I intended on writing more journal entry’s than I have. However time acts funny when you take on adventures like this. It distorts. Days lengthen and things that happened this morning seem like they occurred days ago. We’ve hit a few noteworthy points on our trip since I’ve last written. We entered Indiana, completed over 25% of our journey and as of this morning have crossed over our first time zone. With all of these landmarks accomplished it boggles my mind that we’re only two months into the project. (and two days if your counting.)

Still it’s difficult to find time to do everything. As I’m writing this we’re sitting with Pam and Andy a wonderful couple who has put us up for the night in their home. I feel guilty for writing while sitting and spending time with them but at the same time its necessary to multi-task on this project. Tim wrote a blog earlier in the project giving a breakdown of what his day entails. We intend to put together a behind the scenes video in the near future to show the chaos we go through on a normal day.

At this point in my journal I am now writing around a week after the first two paragraphs. While sitting in Pam and Andy’s house a giant storm passed through knocking out the power and incapacitating my use of a computer and internet. Again it became difficult to find time to finish this journal. Although it does lead nicely into one of the things I had intended to write about when I sat down at their house. Weather.

In the past month we’ve gone through two massive cities (Cleveland and and Chicago) and seen three major storms. The beginning of severe weather started in Huron, OH in the middle of the night. We hadn’t been able to find a place to stay, however a local McDonalds allowed us to park our bus in their parking lot to sleep in. It’s an interesting experience to say I’ve had, sleeping in a McDonald’s parking lot. But when trying to shower and get clean in their bathroom it’s hard to not feel homeless. During the evening a storm passed through which was enjoyable as I sleep very well when it rains. The pitter patter of rain on the roof is soothing to me. However the huge siren going off in the middle of the night wasn’t so pleasant. Holly tried to worry us all by saying it was a tornado warning. But I (being from Rochester, NY were we don’t have such a thing) insisted it couldn’t be. Hah, was I wrong. I didn’t know it until the next morning but a horrible level 4 tornado had touched down about 50 miles away from us. It’s probably better I didn’t know that evening or I wouldn’t have gotten back to sleep so easily.

After finding out the tornado had touched down so close to us we decided it would be well worth the time and extra miles to go to Millbury, Ohio and help out cleaning up from the destruction. I have never experienced a natural disaster (aside from an ice storm that knocked out everyones power in Rochester for a week once). The site of what a tornado can do is life changing. While walking into town we started to notice street signs bent in half, some tree branches down, then a completely naked tree. The school was one of the first things we came across. Half of it was untouched and looked as it was suppose to for the graduation ceremonies that were suppose to be held the day after the tornado had touched down. The other half was spread across a field. Insulation clung to a chain link fence, school buses lay in a row missing windows, doors, and hoods. There were remnants of the school for blocks. Bull dozers pushed heaps of school items together to crush them and put them in the dump. The school was condemned. It is now to be knocked down and rebuilt, at an estimated cost of 50 million dollars.

That was only the beginning of our experiences there. However there is a video you can reference on our facebook page about our visit so you can see a little of what we saw. Much like our trip in general the number of volunteers that came out and helped clean up really reminds you of how kind American’s are. It felt great to be the one to lend a hand after how many people have helped us out.

This past week we were in Chicago and I have to admit it’s my favorite place we’ve been so far. For two days walking into Hyde Park and then the City we were able to walk along lake Michigan through parks with a beautiful view. Chicago was the cleanest city we’ve been to by far and really had the feel that they embaraced the arts. It probably helped that the comfort suites put us up right across the street from the amazing millennium park. Millennium park is home to street performers, a wall that displays photographs from a local museum and shoots water out for kids to play in and a reflective metallic “bean”. That description really doesn’t do the park justice, but take my word for it if you ever go to Chicago you need to check it out.

Chicago had a lot more to offer including museums, art, cupcakes (from Molly’s Cupcakes which is pretty much the reason we went to Chicago and they totally lived up to the hype) and adventure. I’d love to write in detail about everything but it’s late here and we have more walking to do tomorrow.

