Along the way, he's found that America is made up of two kinds of people — people who live in the city and the people who don't. And those who live in the country — not surprisingly — appeared more friendly, more open than the masses that make up the East Coast, Hurley said.

"Everybody waves to everybody. I got so used to it I waved to a post," he said.

Hurley walks 20 miles a day with Lindhorst following in a faded, red Geo. Often people stop to offer him a ride. That didn't happen until well after he left New England, he said.

Sometimes people walk with him. They may walk a mile or several miles. One elderly lady walked two blocks, he recalled.

"I like to see people help each other out more," he said. "I've seen that more outwardly here," he said of Utah.

He's developed a pet peeve along the way. Where new commercial ventures have been built along the route no consideration has been given to pedestrians, he said. "There's no place to walk."

To Hurley, Colorado's Glenwood Canyon ranks high on the list of the most interesting stretches of U.S. 6. The superhighway through the canyon was built without destroying the scenic beauty of the wilderness, he said.

---

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com