Al Slusser walked out of the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, Calif., and kept going. Last week, he pulled his homemade support vehicle, a 140-pound, three-wheeled cart, into Meadowview, near the beginning of his ninth state in less than a year. The 71-year-old Arizona man said he’s in the best shape of his life and though he’s been laughed at, called a fool, trudged through wind, snow, rain and hail, worn out three pairs of shoes and seen temperatures soar above a hundred and plunge below freezing, he’s not once thought of calling it quits. He made his decision to go for it last July and never looked back. “I’m going to make it,” he said. “I can do this.”

Megan Brown of the Washington County Lifesaving Crew wedged herself into the floorboard of a sidewise pickup in the Virginia Highlands Community College parking lot and smeared fake blood on her face.

Judy and Jim Moore didn’t know there was a 200-year-old cabin under the siding of the house they bought. Once they found out, they knew they wanted it restored, but didn’t want to do it themselves. So in 2005, they gave the two-acre piece of property off Hillman Highway to the town of Abingdon. “We just wanted to give something back to the town,” Judy Moore said.

Tiffany Osborne of Glade Spring Middle School held a long cylinder Tuesday at Sugar Hollow Park while Virginia Middle School student Sarah Cox poured a cup of creek water into the test tube. “I love doing this,” Osborne said.

Last week visiting the Eastern Shore, I talked to a farmer who said “shore” instead of “sure.”nbsp; He sounded like my mother, who grew up on the coast of another state, South Carolina.nbsp; Sitting next to him, listening to him tell me about his sweet potatoes, I felt as if I were taking a trip down Memory Lane, not just down Highway 13.

Three high-power drugs, crack cocaine, oxycontin and meth, were a focal point of two separate Smyth County law enforcement operations this week.

Andrew “Drew” Shortridge has a need for speed, but at 19, his driver’s license isn’t in jeopardy, and, his dad, Rusty Shortbridge, actually encourages the college sophomore.

Let me welcome you to Abingdon, Virginia, county seat of Washington County.nbsp; Whether you live here or nearby or travel from farther away to enjoy a visit, I hope your association with this charming village gives you a better appreciation of the English language (along with arts and crafts).

I watched three of the World Cup soccer matches.nbsp; I was incredibly bored.nbsp; During games that lasted one and one-half hours, the USA played England to a 1-1 tie; The Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2.nbsp; In the last game, in double overtime, Spain beat The Netherlands 1-0.

At least half the class raised their hands when Upward Bound teacher Adam Parks asked if anyone knew someone serving in Iraq. Today Parks reads soldiers’ stories to the dozen or so high school students enrolled in a world culture class as part of the summer program held at Virginia Highlands Community College. “She seems angry,” one student says of a female soldier’s story about when U.S. troops first arrived in Iraq without translators.nbsp;