Juneau, Alaska

I have spent time in a lot of places in my life but none as beautiful as Juneau.  The friendly people and the views are incredible.  I walked through the center of town and it was like a blast from the past, with old buildings and saloons.  I had a great meal at the Hanger on the Wharf, a scenic yet slightly sophisticated restaurant and bar.  Jed Gemmel the GM was very informative and bought me a great meal while being very interested in my journey.  The bartender/ hostess/ waitress, Tess was great and add to the atmosphere of the place.  A halibut taco and homemade tortillas with all the fixing was what they are famous for.  Great job and the food was outstanding.  If your ever in Juneau that's a great place to stop and have a bite and a pint.  Well I leave here tomorrow and am back on the boat for the next leg of this journey and can't wait to start walking in Bellingham. The Mendenhall Glacier was amazing got some pics.  See you all in Bellingham in a few days.

Christopher Lyon March 26 at 6:52pm

Hey everyone if you didn't know i am almost a week into this journey. I am in Juneau AK the capital. It is going great and I am meeting some great people. The Pearson pond bed and breakfast donated 4 days at this beautiful place. The people at viking travel donated a large portion of my boat ticket. I meet some nice people on the boat that bought me dinner. The support has been great. But I need to ask for your help. I am self funding this trip and i am working on making my way across the country on good peoples deeds but if you all could help that would make this journey a success. If you could afford a small donation of 5.00 that's all you could make a difference. Thanks everyone and stay with me.

PS. if you throw 5.00 in an envelope and send it to The Ty Cheverier Open c\o Steven VanGasbeck  237 Dudley town road Windsor ct 06095 The beginning

The New Haven Advocate article By Rebecca Lucente

WINDSOR — Chris Lyon is having an ordinary Saturday in Kodiak, Alaska. He’s at home, drinking coffee and checking Facebook. He’s reading stories about his “best and most loyal friend,” Ty Cheverier. Ty, a husband and father, passed away in 2005 after combatting Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma for five years, a rare and rapidly spreading cancer of the cartilage. On March 23, Lyon, a 37-year-old chef, plans to set off alone across the country to raise awareness and research money in memory of his friend. And he’s doing it all on foot.

“I had a dream in which I already did it,” Lyon says. “I walked all the way from Alaska to Connecticut in memory of Ty, and all these people got involved. It was pretty vivid. Now it’s in full swing.”

Lyon will post video and journal entries on his blog, Alaska to Connecticut, A Walk For A Friend (alaska2ct.blogspot.com). The itinerary is as follows: 2 p.m. March 23, climb on a boat from the docks of Kodiak Island; four days later arrive in Bellingham, Wash.; San Francisco: meet with representatives for the American Alliance for Sarcoma Cancer; Nevada: no particular reason; Missouri: his place of birth, the Carolinas: last place he lived; Connecticut: home.

Lyon hopes to be back by Sept. 18 to participate in a charity golf tournament founded in Ty’s name. “Only an adventure of this size could really do justice to such a wonderful guy!” posts Hannah Bridgeman Oxley on the A Walk For A Friend, Journey Across America group on Facebook that Lyon started March 1. As of this writing, it has 464 members.

Proceeds of a book would go to the Ty Cheverier Open Fund, as will all other donations gained along the way, all going in an as-yet-undetermined way to Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma research.

Donations can be made to the Ty Cheverier Open Fund, c/o Steven VanGasbeck, 237 Dudley Town Road, Windsor, CT, 06095. You can learn more about Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma at sarcomahelp.org. —Rebecca Lucente

More giving People

I would like to extend my gratitude to the people down at Mack's Sport Shop & Alaskan Gifts in Kodiak, Alaska. This place is great, and they are very much into great causes and help whenever they can.  With there donation to my journey, I will be warm and safe from the elements in the tent and sleeping bag they donated.  Many thanks to you and continue to do what you do, you guys are the best.  They were right there with service and advice and they are definitely  the ones you should all go to if your in Kodiak, or shop on line.                                               Thanks again Roberto!                           www.mackssportshop.com

