Sunday, April 27th

Today, Joe Chott and I floated and fished the Lower Salt River about a half hour drive from Mesa. John Goodman helped us schuttle cars. Thanks John!. We put in about 6 a.m. and started fishing right away as Joe and I are avid fishermen. Unfortunately the fish didn't cooperate. We caught some little bass, largemouth and smallmouth and I caught 2 rainbow trout. About three quarters into the float, the Verde River flows into the Salt and doubles the Salt in size. That's alright, but the Verde wasn't verde today, it was brown and made the Salt River very murky. We kept fishing, but it was over. The water just wasn't clear enough. We did manage to see several Bald Eagles that Joe said are permanent residents on the Salt. We didn't see the wild horses that Joe has seen on previous trips. I would have liked to see them. Maybe another day. Stay tuned ....

Saturday, April 26th

No walking today. We took the day off and are going to take tomorrow off as well. Joining us today was Carol's niece, Denise, who has lived in Mesa for the past 4 years. So we all went to the Heard Museum, Carol and I and Joe and Denise. Joe's wife, Pam, is in Las Vegas attending a jewelry trade show. Pam makes and sells jewelry and she does very good work. The museum specializes in Indian culture and we discovered many facts about American Indians that we didn't know. The most startling fact was the Indian Schools that were established around 1880 and ceased to exist about 1970.(I think). Indian families were forced to give up their children at a very early age and the children attended Indian School. The schools were run like the military and were very strict. The goal was to "civilize" the Indians. My opinion is that it is a very sad chapter in our history and is not known to many people. Later on, we all met at Bob Johnson's Big Apple restaurant to eat BBQ. John, Ruth and Abdul, Denise's boyfriend joined us there. Abdul was born in the US, and his parents had lived in the US, but now live in there native country, Palestine. He was a nice, polite young man and we liked him a lot. Then John laid a bombshell. Millard Fuller had called him and asked about the walk. Millard said that Jack Wolters had called him and told him about our walk across the US for Habitat. He also said, " Be sure and say hello to Dick and Carol Mattson". We had met Millard and his wife Linda in Independence, Missouri at a Habitat conference and Millard has also been to Hot Springs where he dedicated the ReStore.

But in all honesty, he doesn't know Dick or Carol Mattson, but it was sure nice for him to say that. It was a good ending to a good day. Stay tuned ...

Friday, April 25th

We started at Alma School Road and Main St. in Mesa today. We thought we would have side walk all the way, but we ran out of sidewalk about 12 miles into our walk. As we walked along Main St. in Mesa, we noticed a large number of old 1950's style motels or motor courts as they called them then. Some had been remodeled, but many had not and even the old neon signs remained. I think Main St. was once the major street through Mesa long before the more modern highways were built. Someone needs to do a documentary film about these old motels or at least uncover their history. It would be very interesting. On we walked to Idaho St. in Apache Junction, our stopping point. In the past 3 days, we have walked through Surprise, Sun City, Peoria, Glendale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Apache Junction. We walked 17.7 miles today, not bad for two grey-headed men. Stay tuned.

Thursday, April 24th

We started at the CVS Pharmacy parking lot today and headed east on McDowell. We were just north of the downtown Phoenix area. Joe Chott drove us to our starting point.

Joe and Pam Chott are old friends from our St. Louis days. Pam graduated nursing school with Carol and Joe is an avid fisherman, so we all became good friends. They moved to Mesa 24 years ago. After walking on Wednesday, John and Ruth moved to the new RV park and we moved our motor home to Joe and Pam's driveway. We are going to walk tomorrow and then take Saturday and Sunday off. Sunday, Joe and I are going to float and fish the Salt River and on Tuesday we are going to Sedona, which is the most beautiful area in Arizona. We walked on, finally coming to Scottsdale. We knew it was Scottsdale because of the Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Maserati, Ferrari and Aston Martin car dealerships there. We turned on Scottsdale Road and walked on coming to the Salt River and the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. On we walked to Apache Blvd. and on to Mesa where Apache Blvd. becomes Main St. We don't know exactly how many miles we walked today, but our legs said it was 15 or 16 miles. I found .16 cents today. Stayed tuned....

