The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VII

Saturday - September 20, 2008 Day 199 0.0 miles

Total New York miles - 33.2 Walking Days - 94

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6 Cumulative miles 1688.8

Today we got a bit of a slow start, but then it was run, run, run. We had a tentative interview, but had no confirmation by 9:30 a m. Dave and I decided to head for the Delaware Water Gap that someone had told us was a “must-see.” As we drove in that direction I got a phone call confirming the interview. We were heading in the right direction, so we just made a stop at Hackettstown for the interview on our way to Del Water Gap.

The interview was with the newspaper there. Actually this was just the photographer. He took several pictures, then we went to meet Bonny around the corner at Trinity Methodist Church (we had called her as soon as we knew what we were doing about the interview). Her church was having their annual “Trinity Days” - quite a big event in this town.

We talked with Bonny, and she introduced us to several people (everyone knows and loves Bonny) and then to Russ Long of WRNJ radio. They were doing live coverage of the event at the church. After talking with him for a few minutes off the air, he suggested an interview in a couple of minutes. So we waited around and had a good interview with him.

Now it was lunch time, and Trinity Days had hot dogs available for lunch. So we went to the back where all the booths were set up, and got ourselves some hot dogs, and visited with more people while we ate.

Bonny needed to go home for awhile, and we wanted to head on out to Del Water Gap. Off we went, and were soon at this beautiful spot. There are trails there that lead up to the Appalachian Trail. I hiked up just a little bit and took a few pictures. Amy and Linda asked me about the trail, but I couldn’t really help them since it was my first time here, and I probably knew less than they did about it.

I went back to the car where Dave was resting his eyes, and I decided that was a good idea. Putting my seat in a reclining position, I fell asleep for awhile. After about an hour we drove on further into the Gap area, and to an information center about it. The Delaware River runs through here, and is really so beautiful. The trees here are just starting to turn, so there is only a little color right now.

Back to Hackettstown to eat at a local restaurant. Very good food, but more than either of us could eat right then, so we took some back with us.

At 5:30 p m we had to be back at Trinity Methodist Church for their Saturday evening service. I was introduced at a certain point in the service and given about ten minutes to share whatever God put on my heart. We had a book at each table (they sit around tables for this service) and I shared some stories from it, but mostly from the present GAP Walk.

When I finished they sang a couple more songs, then dismissed the service. Many came up to me afterwards and thanked me for sharing. Some bought books. It was amazing to talk with various ones. They were a great group.

Finally we drove back to our motel, where I had to do some work on a presentation that Don (tonight’s pastor) asked me to do for the youth tomorrow morning. That went pretty quick, then I did this journal, and now I’m heading for bed.