Ah geez, been too long since my last post, hasn’t it? Let’s ketchup.

The days are slowly pouring by…

Well, there is work* and it seems to be going pretty well overall.  I’m blessed with an outstanding staff of professionals who work hard and seem to enjoy their jobs.  I’m fortunate to not have to deal with “people issues”.  I treat them right and they respond accordingly.  That’s just simple management 101, I’m no genius.

But having said that, I reckon I’m doing pretty good at what little I do do.  No shit!  People come to us for answers and solutions and we provide them.  We’ve filled some voids for the command and I do believe the leadership appreciates our contributions.  I take a lot of pride in that.

Our new building is a bit of a pain in the ass.  The biggest adjustment for most of us has been getting used to the prohibition on electronic devices in the building.  That means no cell phones and no Fitbit!  God knows I hate losing all the ancillary steps that aren’t recorded during the day.  My poor Fitbit is confused about being locked up at the front entrance and accuses me of taking a nap during the day.  Oh well, these days we all have to be cognizant of OPSEC (operational security) and do our part.

Several of my folks have not physically moved to Pyeongtaek as yet and that commute from Seoul is a killer.  For now at least I’m allowing them to telework 2 days a week, so that helps relieve some of the burden I suppose.  Anyway, we’ll all adjust.

So you may be asking yourself “I thought he was planning on retiring in September?”  I was.  And I still am in the not too distant future.  I’m just going to be flexible in my planning.  As mentioned above I do derive some satisfaction from working and damn, it is hard to walk away from my ridiculous salary and my ridiculously big and paid for house.  I’ve got a goal on how much money I want to have in the bank when I hang it up and I’m making steady progress towards achieving that goal.  Meantime, I’m just going to enjoy the ride and try to decide what my “purpose” will be in life once I retire.  So far the best I’ve come up with is enjoying bay views while I watch the world go on without me.  We’ll see.

Ms. Choe, Song Won is one of my superstars. It was my honor to recognize her with the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service.  (We had to go outside to get a photo.  Everyone’s camera is on their phones these days)

What else?  Well, I’ve had some visitors which is nice.  Joey and Sonja (the newly engaged couple I wrote about here) have moved to Pyeongtaek.  In fact, they wound up renting a place just about across the street from me.  Heh, it’s a small town!  We enjoyed a grilled meat dinner and then I took them on a tour of my favorite bars.  That was a great time.  Last night Jessie, one of my old time Seoul friends, was in town on Army business and he got to enjoy my upstairs guest room.  We had some beers out on the town to facilitate a good night’s sleep of course.

I found a small house with the attractive coffee on one of my walks…

And if you can’t afford the best, this place is very good…

Still enjoying some quality time bicycling on the river…

That was not a bridge too far…

I kept to the straight and narrow. It’s jut the way I roll…

Serious business biking is.

What about my love life?

It’s probably for the best.

Tensions are higher than I’ve ever seen here on the peninsula.  But we’re pulling out our big guns…

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I’d still rather be here than in the USA.  Much easier to avoid the silly PC social justice warriors.  I have zero tolerance for that bullshit.

Well, they will be well-suited for future employment with Google I suppose…

I was just talking to the moon, hoping someday soon that I’d be over the memory of you. Too hard to hold on…

*  The views expressed here at LTG are my own and are written on my own time and dime.  My opinions are not sanctioned or endorsed by my employer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the United States Government.  What are the odds?

Meetings in Seoul yesterday necessitated a return to my former hometown.  Rather than fight Friday afternoon traffic I opted to spend the night.  I’ve had a hankering to get out and revisit some of my old familiar trails.  Couldn’t decide on whether to do Namsam or the Han river.  So I did both.  It was a hot motherfucker of a day but I got it done in three and a half hours.

I didn’t dare to tread there though. Truthfully, Seoul is a city full of memories for me. Quite a few of them make me sad these days. That’s one advantage to Pyeongtaek–nothing here to remind me…

Hello old friend, long time no see!

Truth be told, the street didn’t look all that old to me…

The Han is always a pleasure…

A nice way to end the day.

It was hot and sweaty work out there though…

Nothing like walking to Incheon, but not bad for an old guy…

Up pretty early after a night of drinking chatting with friends in the bars.  On the road before 0700 but still got caught in traffic leaving Seoul.  Went pretty quick after that though.

Rested a bit then broke the bike out for a river ride.