I now have an app on my phone to update my blog from the road. I’ll be making an effort to update more often and let everyone know what we’re doing. Hopefully it will let us keep everyone updated who’s watching and keep in touch with those we’ve met.

-Blake

We had the opportunity to do the two pound burger challenge at Denny’s Beer Barrel this past week. Normally I would jump at a food eating contest. But knowing I had to walk twenty some miles the next day I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do this one. However Sara and Dan weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to try the challenge and listening to them getting competitive I decided I needed to do it also. We decided whoever could finish first (or just eat the most) would get to use the Jacuzzi where we were staying that night first. It might sound silly but when we get in late at night and are all sore we frequently don’t all get to use such luxuries.

The thing they don’t tell you until your ordering the two pound burger is that it is actually a five and a half pound burger once you add bun and condiments. Not to mention your only aloud to take off one topping. The burger comes with a bun the size of a loaf of bread, ketchup, mustard, mayo, a WHOLE onion, a whole tomato, banana peppers, two pickles and relish. I hate pickles and relish, dislike mayo and onions and took off banana peppers because I wasn’t certain if I’d like them or not. When they delivered this to the table it looked like an impossible feat.

We weren’t aloud to use utensils. Only our hands and mouths. However they did spear the pickles on top with a long skewer. My strategy was to put the burger on its side and skewer it at a low point to keep it together and dive in! At the start Sara and Dan where into it and claiming they where going to win. The truth is we all had to get over laughing at how ridiculous it was to try to fit such a monstrosity into our mouths. We kept an equal pace for the first fifteen minutes or so. By a half an hour in I think I was two thirds of the way through my burger and gleefully mocking Dan and Sara at how far they were behind me. Sara was almost in tears forty minutes in from how much she had eaten and Dan had already stopped eating realizing how awful he’d feel if he continued. I felt like I was going to be able to finish it within the one hour time limit.

With ten minutes left I had only a handful of burger left. Everyone was telling me I could do it but my senses were against me. Each time I put the hand full of congealed mess to my mouth I smelled the relish I detest so much. Each time I looked down at my plate I saw the solidified grease, ketchup, mustard and mayo that had spilled out when I turned it sideways. The bun was heavy and wet from sitting in all of the condiments and each bite became a repulsive mush that made me gag. Time was running out and I couldn’t stomach the small amount I had left. I knew I was already going to be in pain from the amount I ate and I wanted to be able to say I had completed the challenge. But in the moment I truly saw no way I could stomach the last few bites. I quit with only bites left.

It was an awful night. I had won the right to the Jacuzzi, which was no condolence to the way my stomach felt. I got in for about three minutes before I felt like I was going to pass out and had to get out. I laid on the bathroom floor thinking I was going to throw up and ended up falling asleep for a few hours.

The next morning to my surprise I felt normal. However I wished I had finished the burger. Even though I knew I couldn’t have when I was sitting there I felt like I could have the next morning. Although it’s a minuscule regret it reminded me not to give up when you get so close to something that you might regret later.

Although my stomach felt fine the next morning, my right leg had developed shin splints that started sending incredible aching pains up my shin with each step. I wrote about the burger contest because it was fun and silly but also because in some ways it taught me a lesson about the mental battle I fought the next day.

Since Josh hurt his knee I’ve said I can’t imagine how badly I’d have to be hurt before I’d get into a vehicle. It’s easy to think that way until your hurt. The truth is while shin splints develop the pain is dull, throbbing and horrible. However ten miles into a twenty mile day the pain changed from dull every step to sharp and paralyzing once every few times I put my foot down. It would literally cause me to stop walking. I started limping trying to take the weight off of my right leg with no luck.

