LYN'S JOURNALS

JULY, 2003

July 1, 2003 - Tuesday - 417.5 Miles To Date v. 2/08/04

Today I slept until 6 AM, then stayed in bed until 6:30. I got up and had my Quiet Time and worked on labeling pictures that we had printed out last night. I stopped to eat my breakfast, then worked on pictures some more. After awhile the other two got up and ate. I went down to the restroom. When I came back Sam said that Poppy had called and I should call him back. I called him, and he told me that Mom H. had died this morning at about 5 AM. We talked for a bit and he said he would keep me posted about his timing in Portland, etc. Josh and Brenda are there with another couple and Dave wanted to know if Joni would mind them using her car to go to the coast. She gave permission.

After I hung up I told the others about Dave's mom. Joni asked if I shouldn't take time to go to the service on Thursday. I really hadn't thought about it, and at first thought that might be a possibility, thinking it wasn't that far. I decided to think and pray about it and talk with Dave about it.

We watched the first movie, BOUNCE, then took a break to work on pictures some more, fix dinner and watch the other movie, EVELYN. The second movie was really good and based on a true story. It was very moving.

After the movie I looked at the map to see how far to Portland. I decided it was further than I thought, and maybe not such a good idea. I'll talk to Dave to be certain, but I think he'll agree. It would be hard to see him for such a short time, then have to leave again anyway.

We'll get a start on Idaho tomorrow as planned.

We printed out a few more things, then got ready for bed.

July 2, 2003 - Wednesday - 13.5 + 417.5 = 431.0 Total Miles to Date

Total for Idaho to Date = 13.5 Miles

Today we surprised ourselves by getting started at about 8:45 AM. Of course we didn't have far to drive to our start, so that helped. We parked in the Safeway lot and walked across the bridge toward Priest River. We had a good walk and took lots of pictures of the river and cute signs and the Welcome to Idaho sign. Then Suzi from the Priest River Times drove up and started taking pictures. We arranged to meet her for the interview when we arrived in Priest River a bit later.

The walk to Priest River was really pretty, but with lots of traffic - Sam and Lyn say that's all the more people to wave to. Joni says she will wave to trucks only. Lyn and Sam are not prejudiced so they will wave to anyone. :-) It is fun to watch the way different people wave. Some are quite vigorous in the way they wave, others barely lift a hand, and of course some don't wave at all - but most do. Yes, we do have fun.

When we arrived in Priest River we found the office of the Times and went in for our interview with Suzi. That was fun. She was very nice and asked some good questions, and gave us a chance to say anything we wanted. When we finished we asked if anyone was heading back to Newport by any chance. No one was, so Joni was ready to walk back to get the van. As we left the office another lady was going in. A few minutes later as we walked back to the Town Hall the same lady drove up and asked if one of us needed a ride back to Newport. It turned out she was Teri, the manager of the newspaper, and she was going to Newport. So I hopped in with her while Sam and Joni rested at the park. Teri was very nice. She told me she works on a project with the Chamber of Commerce where she puts together backpacks full of things for small children who are rescued from drug busts. These children sometimes have nothing, so the packs provide clothing and a blanket and other small items.

Teri dropped me off at the van and I drove back to Priest River to meet the other two. We then went to the Joodle Bug to eat lunch. It is an old fashioned soda fountain - sort of. Sam and I each had chocolate ice cream sodas and Joni had a huckleberry ice cream soda. We also split a couple of turkey sandwiches between us. We all want to come back to this place for the sodas - but not the sandwiches.

Next we went to the Chamber of Commerce office. The door was open and we went in. We asked if they had any pins for the city. The lady said "No, but we have Idaho pins". So we each got one of those. We noticed that she was ready to leave, so we finished and went out. It seems she had gone in just before we got there, and we just happened to find the door open. The place had closed half an hour before, we just happened to be there when she had come back to get something. :-)

Next Sam and I went to the library to get e-mail and send a few responses. Joni went to sit with Cassie. We were there quite awhile. Sam finished and went to get Joni so she could get hers. The library closed at 5 PM, so we had to finish up and get out. Joni was a bit more rushed. I did get mine finished.

From there Sam and I started walking again while Joni drove ahead and then walked back to meet us with Cassie. What a beautiful area right by the river. A little later we walked between some huge rock walls. During this section Joni and I each got our Idaho rock. We are collecting one rock from each state to later put into our back yards. These rocks today came from a place between Priest River and Laclede.

When Sam and I were alone we saw an eagle (not too unusual around here), and later we saw a duck with about 15 or 20 little ducklings. They were not by the river - instead they were up on the other side of the road next to the rock wall. They were running from us (we weren't chasing them, just walking along the road), and the mother eventually flew off trying to distract us from the little ones. One of the little ones ran up to us - we thought she might be asking, "Are you my mother?" as in the old Dr. Seuss book. I did get a few pictures of them.

Finally we got back in the car and drove to Priest River again to take pictures we had forgotten to take when we were there earlier. After that we drove to the market just beyond our RV park to get a Newport Miner newspaper. We got one but our story wasn't in there. We think we got bumped for the rodeo coverage. Oh well. It will probably be in next week instead. Both the Newport Miner and the Priest River Times come out on Wednesday, and we expect to move from this area on Monday. We'll see if they can mail us copies.

We went back to our castle. Sam fixed dinner, we ate, journaled, cleaned up and headed to bed. A very good day.

July 3, 2003 - Thursday - 14.4 + 431.0 = 445.4 Total Miles to Date

14.4 + 13.5 = 27.9 ID Total to Date

Before we left the RV Park this morning we stopped to talk to Al and Karolyn who were working on the Paddlewheel Boat out front. They invited us to come aboard to take a look at it - they're fixing it up to use as a room for people to stay in. We parked the car and went aboard. They really have it fixed up cute with old style clothing around, a cute little bathtub, sink, etc. They've really put a lot of work into it. What a fun place it would be to stay. They want to be sure and get our picture before we leave. We suggested tomorrow since we will be wearing our team shirts then. We also want to get their pictures and a picture of the paddlewheel boat.

Today we walked from a couple of miles before Laclede to Sandpoint. Joni dropped us off and met us in Laclede at a nice little church. The service starts at 11 AM Sunday - it's a Community Church and looks very nice. We may go to it on Sunday. We walked together to the Conoco Station where they had a little market and restrooms. From there Joni drove on down further and walked back to meet us.

We walked to the car again and she and Cassie went on to find a spot for lunch. Back at Laclede Sam and I were walking past the Klondike Café waving to cars and trucks as usual. We heard a voice calling out to us "ladies" asking if we were the walkers going across America. We stopped and talked with him a bit. It turned out he was Bruno, Mitzi's friend. Mitzi was the clerk at the Priest River City Hall who told us to stop at the Klondike to see Bruno. He saw us instead. Bruno was very nice and after wishing us well we were on our way again.

We had a lot of cars and trucks honking at us from behind today, and waving as they went by. We figure most had seen us before. Late in the day we did notice some that we knew we had seen in the morning - probably ones who went to work west and came home to the east.

We watched one place where a train was coming and a guy drove quickly down to the train tracks, jumped out and disconnected some cars on the train, then hopped on the train to ride back to drop the next few cars off, and back to connect the longer string of cars again. Then he was through with his job and could ride off while the train went on its way.

A bit later Joni met us on a little side road and we hopped in and rode down this dirt road to a place by the river. There we parked in the shade, set up our chairs, and ate our lunch. Quite a few other cars were there too - most came with families of children to go picnic on the beach by the river. We chose to just sit by the car for our picnic. Then we read and napped and began walking again at about 3:30 or so.