Wednesday, April 23rd

Today we got started at mile marker 153, still on Highway 60 (Grand Ave.). We were in an industrial area, not a place you would want to walk at night. Before too long, we passed the 400 mile mark and celebrated with our traditional water/gatorade toast right at the topless nightclub. Further on we came to a Valero service station to relieve ourselves of some of our water. John went first and could not open the door. He told the girl behind the counter that he couldn't get the door open and she came around with a screwdriver and did something to the lock and the door opened. When it was my turn, the door wouldn't open again. Using my best Spanish, I told the girl I needed the keys, "Necesito los llaves". She said "What?". I said, in my best English, "I need the keys". Then I realized that the young girl was an East Indian and not Hispanic. Then, before I could get out of the store, I spied a "quarter machine".

I'm not sure what the official name is, but the idea is to drop a quarter in and it slides along and pushes previous dropped quarters to a ledge and any quarters that drop over the edge are yours. Well, I was just standing there looking at this machine, when a quarter dropped. I picked it up and inserted it into the machine and wonder of wonders, 4 quarters dropped down. This put me into a quandary, because I was spying an ice cream sandwich that cost 89 cents and I had enough money to pay for it with my gambling winnings, but I also wanted in play more quarters in the machine as there was a whole group of quarters just waiting to fall and I knew that if I would just play the 4 quarters, I would win a handful more.

But if I played the quarters and lost, I wouldn't have enough money for the ice cream sandwich. What to do? It turned out that I did play the 4 quarters and the group of quarters that were suppose to fall were still on the ledge waiting for some other lucky person to claim them. And me with neither quarters nor an Ice cream sandwich. Does anyone out there have the 1-800 number for Gamblers Annonymous?

On we went and finally came to McDowell St. We were headed due east, the direction to Georgia. We passed by the Fairgrounds and kept going until we reached Central Ave. We stopped at the CVS Pharmacy where Ruth and Carol picked us up. I found a socket, a small rubber ball and .42 cents. Stay tuned .....

Tuesday, April 22nd

Started at mile marker 139 and ended at mile marker 153, 14 miles today. We started in Surprise, AZ and ended in Peoria, AZ. We mostly followed a dirt road by the railroad tracks.

It was fairly easy walking and we didn't have to worry about traffic. At Grand Ave.(Highway 60) and 91st Street, we came to the office and ReStore of the Peoria affiliate. Their official name is Habitat for Humanity of West Valley and the ReStore is called The Home Improvement Store. We visited with the interim executive director, Karen Tremper and the Home Improvement Store manager, Joe Leboda. After posing for photos and filling our water bottles with cold water, we were off again. We came to marker 153 and waited for Carol to arrive. I found a golf ball, a socket and .56 cents. Stay tuned ...

Monday, April 21st

Not much to tell today. We started at mile marker 123 on Highway 60 and finished at mile marker 139, 16 miles. The area here is flat and not near as colorful as land we have passed. Today I found a small American flag, a 45 record, "Mr. Poor Man" on one side and "Knick Knack Man" on the flip side. Probably worth a lot of money. And .47 cents. Stay tuned ....

Sunday, April 20th

This is our rest day, no walking. We have been taking turns going to a Baptist church and then a Presbyterian church and today was a Presbyterian church day. But, one of the volunteers at the ReStore, who attends the Presbyterian church, told us that the Presbyterians were going to have a service at a local park and then a pot-luck afterwards. So, we decided to go to the Baptist church instead of the pot-luck as we didn't have anything prepared and would just be easier. On the way to the Baptist church, we passed the First Presbyterian Church of Wickenburg and people were going in,so we asked someone if there was a service there today. There was, as we found out later, the pot-luck was scheduled for next Sunday. We introduced ourselves and told them what we were doing and a man said he wanted to talk to us after church, that we helped a couple who was walking across the US for Habitat a few years ago. After church, we met Jack Wolters and his friend Marlene. Here is Jack's story. Jack had been and is a long time Habitat volunteer, in fact, Jack was a pioneer Habitat volunteer. He personally knows Millard and Linda Fuller, founders of Habitat for Humanity and has worked along Jimmy Carter on many of his work projects.
Jack helped Jerry and Cindy Schultz prepare for their walk in 1996. Jerry and Cindy wrote, "Sole Mates" the book that inspired John Goodman to think he could walk across the United States. Jack invited us to Rancho de los Caballeros Restaurant located at the country club. Jack told about his many adventures all around the world working with Habitat. Also, Jack was one of the first persons to conceive of the idea of a ReStore.
Jack asked us if we were raising money for Habitat and we answered that no, we are trying to raise awareness for Habitat. Jack had a fit. "Your walking coast to coast for Habitat and not raising money?" Jack highly disagreed with that. He asked John how many miles we were going to walk and John replied 2700 miles. Jack took out his checkbook and wrote a check to Habitat for $ 2700.00. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! Jack and Marlene followed us to our RV park to get some photos and then we were off to Surprise, Arizona and the Sunflower Resort RV Park. Stay tuned ...

