Breakfast

So wet

Top of NYC

Quite wet, we reach Todt Hill

1 percent done suckas

1.52 miles down

Last-minute Stuff

We're in the final stages off pre-trip planning, and are furiously trying to get everything done that we need to. We spent 2.5 hours tracing the route onto our large AAA New York street maps. While useful, that was quite a bit longer than we had anticipated. In order to give us the best chance of successfully completing our checklist, we read over the list, item by item, compiling addresses and phone numbers off relevant places throughout the city, including numerous backup plans in case our initial plans fell through.

Last but not least, at the suggestion of a friend, we weighed ourselves to see how much, if any, weight we would lose during the course of the walk. The contenders weighed in as follows:

Rob - 169 lbs.
Matt - 160 lbs.

Unfortunately, tomorrow's weather outlook hasn't gotten any better. We're hoping the hardest rain comes during the night so that things have died down somewhat by morning, but it's looking more and more like the first 6-8 hours of the walk are going to be extremely wet.

That's all for now. Next time you see an updated blog, we'll be on our way!

Our last day of freedom

Celebrating Rob's successful arrival in New York, we took a few minutes today to enjoy the last rays of sunshine we're going to see for quite a while.

Here we are hanging out around the base of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, one of the more exciting locales in the city. It was hard to find a place to stand amongst the throngs of sunbathers and picnickers surrounding us. You may not know (or care) that the Verrazano is the largest suspension bridge in the US, with a main span 60 feet longer than the Golden Gate.

We also decided to load up on some heavy artillery, in case we have to fend off any hooligans or other street toughs. Here we are taking our new purchase for a test run.

Good Luck Message

Here's an example of the kind of support Matt and Rob are receiving as they prepare for their journey.

Down goes Frazier!!!

In unbelievable news that will shock and appall any connoisseur of competitive eating, American Joey Chestnut has smashed Takeru Kobayashi's record, eating 59.5 hot dogs (buns included) in 12 minutes. Chestnut, an American hero, bested Kobayashi's record by nearly six hot dogs.

San Jose Man Destroys Immortal Record

As people who share irrational desires to do things to excess, we applaud the efforts of Mr. Chestnut and encourage California residents to support him in his undoubtedly approaching Senate run. Mr. Chestnut, we salute you.

However, if you are truly the champion, you will eat this hot dog.

Good luck!

3000 Miles Down...

The hard part of the trip is done. Only 150 miles left to go! I've already covered over 95% of the total distance, so how hard can this week be?

Despite the best efforts of Minnesota's stellar weather, I've arrived in New York City. Matt picked me up from LaGuardia, and we headed to Matt's apartment in Brooklyn. Below is a picture that concisely demonstrates why we're walking instead of driving the 150 miles.

I have one question for pilots: Do you really expect passengers to not use the restroom when you leave the seatbelt sign on for a 2.5 hour flight? From Minneapolis to New York, our pilot might have turned off the seatbelt sign for 20 minutes, during which the flight attendants were in the aisles with their drink and snack carts. It goes without saying that, upon landing, the bathroom lines resembled Soviet-era grocery store lines. The collective sigh of relief was audible as far south as Philadelphia.

So, pilots...remember that biological systems continue functioning despite mild turbulence. Thanks!

It gonna rain

Well, Monday's shaping up to be a perfect day for walking 30 miles. Looks like the city's putting our resolve to an early test. Bring it on!

Note to self: add extra socks and waterproof bags to packing list.

Free Lodging? In New York City? Hah!

Since I fly to New York in the morning, we spent the bulk of today taking care of last-minute details. Because I leave approximately twelve hours from now, it was vital to spend our time wisely, to make sure all possible contingencies have been anticipated, no matter how minor they might seem. Obviously, all major particulars have long been sewn up, but those pesky trivial details, such as where to sleep at night, still remained.

Naturally, this is largely in jest, but until yesterday, we weren’t exactly sure where we were going to be spending each night. Keeping costs low is paramount to the philosophy of this trip, and anyone who has ever visited www.hotels.com and searched for a cheap NYC hotel room knows that frankly, they don’t exist. Furthermore, hotels don't generally provide the kind of interesting experiences we are hoping to have. Staying with friends was a possibility, but one of our rules was that even a stranger to New York should be able to complete this trip, and a stranger wouldn't have friends to stay with. Hostels were an option we considered, but they proved difficult to find outside of Manhattan. Additionally, we didn’t want to have to sleep with one eye open watching out for the petty thieves that seem to follow me around in youth hostels. Besides, after walking over 30 miles a day, I’m not even sure I’d have the energy to care if someone was stealing my bag.

So, we thought about what other options we had. While we fully appreciate the tremendous efforts of New York’s Finest in recent years to lower crime in the city, we’re not quite ready to sleep in an alley somewhere. We began our searches at religious establishments near the scheduled stopping points, and after numerous unanswered e-mails, unreturned voice mails, and people on the phone who thought we were serial killers, we expanded our search to anyone who we thought could conceivably have floor space for two weary pedestrians to crash for a few hours for a night. Come to think of it, perhaps we should have phoned mattress stores and furniture outlets!

We did have some success, and yesterday, we nailed down our one remaining night courtesy of a kind and enthusiastic member of the couch-surfing community at www.couchsurfing.com. In the end, the generous folks at an interesting variety of establishments were cool enough to let us stay with them, despite the fact that we will almost certainly smell like sweaty orangutans upon arrival. Our accommodations will therefore be as follows:

Day 1 – A church in Bay Ridge

Day 2 – A Jewish center near Forest Hills

Day 3 – Couchsurfing in Astoria

Day 4 – Society for Ethical Culture in Riverdale

Some of these descriptions have been left intentionally vague until we find out whether or not our hosts want their names to be public.

In summary, lodging = $0. Mission accomplished!