We walked on into Dover (not much there), but the bike trail started soon after. Joni and Cassie met us there and we walked together on the bike trail into Sandpoint. That was great - Cassie could walk herself there (she carried her leash part way). Then at about 2 miles on the bike trail Joni turned around and walked back to the car. Cassie stayed with us (reluctantly) and finally we were able to get her to walk a little further with us. We stopped at the DUB Ice Cream and Hamburger place where we sat at a table outside and waited for Joni. She soon came and we got in the car and headed back to Priest River. We stopped at the Texaco station for gas, then on to our camp. Sam fixed dinner while Joni showered and I looked for the KOA book. We all ended up looking for it without any luck. We ate dinner, watched some fireworks that people were setting off it the forest across the river - really pretty. Joni and I had fun watching them while Sam slept.

Dave called and we talked briefly. He said all went well today for Mom's memorial service. He and Toni were about ready to go for a walk so we didn't talk long which was fine tonight. I had plenty to do.

Finally I closed up everything and headed for bed.

July 4, 2003 - Friday - 12.2 + 445.4 = 457.6 Total Miles to Date

12.2 + 27.9 = 40.1 Total ID Miles to Date

Today we got a bit of a late start because we had a good sharing time, then we got together with Al and Karolyn and Ben and Betty to take pictures. We got pictures in front of our castle (Al & Karolyn want some for their scrapbook), and at the paddlewheel boat. Of course we talked for awhile. It was such fun.

Finally we headed for Sandpoint. Arriving there we found they had just finished their 4^th of July parade. :-( That was too bad. However we were glad we had had time with the ones at our camp. We spent the rest of the morning walking around Sandpoint looking for our souvenir from the state of Idaho. I have a good idea of what I want, but wasn't able to find them (earrings with one of the state symbols). Not much time to look here, so I'll have to try again tomorrow. We all got a huckleberry ice cream in a cone (that's the state fruit). They were good.

Finally we headed on up the road walking. Joni went back for the car and we met briefly at the Visitor's Center. We took a few pictures of things (the welcome sign, etc.) and headed back out. Joni drove ahead, but couldn't find anyplace to park. Finally at about 3 PM she found a little road where we got in the car and drove down aways to park beside Oden Bay on the Pend Oreille Lake to eat our very late lunch.

After a short rest we headed back to continue our walking. We had lots of cars to wave to today, and some good return waves. It was really fun. After lunch Joni did find a nice spot to park and walk back to meet us. Our route took us past the Pack River which was really beautiful. It was a good place to see herons and other creatures.

Finally we got to the car and got in and headed back to Laclede and to the Klondike Café for the 4^th of July festivities. They had a very nice ham dinner and berry pie, etc. Because we were walking across the USA they gave us extra food (which we really didn't need). We saw Mitzi (from the Priest River City Hall) when we first arrived. Pretty soon they had us stand up in front of the crowd and introduced us. People then stopped by to talk and ask lots of questions, and to say they had seen us walking earlier and waving. It was so much fun. Of course, we had a hard time eating because people were asking us so many questions, but it was great fun. We took pictures there of various things. We left before long because we wanted to get to our castle to take care of our evening duties before dark and the start of the fireworks on the island across from us.

We sat out in our chairs to watch the fireworks on the river after Sam did the sewage dump. I'm gonna be so jealous if she takes over my blue slinky sewage hose. :-)

What a beautiful day and evening on this 4^th of July.

(Dave called this morning from the airport in Portland. Then Alyce called a bit after that.)

July 5, 2003 - Saturday - 11.8 + 457.6 = 469.4 Miles To Date

11.8 + 40.1 = 51.9 Total ID Miles to Date

Today was a fun day. We headed out from the castle a little late, then we stopped in Ponderay at the Wal-Mart to get drinking water (a big necessity). Wal-Mart has drinking water at 58 cents a gallon and we go through 2 or 3 gallons a day between the 3 of us. It's a lot more expensive anyplace else, so we buy many gallons at a time. We also picked up a few other items and left my prescriptions to get refills. Those we'll pick up on Monday when we go through Sandpoint.

We finally headed on out to our start point at the Pack River Point of Interest. We all walked together for a bit over 2 miles, then Joni headed back for the car. We walked on to the turnoff for Hope and waited there for Joni. When she came we ate lunch and rested a bit, then drove to a couple of spots to check about our Idaho souvenirs. We're trying to collect an item from each state. For instance I am buying a pair of earrings in each state. In WA I bought dragonfly earrings (the dragonfly is the WA state insect). I was hoping to buy one of the ID symbols in earrings, but haven't been able to find any of them. I will probably end up with some pretty moose earrings that I saw in Sandpoint - they tell us that there are plenty of moose around here, tho' the only moose we've seen so far was on the Flowery Trail in WA.

Then we parked back where we had lunch and walked through Hope (population 79) and East Hope (population 200 - tho' a lady told us later it's really more like 700). These are two cute little towns side by side. Business 200 goes through the town which seems to be up on a hill. However as we walked up Business 200 we found it really wasn't uphill - rather the main highway goes downhill. The Town Hall in Hope was locked, but there was a notice at the door that said, "In case of emergency call Dexter". Then there was a phone number. There was also an agenda for their July 7 City Council meeting coming up.

As we got to the east side of East Hope Joni and Cassie turned around to go back to the car. Sam and I started out just as a lady was walking down one of the hills. We joined her and talked with her (Kim) about life in East Hope, ID. She had moved there about 5 years ago from California and loved it. It really is a beautiful spot. We soon left her to head out to the highway again. A short time later Joni and Cassie drove up and stopped at a turnout to see how much further we wanted to go. It was getting late so we decided to do about 3 or 4 miles more depending where she could find a good spot.

We were alongside Lake Pend Oreille the rest of the day - actually from a bit before Hope to well beyond Hope. We saw a lot of geese, and other water birds on the lake. We also saw a sea plane take off from the lake.

Joni met us at the Clark Fork Drift Yard. This is a place at the east end of the lake that they have cordoned off to collect driftwood so that it doesn't collect in the main part of the lake. People can then come out to collect any of the driftwood they want for themselves.

Once we arrived where Joni had parked we got in the car and drove down to the end of the dirt road at the Drift Yard. Then we turned around and headed back to our castle. It took us an hour to get back. It was 8:15, we were tired and had to fix dinner and do all our other nightly stuff. Plus I had to give the weekly report to Dave with mileage updates, etc. Sam and Joni fixed dinner while I talked with Dave. (The two of them usually fix dinner - I do breakfast.) We really have our routine pretty well worked out between us. For lunches we put items into ice chests in the van, park in a turnout, set up our folding canvas chairs, and eat beside the road. We're quite comfortable with our routine.

Finally we had our evening prayer time and headed for bed. It's always so good to stretch out on our nice beds.

Quiz Time: We recently found that the three of us have come down with cases of Bromhidrosis on a regular basis. For all of you who read this let's see who can tell us what that means? We'll try to give you the answer in a later Journal entry, but in the meantime see if you can figure it out. :-)

July 6, 2003 - Sunday - 469.4 Total Miles to Date

51.9 Total ID Miles to Date

Today we had a little more time to relax since the church we chose didn't start until 11 AM. We went to the Laclede Community Church. When we first walked in they were just finishing Sunday School with everyone together for the ending. They had birthdays just like at Parkside Chapel when I was a kid. One man was up front putting in his 57 cents while everyone counted. Then they sang Happy Birthday to him and a young girl who had already put her pennies in. Boy did that bring back memories.

Then they had a short break between Sunday School and church. The singing was good down home style - very nice. The whole service took me back in time. It was communion Sunday, so we were able to participate in that time with them. I really like the different ways that each church does communion.

