2 coasts ... 1 HOPE


On January 6th 2009, I will be flying out to LA and walking back to Boston, raising money for cancer research. The route I'm taking should take 5 months and cover roughly 3,800 miles. We will be filming the entire trip for an upcoming documentary.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Day 1: Put the "beat down" on me. HAHA

Today was Day 1 of walking. We got to the Santa Monica Pier around 7:45 am and got the Baby Jogger SWITCHBACK HYBRID ready. I got a phone call from Pete Braley, from WBSM, and gave a quick update to the radio listeners back home. After that Carl, Steve, Eric and I headed to the ocean to get some of the water from the Pacific Ocean. I've read about some other cross-country walkers bringing water from one coast to the next, so I thought who am I to break tradition. My first step was around 8:20 am (P.S.T.)

I can't believe how heavy the Baby Jogger was and it didn't have all my junk in it. I ended up covering 18-20 miles today. Here is a partial SPOT map of where we were today. It shows where I hit the "check in" button, not the actual route.

Once I decided to call it a day we headed to West Covina, to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow, we will go back and pick up where I left off. We have 58 miles from were we stopped to the next hotel. I hope to cover a little more ground then today.

Today was harder then I thought it would be. There was actually a moment when I questioned what I was doing. I was holding on to the stroller and I noticed on my left arm was my breast cancer bracelet and on my right, LIVESTRONG. That's what I'm doing. I'm making a difference, my way. I'm making it to Boston.


Also today in The Standard-Times, my local paper, there was an article about the walk.

I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone that I hear is reading this blog. Please leave comments so I have something to read and keep me going.

1 day down.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Good luck Jesse! My bet's on you covering 30 miles today!

MUM said...

You can do it. Remember the "Little Engine That Could"

Anonymous said...

Hey, you're not allowed to bail out until at least half way through the trip, like the N/S Trail in Rhode Island. If you can make it half way (just another 1881 miles to go), you don't even have to call your dad. You can call me and I'll come pick you up!

Linda said...

We're all thinking of you. We know you'll make it, all our love.

Gary said...

Congratulations on making the first step, first mile, first day.

Paraphrasing the Gaelic blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face; and
The rains fall soft upon your fields until you return home.

jgagnon said...

Hi Jesse! You don't know me, but my name is Janice and I'm friends with Kelly and I just wanted to say that I love what you're doing and it's very inspiring. And, I love your blog -- I feel like I'm living vicariously through you. What an amazing adventure. Stay safe!