When every step causes you to wince you start to check how much farther you have to walk almost every minute. A minute passes in what feels like an hour. The thought that you don’t have a scheduled day of rest for 13 more days echos through your head. I wanted to quit, but I didn’t want to have a regret larger than not finishing a burger. I had put almost ten months into this project, quit a job, left my family, pets and girlfriend for a long time. I never thought I would even think of quitting but the idea is forced into your head when you step down and want to cry out in pain. I wondered if we could find a place to stay for two nights so I could rest my leg. I hate to complain and make everyone stop for my injury but I thought if I had to keep walking I would quit and get in the bus very quickly. We had to walk the next day. Twenty three miles.

I made the producers go buy me a cane. It helped a small amount. However putting your full weight into the middle of your palm for eight or nine hours straight over and over again is taxing. That day was really no better than the last. The day felt like it took a month to pass and the entire time was an internal struggle with the constant question of “can I finish the day?”. Some relief came when Tim told me we could find a place to stay for a second night in Brookville, PA.

The following day was a day off, kind of. We still walked six or seven miles to do a few interviews and change places to stay. But all in all it was a great rest for my leg. It’s funny to me even now that I thought of quitting and as silly as it seems I do think the burger challenge helped me see I shouldn’t even consider it. The truth is if I was at home living an every day life and had even a fraction of this pain I would drop everything and stay off my leg for a few days. But you have to be willing to suffer some to make your dreams come true. Especially when they involve a trip across the country on foot.

My shin splints got a little better and today a little worse again as we walked downhill what felt like all day. Luckily the next two days are only sixteen and eleven miles. My spirits are up despite a little pain and I again feel like I will have to have broken legs or be mortally wounded before I’ll quit this journey.

-Blake Wink

There never seems to be enough time. I guess I didn’t really expect to have ‘free’ time while on this adventure per say. But at the same time I didn’t really consider how busy I’d be. I’ve said it before and told many people, we’re taking on two monumental tasks. We are walking across the country which many people find incomprehensible. However we’re also making a film which I consider to be the more difficult of the two tasks. Each day we need to walk, film, interview, edit, eat, shower (or at least I’m always hopeful we can), write, provide content to keep people interested and maintain personal relationships. It is not easy to maintain a healthy balance between these things.

We started the first week with a good pace. We were walking twenty to thirty five miles a day. It made us feel like we were making incredible progress with our walking journey. However it had drawbacks. We weren’t having enough time to write journals (something I’ve been slacking on) or edit pictures and video. Ultimately it was hurting the film.

The last major walk we did and probably will do was twenty seven miles starting from the De Bary inn. We left early in the morning to go to Angie’s restaurant for a few interviews. We met with Sara, an adorable six year who told us about her dream to be a singer. Sara wanted to be a singer because of how great it made her feel to sing and for money. She thought it would be hard to be a singer and knew if she didn’t make it as one she’d also like to be a veterinarian.

Coincidentally our next interview Elise also loves animals and has been working with them at her business the Preppy Pup for decades. Elise was a fantastic interview. She was animated, yet intimate about her passion of working with animals. Her love for life was apparent through her mannerisms and tone the entire time we talked with her. It is such a refreshing experience to meet someone like Elise. She’s the type of person who inspires others every day through her personality. Although she attributes her new lot on life to defeating a bout with breast cancer I can’t imagine meeting Elise before this horrible time in her life would have been much different.

Aside from Elise’s wonderful interview and personality our experience with her had another large impact on the project. After we where finished talking with her and some of the other locals at Angie’s we still had to walk twenty five miles. We also had the opportunity to walk ten minutes back in the other direction to visit Elise’s shop and get some wonderful footage of her at work. Unfortunately we were already almost two hours behind schedule. It may seem like it would only take twenty minutes of walking, which is true. However it would also take the time to actually set up and film. I hated to make that decision, but we couldn’t go backwards. This led to a more positive decision that we will only walk 15 to 20 miles a day in the best interest of the film. Ultimately we will always be limited in how far we can go to get footage. But we shouldn’t have had to miss that opportunity.