Not too many people talked with us at this church - they welcomed the visitors in general, but that was all. One woman, named Celia, introduced herself between Sunday School and church and asked if she hadn't seen us a couple of times walking along the highway. We told her what we were doing and why, then she left. She was very pleasant. We waited a bit to talk with the pastor after church, then left for Sandpoint and Ponderay.

At Sandpoint I stopped and got my moose earrings, then we went to Ponderay where we ate at Taco Bell. After eating we took Joni and Cassie to the Laundromat to do our laundry while Sam and I went to Staples and Wal-Mart to do our shopping. That works out so nice - Joni hates shopping and Sam and I don't get thrilled about laundry.

After shopping we picked up Joni, Cassie and the clean laundry and headed back to the castle. We put our drying rack in the sun and hung the damp clothes on it, and put the rest of the laundry away, as well as all the groceries. Our refrigerator and cupboards are quite full again, so we can eat for another week or so.

At Wal-Mart I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions that I had dropped off for refills yesterday. There were two of them that had to be transferred from Colville, WA Wal-Mart. Only one was ready, but instead of 30 pills they had given me 300. The pharmacist pointed out that the price was very cheap - less than getting 30 at a time and I only had to pay $26.00 for 300. It didn't go through my insurance even tho' they had taken all the info down yesterday. I'm not sure who made all the errors, but in the end I came out ahead on that prescription, and according to their records it was perfectly okay. I won't have to have that one refilled again until after the walk. However, Colville Wal-Mart told them I had no refills left on my other prescription.?????? (According to the bottle they had given me in Colville I had 109 refills left -- which I didn't notice until I took it into this Wal-Mart yesterday. That really should have been 9 refills. Wow, someone is sure messing up. :-) I just can't imagine that happening in California. Sure they might make a mistake once in awhile, but these are some pretty big errors. ) They have a call into my doctor, and Sherry, the Ponderay pharmacist will call the Colville pharmacy in the morning to have them check their records again. I'll call Sherry in the morning to see what she found out. Hopefully they haven't fouled me up on that prescription since that is the more important one for me. Well, I know it will all work out. That's one of the interesting parts of having to move prescriptions from pharmacy to pharmacy for a whole year. :-)

We soon settled down for the evening with popcorn or whatever we wanted while doing our journaling and reading, making phone calls home, writing postcards or letters, labeling our rock collection (Joni and Lyn), or whatever else we had to do. It was a nice quiet evening.

Finally we headed to bed for a good rest in preparation for our move to a campsite in Montana tomorrow.

July 7, 2003 - Monday - Moving Day - 469.4 Total Miles to Date

51.9 Total ID Miles to Date

Today I let the girls sleep in a bit. Then we got up and had a late breakfast before Joni and I headed into Newport to get our mail, check in at the Newport Miner and do our banking. Back at the castle Sam had things almost ready for us to go. We finished disconnecting and headed out. We didn't see Al or Karolyn around, but it was time to go.

We stopped in Priest River to get propane and find out where the gauge was. The very nice clerk showed me where the gauge was and how to read it. It's hard to see, but from the looks of it we might not have to get propane ever again. :-) Since getting our electric stove and learning about setting the water heater onto "pilot only" after it heats up, we are hardly using any propane. All this thanks to the nice couple at Omak who had learned lots of helpful hints from others and passed them on to us.

We then drove through Sandpoint and into Ponderay to get my prescription at the Wal-Mart there. It was ready this time. While we were parked we drove over to KFC in the van and had lunch. Then we went back and headed east again. I was rather tense on this section of roadway throughout the rest of Idaho. The roads were narrow and there was more traffic than I expected. But as soon as we entered Montana I was much more relaxed. The roads were wider and easier to drive on. It was all very scenic.

We finally pulled into Thompson Falls. I parked the castle at Harvest Foods in town, and went inside to ask about RV Parks. The clerk I talked with was very helpful. She even called one place for me to see if it had room or not. It was full, so she suggested another spot. We drove down to it in the van, checked it out and went ahead and registered. Then we went back for the castle and brought it in to set up. I had to back in, but the sewer line is up quite aways, so we had to pull forward a bit. That leaves the van out a bit further than I like, but it's not blocking anything. The gal came out from the office to bring my receipt, and I asked her if we were okay. She said it was fine. We got everything hooked up - had trouble with the water hookup - it kept leaking. We just couldn't get it tightened enough. We finally fixed that with duct tape - our cure-all for everything. :-)

By now it was getting quite late since we have moved into mountain time. So we began getting stuff ready for tomorrow and then getting ready for bed.

July 8, 2003 - Tuesday - 18.1 + 469.4 = 487.5 Total Miles to Date

12.0 to ID/MT border + 51.9 = 63.9 Total ID Miles

6.1 Total MT Miles

Today I woke up a bit after 5 AM as usual - even with the change of time - but it was dark still (unlike in the previous 2 states) so I turned over and went back to sleep. I woke up again a bit after 6. It was raining, and had been raining quite a bit of the night evidently. I got up and had my Quiet Time, then began waking the other two up.

After breakfast we had sharing for quite awhile. By the time we headed out it had stopped raining. We had a long drive today to our start point in Idaho -- the Clark Fork Drift Yard. So by the time we started walking it was noon. :-) We walked a bit over 5 miles before lunch, passing through the town of Clark Fork. We stopped in at a store to get candy bars. When we unwrapped them they were all discolored from being very old. We ate them anyway - ugh. Oh well.

We had our lunch at a very pretty spot that Joni picked out for us down by the river. There were signs of beavers in the area with some of the fallen trees and the way they were cut. We didn't see any beavers though. We did set up our chairs and enjoyed our lunch, then we headed out again. Joni was able to get Cassie to walk back with us one more time. Then Joni drove on to the border and she and Cassie met us at the "Welcome to Montana" sign. The actual border was just a bit before the sign, so Sam and I took pictures of each of us there and noted the mileage, then we walked on to the sign. There is a little path up to the sign and sitting there underneath the sign was Cassie with ears perked up so cute. I got a picture of her, but she had changed positions by then - still cute, but could have been better. Oh well. Joni was hidden in the grass beside her making it look like Cassie was there all alone. We got pictures of all of us at the sign.

We walked on another 6 miles plus, past Heron and on to just beyond the 6 mile mark. Joni met us there. She had driven into Heron which is about 2 miles off the main road. She said it was a very small town - smaller even than Usk, WA. We had lots of repeat cars today. A couple of cars with young people went by several times. They even began to honk and wave as they saw us over and over.

After Joni picked us up we drove on back to the camp at Riverfront Inn and RV Park near Thompson Falls, MT. We had our dinner, drank our sauce (chocolate) that we reserve to celebrate the finishing up of a state. I called Dave and talked with him a bit, then we went to bed.

July 9, 2003 - Wednesday - 15.9 + 487.5 = 503.4 Total Miles to Date

15.9 + 6.1 = 22.0 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I did get up right after 6 AM - actually I lay in bed to have my prayer time, then I got up and ready. Then while I had the rest of my Quiet Time Sam got up and ready and had her Quiet Time. Finally we got Joni up - she does her Quiet Time later in the day. I fixed an omelet for breakfast today with onions, spinach, and cheese. It really turned out quiet good - at least Sam said she really liked it. I did too. Joni doesn't eat eggs most of the time - she has bagels or cereal, etc. It all works out really good for us anyway.