Saturday, April 19th

One month one the road, or should I say on the walk. We started on March 19th at Capistrano Beach, California and today we walked a little passed Morristown, Arizona, northwest of Phoenix. Ruth didn't need to drive us to our starting point as we are staying at our starting point today. John and I started walking from Desert Cypress RV Park at 6:15 am and in less than 5 minutes, we were on Highway 60 headed east. Soon after we started walking, we were passed by at least 100 sports cars. Jaugars, Mercedes, MGs, Corvettes, Karman Ghias and even some Rolls Royces. Many were vintage and one of the Rolls had right hand drive. They were going to Prescott, AZ for a rally. We found that piece of information from Rick, who was the maintenance man at a rest stop up ahead. A really interesting fellow, 77 years old, recently widowed, he said he loved this job because he had met so many interesting people he had met. Like the man from Australia that spent 6 month in the states traveling and 6 months in Australia traveling. Or the group of Norwegians that stood in awe at a bird they had never seen. Rick also told of many bicyclers that travel Highway 60. Like the group of college kids traveling to Maine by bike. He said that he didn't know what a computer was until he was 71 and now he uses one all the time. A truly remarkable man. On we walked and saw our first deer road kill. Deer and other wild animals are here because there is a river here that flows above ground. That may sound strange, but many rivers in Arizona flow underground. Here the Hassayampa River flows above ground and is a haven for plants and animals. Today I found a toy shovel, a child's alphabet block, an off-set screwdriver, a socket and three pennies. We walked 12 miles today. Stay tuned ....

Friday, April 18th

We left Morenga Palms RV Park this morning and headed to Desert Cypress RV Park in Wickenburg. Compared with the small towns we have been staying in, Wickenburg is the big city. Why they even have a movie theatre. The lady that checked us in had lived in the greater Hot Springs area, around Arkadelphia and Bismarck. John Goodman was raised in Bismarck, it's a small world.
Wickenburg has a Habitat affiliate, but we had trouble getting touch with the president of the board, so we headed for the ReStore. They had a great ReStore. We met Jo, Ali and Sue who were all enthusiastic volunteers. ReStores sell donated items for individuals and businesses with all profits going to the affiliate in order to build more houses. The ReStore in Wickenburg is greatly supported by Home Depot, who donates their discontinued and damaged items. The ReStore was very clean, had very personable volunteers and was well stocked with merchandise.
We wanted to get in at least some mileage today, so we went out to mile marker 103 and started to walk to Wickenburg which was 7 miles away. We passed a historical marker that told the story of the Wickenburg Massacre. Five people were killed and two wounded by Indians or Mexicans when they attacked the stagecoach the victims were riding on. As we walked past the Desert Caba;;erps Western Museum in downtown Wickenburg, we noticed that they were showing a movie later on that evening. It was a John Wayne movie to be shown at 6:30 pm and since it was almost 6 o'clock then, we decided we didn't have time. Instead, we had a salad for supper and then off to Screamers, a '50s style drive-in for ice cream. We watched the sun go down there.
The only thing I found today was a red ladies garter...? Stay tuned.....