Walking too far in one day also led to Tendinitis in Josh’s foot and knee. If you haven’t read his journal yet I would take a look at it for the whole story. I certainly thought his pain was normal from the extreme amount of walking we have done. We were very lucky he spoke up about it and it was caught when it was, otherwise we might have done permanent damage too it.

All in all things are getting smoother each day. With any dream comes the need for patience and persistence. Ours was wearing thin but we’re already solving the problems that come with each day and getting into as much of a routine as you can have with a project like this. Hopefully after a few days rest Josh’s knee will be as good as new and we can be on the road again.

Watch the video I’ve attached at the top here before reading on….

(another disclaimer is you should all know we actually walked 35 or so miles the first day. Unfortunately only 18 of them counted towards are trip because we didn’t touch the ocean until after we had walked a ton.)

So now you understand why I’m writing rather than talking to you
through a video blog. The first day of walking was yesterday and it
was great. However I now have no voice and I’m starting to wonder if
it’s a case of strep throat.

Before we could get to the beach in Long Island where we would touch
the Atlantic we got to walk around Manhattan and Brooklyn to do a few
great interviews. It was a beautiful day in New York City and the
streets where packed as we navigated through the sea of bodies. We
where able to take a short break for lunch at a diner and rest the
souls of our feet before heading out to Long Island. Our last ride in
a moving automotive for five or six months was cathartic. As we rode
out we saw the bridge that we would have to walk back over to get to
Brooklyn. We got off the train around 5:45 and for the first time
where completely lost.

We quickly found out that asking for directions is a great way to
start a conversation with people and tell them about the project. It’s
also a great way to find the beach. The sky had darkened by time we
reached the beach and rain started to fall from the clouds. As we took
off our shoe’s to walk on the beach it was an overwhelming moment to
know that all the hard work we’ve put into Walk the Dream over the
past eight months had finally come to this moment. The sand was cool
between our toes as we walked towards the water and set up our
camera’s to capture the beginning of our journey. Rain beat down and
the wind blew sand down the coast. We rolled our pants up to keep them
dry for the eighteen mile walk that would follow.

We walked into the Atlantic together at 5:17pm. We where officially on
one side of the United States. We stood in the water letting the waves
roll over our feet. And then we went in a little too far and an
unexpected wave caught the bottom of our pants. It was a great moment
but the weather didn’t allow us to enjoy it long. A storm was coming
in from off the coast. We had to hustle to get our camera’s out of the
rain as they where already decently soaked, head to the public showers
to get the sand off our feet and begin our walk. We started by going
the wrong direction (which is never great, especially if it’s
pouring). We eventually found the correct directions to head to our
home for the evening with some great film students in friends in
Manhattan.

It rained for what felt like hours but was probably only an hour in
honesty. We walked across the Marine Parkway Bridge soaked with wind
blowing against our bodies the whole time. We made the best of it and
talked about the adventure ahead to get our minds off of the poor
circumstances the first day had brought us. By the end of the night we
made it to our generous hosts apartment around 2:30 am. The last few
miles where difficult. It was cold, we where wet and it was a constant
mental battle not knowing if we’d be reaching the Brooklyn Bridge
(near the end of our travel for that day) in a street or in three more
miles.

I lost my voice last night and chalked it up to talking loud so the
other walkers could all hear me for the duration of the day. I’ve
certainly talked a lot on some days of my life and had a soar throat.
When I woke up this morning I felt much better until a few hours into
the day when my voice went completely. It’s kind of funny to try to
talk and have nothing but rasps and then a whisper of what you
intended to say come out. I’m now hoping I haven’t caught strep throat
or something worse. However in the long run when I can look back on
this in better health I’m certain I will be proud of continuing on in
poor health because I cared so much for my goal and project.

We learned a lot yesterday. We learned we’re capable of walking
through bad weather even if it isn’t the most convenient. We learned
not to trust directions from just any local, to ask again and
re-confirm their accuracy. We learned that we can walk 35 miles in a
day we planned on walking only 18 and still get through it. Most of
all I think we learned we’re willing to put ourselves through pain and
the sacrifice needed to get through this project.