We headed out to drive to our start point just east of the 6 mile marker. We all started out together and walked about 2 plus miles. There were some of the wood bears that we had seen a few times in front of this one house, so we stopped to take pictures. As we were taking pictures we heard a woman asking us if we would like to see a real bear and some tigers. It so happened that we had stumbled into a wild animal rescue home. The lady's name was Barbara and her husband was Gene. Barbara came around and let us in through the side yard. Mork and Mindy were the first ones we saw - they are Bengal tigers and were fascinated by Cassie. They think Mindy may be pregnant. There was also Taz, the black bear.

We ended up putting Cassie on their front porch where she could be locked up, but have plenty of room to pace. We went into this huge house where we met Shasta, the mountain lion - quite overweight and on a diet and purred, a miniature deer named ?, a bobcat named ? Out back were 2 more bobcats named Sabrina and ?. Sabrina rubbed her face against Sam's and reached out with her paws to hug Sam. We got lots of pictures of everything. There were also 2 peacocks and 2 peahens, some rabbits - which she said they couldn't legally set free, but they usually burrow out and go free, then it's legal. :-) There was a llama named Mr. Whiskers, and two goats - Moses and ?. Finally we were given chocolate puffs (a cupcake like thing) to feed Taz. We each fed him and took pictures. What fun. Taz stood up on his hind legs for us and let us rub his legs. Barbara told us that all their animals come in the house, sleep up on the bed with them, sit in the rocking chairs, etc. Oh I forgot about the cootamundi in one of the rooms. It was separate from the others because it was new and they were still getting him into the routine.

The house itself was quite big, filled with the stuffed animals and heads of animals, but all nicely set around much like a museum. The house was very clean. As we talked with Barbara and Gene, he suddenly said that one of the wild bears had just walked into the yard if we wanted to see it. Barbara had us go into the bedroom for a good view while she went out with bread to feed the bear. They have several bears they've rescued and set free. These all come back on a regular basis. If any of them get injured they come back to get treated by Gene and Barbara. The wild bear in the back yard was one of these. Sometimes the bears that come for food get into fights with each other, and she said they don't allow fighting. If they do fight they have to go into the shed for time out. We tried to imagine putting a bear into a shed for time out. :-) Barbara also told us she has never had to have so much as a stitch because of an injury from one of the animals. By the way, Barbara was in a wheelchair. She got around all over with her wheelchair - just amazing.

We finally said good bye and headed out for more walking - we probably stayed there at least an hour. Joni and Cassie headed back to the car and Sam and I headed east. A few miles down the road Joni had found a place in the shade for us to eat our lunch. We enjoyed our lunch, and Joni called Joan Moore's friend in Heron, and Beth. I called Marilyn. She had just received the packet from Dave with my journal and pictures and was looking at them. They've heard nothing more on the children. We talked a bit and then said good bye so we could get on with the walk. We soon passed by Noxon (it is actually across the river from us). Joni drove over to check it out. She said the bridge is one lane, and the town is pretty small. The bridge looked pretty.

We continued walking on our hottest day so far - we later found out it had reached 95 degrees, and was 110 in Thompson Falls where we are staying. I actually didn't realize it was so hot, but I was sweating plenty so I guess it must have been. We finally quit at about 6:30 (more or less). We drove on into Thompson Falls to the grocery store to get a few things, and found the library so we can get our e-mail sometime.

Back at camp Sam fixed dinner while we got busy with other things. We got ready for the day tomorrow, did all our journaling, and cleaned up and headed for bed.

Back to "Lyn's Journals" Index

July 10, 2003 - Thursday - 14.4 + 503.4 = 517.8 Total Miles to Date

14.4 + 22.0 = 36.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I was up a bit after 6:15 and got the others up soon after. We got off on the trail soon after 7:30. All of us started out together and walked about 3 or 4 miles before Joni and Cassie turned back. Sam and I continued. Nothing real special happened while we were walking - the usual waving and some honks. We stopped in one gift shop in Trout Creek and talked to the owner. She was real nice and told us a lot about her family.

Sam and I continued and as noon approached it grew ever hotter. We quit at about 12:30 with plans to walk more in the late afternoon. The temperature soared to about 110 degrees. We sat in the castle with our A.C. on and had our Quiet Time and Sharing Time. Then Sam and I went into Thompson Falls to get mail at the P.O. and ordered a hose from the hardware store for the RV, and went to get some groceries. We also stopped at the library to get their hours and check about internet access. We'll probably get e-mail tomorrow.

Back at the castle it was still plenty hot so we sat and wrote letters. Then we decided it was too late to walk, so we'll get up early again tomorrow and see how much we can get done.

We had a light dinner, did some reading, called Dave and went to bed.

July 11, 2003 - Friday - 14.5 + 517.8 = 532.3 Total Miles to Date

14.5 + 36.4 = 50.9 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was another early day because of the heat. We started hiking at a bit after 7 AM. Joni and Cassie hiked with us for almost 2 miles. We saw a mother and son pair of horses. They were really cute. We also saw some of the belted cows - real pretty ones. We saw several deer - both dead and alive. There were a couple of fawns without their mothers.

Sam and I spend a lot of time on memory work as we walk. The day was fun, but hot. As we walked Joni drove down to a garage sale to see what they had. It was a Mennonite community. Joni shared with them about what we were doing.

We walked to our camp today and stopped briefly, then we walked on into Thompson Falls. Before the town there was a bridge over the Clark Fork River that we had all been looking forward to. We took lots of pictures and really enjoyed the "earthquake" each time a truck went over it. Entering the town a car pulled up in front of us and a young woman got out. She had seen us for a couple of days and just wanted to know what we were doing. Sam talked with her since my phone rang right at that moment - it was Dave. After we hung up I joined Sam in talking with Elizabeth. I shared that we are praying for the nation and that we pray for each town and for people we meet. She got all teary as she was overwhelmed by us praying our way across the USA.

Joni, Sam and I stopped in at a gift shop, then went to lunch at a local restaurant. While we were there I kept wishing I had asked Elizabeth if there was anything specific I could pray about for her. Several hours later we just happened to see her again. This time I didn't hesitate - I went right over and asked her if there was something she needed prayer for. She hesitated at first, but then told me about her mother's illness, and finally got to the core of her need - a situation with her son and his father. I stopped and prayed with her right there, and we talked a bit more before hugging and saying good bye. I asked her if her husband was a Christian. She said, yes, that they were both Christians (he is not her son's father) and had been baptized in the Clark Fork River.

After lunch, I sat with Cassie in the van while Joni and Sam got their e-mail. When Joni came back I went in to get my e-mail. Joni and Cassie went back to the castle for awhile, then picked us up at 5 PM. We went to get ice cream - really good, but on the expensive side. We said that would have to be our celebration of the end of the second month of the GAJ. Tomorrow begins the 3^rd month!

We went back to the castle and Gary and Melody (Dave's cousin from near Seattle) called. They had arrived in town (Thompson Falls) and would come out to the castle to visit us. They arrived a few minutes later. We had a nice visit, then they had to leave to get a campsite. There were no available campsites at our place. They will watch for us on the road tomorrow and stop to have a break with us when they spot us.

After they left we three finished our Bible times and then had a good sharing time before heading for bed.

Back to "Lyn's Journals" Index

July 12, 2003 - Saturday - 11.9 + 532.3 = 544.2 Total Miles to Date

11.9 + 50.9 = 62.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was another warm (to say the least) day. We were up early again and out on the trail by 7:30, more or less. The three of us with Cassie started out on the back roads of Thompson Falls, MT. This was along Thompson Falls Lake - quite lovely, especially at that time of the day when everything was quiet. Our route soon took us to Main St. where we enjoyed looking in the shop windows - the stores were still closed. We came to a small yard for one of the shops where there was a large concrete carousel horse statue. On the fence in back of it were many cute signs with a variety of sayings. Behind the fence were two graves - one was inscribed "He made a mess so now he rests"; and the other "The Complainer" :-) I then got on the horse for a couple of pictures. Joni tried, but couldn't make it - it was a high horse and Joni was unable to get on her high horse. I, however, had no trouble getting up on my high horse. :-)

We continued walking our way through town. Out by the east end of the lake we stopped to look at the fish and take more pictures of the dam and the lake and of Cassie and me up on a rock.

