Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Fat Dog To The Big Apple (Via Dunes City)

"Fat Dog To The Big Apple" was a silly idea I had a couple of years ago. It was partly an incentive for me and my soft-coated wheaten terrier, Amy, to exercise more, and partly an experiment in virtual travel. As we took our daily walks along the street of West Yorkshire we would aggregate the weekly total and transfer the mileage to Google Earth in the form of an American transcontinental walk : from Los Angeles to New York. As we traveled we would use the full resources of the internet to experience - as far as a virtual traveler can experience - the places we visited and we would publish a weekly record of our journey. In one ridiculous experiment we could get fit, discover fascinating things about America, and test the limits of virtual travel. In the three years since the adventure started, there have been stops and starts and long periods of inactivity. However, we have traveled up the Pacific coast as far as mid Oregon. The latest report comes from Dunes City, Oregon. Future reports will be published on the dedicated Fat Dog Blog.

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9 comments:

  1. Hey, I don't think it's a silly idea, at all, Alan. In fact, I think it's rather cute and interesting. Looking forward to more Fat Dog posts!

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  2. Well, would you look at that! I must be psychic!

    I love the "Amy" posts. They're always charming and witty.

    Kat

    Just thought I'd mention the word verification is: arseudam

    Sounds a bit rude.

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  3. i was looking to see if you and amy made it to cleveland in time to participate in the 'dogs of ireland' gathering a standard (and one of my favorite)parts of our irish cultural festival..

    i think it's a marvelously inventive bit of virtual travel... you definitely work at keeping your gray matter in the pink!

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  4. Anonymous9:17 PM

    Alan,
    This is using the internet to its fullest! Have a great Fat Dog Adventure! We'll check in and see how its going! :) The Bach

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  5. I love your silly ideas. And I love the word umpqua, in fact I will try and work it into a conversation tomorrow!

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  6. I'll be waiting to greet you when you cross the George Washington Bridge into NYC..or have I missed you?? well, come back...

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  7. You're invited to Australia next!

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  8. Glad to see that you & Amy are underway again, & enjoying your description of the southern corner of the Oregon coast--I've never been down in the part you've described so far.

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  9. This is fabulous. You absolutely nailed it, right down to the whining of the all-terrain vehicles on the dunes. Next time, head north, avoid the park, and visit the dunes behind the Fred Meyer store in Florence - no joke! It's a quiet oasis.

    I didn't know that Umpqua meant satisfied, but we also have a brand of ice cream called Umpqua and it is fairly satisfying.

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