I foolishly picked the hottest part of the day for my endeavor…

But it was a good 2+ hour ride regardless…

The buzzer on the oven timer just went off so I was expecting to enjoy some baby back ribs.  Alas, I must have failed to ignite the oven, so now I’ve got another hour before I can eat.  Need to get today’s walk in as well, but I’ll let it cool off some first.

And that’s the latest installment in my exciting life.

So I took the base bus to Seoul after work yesterday.  I was on a mission.

It was my good friend Sonya’s last day working at Shenanigans…

Now, she thought all the folks who showed up were there to just say thanks and goodbye.  But we were in on the secret.

Sonya’s boyfriend Joey was due to arrive in Seoul on Friday, or so she thought.  Instead he came in last night.  And his plan was to propose to her in the bar in front of their friends.

My job was to distract her.  So, on the signal from the bar owner Willie, I called her over to my table and started asking her what would be the appropriate shot to order for my nephews.  As I was keeping her busy, “their song” started playing.  I could see her thinking “who’s playing that and why?”, but I kept up my ruse of not knowing what to order.

And then Joey was standing behind her.  When she turned around, the look on her face was priceless.  Disbelief followed by unbridled joy.

And then Joey popped the question…

And Sonya said YES!

Congrats and best wishes for a lifetime of happiness. Now, I personally don’t believe in love anymore, BUT I will admit to getting a little choked up and teary eyed seeing how much they love each other. It was a bittersweet reminder of what I’ve lost.

And Joey and Sonya will be moving to Pyeongtaek soon so I reckon I’ll be seeing them around and about.  Always room for some friendly faces in my life, that’s for sure.

I took my grillfriend’s virginity today.  It was delicious!

So hot and juicy!

For the first time in the long and storied history of Pyeongtaek, three McCrareys graced the fair city with their presence.

Nephews Justin and Joshua came down for a visit with their favorite uncle.  I showed them around the army base and they were suitably impressed.

Fed the hungry boys lunch at the Alaska Mining Company, one of the fine dining establishments on Camp Humphreys. Justin declared it the biggest burger he’d ever seen in Korea.

Luckily both the nephs were up for a hike.  I took them on my “3 parks” hour and a half loop walk.  They seemed to tolerate it well, although we were  all drenched in sweat when we finished.

Rested up some and showered then it was time to introduce the boys to the Anjeong-ri nightlife.

First stop was Horse and Cow where we were well served by the Lana, the bartender from Uzbekistan.

Next stop was Mass bar where my favorite barkeep Mi Young gave the boys a friendly welcome. Hmm, she never welcomes ME like that..

The owner of Galaxy bar came in to Mass (which is owned by her mother) and gave me some good natured flak about cheating on her bar. So I promised we’d visit Galaxy next. Promise kept!

Then it was on to Shooters bar. Della, the African gal from Cameroon is a hoot. She can parry all my witty jabs and pay them back in spades. Always have a good time there. The gal in yellow is the owner, Tee. Well into our afternoon hike she spotted us on the street and called out to me insisting I visit her bar that night. The boys were impressed that everyone in town seems to know me. Well, everyone in the bar biz anyway…

I left the youngsters at Shooters and stumbled on home.  Just can’t hang the way I used to.  They continued their good times without me then made it home safe and sound on their own.

They are both still snoring away the day.  While I wait for them to get their asses moving I’ll share some other photos from my bar life this weekend.

“Mama” and Lana from Horse and Cow.

Me and So Yeon, the owner of Galaxy.

An action shot from Friday night in Galaxy. I’m usually the only miguk in the place.

Hanging with Della from Cameroon at Shooters…

Mi Young from Mass bar. Interesting gal. Spends all her free time working at the animal rescue shelter. Says she has 8 dogs at her house waiting for adoption too. Can’t imagine what that’s like, but good for her to be so committed to a worthy cause. I told her I was a sick puppy but I don’t think she got what I meant. Ah well.

Seems neither reason is good enough these days…

Yeah, well who needs it?

My personal assistant/caregiver from the PI is always sending me encouragement from afar.

Thanks for looking out for me Loraine.

Still need to get a bike ride in and then do my 2 hours of walking.  Assuming the nephews ever wake up…

On Friday afternoon I drove up to Seoul for the official close down of my office building.

Building #1377 has now been signed over to the Yongsan Garrison Department of Public Works.

I climbed those stairs for the first time on January 23, 2005. They led me to a life I could never have imagined.