Finally we got all the way out of town. We got to 2 miles and stopped to give Cassie a drink before she and Joni turned back. Just then Gary and Melody drove up with the girls. We were expecting them and were glad they came before Joni turned back. We stood and talked a bit and the girls gathered rocks. Angelica is collecting them, and Crystal just likes to stack them. Joni left with Cassie, and Melody and family walked with us for about half a mile. Gary went back for the car while we walked a bit further to another driveway where he could turn in to pick them up. They went back into town to get some things before heading on to Glacier.

Joni saw them again while walking back and they stopped and talked with her a bit more. Sam and I continued walking and enjoying the beautiful scenery in territory we've not been in at all yet. It was very nice. We walked on a bridge over the Thompson River and alongside it the rest of the morning. Later Gary and Melody came by on their way off to Glacier. No other cars were around so Gary videotaped us a bit more. Then he had to drive off. We all hollered good byes to each other and they left.

We came to a 10 mile section that was a Big Horn Sheep area - the only big horns we saw were on a family of big horn goats in a fenced in yard. We still have more walking in that area, so we'll see if we see any next week. A bit after noon we stopped because of the heat. It bothers me much more than it used to - of course, 110 degrees on pavement seems even hotter.

Joni picked us up and we went back into Thompson Falls, parked in the shade, and walked over to the library to finish up e-mail. Sam got a temporary library card and checked out some books on tape. The library closed at 2 PM today, so we finished up and went back to our castle where we turned on the air conditioner and had our lunch. After lunch we each had our Bible Time, then I went over and took a cool shower, but was drenched in sweat again just walking back to the castle (about 100 yards), so I changed into my swimsuit and felt much more comfortable. Our A.C. cut out on us for a bit (overheated), so we let it cool and turned on the generator to run the back A. C.

I had lots to work on - journaling, post cards, etc. We ate dinner, I wrote some post cards, and I called Dave for our Saturday update. Finally to bed.

July 13, 2003 - Sunday - Church Day -

544.2 Miles Total to Date

62.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I was up early as usual even tho' we didn't have to be at church until 11 AM. After everyone was up and ready we drove to Trout Creek for the church we had picked out. It was Cabinet Mountain Bible Church and turned out to be a very good choice. It wasn't the one where Rhett and Elizabeth attend, but it was excellent. The people were SO very nice. Many greeted us, including the pastor (Hap Cheff). His wife, Sandy, was away so we didn't get to meet her. Pastor Hap asked if we would share with the congregation. So just before his message he asked me to share. I shared about how we wave to people as they drive toward us, and about our prayer that goes with every wave. Pastor Hap said that he had seen us a few days before and remembered us waving. Another man from the back said he had seen us several times and wondered about the cheerful women walking along the road. The message was real good. He finished his sermon with an invitation to any who don't know the LORD to come to Him. Then they closed the service with the singing of a benediction to the tune of Eidel Weiss. The words are:

May the LORD, Mighty GOD, Bless and keep you forever.

Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor.

Lift your eyes and see His face, And His grace forever.

May the LORD, Mighty GOD, Bless and keep you forever.

We really liked this benediction, and Joni asked about getting a copy of it, thus we have it. After church most of the congregation came and talked to one or more of us. It was really nice. One lady did give us a prayer request to pray for, and also asked us to write to her when we finish next year. We'll try to send her updates every once in awhile as well. She will be praying for us - as will many of the others. What a blessing.

After church we went back to the castle and changed, grabbed the laundry and went into Thompson Falls to eat lunch, do laundry, and a small shopping.

Then back to the castle to get pictures downloaded, make phone calls, and view slide shows of the pictures we downloaded. That was so much fun. It is exciting to look at the pictures each time and review what we've done. This time we had all the voice input that Joni put on with her pictures. We laughed so hard at all the funny and cute comments. What a riot. It all took a very long time since we hadn't done pictures for a couple of weeks - we try to do them every week.

Among our phone calls were ones that Sam's family made to talk with her. I think she talked with everyone but Brenda who was at work. Of course, I talked with Dave. I also got to talk briefly with Russ - he was there with Dave, but just leaving to go meet Alyce and others on his way back to Discovery Bay. I talked with Dave again after we looked at our pictures, then I headed to bed. It was after 11 PM.

July 14, 2003, Monday -15.6 + 544.2 = 559.8 Total Miles to Date

15.6 + 62.8 = 78.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got a good early start (about 7:30 AM) and walked from Mile Marker 61 (my age) to Wildhorse Plains. The scenery was all beautiful. We walked along the Thompson River most of the day with it's beautiful flowing water. There were some pretty rapids and islands and rocky places in the middle. These were on our right side. On our left were beautiful rocky mountains that we all enjoyed. Joni and Cassie walked quite a bit with us. After they headed back to the car Sam and I continued on into Plains.

We waved to a lot of people today. Most waved back to us and several honked. A few were quite excited in their waves.

In Plains we met Joni and Cassie, then we all stopped in at a place called Plains Peddler - Antiques & Gifts. The lady there was really nice. She even brought us lemonade when she heard what we were doing. We looked around quite a bit. Joni ended up buying Paul's birthday gift there - which I won't say what it is in case he sees this before he gets it. :-) I bought a set of 4 small "Burma Shave" signs. They say, "The wolf is shaved - so neat and trim - Red Riding Hood is chasing him - Burma Shave". I've been telling Sam and Joni how much we used to enjoy the Burma Shave signs, so I got really excited when I saw them - the price was very reasonable so I bought them. They're small replicas so we'll hang them in the castle for the year, then I'll hang them someplace at home when we get back there. We talked with the lady at the store quite a bit, then we walked on to the car about a block away. We quit for the day.

Next we drove around to find a park at which to eat our lunch - Fred Young Park was just across from the City Hall. We ate lunch there then walked to the City Hall and introduced ourselves. The mayor wasn't in but it just so happened that the substitute mayor was there. We got pictures with him (Ron Robinson), the clerk (Linda Arnold), and the deputy clerk (Cathy Emmett). We talked a bit more, then in walked the mayor himself. His name is Dan Bates, and we took more pictures. I gave him greetings from Mayor Frank Mecham of Paso Robles. He said that name sounded real familiar and wondered if he had ever been up this way. It would be interesting if they had met somewhere before.

From there we went to a few places to find someone to do the car servicing tomorrow. The first place the guy who does that sort of thing was out for the day. The second place couldn't do it until Friday. But the third place will be able to do it in the morning while we're walking.

Then we headed back to Thompson Falls, stopping at the Harvest Market to get salad fixin's for a Chef salad dinner. Then to the Post Office to get our mail of which we had plenty. It was so exciting.

Back at the castle we got things put away, had our Bible Times, looked at the mail (including the Priest River Times with our story), and a big packet from Dave.

After our dinner and sharing we took care of burning the pictures and journals onto CD's, and other business things, then to bed.

