Howdy pardners, this here’s Jamie’s Feet, and I reckon it’s time I shared my beef, cuz I’m techy as a teased snake now.

Tweren’t nuthin’, really, that first 1,800 miles; I held my toes and carried the old cow the whole way with nary a peep–ceptin those first few weeks, mind.  Then she went and dun buffaloed me, givin’ me time on the beach and whutnot, only to bring me back on the trail and stuff me in a new pair of boots about as broke in as a wild steed!

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Now, I said before that the Chinese really know how to welcome The Wallnuts to town with all their fireworks, but was mistaken, as it was merely Spring Festival goings-on.

Spring Festival, however, ended yesterday, so don’t tell me the schtuff in the videos below wasn’t exclusively for us!

Last summer I had a serious camera flub and lost a lot of photos, one of my favorites being a mural on the side of a house featuring an elated family clutching Mao’s Little Red Book.  

Now, I’m not sure if this family is grasping Mao’s Little Red Book or not (can anyone read the cover and confirm or deny?),

but it was close enough to my original photo to lift my spirits and keep me floating above my blisters for a kilometer or so.        

I’m not sure what point this unfinished mural was trying to portray, but The Ig and I ran off screaming as soon as we heard, “Bend over” floating out from the wall. 

I just spent two hours arranging all the photos from Yumenguan for a new photo page, tried to post it and ZAP (!!), the computer decided to wonk-out on me and I lost it all…YARGHHHHHHHH!!  However, I did manage to C&P a loaded video link, so I’ll post that below.  It’s just a short clip of one of the many Spring Festival activities taken from our bing guan window, and as badly as I wanted to wander down and join in, my aching body said no. 

While strolling through the small town of Gao Qiao (and we didn’t know the name of the town until we were told…doh!!) today The Ig and I were stopped for a chat. 

Running up to us came Wang Dan, a young lady who studies English at university.  Eager to practice her English (and WOW, her English is better than mine, folks!), she engaged us in conversation about both China and America.  And what a smooth talker; she convinced us to take a break back at her house, where she fed us sweet rolls and oranges–WOOT!! 

Wang Dan’s in front along with Du Ying in green, and in the back Wang Dan’s father, Wang Gui Hua.  And of course, Mr. Wang needed a picture with just he and The Ig.

Right now I’m writing this from the Wang’s place, but alas (!!), we must get back on the road and finish up the day with another 20k. 

But this kind of thing, this is what it’s all about; amazing!!  China rocks!!

The past few days have allowed The Ig and I the chance to wow the locals by wishing them a happy spring festival in Mandarin, and as per usual, we get all sorts of reactions.  From side-splitting laughter (you’d think we said “hello!” or something, sheesh!) to stunned silence with a look on their face like the dog just spoke, it’s been a lot of fun.  This has, once more, prompted Ig to start talking about wanting a giant lizard suit again.  Please, could someone just send him one already?!

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I’ve never really been big on celebrating Valentines Day, but man, the Chinese sure know how to welcome The Wallnuts to town; they’ve been shooting off fireworks all day long in our honor!
What’s that? Whaddaya mean it’s not for us? You say it’s because of Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year, as it’s known in the western world), eh?
Well, lemme tells ya; Adventure Turtle is going to be none too pleased with that bit of information.
Question of the day; guess what song’s stuck in my head right now?
And no, it’s not Air Supply or any other sappy love songs, a’right?!

I do need to make a request, ya’ll; if you know the website of the two people I mentioned in my earlier post, then please do keep it to yourself.
Not only do we not want people going over there to harrass them, but we don’t want this to turn into a pissing match, either.
Although we have issues with their melodramatics, it must be said as well that they most assuredly are on a difficult path (and a harder trail than the one we’ve taken), and they have taken on a challenge that few others would even consider.
They are in many ways deserving of respect, and even though many of their tales would put-off would-be trekkers, they do at least deserve some credit.
Why anyone would attempt a trek of this magnitude without a turtle however, is well beyond us.

I refuse to partake in this particular freedom in China, because, well, it’s disgusting.

I’m still having trouble getting the proper page to load so I can arrange photos instead of having them show up in single file down the page. I have some great ones of wall west of Yumenguan, and I have a lot, but until I can place ‘em where I want on the page, you’ll have to wait.
Now I’ll see if I can get another video to load…

No, I’m not going to babble on about sheep poo again; instead, it’s time to give ya’ll the scoop on what we’re doing.
After nearly 3 weeks of walking starting west of Yumenguan Pass in Gansu Province, The Ig, Adventure Turtle and I have made our way back to Jiayuguan. Ya’ll remember Jiayuguan, donchyas? No? Well, Jiayuguan is where we started our great wall walk last May. And why is it we’re back here, you ask?
After we’d finished at Shanhaiguan last November, we popped out to Yinchuan to visit the Other Wallnuts, Emma and Brendan. While out for a couple beers I mentioned Gayle Hall and how she’d walked the entire distance of the wall.
No, Brendan said, she’d stopped at Shanhaiguan.
Noooooooo, I squawked, she’d gone all the way to the last bit of discovered wall on the North Korean border and had therefore become the first person to do so.
“I’m pretty sure she stopped at Shanhaiguan,” Brendan reiterated.
At this point I’d already had a couple beers, and so I proclaimed, “If that’s the case, then we’re going back and doing it all, right Ig?!”
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