The trailing group of my employees who remained on Yongsan during the transition. They’ll all be reporting to Camph Humphreys on Monday morning.

I was here at the earliest stages of the planning for the move. It feels good that I was able to return and be here for the completion of those plans.

I stayed the night and met up with my old pal Alastair who was visiting from Scotland. Had us some beers and samgyeopsal and reminiscing.

Back home in the countryside Saturday morning where I enjoyed a nice long bike ride on the river.

On my afternoon walk I encountered this big ass sunflowers. They stood about 8 feet high…

Tried a new bar on Saturday night called the Eagles club. It was a huge place with just me and the (male) bartender. Maybe I was just too early. It was one beer and out for me, but not before I captured this sign with a somewhat unusual sentiment. I’d say it is more true of Korean women, but that’s just been my experience…

I was able to capture this image of the Saturday night action on the streets of Anjeong-ri. Powerful stuff, no?

And finally, talking about the end of an era, my daughter posted up this picture of me from the 1980s.  Good times!

Wish I still had the shirt.

Apparently someone high up in the North Korean food chain read my post about the Eighth Army headquarters move to Pyeongtaek*.  I guess they weren’t too thrilled based on this response in the commie propaganda rag:

US Troops Not To Escape From KPA’s Long-Range Artillery Strike
17/07/2017, Pyongyang Times.

A spokesman for the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People’s Army released a statement on July 14 over the recent desperate and undisguised moves of the US to provoke a nuclear war against the DPRK and perpetuate its forces’ presence in south Korea.
The statement said:
On July 11, the US aggressor forces, which moved the Command of their 8th Army present in south Korea to Humphrey Base in Phyongthaek, Kyonggi Province, invited bosses of the south Korean government and military and even human scum, including ultra-right conservatives, to an “opening ceremony of the new building” of the Command.
The commander of the 8th Army in his “welcoming speech” praised the south Korean lackeys,terming the move an “event demonstrating the solid south Korea-US alliance” and allowingjournalists to look round the interior of the base.
As far as the transfer of the US 8th Army Command to Phyongthaek is concerned, the US has pushed ahead with it in collusion with the puppet regime since 2003 in order to move its aggressor forces bases in south Korea to the areas south of the Han River to get rid of the striking range of the KPA’s long-range artillery strike.
Lurking behind it is the ulterior design of the US to save its troops only, indifferent to the plight of the south Korean puppet army at stake.
The US imperialists are busy hyping the transfer of their 8th Army Command, the shock brigade that will play a flagship role in igniting a war against the DPRK. This fully revealed the US scenario to perpetuate its military presence in south Korea and stand in confrontation with the DPRK to the end in league with the south Korean puppet warmongers.The US regards the Korean peninsula as a vantage point of strategic importance where the strength of maritime forces and the strength of land forces are interchanging. It is the centuryold Asia policy of the US to occupy the whole peninsula with south Korea as its springboard andthus realize its wild ambition for dominating the world.It is a tragedy for the US that it is unaware of the tremendous might of the army of the DPRK.
The bases of the US troops in south Korea, the primary targets of the KPA, can never escape the mercilessly annihilating strikes by its long-range artillery, no matter whether they are located in Phyongthaek or in Pusan. The US warmongers will never escape the miserable destruction if they persist in foolhardy military confrontation moves in south Korea despite the warnings of the KPA. KCNA

Well, fuck you very much.  And Kim Jong Un if you are reading this all I can say is bring it on biatch.

*It is possible that the NORKS heard about the move somewhere else, although that doesn’t seem too likely to me.

Another weekend in the books.  I’ve said just about all there is to say about how it all went down, but I do have some photos…

I braved the forecast for torrential rain and went on a riverside bike ride anyway. Wound up getting soaked, but it was all sweat. So that worked out for me at least.

After the bike ride I drove out to the Osan Air Force base to do some shopping.  The current commissary here at Camp Humphreys is woefully inadequate.  There is a new bigger version under construction but it won’t open until next spring I’m told.  That won’t do me any good.  I figure I can supplement with a monthly excursion to Osan or maybe Yongsan.  Nice to change things up.

Got home and filled the pantry with my purchases, then walked into town for a haircut.  Yeah, my life is a thrill a minute.  I got drunk and juiced later, so there’s that.

Started my Sunday morning off with some scrambled eggs, with ham, cheese, and salsa. Bacon on the side of course…

It rained most of the day today, but I took advantage of a late afternoon break in the storm and managed to get my steps in. This is about 10 minutes from my house.

