them. Nor they, against me. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and I have the time.

You must believe you can. You must believe you can accomplish your mission, regardless of the pain and suffering, the heartache, or memories of the past that haunt or disable you. You MUST believe you can. You must start. If you commit, you can get fit. Commit and you will realize your goal. Nothing will happen until you decide it will happen. We can never go back. Of course I am walking because I can, and especially in remembrance of all those that have passed on before us.

I believe you have the power… to turn your life around. If we are not careful, we can slip into a disabling situation that can wreck our lives, or even our existence. You do not have to have a physical disability to become severely disabled. A misguided state of mind can disable you emotionally.

No, there will be no towel. So join me on the walk, mentally will be just fine. I’ll try to take enough notes, convey them to you, and shoot enough pictures so that you may feel as though you can see and hear everything along the trail (walk) as though you were actually there.

America is a much better place than…………….. Shucks, CNN just said that tomorrow, January 24, is the most depressing day of the year – each and every year – including 2006! See what I mean. If one domino falls… (Who figures this stuff out?) Not me, I’m breaking camp – IT’S A NEW DAY – REGARDLESS.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

Don’t shoot the shirt… Look, take my advice, don’t wash your shirt or hang out a wet one to dry late in the day on a tree limb by your tent! When darkness falls and the moon is out with a touch of wind – you WILL shoot the shirt. It’s a terrifying humanoid looking thing that appears to have a life of its own…

I wonder how Mr. Kesner, a few cities back that works at the VA in Lake City, Florida, got along at work when he said he met me on the road after reading about it in the paper. He is the one that said “I must have your card else they will never believe me at work.”

And, another note I had here for Everett Pringle that brought me the water the next day. He said, “Roy your walk is tough alright but imagine Jesus in his day walking the hot sands from town to town with no amenities whatsoever!” Not even water in some cases! Wow, we got it made…

Passing right on through Greenville, Florida I was reminded by Harold Murphy that it was the historic town where Ray Charles lived while he could still see after moving to Florida from Georgia. Just about the time of the depression.

Looks like I will make it out of Florida after all. I measured four (4) legs of the walk so far from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. 11.3 miles, 11 miles, 12 miles, and 12.5 miles. For an average of 11.3. And, a total of 17 days. 17X11.3 = 192 miles. I am EXACTLY approximately 190 miles from the departure point on the 6^th and 206 from Jacksonville Beach.

But, I can’t maintain this. I MUST DROP BACK TO AROUND 8 TO 10 MILES PER DAY. Until I gain a little more strength and lower the weight of the cart and me. I have already lost 10 pounds. That’s too much weight loss for 200 miles.

Weight loss is different for an amputee because things start not to fit – causing major problems. I only plan to lose 40 pounds more for the entire trip. Making it a total of around 100 pounds down since I started training and down to the doctors recommended level. I’m hoping the 8 to 10 average will get me further down the road over a longer period of time than having to stop, rest and heal up after pushing too hard. Steady as she goes is the saying…

The DJ on the radio was telling about a guy being arrested. He said the officer pulled him over and the guy could hardly talk because he had had too much to drink. The guy got out and was talking to the policeman like, “Off – Fiss – Sirrr.” The DJ said, “Please don’t make him walk the line. If that’s as good as he can talk, just cuff him and get on with it.”

Thank y’all for all the excellent emails. I am not here to give advice. I am here to receive advice from you. My job is to walk and try to inspire others to let up, get up and get out. A move it or lose it sort of thing. So, all suggestions, support, hints and tips are greatly appreciated. Keep them cards and letters coming…

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

Best day ever walking. Well, I’ve had good days and bad days, but I’ll have to class today as the best walking ever on this trip. Met some super folks today. First I met Billy Hawkins. (I hope he said Billy.) Remember Willie Glee, the Baptist Minister? That offered me a lift to the motel! When it was time to carry me back to the mile market on Hwy 90, I called. Mr. Glee was working but they said Billy Hawkins would pick me up in the truck for Mr. Glee.

A giant of a man. I thought he must be a football player. Wrong, he also was in the ministry. Travels the country and speaks to various congregations and originations. His next stop was in Daytona. It simply amazes me who comes along to offer help when help is needed! However, it makes sense since everyone else in the family is associated with the ministry in some way.

Getting late in the day and kinda on my last leg I spotted two bikers headed my way. They stopped to talk. Jason and Elizabeth from San Diego, California. Can you believe that? Coming from where I was going. They were almost to the Atlantic Ocean and had made the trip on the bikeway in less than 60 days. They made my day. We parted and I quickly started looking for a campsite. Best walking day ever…

I am still working on an article for the under thirty crowd and told them about it. I am so impressed with this age group I told them I wanted to go back! I think they are here to save the world. They love life, camping, hiking, biking, climbing, you name it. Industries have recognized the same thing and have geared their production in their direction. The are high on REAL life and none of them seem to have our vices. Smoking, drinking, crowding into bars at night. They love the outside. A famous magazine from Australia named “Outside” is gaining extraordinary fame directing their attention to this age group from California to Australia.

