The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VII

Friday - September 5,  2008   Day 184   18.7 miles

Total Connecticut miles - 135.0    Walking Days - 93

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6   Cumulative miles 1659.0

This was another great day - not the 20 miles I would have
liked, but good enough.  We didn’t have far to go, but still we
didn’t get a super early start.

Speaking of starts, I forgot to mention one person I met
yesterday. Unfortunately I didn’t catch her whole name on my
camera recording, but I think it was Flo - or something like that.
It was just as I was starting out -hadn’t even gone a tenth of a
mile before I met this gal walking toward me. She wanted to
know if I was doing something special. When I told her what I
was doing, she expressed her delight, saying how much she
believes in the power of prayer. We talked for awhile and I got
her picture, and she told me she would be praying for me. I so
love meeting others of the same mind.

Today I didn’t really talk with anyone until the second segment,
other than greeting people as we passed by each other. During
that part I met a man starting to get into his car. He saw me and
looked at me quizzically, and asked what are you doing?. He
spoke in broken English, but for the most part I had no trouble
understanding him.  He had a hard time believing I was really
walking all that way - “You’re actually walking?” he asked as
he moved his fingers in a walking motion. “Yes,” I assured him
with a laugh.

We continued to talk, and he told me he came from Guatamala
eleven years ago. He also told me a lot about his life, then told
me to write down his full name and his story on my computer.
Well, here is at least part of his story. His name is Esdwin Lau,
or Lav. I had him write his name down so I would get it right,
but I’m not sure if that was a u or a v he wrote.  And yes it is
Esdwin.

He told me that he married a woman soon after coming to the
USA so that the lady’s son could take his name and be raised in
America. A lot of things happened, which he told me about,
leaving him paying money to raise this son, but not much else.
Basically it sounds like he was cheated, and he is struggling
with that. The woman later married someone else, but he had to
pay for the son’s expenses. He is also a recovering alcoholic,
and staying dry. I did pray with him, and promised to put him on
my prayer list.

Esdwin was the only person I talked with at any length. We
stopped for lunch at Wendy’s, then I walked another block to
meet Norma at Wal-Mart where we had to do some shopping.
One of the things we wanted was water, but all the gallon bottles
were gone. People here are gearing up for Tropical Storm
Hannah.

After shopping I continued walking another segment and a half -
more or less. This took us right by our motel, then on another
few miles to a large McDonald’s in Stamford, Connecticut. I
think I have about a day and a half left of Connecticut and New
York. Then it’s south to Philadelphia to the Liberty Bell. I
walked from the Liberty Bell to the Bronx Zoo in New York
City when Russ was with me, so now I only have 16.4 miles left
of New York.

From the en of today’s walk we drove to Starbucks for our end
of the day treat, then back to our room to fix our dinner
(leftovers from last night’s pasta dinner). We also watched the
news - we’re trying to keep posted on what’s happening with
Tropical Storm Hannah. We’re expected to get some very heavy
rain with strong winds - which will hamper our walking. Right
now it looks like we may be able to walk in the morning, but not
afternoon tomorrow.  We will check the weather reports and
updates tomorrow morning, and then act accordingly. I
definitely don’t plan to take any chances.

Tonight I called my friend, Judy, in South Carolina near
Charleston where we keep hearing that Hannah is supposed to
hit. They’re getting the word now that it looks like Hannah will
go north of them hitting land near the border between North and
South Carolina.

My next driver, Bonny, called me this morning as I began
walking and we talked about some details, then had a good time
of prayer together. Awesome.

Well, now it’s time for me to call Dave and then get to bed. I’m
running out of steam. :-0