UPDATE for Day 16 - May 14th 2008 to August 2008

Hopefully I can continue the walk within 2 days to complete by the end of August 2008.

This has been an expensive and time consuming endeavor for me due to rain, flooding, 
tornadoes and weather conditions in the last four months but I feel that the walk will 
show support for our troops and I am looking forward to the day All our troops ALL come HOME!

Look at: http://850miles.com/WalkProgress.htm#Walk for latest updates.
(Press your [F5] key to refresh the page for latest update.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the 4th of May, I drove back to Versailles, Indiana to continue walking through the 
central part of Ohio. Unfortunately, the weather turned to rain on Wednesday and 3”-4" 
of rain fell over the next four days. I had walked 2 days (Monday and Tuesday). 
The forecast shows a good chance of rain Wednesday through Saturday of the coming week. 
I would love to start walking tomorrow and finish the trip by the end of this month but 
weather is delaying walking days. Since I am paying the majority of the cost of this 
trip, I have to pick a forecast that will offer 4-5 days of little or no chance of
rain as it gets very expensive being out of town and not being able to walk. 
Please bear with me and I will hopefully complete this walk with another 16-18 days 
of walking. Thanks and feel free to E-mail me… Mike Cox
I should be able to continue the walk about May 20th, depending on weather.
Rain Predicted Monday and Tuesday so far...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday - Day 16 - May 7th 2008 through Monday - May 26th 2008
My plan is to leave Kirkwood again this Tuesday or Wednesday (Weather forecast permitting) 
to continue walking. The forecast has changed almost daily so it makes it very hard to 
predict a true schedule when rain is forecasted 2 out of the next 4 days. It very disheartening 
to have a 5-6 day forecast for clear weather on Friday only to have it changed on Sunday to a 
very good chance of rain, 50-70%, for two out of the next four days. I have kept a log of days 
\that it has rained from the 7th of  May through the 20th of May. For the first 10 days, 
May 7th-16th rain occurred on 8 days. From May 7th-21st rain occurred on 12 of those days. 
I estimated that I would have lost 1/3 to 2/3 of my walking time due to wet conditions.
Here's the reality of walking the route I have chosen and I don't know of a better route to 
accommodate the purpose of this walk. The idea of walking along Highway 50 in good weather is 
hazardous at best. The highway is two lanes with a walking shoulder maybe 4 feet wide. There 
are areas where the shoulder is wider but this usually in areas where the new highway 50 is 
bypassing a town where old Highway 50 runs through it. On these highways for the most part you 
have a very narrow lane to walk on. I walked in the rain one day for about 20-30 minutes. 
This is absolutely treacherous. It is impossible to walk on the narrow shoulder so close to 
the traffic because the spray from the road covers you. You cannot keep you glasses clear, 
you feet dry, and you really, really, have to watch the on coming traffic while walking. And 
besides, it is not fair to the people driving in the on coming traffic to have to be concerned 
with me when driving conditions change. The day I walked in the rain when the pavement was wet; 
I had spray from the traffic covering me. If drying conditions are good you will only lose a 
hour after the rain stops. If the drying conditions are slow in coming you might not be able 
to walk for two hours or more after the rain stops. Hopefully I can resume the walk within a 
few days. I thought it important for those following my progress to understand how the wet 
weather affects progress on the walk. This has been a very unusual spring across the central 
part of the country with huge amounts of rain. I would have certainly like to have the walk 
behind me, especially with the continued growing support that has taken place, but due to 
the weather, that is not the situation and I must deal with it 
(And I will). I spoke with several farmers on my last few days of walking and they are 
concerned about the effect the wet weather will have on their crops. I realized that my 
problems of dealing with the walk are minimal in comparison. I'll keep you posted. Mike
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday - Day 16 - May 27th 2008 through 
I talk to the weather bureau daily to find the first good date to walk.
Over the past several days the forecast has not been encouraging. 
It seems almost impossible to view a forecast of three to four days
without a threat of rain. Today the same situation is present. 
Last Thursday it appeared that today through this coming Thursday the 
forecast was clear. Yesterday the posted forecast is for a chance of rain
through this Wednesday.  I will post a daily status until I can resume.
Stay with me as I really want to complete the walk ASAP!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because of the weather pattern over the past month and the forecast for the coming week, 
I am scheduling the completion of the walk to begin the week of June 23rd.
This allows me to take care of my business matters and personal responsibilities and at the 
same time it offers me a break from planning my schedule day by day based on the weather forecast. 
I am really very anxious to complete the walk in that the reaction from all has been very 
encouraging and rewarding at the same time. It has been very hard not to jump back on the 
road. The expense and walking days lost due to weather is the bottom line when deciding the window 
of opportunity to walk. 
I want to assure all , and especially the military people that have followed my progress, that the 
walk will be completed as soon as reasonably possible. I especially look forward to walking with 
those that have expressed an desire to join me even if it's for a short time. I continue to invite 
all to join me for the balance of the trip regardless of the time or distance.
I will post a revised schedule in the next few days. I asked that anyone that wants to join me, 
to give me some idea of where and when and try to remain flexible.
I want to thank all for your support, your prayers and your kind words. It has taken many people 
to put this together in many different aspects and to that group you have my lasting appreciation. 
I may be walking alone most of the time but I feel like I have a million people walking behind me at all times. 

Thank You,
Mike