Wednesday, April 16th

Today started at mile marker 80,still in the Mojave Desert, but not as
remote as before. There are small towns every few miles. Traffic was
light and as we breezed along we came upon a Turkey Vulture along the side of the road eating what looked like a snake. Eventually we came to the town of Aguila, a very small town.
We walked on and came to acres and acres that were irrigated and
planted in what we think was some type of crop that is feed to cows.
On we walked and came across our first coyote road kill. Yesterday a
live coyote, today a flat one. And just as we were finishing up for
the day, two bicyclers came by and stopped to chat.
They were Peter and Matt and had started their cross country trip in
St. Augustine, Florida and were going to finish in San Diego. We took
their photo and they took ours and we wished each other a safe
journey. We finished with a record today, we waked 18 miles, our best
yet. I found a 10 '' channel lock, a marble, a golf ball and .11
cents. Stay tuned ...

Tuesday, April 15th

We started today at the 55 mile marker. Our goal is the 70 mile marker. Soon after we started we passed throught the town of Salome, AZ. We saw a Red Racer snake beside the road and we thought it was alive and it gave us quite a scare. Up close and personal, snakes are better dead. Up ahead was the town of Wenden, which is a argicultural center for McMullen Valley, the valley we are passing through. We saw an orchard with acres of trees and thought they were orange trees, but later learned they were pistacho trees. While walking through Wenden, which doesn't take very long, we came across the Ingredients Cafe with a sign out front that said "unforgettable women." We were going to take a photo, but a golf cart was in the way. We were almost out of town, when we were on a bridge and off to our left we saw a coyote. We both just happened to
be looking at the right place at the right time as it was gone in a flash. On we walked passing the 300 mile mark. We did 15 miles for the day. I found a socket and .11 cents. Stay tuned.

Monday, April 14th

Back on the road after a day of rest. Starting at mile marker 138 on Highway 73, we walked on to Vicksburg and Hope. At Hope, we came to Highway 60 that will take us all the way through Arizona to New Mexico. We crossed the Central Arizona Canal, that provides water for irrigation in this part of Arizona. Clear, cool and blue water here in the middle of the desert. It was uphill out of Hope with the Harcuvar Mountains on our left and the Harquahala Mountains on our right. These mountains are very rugged with little vegetation on them except an occasional cactus. Speaking of cacti, we are entering the area where Saguaro and Ocotillo cacti are present. We had not seen this type before. Saguaro cactus are those big cactus that you see in postcards. While walking, we found an old road that must have been Highway 60 years ago. We had it all to ourselves and as John put it, we took, the road less traveled. We came upon the town of Harcuvar, that is if you could call it a town. This is snowbirder country. During January, February, March and some of April the RV parks around here are full of people escaping the cold weather up north. But come warm weather, the snowbirders are gone and these small towns dry up until the next snowbirder season. We stopped at a closed RV park and waited for Ruth and Carol. They came within just a few minutes. We had walked 17.3 miles. I found a table knife, a utility knife, a tennis ball and .16 cents. Stay tuned .....

Saturday, April 12th

We started at mile marker 122 today and our goal was mile marker 138. Within a hour or so, we reached Blouse, Arizona. Not much here, a gas station, 2 stores, 2 restaurants and about a half dozen RV parks which are used mostly by "snow birders" who have all gone north by now. We did stop at the Ocotilla Bar and Restaurant to say hello to George Nauht. We met George at the Rotary Club meeting in Parker on Thursday. He then said to stop by when we reach Blouse and he would buy us a beer. John doesn't drink beer, but I do, so I was going to take George up on his offer. We chatted with George and said we would be back later for dinner and my beer. We walked on and found a dirt service road that paralleled the highway and we walked on it much of the time. We didn't have the stress of looking out for trucks all the time. Our only excitement was that we found some sidewinder tracks in the dust of the road. Sidewinder make an unusual track that looks like a "J" as they crawl sideways through the desert. We finished at mile marker 138, cleaned up and headed for the Ocotilla Bar and Restaurant. The place was full or locals and reminded John of the bar in "Cheers". Although not quite as nice as the bar in "Cheers" The locals that came in just helped themselves to whatever they wanted and they all knew each other. George wasn't there, but Junior was. I told Junior about the free beer and he said that was no problem. The food was the problem. Tasteless burger and greasy fish. Oh well, there will be better restaurants down the road. Today I found a screwdriver, a 1/2 inch wrench and a dime. I put 16 miles on my New Balance 926. Stay tuned ....