Having to change directions again slightly. I will stay on Hwy 90 a few more miles than turn up on 231 to Montgomery, Alabama as planned. I was informed that Hwy 27 out of Tallahassee had no shoulders to walk on in several places. It would be too dangerous. So, 90 to 73 to 231. Basically the same but better safer conditions.

Until the next stop, I’ll keep walking and leave a smile and handshake everywhere I go. (“Walking Our Way America”) WOW.

On the road again my friend… With breath that smells like kerosene… (Or… so the story goes…) I swear, today I thought I saw Willie Nelson driving an eighteen wheeler. He was coming toward me slowly as he accelerated out of a small town. Same look-a-like. Same whitish hair and pigtails. I didn’t see the name on the truck for looking at him but I’m sure, if it was him, it was one of his famous Bio-diesels! Running on soybeans. They say it’s our future. Maybe so, but it won’t be cheaper; it’ll be a lot higher. Subsidized soybeans, here we come. Me, I’m looking for electric. I want to see an electric eighteen wheeler that you can’t hear as it passes!!!

Losing weight and getting mighty pale… Looks like I’ve got a tiger by the tail. I guess you can tell my radio is working for a change. Walking in Florida and catching a power station in Georgia. They have really good stations along the route but at my rate of speed I lose them in a hurry – or they are lower power than the Georgia station. Gotta get a satellite radio!

But, the music fits and helps pass away the time. Have lost more than ten pounds but right now I can’t afford to lose the weight. Can’t get the eating right yet either. Too short of a time period I guess. I’m eating the right stuff just not enough of it. Burning more calories than I anticipated. Changing to more and better quality proteins and a bunch of good carbs along the fruit line. I think old friend Gary is right. The more fruit the better your body handles the added stress.

My cart is still too heavy. I have dumped forty pounds and looking to dump another twenty to thirty in short order. I may have to go ahead and lose forty pounds of body weight and put on the old backpack. Forty pounds down would still give me about the same walking weight if I could get the backpack, water, tent and all paraphernalia in the forty or fifty pound bracket.

Either that or I gotta have a wheelchair motor for the cart to scale these hills. I hear the new wheelchair motors work both ways. Charging going down hills, working and pulling up hills. My intent is to prove I can walk coast to coast, not pull a wagon coast to coast. Walking to set a record is one thing… walking and towing or pushing a cart that weights as much as another person is another matter all together! You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd…

First thing into town, Madison, trouble was brewing. After several nights in the Coleman Inn, I needed a motel to mend and wash all my belongings. But it was not to be. Local info stated that the motels were all down the road. How far? Way down the road! About 10 to 12 miles toward Interstate 10. Another said about 8 to 10.

Anyway, it didn’t take long to figure out that if I walked south 10 miles to sleep and then walked back the next day 10 miles, progress would have been zero. And than what? Walk back to sleep again!!! Come on that’d be and endless loop that I’d get hooked into forever – or until my feet wore out.

But, strange things do happen. Like Reverend Berry in the last town. And Everett Pringle that prayed for me on the side of the road and brought me water the next day to get me through the no-town areas.

As I left the auto parts place in Madison where I was gaining my information someone behind me said. “Hey, hold up.” He introduced himself as Pastor Willie Glee, a Missionary Baptist minister. He said he overheard the conversation and offered to carry me to the motel and bring me back the next day. Wow, no way to beat that.

A super conversation on the way to the motel as he informed me that his wife had been advised by doctors to have lung surgery to remove a damaged lung! He said she was only forty-something. ‘Ain’t’ it strange that sometimes the folks that offer help are the ones needing more help or advice than you? I wonder what he will tell his congregation Sunday! If my agenda allowed, I’d stay and attend his church Sunday for his benefit, and mine, and meet his wife.

In another town the agenda popped again. This time, a man and his wife said they read about me in the newspaper and wanted to shoot a picture of me with his wife and they wanted a picture of the “Leg Roy Dye was wearing." I obliged and he said he’d swap his new car for the cart! Whoa, a new oyster colored STS Cadillac!!! I said, nope, and shook my head. But, I thought, if the deal was still good I’d be back after I get to San Diego and take him up on it…

Okay, turns out all the information about Hwy 90 through the storm area is correct. They say it is really dangerous. The President visited there the other day and things looked really torn up still. No one has any money there. They are devastated. Criminals have moved in to live off what's left. It's do or die there for some of them. Some are still basically living day to day.

So, the new route is as follows: Madison (90) where I am now. Then Greenville (90). Monticello (90). Bradfordville (90). THEN Tallahassee, Florida, as planned. Then we change to Hwy 27, Hwy 84, then Hwy 231 to Dothan, AL, and 231 to Montgomery, Alabama. Then directly west all the way to Dallas-Ft Worth, on 80 and I-20.

Then I-20 intersects back with (into) I-10 in west Texas to resume the same original plan. Total lost mileage is less than 50 miles. Safety factor increased by 100%.