Hopland to the City - San Francisco

2/4/10 - Novato, CA
Dear Friends,
My route has to be very carefully mapped now because the 101 is an interstate and I can not walk on it. Shayne has spent countless hours using google maps to help me find the shortest path from town to town. Today I walked from Petaluma to Novato and the route was really challenging. I was following a small dirt road called Fire Road. The road turned into a private drive and then disappeared. So I ended up on quite an adventure walking across swampy fields, through cow pastures, throwing my pack over and shimmying under barbed wire fences. I soon made it to the railroad tracks and followed them safely into Novato. If you live in the Petaluma area or are traveling through, stop by Cardoza's Deli Cafe 25 Petaluma Blvd South. It is locally owned and operated and yummy.



















2/3/10 - Petaluma, CA
Dear Friends,
Left Sebastopol this morning. I had such a good time with Nancy and Clayton. I stayed with them for a week. Walked from Santa Rosa to Petaluma and made great contacts all around Sonoma County. Last night I went with Nancy to the Sebastopol City Council meeting. I was able to share Jada's story and talked about the walk. They are going to draft a proclamation for an annual bone marrow donor day. I was pleased with their response and will post the proclamation as a model for other cities to follow. My gratitude goes out to Mayor Gurney and all of the council members.

1/31/10 - Still in Sebastopol, CA
Dear Friends,
Nancy has been connecting me to people all over Sonoma County. That is one of the beautiful things about my journey...being hosted by fire stations, churches, families, etc. gives me an introduction to the community I would not be able to make otherwise. Nancy and I made a video yesterday to ask President Obama a question for the online Q and A scheduled for Monday. To view the video go to www.youtube.com in the search field type "stepstomarrow" We had a good response from the media here. KRCB is airing an interview on Monday, Feb 1. The Sonoma West Timeswill publish an article on Feb 2. And the Press Democrat will highlight the Steps To-Marrow project in Chris Smith's column next Thursday. Today I was back to walking. I walked through Santa Rosa and part of the way to Petaluma.






















1/29/10 - Sebastopol, CA
Dear Friends,
I arrived in Santa Rosa on Wed afternoon. My friend, Nancy LoDolce picked me up and drove me to her home in Sebastopol. I have been staying with Nancy and her husband Clayton Takaya for two days. When I arrived I was three days ahead of schedule so I have been using the time to arrange bone marrow donor drives and coordinating our Steps To-Marrow walk in San Francisco on Feb 9th. I have also been able to get some R and R. I had not seen Nancy and Clayton since our days at the Zen Center of Los Angeles 25 years ago so we have had fun catching up.

1/27/20 - Healdsburg, CA
Dear Friends,
It took me two days to walk from Cloverdale to Healdsburg. The first day it rained on and off. At the end of the day I was walking in a downpour as I entered Geyserville. I took refuge at the Geyserville Inn as I awaited a ride from Andy Grose. He and his wife Jacquie kindly hosted me for the night. Many thanks to Andy and Jacquie and to the folks at the Geyserville Inn for the shelter and the local connections. The next days walk was much drier. I have enjoyed walking through wine country. It is so beautiful. Thanks to Karl and Judy Hilgert for hosting me in Healdsburg.

1/26/10 - A sidebar Christmas Story
Dear Friends,
I want to step back and tell you a Christmas story. I was in Brookings on Christmas Day. The sun was shining and I was walking across town from one hotel to spend the night at another hotel on the other end of town. As I walked along the highway with my pack on my back I noticed 4 homeless men across the highway. They were waving for me to come over. I decided to go and see what they wanted. After crossing the street I was greeted by the oldest of the homeless men. He stood and laid out his coat on the ground creating a comfortable and clean place for me to sit. Among the four was a young man whose handle was Apache. Apache had been on the road for several months. The others had been in the streets for years. We sat and talked. I shared sunflower seeds from my pack. Apache told me his story...I talked about Jada and the walk. Even though there was a bit of a chill in the air it was warm sitting in the sun along hwy 101. In time I thanked them for the companionship. As I stood to go and was putting on my pack. They all reached into their pockets and together came up with 7 dollars to help me along my way. What a special Christmas gift from those with so little to give so much!

1/25/10 Cloverdale, CA
Dear Friends,
The Cloverdale Fire Protection District helped find me a room for my first night in Cloverdale. On Sunday I visited the United Church of Cloverdale. They generously shared hot soup lunch with me and arranged housing for the next three days; one night in the shelter in Cloverdale, one night with a couple from the church on the way to Healdsburg and one night in Healdsburg with members of the church.Before visiting the church I was looking for a ride back to the tracks I had walked the day before. I met a young man named James. James was kind enough to drive me back to the tracks and even walk them with me looking for a battery I had lost. It was raining and we had to slog through the mud and climb up over a cascade of rocks to reach the tracks. Then James took me back to Cloverdale. I am grateful to him for his kindness and company.

1/23/10 - Hopeland, CA
Dear Friends,
I walked into Hopland and stopped at a little pub to use the restroom. I spoke with the bartender to tell her about Jada and the walk. As I spoke she really perked up. She turned and pointed down along the bar and said "His granddaughter has leukemia too." I spent about a half an hour chatting with this man about his granddaughter and her journey. She is in remission. After leaving the pub I walked across the street to Brutocao Cellars Tasting Room to see if they would be interested in hosting a bone marrow drive. There I met a woman whose 2 year old nephew has leukemia. I walked over to the Hopland Volunteer Fire Dept. There I met Roy, from my host family. Roy drove me to his home on the way he told me that his wife's step-father had passed away from leukemia. I was in the small town of Hopland for less than an hour and I had already met 3 families effected by leukemia, one how had not found his match and died, one still waiting to find hs match and one in remission because she found her match. I want to extend my gratitude to Roy and Wendy and their two sons Rusty and Caleb for their warm hospitality. What a relaxing and comfortable visit.