Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Only 1.1 miles!?!
Yesterday I referenced the "second longest walk" of my childhood. I got curious and decided to use MapPoint to see how long it was. Only 1.1 miles! OK, that is a lot for a 3rd grader by themselves. However, my memory sure made it a much longer walk than that.
The longer walk happened in the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. It felt like a march across the state! My brother (age 5) and I (age 8) were taking swimming lessons at Estancia High School across town. Our grandfather dropped us off. My dad was supposed to pick us up (this was before his accident that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life -- another story). However, he was running late. My brother and I waited for what seemed like forever. Based on my distance estimates, I have to realistically say that we were there for no more than 15 minutes. Anyway, we decided that we would help out by starting to walk home. Nothing like the helpful mind of an 8 year old!
We made it almost all of the way home. The route to follow was pretty simple, so there was really no chance of getting lost (abducted is another story). Within 5 minutes walk time of being home, our dad found us. As a parent now, I really appreciate the anxiety my dad had when he couldn't find us. We had walked a route that included some of the busiest streets in Costa Mesa. To us it was no big deal. The total walk was about 3.5 miles in swim suits, towels, and flip flops. It probably took us about an hour. That had to be the worst hour of my dad's life (and he went through a lot).
In hindsight, I did a lot of walking when I was 8 years old -- but not as much as I thought.
The longer walk happened in the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. It felt like a march across the state! My brother (age 5) and I (age 8) were taking swimming lessons at Estancia High School across town. Our grandfather dropped us off. My dad was supposed to pick us up (this was before his accident that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life -- another story). However, he was running late. My brother and I waited for what seemed like forever. Based on my distance estimates, I have to realistically say that we were there for no more than 15 minutes. Anyway, we decided that we would help out by starting to walk home. Nothing like the helpful mind of an 8 year old!
We made it almost all of the way home. The route to follow was pretty simple, so there was really no chance of getting lost (abducted is another story). Within 5 minutes walk time of being home, our dad found us. As a parent now, I really appreciate the anxiety my dad had when he couldn't find us. We had walked a route that included some of the busiest streets in Costa Mesa. To us it was no big deal. The total walk was about 3.5 miles in swim suits, towels, and flip flops. It probably took us about an hour. That had to be the worst hour of my dad's life (and he went through a lot).
In hindsight, I did a lot of walking when I was 8 years old -- but not as much as I thought.
# posted by - Rob @ 1:17 PM 
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I think the longest walk I remember was from my house on Pensacola St. in Westminster to a movie theater on Brookhurst between Heil & Warner (yes, I looked it up). I was in 6th grade, so that makes me 12, and Carolyn was 10. We were with our friends, Karin & Jane. Looks like 2 miles or so one way. We were really tired after we walked home from the movie. I forgot what we saw too...
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