Two dogs on a 2,000 mile walk from Austin to Boston

by Jamie Rhein on

Murphy and Hudson have been walking towards Boston from Austin, Texas for a year so far. Not by themselves. They’re bringing Luke Robinson along with them. The walk was Luke’s idea after another dog pal, Malcolm died of bone cancer.

Robinson decided to sell his truck, put his worldly goods in storage and hit the road with Murphy and Hudson, two Great Pyrenees at his side. The idea of the walk from Austin to Boston is to raise awareness about canine cancer. As they have walked, Hudson, Murphy and Robinson have visited veterinarian oncologists along the way to find out more about the disease that is often similar to the type of cancer humans get.

In this article I found in the Williamson Herald, Robinson said Murphy and Hudson are the ones who are walking him. Both dogs are sporting backpacks that hold their snacks while Robinson carries the heavy stuff. As the trio travels, they have been stopping at animal shelters to volunteer their services and at special events to draw attention to and help raise money for animal care.

The walk has provided an opportunity to experience the U.S. with a different view. Robinson recalls, for example, mosquitoes as “‘big as sparrows'” when they made their way through the Arkansas Delta last summer.

People can follow their route at the 2 dogs, 2000 miles website. Robinson is rallying people to join in the cause to help cure cancer in dogs, but also is happy to visit with folks who want to meet Murphy and Hudson in person.

According to their blog, Robinson and the boys are in Ohio will be at the Harcourt Veterinary Clinic in Mt. Vernon, Ohio this Saturday, and at the Wolf Run Bark Park on Sunday. The blog is updated regularly with details about their next event stops. From what I can tell, the trip is happening as it unfolds. There is room to meander as people offer support.

Photo of the Day (3.21.09)

by Brenda Yun on


I watched “No Country for Old Men” for the first time last week, and I guess it’s still on the brain. Having spent my childhood in Texas, I have some great memories of the expansive countryside. This photo in particular is of Big Bend National Park, which is where my family drove through when I was young. In our cream colored Volvo, would would dip and bend along the road and, when we’d spot the “DIP” signs, we’d cry out in unison, “Dip dip dip dip dip” as if we were on a roller coaster.

Indeed, there is something haunting and inspiring about the Sierra del Carmen of Mexico, the huge mountain range that looms in the distance.

The even more ironic part of my photo selection is that I’ve spent a full week with two very serious birdwatchers and today’s photo comes to us from sngcanary, who is also an avid birdwatcher who hails from San Antonio.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Ode to Horton Foote and The Trip to Bountiful

by Jamie Rhein on

Horton Foote, who died yesterday, was most known for writing the screenplay for the movie To Kill A Mockingbird. Foote also wrote The Trip to Bountiful, perhaps one of my all time favorite movies.

Originally written as a play, and then as a screenplay, The Trip to Bountiful is a traveler’s story about those who are traveling in search of a new life and those who are traveling to go home, even though home may not exist as we remember it.

There are wonderful scenes between Geraldine Page’s and Rebecca De Mornay’s characters as they ride on a bus through the Texas landscape. Here is a trailer for the movie that has a bit of those scenes.

In this article about Horton Foote’s life in The New York Times there is an interesting piece of information that also seems poignant. Foote is credited with opening the doors of the theatre of the King Smith School in Washington, D.C. in the 1940s to everyone, making this the first integrated audience in D.C.

Texas town pays for visitors

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Finally, there’s a reason to go to Amarillo. Stay in a hotel, motel or bed and breakfast in this town from March 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009, and you could walk away $1,000 richer. Just send a copy of your receipt to the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Council to have your name entered into the drawing. Of course, longer stays better your odds. Spend two nights in town, and your name is entered into the drawing twice – three nights, three times. The maximum is 10 entries for 10 nights.

While you’re in town, check out Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian, Wonderland Amusement Park and Big Texan Steak Ranch. Well, at least you have a shot at the price money.

Throughout the summer, there will be 10 drawings, each for $1,000. If you win, you can put the money toward an interesting trip next year.

Man who can’t work cell phone sues Continental Airlines

by Annie Scott on

Saquib Fatah of Houston, Texas, is suing Continental Airlines because he can’t work his cell phone. Confused? I’ll break it down:

1. Fatah gets on airplane in London with his new cell phone.
2. Captain makes the usual “turn off all electronic devices” announcement and the plane begins to taxi.
3. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!” from Fatah’s phone.
4. A stewardess asks Fatah to “kill the phone.” He appears to do so. Taxiing continues …
5. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!”
6. Everything goes to Hell.

After the phone went off the second time, Fatah states in his lawsuit that “the Continental Airlines stewardess used degrading and insulting language, and then offloaded him and his luggage, and handed him over to the British police.”

Fatah was reportedly held in jail for a couple of hours, then sent along his not-so-merry way. A week later, Fatah arrived at the airport to try to go home to Houston again, but Continental turned him away at the check-in, saying he was “undesirable.” Ouch. Fatah bought a ticket on British Airways, flew home, and called his lawyer Ali Ahmed.

Ahmed has yet to serve the lawsuit, but if he’s already talking to the press about it, chances are he has every intention of doing so.

[via Houston Press Blogs]