One Year Ago
Aug 28th, 2009 by Lyn Hanush
GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI
We stopped at McDonald’s to have breakfast. Two women and a man were sitting at tables across from us and I went over to ask them if they knew of a place where I could get copies made. They came up with the Y, a grocery store down by Wal-Mart. I shared with them about what we were doing. It was fun talking with them - unfortunately I didn’t get their names or a picture of them, but they were very interesting to talk with.
We went out to the car to see a man standing by it reading the sign on the side. So I gave him a card and explained what we were doing. He was a delight. After getting our maps copied we headed on out to our start point. On the way we stopped at a Visitor Center to get some brochures and some ideas about places to explore on our day off tomorrow.
Finally we arrived at the start point, and I began on Brooklyn Turnpike (remember it’s really a very small road), then turned onto Back Road (yep, it was another one of those roads that they actually named Back Road). I waved to a lot of people, and almost all of them waved back.
Norma told me later that a man a pulled into the yard by where she was parked. He came over to see if she needed help, so she was able to tell him about what I was doing. He told her that he had just seen me on Back Road. Norma got to talk with him for a little while and gave him one of my cards also.
Then she drove on ahead to wait for me further up. From Hwy. 203 I went up a hill called Machine Shop Hill, and at some point it became Kick Hill Road. Now this road had some real kicker hills alright. About the time I reached the top I spotted a lady walking toward me on the other side of the street. I greeted her, and said that I seldom meet people out walking along my route. She asked about my walk and wanted to know where I had walked from. Well, of course, I crossed the road to talk with her.
Diana and I hit it off right away. She walks a bit over eight miles every day - and has for years. Then as we talked about my mission of prayer walking the whole east coast for our country, she said she would pray for our country as she walked each day. We ended up talking for about 45 minutes, and really weren’t ready to part when we did. We hugged, and said we would keep in touch.
As I walked into the town of Lebanon, CT I took pictures of the beautiful church there. Soon after I walked away the bells in the church tower rang. Very nice.
Soon I came to a Subway sandwich shop where Norma was waiting for me. We decided that there was no place else around to eat for awhile, so if we wanted lunch we should eat here. We got a foot long turkey sandwich and split it between us. It was really very good.
Later that afternoon as I approached a road coming in from the side, a lady called to me from her car wondering how far I was walking. I crossed over to talk with her. She told me that she and the girls were wondering about what I was doing. They figured I must have a story since I was walking with a flag. I looked at her and asked, “Are you homeschoolers?” She then said, “How did you know?” I told her my daughter homeschools, and they just look like they homeschool.
We talked for a bit, then I asked if it would be possible to get a picture of all of them. Jennifer backed up and parked the car, and they all tumbled out for a picture. Four of the girls were hers, and two were friends. They all got their names recorded on my camera - Naomi and Patience, Bethany, Grace, Susanna, and Juliette. What delightful children.
I continued walking, now on my last segment, and before the town of Colchester. I spotted a lady with three children working in the yard. We called back and forth across the road, then I walked across to talk some more. She and her 17-month twin girls were at one end while another older daughter was mowing another portion of the lawn. Holly put the twins, Bekka and Addison, into the wheelbarrow, and AnnaLee joined us for me to get a picture of them.
Walking past one house on the opposite side of the street in Colchester I noticed a man sitting outside. He looked my way, waved, and called out to ask me where I was walking. I called across to tell him what I was doing, and he said something that I didn’t quite catch. I walked over to talk with him. I have his name on my camera, but I can’t quite make it out. Still he was delightful.
Then I came into the main part of the town, and suddenly I saw it - directly across the street - a Starbucks. Now I was getting close to finishing, so I called Norma to meet me at Starbucks, and told her where it was. I bought my drink and one for Norma, then she took mine in the car to have for me when I finished.
When I crossed over Hwy 2, I noticed the road ahead was a pretty good hill. Then Norma called to say she was waiting at a cemetery at the top of that hill. I was thankful for that, because I don’t like to start at the bottom of a hill. So I climbed on up, then walked down Gillettes Lane to meet her. Once at the van I took off my walking gear and put it in the back, then got in the front seat.
The drive back to our motel was beautiful, and when we got back we took our stuff in, then walked across the street to the Shoreline Diner to eat dinner. It was very good, and we brought some back to put into the fridge for another night.