A reason to fight

I want to explain myself a little.  It has been brought to my attention that some of you are wondering just how the whole walk thing happened.  Well to be honest, it was a dream, no seriously.  It was the kind of dream that you can feel and taste and if not for waking up in beautiful Alaska, I would have thought it was a memory and not a dream.  Faces of people I haven't met, foods I haven't tasted.  I have had dreams in the past, everyone has.  But this was something different, a calling, maybe, not sure I believe that yet.  I have not been able to get the visions out of my head and have come to enjoy them.  They keep me focused and determined. A quote comes to mind, ok,  I fished it off a new friend of mines web page, but I think it applies and I like it "Only those who are willing to risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go" T.S. Elliot. Thank you Miss Lepak.   My cause is a great one and my friend was just that, a friend, and that is what friends do, right?  I will not quit until this journey is done.  Ty, my friend, was a friend to all of you and if you didn't know him you should have, you missed out on a great guy.  Why I ask myself.  You know how when we are young we ask why, if you have children or nieces or nephews, you know exactly what I mean.  I had a 45 minute discussion with my daughter once and "why" was the question that kept it going. That is our favorite question, well, now that I am older, why, seems to be my question of choice again.  WHY can't we find a cure? WHY do we have to watch our friends suffer? WHY can't we find the answers we are looking for?  WHY?  It's 11:11 pm here in Alaska, that's the time of day when you make a wish . So here goes nothing . My wish is to find some answers and  I wish to help in this fight.  I wish that no one had to suffer.  I wish that among other thing I had my friend back.  Goodnite everyone and sweet dreams, literally!! You never know.
www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=343762073448

Christopher Lyon March 6 at 1:18pm

I once again want to thank everyone here this wouldn't be possible without all of you but we need more help, more members. If you could write a status update on each of your pages and tell all your friends about this great guy walking across the country for cancer research and to check out the fan page that would be incredible.. my name is Chris Lyon and I am the traveling chef walking across the country from Alaska to Connecticut for cancer research. Its a walk for a friend who was taken by the disease to early in his life.. He was a father and a friend and I know you all would do the same thing if given the chance.. So heres your chance to make a difference, tell everyone and have them tell everyone and soon we will have a great army to fight this disease with.. Follow me on this adventure and be a part of something greater than us all.. I still want some stories if not about my friend Ty, then about your battles with family and friends affected by cancer. Thank you mom and Karen for sharing I hope to have many more stories to keep me moving on my journey for a cure...

  I would like to thank Dave at Viking Travel/Alaska Ferry for his help and support with the first leg of this adventure. Alaska is a great place and full of helpful people with lots of resources.. Viking Travel/Alaska Ferry was very helpful with the itinerary for my trip and was very giving in the process.. thanks again and if I come back around this way, and I'm sure I will, Viking Travel  will be handling all my travel arrangements..  I highly recommend using their services if possible.. Here is  how to visit them : Viking Travel Inc. / Alaska Ferry

Travel with friends

I am really happy about the support from all you, I can't say that I would be able to do this alone, even though I am walking alone..  I have a question?::  I will be traveling from Bellingham WA. to San Fransisco and then on to Missouri and up to Connecticut and wonder how many people would actually offer a nites stay to a stranger with a great cause behind him?  If you can answer that you will be my hero.. I am a very people orientated person and can talk to anyone and my friends will tell you its hard to get mad at me, not sure why maybe my charismatic personality.  I want to see what humanity has to offer and I am the best person to find this out..  I know almost everyone has been affected by cancer with either family or friends, I hope to gather stories and talk to people all over the country.  I want to raise awareness and be an outlet or advocate for these people to speak through,  maybe a comfort or shoulder to lean on..  I wish that I had an answer for every question.  I can offer to all of you a promise,  that through hell or high water, (I will probably run into both), that I will finish this journey and continue to serve as a voice or at least a believer in the fact that we will one day find a cure for cancer..  Stay with me people,  it is going to be a heck of a trip.. I meet some people hear on line that have donated money and time and they don't know me personally, that amazing, that the thought of a fund for cancer research could motivate people to give there time and money to finding a cure.. I hope there are more people like that along the way and with God's grace we will someday find that cure!!!

If you or anyone you know has any ideas on how or where to stay along the way let me know..  my email is alaska2ct@live .com or look me up on face book Chris Lyon or post a comment here..  Thanks again everyone and stay the course.. I WILLwww.facebook.com/group.php?gid=343762073448