I enjoy the random beauty that pops up in the most unlikely places…

…but I enjoy it alone.

Such is life.  No complaints though.

Oh, and I thought this was funny as hell.

Good job random foreigner, whoever you are!

And I don’t mean drunk.  Although truthfully I was both drunk AND juiced.

My struggle to find a bar home where I feel at ease and comfortable continues.  The problem is there just don’t seem to be any straight up pubs like I was accustomed to in Itaewon.  It seems that all the drinking establishments here in Anjeong-ri are all some variation of the “juicy” model.  For those not in the know, in juicy bars the bar girl will receive a commission on the drinks a customer purchases for her.  The going rate for a lady drink here is W10,000 of which the girl receives half. Depending on the bar and/or the girl, they can be quite aggressive in pursuit of getting you to buy them a drink.

I find it very off-putting, to the point of aggravation, to be asked to purchase a drink.  I’m not a “cheap charlie” but I prefer to choose when or if I’ll buy a drink.  And I certainly don’t need to pay for attention and conversation.  Most times, I prefer to drink alone or interact with other customers.  I can justify the occasional lady drink because I know it is how these girls make a living. But I get especially irked when the actual bar owner asks me to buy HER a drink.  C’mon!

I bring this up because I had an especially frustrating (and expensive) weekend in the bars.  You’ll recall I’ve stopped going to the dart bar because they added drinks to my tab without permission.  I blacklisted two other places because the staff was flat out rude to me.  And then there are three or four others where I just don’t feel welcome (probably because of my age and/or lack of free spending on lady drinks).  So my bar options are rapidly dwindling.

There’s one dive bar I kind of like, one of the oldest in town (circa 1985), because they play my kind of music, that being classic rock.  The two bar girls are similarly aged and not particularly attractive.  But like I say, I’m not there for the company.  Anyway, I’ve thrown a few lady drinks to one of them over the course of my several visits.  I decided to try a little experiment on Friday night.  When I came into the bar and she approached I said “I won’t be buying any drinks for you tonight”.  The look on her face!  She wound up sitting two bar stools away from me with her back turned during the length of my visit.  Which proves the point that no matter how friendly these girls might appear, it is never about you, it is always all about the drinks.  A fool who thinks otherwise will be both broke and disappointed.

So, I found another new (to me) bar that seemed to have some potential.  Not too busy and the owner is friendly enough.  They just hired an ethnically Korean gal from Uzbekistan and I welcomed her by buying a lady drink.  First time she’s worked in a bar and I don’t think she is much into drinking because she shared the bottle of beer with the other bar girl.  When it came time to pay up the owned wanted to charge me for TWO lady drinks.  I said, nope I just bought the one.  She said the other girl won’t get a commission if I don’t pay for both.  No can do, I bought one and it was shared, not my problem.  I got the impression the think I’m an asshole.  Oh well, they might be right.

There is a bar where I’m actually quite fond of the bar girl and have no issue with “buying” her time and company with drinks.  She’s also quite generous, asking me to buy the other girls drinks as well.  And the bar owner also seems to get thirsty quite regularly.  I spent about W150,000 in there the other night.  See, I must be very popular!  Asked the girl if she would like to have dinner sometime and got a polite no.

Methinks I need to go on a quest for new venues.  And leave my wallet at home.

Welcome home Eighth Army!

This week was the official ribbon cutting on the new Eighth Army Headquarters here at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek.

Soldiers and Distinguished Visitors from near and far were in attendance…

I was not a DV so this is as close as I got to the 8th Army Commanding General, Thomas Vandal.

General Walton Walker also made the move down south, but he will always be pointing north towards the enemy.

It was also pretty cool because I was there over seven years ago when the Walker statue was first unveiled on Yongsan. 

Katchi Kapshida!

These banners were plastered all over town in honor of the big event.

You are welcome.

And so it goes.

I really hate that I seem to have become a once-a-week blogger.  What can I say?  When your life is devoid of meaning and excitement it just does not leave much to write about. Here goes anyway.

You’ve been warned.

My life in a nutshell:

I work my appointed 8 hours per day.  Nothing too strenuous.  I have a great staff, so I just provide the occasional direction and guidance and let them do the heavy lifting.  That’s what’s called being a leader.  Ahem.

Our HQ building now has signage,

And a reserved parking spot for yours truly.

