Day 102

Tuesday 02/06/12  Day 102  216 miles    3,135 total

Broke camp and said good bye to the coyotes and started walking east.  Went little over a mile and was setting by the side of the road eating a granola bar and watching a nice herd of yearling cattle.  About a hundred yards away a truck and trailer pull into the field these cattle were in and two cowboys unload their horses and go to check the cattle.  After a while I watched one of these cowboys rope a six hundred pound steer and put him on the ground to doctor him.  Blew me away.  I had worked with cattle as a  kid and for him to lay this big guy down with only the aid of his horse was impressive.  After watching these men work for close to hour they head back to their rig.  I needed to talk to these guys and met them at their truck.  Steve and Troy turned out to be the nicest guys.  We talked and they politely answered all my dumb questions and then they ended up giving me a ride into Chilton. They had another herd in a different location to work and invited me to me to meet them at a little cafe a few miles down the road for lunch.  I ended up getting a ride from Michelle and her son Russell.  Squeezed my cart into their rig and they took me all the way to Marlin.  It was nice to meet both of them.  I found out later that when I wasn't at the little cafe to meet Steve and Troy, they ordered a meal to go and went looking for me.  I felt real bad that I missed them. Was walking through Marlin  when a guy pulls up who had seen me and turn around a came back to offer me ride.  His name is Scott, but his friends call him Redwood. He is going to Hemphill, which is only a few miles from the Louisiana border.  What a great ride.  This man is a retired marine/army infantry vet who has did five tours in combat zone.  We get to Hemphill and the first thing he does is take me to the Hemphill BBQ and I had the best bbq sandwich I have ever had.  Big John was running the place and it was great and they wouldn't let Redwood pay for it, not because of me, but because of him and who he is.  Redwood left the waitress a $15 tip in return.  Redwood takes me to meet his friends who were at a shop rearranging ever thing to prepare for a big project they are going to be doing.  Redwood is the Sargent-of-arms for the Brotherhood of Bikers and James is the local President and Larry is the Chaplin and vp. I have so much to write about this group of people on how they treated me and what they do for kids, but this is a blog that has already gotten long.  You are going to have to get book 2 to read their story. Because of Larry I have a nice, very comfortable, bunkhouse to sleep in to night. Thank you to a great bunch of people I got to meet today. Pic. one, Troy, Angie, Larry, Transient, Dustin & Breanna, who are getting married this weekend, and James.  Pic. 2, twilight from my bed roll last night.

Day 101

Monday 02/06/12  Day 101  24 miles   3,135  Total

Had a very comfortable night last night.  Thank you, Raydean.  Walked abou three miles out of McGregor, beofre Jim and Carol gave me a ride to Eddy.  Very pleasant couple.  Walked for a few miles when a big dog decided he wanted a piece of me.  Thanks to a good friend that talked me into taking trekking poles, the pouch didn't get close.  About a mile after fido I came upon a clear plastic bag that had some groceries in it and a note that said, "God Bless You".  How cool is that?  Walked until dark and boths knees were griping so I rolled my bed roll out behind some bushes by a field.  I was low on food, so the care package was dinner.  Thank you, Lord.  Watch the moon behind white clouds and listen to the coyotes.  First pic. is a mural of the McGregor high school mascot.  Second is of two nice people who gave me a ride. Jim and Carol from Eddy, Texas

Day 100

Sunday  02/05/12  Day 100   7 miles  3,111 total

What a great day of milestones and firsts.  It is hard for me to believe I have been out here for 100 days.  It has truly been amazing how God has taken care of me and let me meet some truly fascinating people. 
Firsts that happened today:  1. Went to a Methodist church.  2. Went to a church with a woman pastor.  3. Had a pastor not only introduce me to congregation, but had me tell them what I am doing.  4. Had a pastor send me an encouraging email after visiting their church.  5.  Have a pastor's husband go on the web site and donate to the ministry.  6. Have a Texas angel (Raydean) not only ask her daughter to give me a ride to McGregor, but insist on getting me a hotel room. (got to watch superbowl).7.  Have two women fight over who buys me lunch.(one is 79 and the other 90, 90 won),  I could go on and on about these people and their kindness to me and will in book 2.  Thank you, United Methodist Church of Crawford, Texas.  First pic. George stopped by to say hi.  Second picture is a few of the people I got to meet at church this morning.  l to r  Margie, Cindy, Jeff, Pastor Rebecca, Kathren (bought me lunch), Raybern, my angel, and Bryan, my friend and our waiter.

