{"id":58061,"date":"2017-07-17T08:20:13","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T12:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=58061"},"modified":"2017-07-18T05:02:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T09:02:01","slug":"lets-take-a-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s take a walk!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Melanie Ihrig and Lou Tassinary began a quest to walk America, and departed in October of last year in California; they will reach their final destination of Manhattan in New York City by the end of July. Here, they are pictured during part of their journey with their two dogs, Geoffrey and Finn. This was during the earlier portion of their trek in California; the dogs only accompanied them on part of the journey. (Provided Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

With the Walk Owego initiative underway in Owego, and during the Lake Street project, it is no surprise that Melanie Ihrig and Lou Tassinary ended up in Owego last week; a stop that was part of an 1,800-mile trek.<\/p>\n

Both in their early sixties, the couple decided to take a walk \u2013 across America.<\/p>\n

Tassinary, who was sporting his third pair of North Face boots and pulling a cart filled with dehydrated foods and clothing, described the prompting of their venture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Melanie retired last year she told me she wanted to take a long walk,\u201d stated Tassinary.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo here we are,\u201d Ihrig swiftly responded.<\/p>\n

Tassinary, at the age of 62, is employed by Texas A&M University and is a professor for the Department of Visualization in the College of Architecture. Tassinary also served, at one time, as an executive associate dean. <\/p>\n

Ihrig, who is 63 years old, recently retired from the Houston Methodist Research Institute.  <\/p>\n

Upon Ihrig\u2019s retirement she simply mentioned that she wanted to go for a walk, but in no way did she imagine that her desire would land her in Owego, N.Y. last week, and a mere 200 miles from their final destination.<\/p>\n

The couple started their trek in Santa Monica, California in October of last year with a goal to walk across the Bunyon Derby \u2013 a race trail established in 1928 to promote the opening of Route 66. According to Tassinary, this was the original Route 66.<\/p>\n

The couple began with their dogs, Geoffrey and Finn, and were able to get as far as Albequerque, New Mexico \u2013 approximately 850 miles. It was early January, but they both became ill and had to take a break.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came down with food poisoning and couldn\u2019t get over it, so we had to stop,\u201d said Ihrig.<\/p>\n

Their break lasted for a couple of months, but they were soon back at it \u2013 this time beginning in Chicago in May, and without their two dogs \u2013 they needed a rest. <\/p>\n

Their starting point, in Chicago, was Soldier Field, close to the point where Route 66 ended. Walking approximately 15 to 20 miles per day, the couple made their way east with a goal to arrive at the 1920\u2019s location of Madison Square Gardens by the end of the month. The miles walked from Chicago, upon reaching their destination, will total 1,000, with an overall total of 1,800 when the original 800 walked is added into the equation. <\/p>\n

And last Tuesday the couple made a stop in Owego, N.Y., and were planning to spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express. The day before, the couple stopped in Nichols, N.Y. and spent the night at The Fainting Goat Island Inn.<\/p>\n

And with the end of their cross America trek in sight, the couple talked about how difficult, yet worthwhile their journey has been.<\/p>\n

Ihrig, who wears Salomon shoes, is now on her fourth pair; Tassinary, with his North Face boots, is on his third. <\/p>\n

And the hardest part of the walk, they shared, is getting up every day and doing it again. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like a marathon where you do the run and you are done,\u201d shared Tassinary. <\/p>\n

And walking at a pace of approximately three miles per hour, Ihrig finds the hills to be most challenging. <\/p>\n

They explained that they have a GPS tracker with them at all times so their family and friends know their whereabouts. The tracker, they explained, also has an S.O.S. function.<\/p>\n

Walking in front of two carts, the couple also has everything with them that they might need on their journey. Ihrig\u2019s cart, weighing approximately 50 pounds, contains a tent, sleeping bags, and camping and rain gear. Tassinary\u2019s cart is 80 pounds, and contains their food, clothing, and any repair kits they might need for their gear.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they will stay at hotels, while at other times they will find a campground, Ihrig explained.<\/p>\n

By Wednesday they were expected to arrive in Binghamton, and there they would stop for the evening.<\/p>\n

As for Owego, Ihrig and Tassinary loved the history and ambience of the village. <\/p>\n

And as for the trip, overall, Ihrig stated that they went through some tough places on their journey thus far, but most were beautiful.<\/p>\n

This couple can officially say that they walked Owego, in alignment with the alternate parking incentive, as well as the entire length of the United States of America. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Walk Owego initiative underway in Owego, and during the Lake Street project, it is no surprise that Melanie Ihrig and Lou Tassinary ended…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":58062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLet\u2019s take a walk! - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let\u2019s take a walk! - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the Walk Owego initiative underway in Owego, and during the Lake Street project, it is no surprise that Melanie Ihrig and Lou Tassinary ended...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-17T12:20:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-18T09:02:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2017\/07\/Walkers1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1804\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/\",\"name\":\"Let\u2019s take a walk! - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2017\/07\/Walkers1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-17T12:20:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-18T09:02:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2017\/07\/17\/lets-take-a-walk\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2017\/07\/Walkers1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2017\/07\/Walkers1.jpg\",\"width\":2533,\"height\":1804,\"caption\":\"Melanie Ihrig and Lou Tassinary are pictured in downtown Owego, N.Y., and following lunch at the newly opened MJ\u2019s Restaurant on Fifth Avenue. 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