In addition to my 8 hours of work, I try to get in two or three hours of walking everyday. I’m pretty close to 20,000 steps everyday, so I’m happy about that.

And then I wile away the remaining non-sleeping hours drinking beer in the bars of Anjeong-ri.  I’m not particularly happy with that, but damn, I do get bored and lonely.  The bars here seem to be mostly of the “juicy” variety.  That being the bar staff will chat with you in exchange for an overpriced drink (usually W10,000).  I’ll buy the occasional drink because I’m a nice guy and I know it is how the girls make their living, but I don’t enjoy the fake friendliness at all.  In fact, I’ve tested this out.  I’ve gone into bars and not offered a drink and I’m totally ignored.  Which most days suits me fine.

Now, the bar I’ve most often frequented is IDK.  It’s the local dart bar.  I’ve achieved regular status there (defined as being on a first name basis with all the staff).  And the girls don’t work for drinks, which I like.  Having said that, I encountered a problem there last night.

So my bar tab was W52,000. As I’m walking home I did the math. I’m drinking W6,000 beers so it didn’t add up. I go back to the bar and ask. They say you had six beers. And threw a 9 in 501 during the tourney so you had to buy a round of drinks. That was news to me that such a rule existed.  And none of the shitty players that couldn’t hit the board were buying drinks. Okay. You took me for W16,000 and lost a customer. Good deal for me.  I will not be back.  If I get a hankering for darts, I’ll make the trip out to Songtan.

What else?  Well, my son Kevin has left the world of sports journalism to venture out into the corporate world where the money and work hours are more conducive to family life. You can read his farewell here if you are so inclined.

I’m still slow cooking every Sunday. Pot roast this week…

And I still embarking on my weekend river rides..

My trusty chariot…

And the solitary restless rider…

And that’s about it.  Well, I guess I could mention that I’m flying out Wednesday night for a 10 day vacation in, where else, the Philippines.  Chances are good I’ll have something slightly more interesting to blog about.  At least we can hope.

You know, I’m going to refrain from boring you with the state of my mind, heart and spirit.  It is what it is and I’m doing my best to deal with it.  Still, during my walks when I let my mind go free it is disconcerting to have a random YouTube song kick me in the nuts.  This one did just that.

Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you’ll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast

You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you’ll understand why
Everything you touch surely dies

But you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast

Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
Cause you loved her too much and you dived too deep

Well you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go

Well, it’s Father’s Day so cheers to all you dads out there.

My father’s father.

My father.

My father’s son.

This father’s son.

Fathers and sons.

And of course, my first born daughter.

I spent a goodly portion of the day riding on the river.

Camp Humphreys on the left…

The river on the right…

I encountered a grave situation on Saturday’s hike.

Darts at IDK on Saturday night. Took home first place money for the third week in a row. Ha, better to be lucky than good I always say…

Friday found me in Seoul where I attended the G1 Hail and Farewell ceremony.  As the name implies, it was where new folks coming in are welcomed and goodbyes are said to those on their way out.

The G1 is basically the Army’s military HR directorate.  I’m in charge of civilian personnel, and my directorate reports through the G1 to the Chief of Staff.  That can at times be problematic, but thanks to the outstanding leadership of Colonel Irish and Command Sergeant Major Grandison, we functioned effectively as one team.

Both COL Irish and SCM Grandison are departing, but we didn’t let them leave without a token of our appreciation.

I spent the night in Itaewon, so of course I dropped into Shenanigans to see two of my favorite bartenders, Sonya and Veta.

And in the category of an unexpected treat…

…I came home from work to discover my landlord had erected this nice cover over the area I set up for my grill. Didn’t even think to ask for that, but it is really a nice touch. Kamsamnida!

Learned this relatively late in life, but it is my mantra going forward, that’s for sure.

And that’s how my weekend were.  Hope yours was fine as well.

Adios mi amigos.

I needed to get in another 3000 steps or so after work today, so I took a stroll through the neighborhood.

The first park I encountered is right up the street from my place…

A ten minute stroll brought me to park #2…

Right across the street was park #3…

Walking on a few more minutes and I arrived at park #4…

Which wasn’t far from park #5…

With my goal achieved, I hoofed it over to IDK…

…where I parked my butt on this stool and enjoyed a well earned brewski…

It’s not always a walk in the park though. Like when these selfish motherfuckers block my driveway…

I got to meet up with an old friend from Seoul for a couple of beers on Sunday. It was nice to see a familiar face…

If you are looking for CAMP Humphreys you are outta luck…

And yes.  I will never forget.