July 15, 2003 - Tuesday - 10.1 + 559.8 = 569.9 Total Miles to Date

10.1 + 78.4 = 88.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a truly fun day. We had a little further to drive so it was 8 AM when we began walking. Joni dropped Sam and me off where we stopped yesterday in Plains and we began walking. Joni then took the van to the Service Center where we had made arrangements to have the car serviced and the tires rotated. She and Cassie walked back to meet us from the van. Sam and I stopped to take pictures of the first log schoolhouse in the area, and to use restrooms. (We've been re-reading our journal entries from the start of the walk and noticed that we frequently mention restrooms or pit stops - We probably don't mention half of the ones we make, but these are really an important part of each day :-) - sometimes just the finding of a place to use where we are half hidden is quite a task - thus pit stops do get mentioned frequently.) :-) :-)

After Joni and Cassie joined us we continued on through Plains (full name is Wild Horse Plains). We four walked together for about 3 miles waving and smiling to the cars and trucks coming our way. Someone had to make about 4 pit stops in those first 3 miles - these mostly liquid breakfasts really do that sometimes. :-)

Finally it was time for Joni to turn back to get the van. She spotted a trail close to the train tracks on her way back, so took it. That way she can let Cassie off (which makes Cassie really happy) and they both enjoy it more. This time Joni realized too late that the path followed the train tracks, but not the road. It led them quite a distance from the road. She ended up climbing a barbed wire fence to the tracks, walked along these for awhile as they curved further from the highway. She climbed another fence to another trail, continued to a big lake and then had a choice of going back to the track or into a hayfield with a sign proclaiming "No Trespassing". She walked along a pond for awhile then got into the hayfield, then she tried to go toward the road. That wasn't working so she hopped another fence into someone's garden, walked past the house, looked for someone to apologize to, saw no one, and continued up a steep slope to eventually reach the road.

Meanwhile Sam and I had reached the entrance to Paradise, and since we all try to walk into towns together we waited by the side of the road. There was no place to sit and the sun was heating up, so after waiting half an hour we finally gave up and walked into town. Paradise has a population of either 333 or 999 (only the top part of the numbers were visible). There we saw a couple just getting set up for the day with their hot dog/hamburger stand. We stopped and ordered some of their huckleberry lemonade and sat drinking that in the shade of a nice big tree. We talked a bit with the couple, John and Phyllis. They set up their stand every summer.

Joni came, had some huck. Lemonade with us, then moved the car to a slightly better position and continued walking with us. Soon we came to a house with a 1931 Chevrolet sitting in front. We took pictures of it and walked on. We saw a couple coming our way waving to all the cars - that is what we always do. Of course we had to find out why they were walking and waving. There names were Johnny Johnson and Carrie, and they were heading home from the post office where they walk every day except Sunday to pick up their mail. We told them what we were doing, and after talking a bit they insisted we go back to their house for awhile. It was the house with the 1931 Chevrolet! Johnny insisted that Sam get into the rumble seat for a picture, then into the driver's seat for a picture. Of course, Joni and I couldn't be left out so we each had our turn in the driver's seat and in the rumble seat. Another man came out of the house - his name was Ed. We never figured out the relationship between the three of them. They then told us about a spring we would be passing down the road just a spell. It is a place where everyone comes to get fresh water.

After talking for awhile they wanted to know how we worked the walking and driving. We explained that Joni would continue with us for a bit more then walk back to get the van. Johnny had an idea. He had an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) parked there which he said he would drive down to the spring and pick up Joni to take her back to the van. She protested, but all in vain. We walked to the spring which gushed water. Some people were there getting water. When they finished we got some. Then we saw Johnny coming on his ATV to fetch Joni. (She called him her knight in shining armor.) :-) At first he wanted her to do the driving, but she refused. He relented, and she got on the back hugging him with all her might (maybe a bit exaggerated :-) ) as they drove off into the west. She later told us she kept feeling his hand rub up and down her leg as they went along - but, alas, she discovered it was only the gear shift rubbing her leg each time he shifted.

Meanwhile Sam and I enjoyed watching people come and go to get the spring water while we took turns going into the trees on the other side of the tracks. One man came with his huge containers, filled them, then proceeded to wash a pair of cowboy boots in the spring, followed by washing a pair of jeans, and a couple of chamois. We had to laugh - say, Dave, that might be a good way for you to wash your clothes while I'm on this walk - find the nearest spring and take your clothes along. :-)

We continued walking with Cassie since she couldn't ride the ATV with Joni. When Joni drove up finally, we were across the street from one of many rock quarries in the area. The owner saw us walking and came over to talk to us. He told us there was a herd of long horn sheep in the hills behind them, and invited us to go through the quarry to see them. He told us if they run all we have to do is shake some rocks together and they'll turn around to see what we're doing. He was right, they ran at the sight of Cassie, she slipped out of our grasp and pursued the animals up a very rocky hillside. We called her and ordered her to come back since we really didn't want to see her buried under a mountain of rock, nor did we want her chasing these beautiful sheep. She finally returned to us and we grabbed her leash again. We shook some rocks together and the sheep turned and watched us while we took a whole series of pictures.

Well, it was almost 2 PM, the weather was way too hot to continue walking, so we headed back in the van. We stopped at the spring once again and two trucks drove up. One driver was a fellow we had seen several times. He drove a logging truck, and he sported quite a long flowing white beard. Once in Thompson Falls he had stopped and motioned us to cross while he held up traffic. A clerk in a store we went into right after that asked how we managed to get a logging truck to stop for us. We laughed and said we had no idea. Anyway, at the spring when I saw him I had to go ask him if I could take his picture. I explained what we were doing, and he said he had been watching us for several days. Joni took a picture of him and me together.

We drove on back to John and Phyllis' hot dog stand in Paradise, had lunch there and talked with them some more as well as with Gil, an 80 year young gentleman sitting there. We got pictures of them all, then continued on to Plains where we got ice cream sundaes/ice cream soda at the Circle Café. Then back to Thompson Falls where Joni dropped Sam and me off at the library to get e-mail. She and Cassie went back to the castle to get cooled off. They walked down to the river for a bit of a swim, then back to the castle to turn on the A. C. for a bit.

When Sam & I finished at the library I called Joni to come get us. As we left town we saw that the temp. at 6 PM was still 104 degrees. Back at the castle we had dinner, worked on journals, Bible study, finance records, and other odds and ends. I called Dave, and then we all headed for bed.

Tomorrow is moving day - no walking.

July 16, 2003 - Wednesday - Moving Day -- 569.9 Total Miles to Date

88.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I got up early, had my Bible Time, and did a few writing things, and had breakfast. Joni got up reasonably early, then Sam got up. Joni and I drove into Thompson Falls to the Post Office to retrieve our mail and leave forwarding addresses and go to the library to leave some tapes Sam had checked out. Sam called her family while we were gone.

When we got back we packed things up for moving, disconnected everything and started up the RV. I let it run for a couple of minutes while I waited for Joni to get in the van and back out of my way. Then the RV stopped and wouldn't restart.

It was then I realized that I should have gotten gas BEFORE we went to the campground. Well we realized we were going to have to go back to town to buy a gas can and some gas. We really didn't want to buy a gas can, but not much choice. As we were getting into the van Jim, the owner of the RV Park, asked what was happening. We told him and he came over to check it out for us. He didn't believe we were out of gas, but we knew we had used the generator and were quite certain it was out. After checking various other possibilities he agreed we were out of gas. Joni was talking to the gardener outside meanwhile, and he told her that Jim should have some gas around to give us to get us started. Jim didn't offer, so Joni and I took off for town. Gas cans were only at the hardware stores at the far end of town. We called Sam to have her ask Jim if he had an empty gas can we could borrow to get our gas in. He told her no, that his were all full. So we drove on down to the hardware store. As we passed the first one I told Joni to go to the second one because they had really been more helpful earlier in the week when we needed some things. So we went in and asked the man about gas cans and told him our problem. He kept looking us over, obviously sizing us up, and then told us to wait there. He then went into the back and came back with a 5 gallon can full of gas. He asked only that we bring it back to him full. That saved us making anymore extra stops. How nice.