Friday, April 11th

On the road again ..... We are now on Highway 72, east of Parker and tomorrow we will pass throught Bouse, Arizona. It was a routine walk in the desert today. But we did get entertained for about 10 minutes by two A-10 Warthogs. John knew what they were, I didn't. They made some tight turns just over our heads several times and then they were off.
Nothing really exciting happened today except I found a bungie cord, a paint scrapper, a Michigan certificate of birth for a lady that was born in 1928 and a dime. We walked 16.3 miles today. Stay tuned ....

Thursday, April 10th

Today was a non-walking day, but we were plenty busy. In order to stay at Emerald Cove for 3 night for $29.99, we had to agree to a presentation. In other words, they were going to try and sell us something. We listened to this salesman's pitch and I think he knew right away we weren't going to buy a time-share, so he let us off easy. Then it was time to move the RVs once again. We moved to the parking lot of the Blue Water Casino in Parker. John and I had a Rotary Club meeting to attend at 11:30 am and it was at the casino.
At the meeting, John gave a very nice presentation about Habitat and afterwards he and Ronda Baird exchanged Rotary Club flags. After that, we decided to dry camp in the casino parking lot. As long as it didn't get too cold, it would be alright. Then we decided to make a Wal-Mart run to Havasu City which was about 38 miles away. At Wal-Mart among other things, we bought a small Sony digital camera as the Olympus we have is too heavy to carry on the road. On the way back, we crossed over the London Bridge, twice, but didn't get photo one. Maybe next time we're in Havasu City. There is a movie theater next to the casino, so we all decide to go see "Leatherheads". Save your money, not good. It was sure nice to get a day off. One more thing. John and I are having an on-going contest to see who finds the most money on the road. We start over at each state, so in California John found $1.89 and 2 pesos and 50 centevoes, while I found $1.64 and 2 pesos. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, April 9th.

Today we started exactly 10 miles from the junction of Highways 62 and 95. When we got to the junction and the "Wyatt" Earp, California post office, we turned on 95 and crossed the Colorado River. Good-by California, hello Arizona. One state down and 8 more to go. We were greeted across the river by Randy Hartsell, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Karen Bonds, Mayor of Parker. Ruth and Carol were waiting for us there also. We posed for photos with our Habitat banner under the Parker banner that announced the celebration of their centennial, 1908 - 2008. Also, Karen gave everyone a very nice Parker Centennial pin and a necklace. After that, we were off again. We walked through Parker, which didn't take very long and out Highway 95 for 6.1 miles. That gave us a total of 16.1 miles for the day. I found a funnel, a 7/16 socket, a green magic marker, a bungie cord, a clamp and a penny. Tomorrow we are moving again. Stay tuned.....

Tuesday, April 8th

After we got back to the RV yesterday, we ate fast and left for our next RV park. We are now at Emerald Cove and we can stay here for three nights for $29.95. CHEAP ! The only catch is we are required to hear their "presentation". They are going to try and sell us a timeshare. NO NO NO ! Today we walked 16 miles and just before we got to Vidal Junction, we met Al. Al was on a bicycle and had left Palm Springs and was on his way to Tucson. He was about 70 years old and camping in the desert. I asked him about the rattlesnakes and if they presented any danger and he said that the only animals he had seen was a Gopher snake and a tortoise. We made our way through Vidal Junction and on to mile marker 132, our stopping point for today. I found a orange vest, the type that highway workers use, a steak knife, and a golf tee. No tools or money today. But I need to tell about one more thing. The mystery of the towels. Today and yesterday, we have found at least 100 towels along the road. What's going on? We think they are flying out of boats that are being towed along the highway. Parker is on the Colorado River and Lake Havasu is just a few miles away. Lots of boaters and water sports. And lots of towels. Stay tuned .....

Monday, April 7th

We got an early start today as we had to drive quite a ways to get to the starting point. Off we went and after a few miles, we came to downtown Rice, California. Downtown Rice consist of a burnt out gas station. There is a railroad across the highway with a few boxcars on a siding, but that is it. But RIce is famous for one thing, a shoe fence. A few yards down, there is a fence with hundreds of shoes hung from it. There was a tree that the shoe hung from, but it burned down along with the gas station. John and I found some old shoes and made our contribution. Other than that, it was a routine day and just when Ruth and Carol were to pick us up, we spied our first snake. It was a red racer. Common in the Mojave Desert and a very colorful snake. And most important, non-poisonous.
Today I found a wrench, a plastic hot dog man, a lighter that looks like a wrench, a very nice windbreaker that is XL, so John may end up with it and .07 cents. We walked 12.5 miles today. Stay tuned ......