Sometimes what is broken can never be repaired.

Exactly like riding a bike, because that’s what I did this weekend.  Back in the first iteration of my Korea life I had a very nice bicycle that I’d ride along the bike paths on the Han River.  But that was seven years ago.

Circumstances being what they are I broke down and purchased an inexpensive bike on Saturday.  I just couldn’t handle the desolation and distances involved in hiking the river here.

The bike, helmet, and lock came to W234,000.

Nothing fancy, but she’ll carry me to places my tired old legs would never see.

Kinda like this…

The ajumma who sold me the bike was also very friendly.  I was wearing shorts and she noticed the varicose veins on my left leg.  She told me I really needed to see a doctor about that as she stroked my leg and tsk tsked.  I promised her I’d get it checked out.

So, it turns out that riding a bike is much more strenuous than walking.  Maybe that should be obvious but it came as a surprise to me.  I was shifting into low gear on the slightest of inclines and really pumping hard on the pedals.  I guess that’s a good thing, cardio-wise anyway.

That first day I was also in quite a bit of pain.

This cruel bastard was the cause of my butt hurt.

So after an abbreviated ride of an hour or so, I parked the bike at home and hoofed it to PX on base.

Where I purchased a seat more appropriate to the size of my ass. Today’s ride was much longer and much more comfortable for sure.

Anyway, I plan to incorporate the weekend biking into my regular exercise routine.  Which means the river rides will be in addition to my daily step goal of at least 15,000.

In other news…

Maybe so, but not so much when you are living a solitary existence.

Still, I took myself out on a dinner date and enjoyed me some pretty decent Mexican food. For dessert I won the dart tourney at IDK for the second week in a row…

There was a full moon Friday night…

Which led me to a pub called “Horse and Cow”…

The Pub featured a drink special called “Sweet Tight Pussy.” Sorry, but I’m not going to pay for it!

This is the only pussy I saw all night…

That was my weekend and all that jazz…

This bored:

8 hours at work, 4 beers after work, and a whole lot of walking in between. Such is life in the countryside.

Speaking of steps:

This is my step ladder.
I never knew my real ladder.

Stick around, I’ll be here all week.

Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land stretching out so far and wide
Keep Seoul city just give me that countryside!

A Sunday walk through farm country…

It’s been fascinating watching how rice is actually farmed…

It is definitely a labor intensive process…

Saturday night in the village found me participating in the dart tourney at IDK Bar.

Where I achieved my first first place finish in Pyeongtaek.

Finally found a gal willing to dance with me. Shocking I know, but she was electric!

A view of high midnight in Anjeong-ri…

I should probably add this shirt to wardrobe, don’t you think?

And so ended another weekend.

Despite a nasty hangover from last night’s over indulgence, I set about hiking a new section of the local river this morning.  Unlike the Han, there are very few bridges.  Well over two hours into my walk I finally reached this bridge:

But it was a freeway. So, I could either turn around and retrace my steps (something I absolutely despise doing) or I could seek out a new route home.

I chose the later option.  The only exit from the river trail was across a narrow concrete jetty through the adjacent rice paddies.  I could see traffic way off in the distance, so I figured what the hell.  The farmers must have thought I was nuts.

So when I reached the highway I saw a sign that pointed to Pyeongtaek/Ansan.  Well, that’s generally the right direction although I live in Anjeong-ri.  After a goodly long walk my road intersected with highway 45 leading to Pyeongtaek.  Problem is, that’s a major thoroughfare not conducive to pedestrian traffic.  So, I took a detour and walked through the sleepy little village of Bucheon-ri.

At this point I was at the three hour mark which is pretty much my max and I wasn’t entirely clear where I was or how to get to where I was going.

Nothing to do but soldier on.  After awhile I saw a taxi on a cross street up ahead.  I wondered about the odds of his turning in my direction (well, I guess they could have been 50-50).  He did turn my way so next I wondered if he might be empty.  As he approached I saw that he was indeed without a fare.  Deciding it was providence I flagged him down and said take me to Anjeong-ri.  A few minutes into the ride I realized that if I had walked on for ten more minutes I would have known where I was.  But that was still a 45 minute hike away from home, so I was glad to be in the cab anyway.

Had the cabbie drop me at the street market where I purchased some fresh bananas for tomorrow’s traditional Sunday smoothie.

24,500 steps and I have no (ahem) egrets.