Days 98 & 99

Friday & Saturday  02/4 & 5/12  Days 98/99  zero miles

Day 97

Thursday  02/02/12  Day 97   zero miles

Not much to report except I am still in Crawford.  This park has such nice facilities for me to write that I am trying to catch up a little on the book 2 rewrite.  Was able to send out another $300 because of the generosity of Malinda, Jen, Emma, Roger, Pastor from Morgan, two young guys in Valley Mills and a young couple. Thank you all very much. First day that it is foggy since I started.  Didn't burn off until afternoon.  Pictures are in the RV park I am staying at.

Day 96

Wednesday  02/01/12  Day 96  32 miles  3,104 total

Pack up and head out of Meridian.  It is about a mile from my camp to the main highway.  Before I get there two United Pentecostal Preachers who are also brothers offer me a ride to Valley Mills.  Two really nice fellas and I made the mistake of not writing their names down.  They not only give me a ride, they give me a nice donation for the kids.  I have lunch at the Cowgirl Cafe in Valley Mills.  If my contacts don't call soon I will head south toward Crawford to avoid having to go through Waco. After a few hours I haven't received any calls so start walking toward Crawford.  I only walk about three miles, but it is up hill and I am beat.  With only about one hour left of day light a car pulls up behind me and it is Kathern and her daughter Bailey.  They had seen me earlier in the day and were concerned about me.  Can't fit my gear into their little car so Kathern calls her husband ask him to come and get me with his truck, which he does.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it really was for me.  I was running out of gas and places to camp were not there.  Roy is a very nice guy and he takes me to a RV park in Crawford. It is locked but we are able to get in and meet the chief of police at the same time.  Chief Eddie McCoy and Roy get me set up and I am very grateful to both of them.  Walk about a mile back into town to get something eat and by the time I get back to my tent I am to tired and sore to take a shower. Even though I am beat and have a head ache most of the day it has been a very good day. First picture is walking back into Crawford from RV park.  Second gives a idea of terrain of this part of Texas.  Hard to tell in the photo, but this is a small hill.  I call these type of hills, misery hills, because when you are already beat and you come to these guys and you are over weight both in body and the goofy little cart I am pulling they are tough.  Solution: Lose some of that weight.  Trivia question:  What is Crawford's claim to fame?  No cheating  by looking it up. email me if you know....  walking4kids@gmail.com

Day 95

Tuesday  01/31/12  Day 95  zero miles

I have decided to stay in Meridain for the day and head out tomorrow.  Jeanne, a good friend in the Anson/Ablilene area has looked at what I have written on book 2 and she sent me some excellent ideas to make it more interesting, so I am going to work on it and enjoy this neat little town.  I walk to the Meridian Tribune for an appointment with Simone (see mone).  This is one of the huge perks of leading the life I have chosen.... meeting real cool and interesting people and Simone is one of them.  She interviews me, which was great because she was really interested in what we are doing.  Then I got to interview her.  Book 2 will have a lot more about Simone, but hear are few things about her.... born in Nigeria, moved to home land of The Netherlands at 12, boy she met in Nigeria finds her 30 years later, he is a school teacher/coach in Meridian, Texas, they marry and she moves to America 1 1/2 years ago.  Speaks Dutch, French, German, Italian, and English and oh ya, she drives a 72 VW bug.  I probably won't meet any other people in Meridian, but that is OK, because I got to meet Simone.
First picture is of Meridian court house and second is of Simone.  She came out to take pictures of my tent and cart.  Notice the bug in the back ground.