So let’s see…where were we?….

Oh yeah, I was showing you the Lumber Barons’ pumpkin patch. See? It’s back that way, on the bank on the left – where we just came from.

[If you missed the beginning of the walk, you can read it here.]

But let’s keep walking.

Looks like they’ve added to their pile. Those old pallets are new.

But do you see the onions they harvested earlier this summer? They’re hanging up just inside there.

Once we’re past their house, we’re on the outskirts of the training area.

Don’t pay attention to the No Trespassing sign…no one ever does anyway.

Besides, if the MP’s running checks through here happen to catch us they usually let us off the hook since we’re American.

That & they all want to stop & see Maggie…I think she’s the biggest dog on the whole peninsula.

So we’ll turn left here…

This road runs parallel to the slums I showed you earlier.

There’s actually two rows of slums. I’m assuming they belong to the Lumber Barons since they’re right up against their house.

But if you look over here on the right, you’ll see the old bunker I planned on hiding in before I got all my NEO stuff sorted out.

NEO – Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations: The process by which the military will ship my butt, Maggie’s butt & Kitten’s cute little cranky butt out of the country should the North decide to invade or if we happen to get our own typhoon or monsoon.

But that’s it. There’s actually lots of them through-out here.

Once we pass the first bunker, then we have to be sure to say hello to Mr. Goat.

Hello, Mr. Goat!

Mr. Goat lives in the slums & is always tied up. He & the Mrs. had a couple of cute kiddos not too long ago.

They live here with the chickens.

Then we have to be sure to say ‘Hello Puppy’ to the dog that’s just up ahead.

Hello Puppy!

He’s always tied-up, too.

When we first started this walk, he would bark his head off every time we went past.

So I started calling out to him every day & now he doesn’t bark anymore.

Now he looks at us more like, ‘Can I come, too?’

He’s really cute & it always breaks my heart to see him tied-up. But I think I’m going to start tossing him dog treats…if I can throw that far.

So the road is going to turn off up ahead. If we go straight, we run right into that buddist monastery.

See the bits off orange?…We don’t usually walk that way because I’m always afraid they’re going to catch me snapping pictures of them.

But let’s sneak closer…

See the maroon paint?…That’s new. It used to be turquoise.

Ugh…Moo!…Quit pullin’ on the leash!

Sorry about that…we usually turn right here into a clearing where she can graze.

Maggie loves the sweet grass that grows here.

Don’t you, Moo-Moo?

Yeah, I know…you luuuvvvv that sweet grass.

If we can drag her butt out of here, we’ll cut through that path over there.

Looks like the humvees have been through since the last rain.

Don’t you do it!….Stay outta that mud, Moo!

This is the backside of the training area.

They’re some old buildings back here…

See?…There’s one for the boys…

…and one for the girls.

Other than being two separate buildings…I’m thinkin’ that’s about all the difference there is.

This takes us to the very ege of the city street up ahead & then we’ll turn on another road & head back towards the house.

Oh, fudge…I don’t recognize that little old Grandma.

Here…hold the camera while I choke up on Maggie’s leash & move her to the left.

I’ve learned this the hard way…

Never assume a Korean (young or old) will be ok walking past a dog of Maggie’s size.

We have to show them that she’s not aggressive, she’s under control & is not going to eat them like the spawn of Godzilla that she appears to be.

Oh yeah….smile & bow when we go past. It’s a sign of respect & it helps to break the tension.

“Ahn-nah-sey-yo!”…

(That’s Korean for hello…the only word I know at the moment. Still need to learn, ‘please don’t be afraid of my big freakin’ dog. I promise she won’t eat you.’)

But it’s good that we ran past her here….Maggie’s already worn out from the walk & the heat…so she’s less likely to try to run up to her to play. That would NOT be good.

Ok…so there’s the city street…

We’re going to turn around to the right up here.

That’s the entrance to the training area that no one’s supposed to go down…even though this road is the only road that leads to the houses they’ve built back here.

I know…makes no sense.

But see?….They’re building another one down here.