Back to the RV. We put in the gas, then got ready again. Jim had said to let him know when we were ready and he would come start it for us. We really didn't feel we needed him because we knew what to do, but I felt we should have him do it because he was being nice. So I got him, and he started it. We finally headed out, thanking Jim for all his help.

It was later than we had wanted to leave, but it was okay. We went past places we've walked, and places we will walk, then went on past Arlee (where we'll turn off of Hwy 200 for a time) to drive to the edge of Missoula. There we got a space at Jellystone Park for the RV - we had to take a smaller space for tonight without sewage, but tomorrow we have a space reserved with everything. We have to move the RV to the field in the morning, then get into our space when we come back in the afternoon.

After we got settled I pulled out my lean mean grilling machine (I'm sure glad I brought that) and grilled our hamburgers. We ate at our picnic table in the shade (it was over a hundred again today). We went over to the camp store - we were too late for the nightly ice cream social - but we'll have more nights to go. Then we went on back to our castle and to bed. We find it rather amusing that all the RV's around seem to be quite new - There's even a huge new Diplomat across from us -- ours is a Diplomat II.

July 17, 2003 - Thursday - 12.3 + 569.9 = 582.2 Total Miles to Date

12.3 + 88.5 = 100.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got up early, but since we had to move the castle we took a little longer getting away. We moved the castle to the field. Then we headed out to our start place. I generally drive to the start and Joni drives back in the evening. It seems to be a good plan.

Our start point was at the Rock Quarry where the long horn sheep were. We looked when we got there and saw the whole bunch of them coming down the mountain. We got more pictures, then the lead sheep headed across the train tracks and out to the road with the rest of the ewes following. A truck came, but stopped, and this scared them back from the road for awhile. But soon they were trying again. This time traffic stopped back far enough and the sheep all got across okay. We got more pictures of them going across.

Then we headed out walking. Joni and Cassie starting out with us for the first 2 miles. After they left to go back, Sam and I continued. We had some beautiful spots to walk today along the Clark Fork River. Previous days when I said Thompson River are incorrect. The Thompson River flowed into the Clark Fork River. We got several interesting pictures of the river with its many islands. We met Joni at a spot where we took a snack break. Then we continued.

As we walked up to Perma where Joni was parked, we noticed a man had driven out to see if she needed help. He joked that he was the sheriff after Joni told him that Johnny Johnson had told us that Harold Shaw was the mayor. It seems there are only 3 people living in the town. So he joked that they all traded off and on as to who was mayor and sheriff. His name was Bill, so we got pictures with him. Then we went to Harold's home and he came out as we were walking up. We talked with him quite a bit. After pictures with Harold we headed down the road only to be called over at the 3^rd and last house in town to come get a drink of water. We didn't really need water (we carry plenty), but to be nice we went, and also for the opportunity to meet one more down home American. Also we wanted to see the fascinating house he was building. He very nicely gave us a tour. He has actual trees that he cut with interesting shaped branches that he is using to hold up things or, in the bathroom where the hot tub will be is a tree whose branches will hold towels. One chandelier has lights on it from old railroad equipment.

We like to say that when we walked into Perma, the whole town came out to greet us. :-)

Finally we thanked him and said good bye. We walked about another half mile, then called it a day because of the heat. We drove back to the castle, with a short side trip up route 559 where we will walk later - only part way today - and moved the RV to our new spot, hooked up in no time, and then took a rest while doing our Bible studies. Joni and I showered, then Sam and I went in to find the Wal-Mart. We did shopping for about 2 weeks, and got gas and explored the town of Missoula a bit. Actually it is a true city with a University and all, plus a large population. We won't be walking through Missoula though.

We stopped on the way back to the castle to call Dave since we don't have phone service at Jellystone. It was a fairly brief call. Maybe I'll call him again tomorrow from the road someplace.

At home I set to work on the computer while Sam and Joni (their orders) brought in groceries and put them away and fixed a quick dinner. Joni started talking to a young man outside the castle who was curious about us. He is a Mormon and works as a smoke jumper, and they have training grounds nearby here. We enjoyed talking with him. He left and we finished up what we needed to do and then headed to bed. A long, but fun day.

July 18, 2003 - Friday - 14.6 + 582.2 = 596.8 Total Miles to Date

14.6 + 100.8 = 115.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got a reasonable start timewise. We parked by the Flathead River just beyond Perma. There was a cool breeze blowing and we had hope of a cooler day. That hope was short lived as we walked out to Hwy 200 to walk along our route. The sun was hot already. But first we had a delightful walk across the bridge over the Flathead River. It's a wide river, but not deep, and it's very clear. There are lots of islands in this river. Somewhere this river changed from the Clark Fork River to the Flathead River. After a few pictures we continued our walk on Hwy 200. Our goal today was Dixon.

As we walked we laughed and joked a lot at first. Cassie was feeling pretty good, and for awhile was even chasing mice along the roadside. It's really cute watching her chase after these mice. So far she hasn't caught any. :-) After about 2 miles Cassie was ready for a drink. She knows the water and her dish are in Joni's pak, and jumps at it with a longing look on her face. We stopped and got her a drink, then she and Joni turned back to the car. We all watched as Cassie chased a mouse for several minutes before Joni could get her to start walking toward the car.

As Sam and I walk we often find coins on the roadside -- usually just pennies, but today I found a dime. All our coins go into a box for a special treat for the "furry person" in our group, but Joni says there will be enough for all of us to have a treat. :-) . Quarters don't go into that box -- they are all saved for laundry and for the many places where we have to pay for showers. Well as we continued walking Sam suddenly stopped and exclaimed at her great find - a $20.00 bill! Wow! That's the most we've found.

We took several pictures of the river, the horses with their little ones and other scenery. Joni met us at mile marker 104 I think it was. We refreshed our supplies and then headed on. The temperatures were soaring and we were out in the open with no trees for shade, and very few trees for pit stops.

A man was coming out of his ranch in his truck at one point as Sam and I were coming along. He asked if we needed help or anything. We told him what we were doing and assured him we were okay. His name was Brad, and he said he didn't have much room, but if we needed help he'd sure make room. He and his dog shared the front seat. That was sure nice of him.

Joni passed us and drove on into the town of Dixon, then walked back with Cassie a little ways, but Cassie put her foot down as to how far she would go. So they waited by a barn till we showed up. Then we went across the street to get pictures of some longhorn cattle. There were two of them. They were in the back of the field, but when they saw Cassie they were curious enough to come up close to the fence so we could get several good pictures of them.

Now it was just a few more feet to Dixon where Joni had the car parked on West St. We wanted to walk through the town, so she met us again on East St. There we ended our walk for the day.

Now we drove on back toward our castle, but stopped in Arlee at the Post Office, then drove around to find a shady spot to eat our lunch. We ate under a shade tree in front of a vacant house. A beautiful siamese/Burmese ?? cat with blue eyes was watching us. We left a little bit of our chicken mixture for her to eat. She would never let us touch her. From there we drove around to find a church for Sunday, since Arlee is our turning off point we really want to go to church there. We stopped and asked a woman named Rose if she knew where any churches were. She said there were only 2 churches in town - one Catholic and one Protestant. We had already seen the Catholic Church -- a beautiful old building. She told us where the other one was and we drove down to find it - it is an Alliance Church, very nice looking building, and the service starts at 11 AM - that's a good time for us since it gives us a chance to sleep in a bit - not that I ever manage to sleep in, but I do sometimes stay in bed and read, so at least I rest a little longer.

