Full-Time DreamCatchers

Chuck Donates 10 Gallons of Blood

Today Chuck was honored with a plaque by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers in Citrus County, Florida to celebrate his having donated TEN gallons of blood, one pint at a time. As you can see by the picture, Chuck is pretty proud of his achievement and says he is looking forward to donating his next gallon. […]

Hoodsport, WA

We arrived today in Hoodsport, Washington, a beautiful little (really little) town in Washington State that sits on the Hood Canal, a 600 foot deep fjord that is home to the giant Pacific Octopus and renowned Hoodsport shrimp and some of the best oysters in the country. Wow. We didn’t know that until we got […]

25th Anniversary

How do you like our bike jerseys? I bought Cheryl her nice new “Wedding Gown” and my “Tux” for this special occasion – our 25th! We were married on the Queen Mary and just had to come back to celebrate our 25th there. What a great ship. I even took my Beautiful Bride to a […]

Cycling Long Beach around the Queen Mary

City of Rocks, NM

We are currently camping at City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. Still in New Mexico?! you say? Yep, that’s right. For some reason, we just can’t seem to get out of this state (well, except for a couple of weeks in extreme West Texas). There were a lot of things we wanted to […]

Florida’s Highest Waterfall

Today we visited Florida’s Highest Waterfall in Falling Waters State Park located near Chipley, FL in the northwestern panhandle of the state. Wait a minute – did I just say FLORIDA’S highest waterfall? Yes, I did. Who knew, right? The state of Florida is about as close to sea level as one can get without […]

Chuck, Chiisai & Shadow at Falling Waters State Park

Interior, SD

September 23rd, 2008

Cheryl

Badlands National Park (Interior, SD)

Chuck, Shadow, and a sheet of hail in the Badlands

We went out to Badlands NP this morning for me to get my 5 mile run in. We went to the Visitor’s Center first to ask a ranger what to expect on the Castle Trail and if it was okay to run on it. “You’ll come back 2 inches taller! We had two and a half inches of rain last night and that trail doesn’t drain well, so you’ll be deep in the mud, but otherwise have fun.” A little wary, I set out to run it anyway and was glad I did. What a great run! Chuck took the obligatory “before running” pics in front of the pinnacles and spires in the parking lot in front of all the trails located about 2 miles north of the Visitor’s Center, including photos of what we thought was snow but was actually piles of pea-size hail from the night before!

Devil’s Tower to the Badlands

September 22nd, 2008

Cheryl

Devil’s Tower, WY to Badlands National Park (Interior, SD)

We left Devil’s Tower this morning on our way through to the Badlands, SD. First stop was Rapid City, SD to get supplies. Little towns are great, but they don’t always have the things you’re looking for. We stopped at Rushmore Mall and then had lunch in the RV in the parking lot before moving on.

The Story of Wounded Knee is a Must-See Museum in Wall, SD

Next stop was Wall, SD as we wanted to visit the Wounded Knee Museum (which isn’t at Wounded Knee which we were surprised to learn when we visited the actual massacre site). It was quite a moving experience. Chuck was moved to tears at times I could tell (as was I), and both of us were disgusted at the travesty of it all. It still sickens me to learn of the way the Indians have been mistreated throughout history. I learned of more atrocities today that I had never heard of before – from when Columbus first came to the Americas. Indians being misled, then butchered and tortured – for the fun of it. It makes me sick. Why aren’t these facts more well known? Why isn’t this taught in history class? Why hasn’t the government righted the wrongs they’ve committed? Why did any of this happen in the first place? I know after seeing the museum that I want to learn more about Wounded Knee – the massacre and the Indian Movement there in the 1970s as well. Everyone should see this museum. The sad thing is, there were other people there, but I don’t think they really did more than casually read the displays. It took a long time for me to read them all, and I’m a fast reader. Even so, I was ‘speed reading’ a lot because there was just so much information. The other visitors were in and out and we were still there. They couldn’t have really taken it all in in that short time.

Chuck’s Thoughts on Crazy Horse

September 7th, 2008

Chuck

Today we got up at zero dark thirty (about 5:20 am civilian time). It was very dark and cool (38 degrees) and a light rain. This was going to be one of our best and most memorable days of our new life on the road. We were headed for Sunrise Service on the arm of Crazy Horse.

We got into our truck about 5:45 am and headed for Crazy Horse about 20 minutes away from Broken Arrow Campground. Cheryl wrapped up Shadow in a blanket to keep her warm. It was still raining.