Saturday, April 5th

We walked 16.5 miles today and reached the 200 mile point. John and I toasted each other with our traditional water bottle toast.
On the way to our starting point, we had to pass a California Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Station. We told the inspector that we had seen signs that read, "Caution Wild Animals", and we wondered what wild animals they meant. She said that there were, wild burros, mountain lions and bobcats in the desert. Well, to make a long story short, we didn't see any of those animals. The walk today was very routine, but I did manage to find an Arizona license plate,(I want to get one from every state)a _ inch socket and an 18 inch Erie Manufacturing Iron Works pipe wrench and .20 cents. I put 16.5 miles on my New Balance 858. Stay tuned ….

Friday, April 4th.

No walking today !!!Yea !!! Instead we moved motor homes today. We are now camped at the Big River RV park at Big River, California. We are right on the Colorado River. Very cool. This makes up for staying at the Marine Base in 29 Palms. Not much there to brag about. We will resume walking tomorrow. Stay tuned …

Thursday, April 3rd

Ruth drove us out into the desert again to mile marker 71. We started walking. There was one difference today, a slight difference. I saw two Kangaroo rats today, the first rodent that we have seen. We have seen plenty of lizards, live ones and the road kill variety and birds. What we haven't seen is snakes, which is OK by me. The desert is full of rattlesnakes and if I don't see any, that is fine. John and I are very careful about where we sit down for our breaks. About halfway through our walk today we came across something interesting. The road made a slight twist for no reason and there was a buildup area on both sides of the road. I had to investigate, ignoring the "no trespassing" sign. It was an aqueduct, full of clear and flowing water. And it ran under the road and came out on the other side. I figured it was part of the Los Angeles aqueduct system or maybe San Diego. We finished at mile marker 87, 16 miles. Ruth and Carol picked us up and we had lunch overlooking the valley we just crossed. Today I found a utility tool, a kitchen knife and a quarter. I put 16 miles on my New Balance 817. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, April 2nd

Yesterday I thought we were in the desert, wrong. Today we were in the desert. Desolate, nothing for miles around. We could see for miles. Nothing but tumbleweed, sand, rocks and blue sky. We were on Highway 62 going east out 29 Palms headed for Parker, Arizona. There was very little traffic so we walked on the road. It was a good thing because the shoulder, when there was one, was very soft sand. Very difficult walking, like walking on the beach. We did 15. 4 miles today and tomorrow we do it again. When Ruth and Carol picked us up, we headed for Joshua Tree National Park which is just about a half mile from 29 Palms. We drove to a picnic area and had lunch. Great park, I wish we had more time to explore. I found a ratchet handle and a quarter. I put 15.4 miles on my New Balance 926, Stay tuned ….

Tuesday, April 1st

We started today at the small airport just east of 29 Palms. We are in the true desert now, the Mojave Desert. As we walk east, Joshua Tree National Park is on our right. Soon after we started walking, we had to pull our guns out. Pepper spray! Three large dogs, that looked like a cross between a German Shepard and a wolf started to cross the highway and they seemed friendly enough, but we weren't taking any chances. They followed us for a bit and then lost interest, which was OK by us. We walked on and came to a spot were the desert wildflowers were in full bloom. Very beautiful. One of the locals told Carol that the flowers haven't looked this good in ten years. She explained it all depends on the amount of rain the desert gets. On we walked until a car that had passed us turned around and the occupants wanted to know if we need any help. John told the young man that we were walking to Georgia and he said Georgia! They were very nice as are most people. Also a man and wife in an RV stopped and they didn't say anything, but I think they stopped to see if we were OK. On we walked until we came to the first road we had seen all day and waited for Carol and Ruth to pick us up. 15.3 miles today, not bad. Today I found a white towel, a steak knife, a sponge and a penny. I put 15.3 miles on my New Balance 1123. Stay tuned ….