Radio Ruck, pictured here with Java in the summer of 2009 in the great Southern town of Oxford, Mississippi, has been on our shelves far too long. We thought way back when that it was better to have the Echo be much smaller than GR1, which it is. The Radio Ruck seemed too close to GR1 at the time, but we’ve gotten a lot of requests for something a little smaller than GR1 and bigger than the Echo, so here is it, the Radio Ruck.
“Let us dispatch,” said Sir Walter Raleigh to his executioner, “…I would not have my enemies think I quaked from fear.” An explorer by birth, and by trade, and sponsor of the Lost Colony, which later became the great states North Carolina and Virginia, Raleigh lived a life of rebellions, massacres, colonization, secret marriage, imprisonment, sieges, slaughters, and knighthood. Treason against the British Crown, though, cost him his head in 1618. For this, no doubt, in addition to his success as an explorer, North Carolina named its capitol after him in 1792. Classes 017 and 018, also avant-garde for their time, took the guided tour of his town, complete with all the best sites. Some on the beaten path, some off. Java made his Challenge debut, certain to be oft repeated this summer, and Central Prison never saw such good livin’ till now.
The route is set for the GORUCK Challenge in San Fran. Ocean running, stairs, natural obstacle courses, city running through billions in real estate and the big bridge in the background of wet shoes all play an important part. Oh yeah, and Zeitgeist downtown the night before for some ruckoff camaraderie. It’s meant to be …
Driving through the Redwoods, we felt really, really small. And yet we kept on, staring into fog and all of the above, enjoying the scenery when we could, and always the anonymity of insignificance when compared to Nature.
Still in our 48th state of the summer, we unwound with a hose shower (with a hell of a view), a fire pit, beers with a local flare, collecting so-called ‘hitchhikers’ (seen gathered on java), and off the grid power – at the center of it was Chris, an old friend who seems to have it all figured out in his own kingdom at the top of the hill.
We came to Seattle expecting to check out the space needle and the pike place market, both of which we did, enjoying every second of it. But we really enjoyed our downtime with the people, walking the side streets, sharing the relaxed vibes of summer in a very cool town – something you have to …
