Monarch Migration Badge: 2,500 Miles

Brain cancer is...

...well traveled.

Back at Craig Park today, heading up the hill for our steps, Darrell said, "This is hard!"  Our beach walks were flat.

We were rewarded for our efforts, though, when halfway through the walk, this notification came through on my phone:

Yes, today we hit our next Fit bit lifetime miles badge.  Since December 2016, we have walked 2,500 miles.  Two things.

First: About the Butterflies 

No single butterfly travels 2,500 miles, and it takes more than a year for the complete migration.  (Yes, that does make us feel better about ourselves for taking 17 months to achieve the butterfly badge.)

The monarch migration is a complicated thing, which you can study if you're interested. (Yes, this is me exercising restraint.)  Our favorite site for the day is this one, which tracks people's sightings of the current migration (click here, and watch the animation.)  Citizen science at its finest.

Second:  About Darrell's 2,500 Miles

Our Fit bit "lifetime" commenced December 12, 2016.  That's the date when we finally faced the fact that we mourned the Fit bit I lost in Chicago (5/16), bought a new one, and opened a new account.

Thus, Darrell was diagnosed with GBM  7 months before our monarch migration trek began, and every single one of these 2,500 miles he walked was with brain cancer.

We don't have a map, the way the butterflies do, but we have a list.  These 2,500 miles took us through 10 states:

1. Arizona
2. California
3. Florida
4. Hawaii
5. Louisiana
6. New Mexico
7. Oregon
8. Pennsylvania
9. Texas
10. Washington

And most of the miles were within some great California cities:

• Big Bear
• Cambria
• Carlsbad
• Carpinteria
• Dana Point
• Fawnskin
• Hemet
• Long Beach
• Los Angeles
• Monterrey
• Oceanside
• Oxnard
• San Clemente
• San Diego
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Barbara
• Temecula
• Ventura

Darrell chose Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere, Man!" as the song of the day.

Here's to the next 2,500 miles!