[Well, we're just about halfway through our walk. Had no idea there was still this much to share. So we'll continue our walk tomorrow.]

You can keep walking with us here.

For the most part, I enjoy the quiet time Maggie & I have together on our afternoon walks.

But sometimes, I get lonely - and I wish there was someone I could share it with.

Like today.

So for a moment, would you pretend you’re half-way around the world with me and go for a walk with us?

But first we have to stop & say hello to Little One & give her a dog treat. You can give one to Maggie.

We’ll turn left out of the gate up here…oh look! Mr. Hermit has finally cleared out all the scrub brush in his fields.

I’ve  never seen the man before, but he lives here.

So once we’re past the complex, we’ll run into the rice paddies. Man, look how big they’re getting!

I wonder when they’ll harvest the rice…for that matter, I wonder what part of the plant is actually the rice.

Up ahead is the crossway to the causeway. There’s a little old man & his wife that live there.

They’ve got a yippy dog that always barks at us…but we never actually see it.

They’re constantly tending their garden. Hey look, they must’ve just recently picked all their red peppers.

All the farmers lay their crops out on these big long sheets in the middle of the street to let them dry out.

I’m surprised the birds don’t go after them…but then again, those peppers are super hot.

So that’s probably why they don’t go after the peppers, but that doesn’t explain all the other crops.

But let’s keep going…if we turn right up ahead we’ll be able to cut through the fields.

That’s new – they must be fertilizing the fields.

But I don’t see the farmer.

You know, I’m not sure if these fields belong to the Lumber Barons or not.

But that’s their house – the one on the right.

Hear that?…There’s a helicopter heading this way. You hear them a lot because we’re not that far from base.

Looks like an Apache, but it’s not – it’s a Blackhawk.

Sometimes you’ll see Chinooks out here, too.

But you see the slums over there?…Look just behind them to the left.

That’s the buddist monastery in our neighborhood that I keep meaning to post about.

They recently repainted it.

But I don’t see any of the slum dogs today.

They’re usually out there barking up a storm at me & Maggie.

But let’s keep going. People use this single-car-width causeway as a road to get to their houses.

Some are nice enough to slow down so Maggie & I can try to squeeze as far to the side as possible, but others…they just don’t care & will blaze right past us.

I’m constantly worried one day they’ll hit me or her. So I stand on the inside, keeping Maggie as far away as possible.

I can get to a doctor a lot quicker than we can get her to a vet. The closest one’s in Osan & I’m not even sure they take emergencies.

Hey…do you remember those sunflowers I shot earlier this summer?

They’ve cut them all down now to dry out the heads for the seeds.

This is what they looked like just last week.

Ok, so up ahead are the Lumber Barons. That’s not their name, obviously. But that’s what I call them.

I still don’t know a lick of Korean. But it looks like Mrs. Lumber Baron is out there again today.

I really want to take a picture of her to show everyone, but I don’t know how exactly to go about doing it.

I know I should probably ask her, but let me see if I can just leave the camera on hanging around my neck & take a shot without looking so she won’t notice.

Oh yeah…be sure to smile & bow when we walk past.

Well, that was total crap! Fudge.

Maybe everyone will be able to tell she’s sifting through the dried sunflower seeds if I tell them that’s what she’s doing.

Oh hold up, she’s talking to me.

“Sunflower seeds….yes?….”

[Hmm...I wonder what she's saying?]

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!….Yes, yes…sunflower seeds. Thank you very much!”

Here…do you want some?

Gosh my nails are getting long. I really need to cut them.

I think the Lumber Barons grow all their own food. See…

there’s peaches over there against their shed…

They’ll be picking those soon.

And they’ve got some kind of squash or pumpkin growing along the bank over there…

But just behind their house is where the Army tactical training area is.

We’ll do the loop around there & then head back to the house.

I know…man, it gets muggy fast. They call it Changma Season. But I left the air on in the house, so at least it’ll be cool when we get back.

[Hmm...this post has become much longer than I expected. Stay tuned & tomorrow we'll finish up our walk.]

You can keep walking with us here.