Then we did out nighttime routines and headed to bed. A really awesome day.
GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI 
I really do think I can do without it as long as I am walking - it’s for my blood pressure, and when I’m walking like this my blood pressure is usually good. I’ll keep tabs on it at places where they have the blood pressure monitors.
Now I got that all out of my system, so I’ll get on with the journal. I drove the fast way via main roads to the point where we stopped walking yesterday. Then Norma took over the driving while I navigated us through the next two day’s worth of walking route. It is quite a route - beautiful, but lots of turns, many that come up on you all of a sudden. I find myself trying to look at maps, watch the road, look for key spots to note for Norma on the maps, and mark the maps. Wow! I get tired just thinking about it.
And, of course, Norma has to drive it and try to predict which way I am going to have her turn in time to actually do it. She also has to try to remember which is her left and which is her right - like many of my friends she frequently wants to go right when I say left - or left when I say right. We do have a lot of good laughs. Poor Norma has to put up with me, and sometimes that can be interesting, to say the least.
We finally got to the area where we had to start looking for a motel. After some searching and talking with motel managements, we found one that would really work with us on a price. We’re at a very nice place with micro and fridge and Wireless Internet. The gentleman at the desk was ever so kind, and quite delightful. He went above and beyond the call of duty to get us just the right room for our needs. We’re in the town of Guilford, Connecticut - not too far from New Haven, Connecticut.
Once we got settled and set up my office area we asked about a coin laundry and a Wal-Mart. We decided to do laundry Sunday afternoon - too late tonight - so we went to find a place to eat and the Wal-Mart. Pizza was our dinner, then to Wal-Mart. As we drove out of the Wal-Mart parking lot Norma said, “Starbucks,” and pointed across the street. We had been looking for a Starbucks all day and hadn’t found one. Now we have one close to our motel! I did get one, which I am just finishing up as I write this. So I’m a happy camper now.
Back to our room to get this journal done, answer e-mail, phone Dave, do some text messaging, and get ready for tomorrow, and to bed. Have a great night wherever you are.
GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI
Now we had to backtrack to find a way around this. It wasn’t hard, and within a few minutes we had our new route for that portion settled. Back to the road where I had turned off so I could walk around our detour.
Within the next hour I was back on the regular route. One thing I noticed right away was that Connnecticuns (is that what they call a person who lives in Connecticut?) are very friendly. Almost everyone waved to me when I waved to them. Some saluted (that usually means we are near a military base), and a few honked. It was great.
My prayers went up for everyone of them, as well as for the homes I passed by, the businesses, the schools, churches, and leaders of the communities I passed through. I spent time praying for my friend who had a biopsy on Monday, and another lady going to the hospital tomorrow for something serious. My prayers also went up for the upcoming elections and our presidential candidates, for our senators and representatives.
When I’m out there walking there is plenty of time to think, and that thinking usually turns to praying. People often ask me if I get bored while I’m walking. My answer is a very definite “No!” I enjoy the beauty everyplace I walk - the beauty of the trees and flowers, the beauty of people of many races and ages, the beauty of cities, towns, and villages. There’s even a beauty in people in the poorest parts of our cities.
Well, today’s walking was mostly in the country on roads with lots of trees (and poison ivy as well), a few dead critters (including a large snake), and some delightful flowers. Some roads had a fair amount of traffic, and others had very little.
One place I heard a lot of shooting, and concluded it was people doing target practice. I was happy to get past the noise. I also had lots of hills today, but that doesn’t bother me much anymore.
Our lunch today was at Hanks Restaurant in Brooklyn, CT (at least I’m pretty sure that’s the town we were in at that point). I had a cabbage and sausage soup that was out of this world, and we both had barbecued beef tips for our main dish. That was really good.
When Norma and I were driving back on Brooklyn Turnpike (a small country road, by the way) we saw a couple of turkeys in the road ahead of us. We paused to let them cross. Then another emerged from the weeds, and another, and another - seventeen in all. There were several youngsters among the group of turkeys, and the adults made sure the young ones got safely across.
The drive home was long, but fun as we listened to our CD’s and talked about the day. Back at our room we heated up some leftovers for our dinner, showered, and headed to bed.