When we got to Crazy Horse we joined the rest of our group (about 40 people) at the Laughing Water Restaurant at the Crazy Horse Memorial Visitors Center. After coffee and muffins we all loaded into vans and headed for the face of Crazy Horse. The rain now was a little heavier and colder and we could see some sleet and snow mixed in.

Father Fred Tulley's Sunshine Service on Crazy Horse Mountain

Jackie and her mother, Rose, gave us an umbrella and we huddled under it sitting on one of the benches placed on the arm of Crazy Horse for the service. Father Fred Tully stood in front of Crazy Horse’s face and gave a very nice service. Cheryl was holding the umbrella with Shadow under her coat to keep her warm and dry.

I can’t put into words how I felt during the service. I could only feel something very deep in my soul. The rain, the cold, wasn’t there. I could feel the power of the mountain. I was standing in front of the face of Crazy Horse with my most treasured possessions; my beautiful bride, Cheryl, Shadow, and we also had with us the ashes of Chiisai. At that moment I felt at peace with the world. I had everything a man could ask for and more.

Cheryl holding Shadow with Chiisai's ashes on the arm of Crazy Horse Mountain

Wildcat Sighting

August 30th, 2008

Cheryl

Clarksville (Oak Grove), KY to

We saw our first Wildcat on the road today – complete with the special ‘Wildcat hand signal’ owners of these kinds of trailers give when spotting each other on the road. I guess like anything else, it’s nice to feel like you belong to a special club. We joined an online group of fellow Wildcat owners back in March when we got our Wildcat. It’s a great place to exchange pictures, ideas, and experiences. So far it’s been really helpful and a lot of fun.

Don’t blindly trust the GPS!

August 29th, 2008

Cheryl

Eufaula, AL to Clarksville (Oak Grove), KY

Yikes! Almost got stuck in a dead end in Birmingham, AL because our GPS told us to follow a certain route to the freeway and it no longer existed.

Day 2 on the road – Propane Leaks and Early Mornings

August 28th, 2008

Cheryl

Eufaula, AL at Lakepoint State Park

What a great day! First off, the propane leak detector was silent tonight. Yay! That tells us we do not have any propane leaks or defective detector. It also let us get a decent night sleep – the first in two days. I woke up to light outside the windows and wondered if my watch alarm failed to go off, as I had it set for 6:15 am and it’s normally dark then. Turns out the time difference means it’s light about 5:45 am here. That’s good, as I can run in the coolness of the morning but not have to get up so early!

Our first ‘official’ day on the road as traveling Full-Timers

August 27th, 2008

Cheryl

DAY 1
Summerfield, FL to Eufaula, AL

Today was a travel day. After last night’s 4am wake-up from the Propane Gas detector yet again (we were up about an hour this time trying to figure out why it was going off, then waiting for the detector to stop alerting by opening ALL the windows in the camper) I decided not to do my normal 7 mile run before leaving and just get on the road. After a quick last trip to the storage unit and drop-off at Chuck’s sister’s, we broke camp at Chuck’s nephew’s house and headed to the Market to dump our tanks. Finally – on the road!

Billy Mills – 1964 Olympics – Video Clips

August 25th, 2008

Cheryl

Short version – B&W:

Longer version – Color:

Life on an Indian Reservation – Video

July 9th, 2008

Cheryl

This is a MUST see video about WHY I’m running the Marine Corps Marathon specifically for Team Running Strong for American Indian Youth. PLEASE – Check out this online video of the “Life on an Indian Reservation” Episode of the Hit FX show “30 Days”:

LINK:
30 Days – Life on an Indian Reservation

Running Brave – Video Clip

June 30th, 2008

Cheryl

Today Chuck and I watched Running Brave – the movie made about Billy Mills back in 1983 with Robby Benson. Wow. We had seen it before many years ago, but had forgotten most of it. How inspiring and interesting it was! Lots of motivation to keep running and training for the MCM. I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in the Olympics, Running, Billy Mills, and the Indian situation. Here’s a short clip of the Olympics portion of the movie showing Billy Mills winning his gold medal in the 1964 Olympics 10K:

LINK:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDyWojsVfHs

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On October 26th, Cheryl will be running the Marine Corps Marathon for Team Running Strong - the ONLY charity running to raise money for American Indian Youth! We are turning MILES into MIRACLES! Will you help her? You can donate by clicking the picture below:
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