We drove on toward the castle, now looking for a gift shop we kept seeing that we will not be walking past since we turn off before it. It is called Grandma's Front Porch and looks real cute. We found it and stopped and went in and looked around. It had a lot of cute things, but we are not into buying a lot of "things" so we just looked. Well, we did each buy a cute greeting card, but that was all. We talked a bit with the two gals running the store. They said it's supposed to get hotter for the weekend :-( . We told them what we were doing and that in the heat we can only walk in the mornings, so we're hoping for cooler weather soon.

We're trying to find a new, cooler team shirt to wear on Sundays. We always wear our team shirts on Sundays since it gives us a good opening to meet people and share what we are doing. Tomorrow afternoon we will drive on into Missoula to see if we can find shirts at Target or one of the other stores. It is a big city, so hopefully we can find something not too expensive.

When we got back to the castle I met Trell outside - a young man we had talked with last night here. He asked how we were doing, and I told him what we had done today. We also went over to the gazebo for the ice cream social tonight. It is just a time they have ice cream out to buy for $1.00 and sit and visit. Joni and Cassie went last night while Sam and I were doing the shopping. She had the Huckleberry ice cream. Tonight all three of us went, and we all had huckleberry ice cream - really good. Actually Joni had a scoop of huckleberry and a scoop of vanilla. She shared hers with Cassie who loves ice cream.

Then we came back and prepared for tomorrow and got ready for bed. We walk to Ravalli and beyond tomorrow.

Back to "Lyn's Journals" Index

July 19, 2003 - Saturday - 10.5 + 596.8 = 607.3 Total Miles to Date

10.5 + 115.4 = 125.9 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got to Dixon at about 8 AM I think. We started at West St. because there was shade there to park the car. Another dog followed us all the way through town - Cassie really wanted to play with him. As we left town we took pictures of some old tractors up on top of a sign. A dog or two came running out barking, and a teenager came out shouting that her dog might bite. Soon 2 more teens came out shouting warnings. Joni decided that maybe she should turn back here since she didn't want to pass these dogs again with just herself and Cassie. She had done about 2 miles. We waited until she was well away from the dogs, then we turned and started walking.

It had started out very hot, so I wasn't moving any too fast. There are no cool breezes to bring temperatures down. It is just hot all the time - in fact, last night Joni and I both had an awful time getting to sleep with the heat.

As we continued walking a man pulled off across the street and ahead of us. He rolled down the window as we got closer and asked if we were okay. His name was Jim Parsons. I went across with a card and told him we were praying for the nation. He told us he is trying to do his part for America by building affordable housing. We talked for a bit, then he left as we assured him we'd be praying for him. (His name has now gone into our "angel" book and our prayer book.)

Joni passed us, and soon we got to where she and Cassie were waiting. We stopped for a bit, then continued on with her planning to drive to the other side of Ravalli and walk back to meet us. We only had about half a mile to go to Ravalli. We met just inside of town, and stopped at a gift shop, tied Cassie in front and walked in to be greeted by a partly shaved Pomeranian (a very nice looking haircut I might add). He was charcoal in color and the haircut around the face made him look like a little teddy bear. We looked around, but saw nothing that fit our requirements (we are all looking for specific items).

We headed out again stopping down the road at a cute little church to take pictures. Then Joni went ahead to meet us at the Farmer's Market and Post Office just down the road. We stopped and took pictures of the P. O. (a very tiny one) and Joni wanted to get postage for a large piece of mail she was sending. So after the one gal at the Farmers Market sold me two apricots, she put on her post mistress "hat" and took care of Joni.

I enjoyed my apricots very much as Sam and I walked on. We walked only another couple of miles then called it a day as the heat was getting really bad. Joni was waiting for us by a creek where she had let Cassie swim for awhile. Sam took off her socks and waded in for a bit herself.

We went back to the castle to get our lunch - we decided on another chef salad. Chef salad and veggie omelets are some of my specialties, so I was in charge of lunch today. (I did an omelet for our dinner last night.) We had to wait a bit since we needed to boil eggs for it. I went ahead and got most the other stuff chopped and sliced, then added the eggs when they were ready. By this time Joni had fallen asleep. We started to eat without her, but she joined us soon. After we ate, Joni and I got ready to go shopping while Sam stayed at the castle with Cassie. We were going for bottled water and some shirts, and shoes for Joni. We were able to find some new lightweight team shirts (red with little flags on them) and with just a bit of a sleeve. Our others are just getting too hot to wear these days. Missoula is a big city (our first real city since Bellingham, WA), and we went to Target, then a large shopping mall, and finally the Super Wal-Mart. These were each a ways apart, so it all took awhile to finish. I have to admit we were really enjoying the time inside the air conditioned stores. Coming out of the stores was quite another matter. We headed back to the castle at about 6:30 and noticed the temperature was 103 still. Everyone tells us this is the hottest summer they have had for years.

Back at the castle we took our stuff in and showed Sam the new shirts - she approved. :-) Then, after putting things away, we went over to the pavilion for the ice cream social again. This time the guy put an extra scoop of vanilla in each of our dishes for us to feed to Cassie. By now Cassie knows that when we ask if she wants to go for ice cream she'll get to enjoy her favorite treat. People enjoy watching Cassie eat from a spoon or a cone. :-)

After ice cream, I tried to find a place to make phone calls, but couldn't get enough service anywhere. Back to journal, then Sam and I enjoyed a plate of brussel sprouts each. :-) Then to bed soon after.

July 20, 2003 - Sunday - 607.3 Miles Total to Date

125.9 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was rather interesting - different. We slept in a little bit, then headed to Arlee (accent on the last syllable, or Ah-lee) to attend the Alliance Church there. (We wore our new light weight team shirts -- very comfortable.) We had checked the time a couple of days before, and it was scheduled for 11 AM, so we showed up at about 8 minutes to 11. We walked in and were given a bulletin by the usher who informed us we hadn't missed too much of the sermon. It seems they were on a summer schedule and started at 10 AM - oops! Well we did get in on most of the message which was on GOD's Amazing Love - a very good message. The pastor was a young man - he had been there 4 years. I was very impressed with what he had to say. His text was from I John 4. He had five points to make - 1. Love is the very nature of who GOD is. 2. GOD's love must act. 3. GOD's love changes the heart of the receiver. 4. The amazing love of GOD connects Christians in unity with GOD. 5. GOD's amazing love provides and protects. - Perfect love drives out fear. We on the GAJ need not fear what lies ahead this year. We are more than conquerors. His love for us is never in doubt.

After the service we met several people, including the pastor. As is our practice we tend to each talk with different ones a lot. This is good for then we can later compare notes with one another. One lady and her husband (Red and Barbara) talked with us quite a bit. She was especially excited about our walk and began explaining some of the things that are going on in their area. She and some others went to the top of the Pass that we will be walking on and blew the ram's horn (Shofar - sp?) and prayed over the area. That have a group that prays every week for the area and for the enemies' strongholds in the area. She also told us that the Community Church in Ravalli has quite a good work going among the Indian people in the area - This whole area is on an Indian Reservation.

Finally we said good bye and headed to Ravalli to eat brunch at the Buffalo Ranch Café. After we ate we drove north to St. Ignatius and went to the Mission there. It was made of red bricks - much different from our CA Missions. It was beautiful inside and out. The inside had murals on ceilings and walls that had been painted by one artist. Beautiful work!

From there we went into town to get gas, then back toward Dixon to go north on another road to visit the National Bison Range. It was a 19 mile drive through the park. Several people had spotted bears today. But the main attraction was the massive bison. We also saw white tailed dear, and several pronghorns. One section had lots of bison right next to the road we were driving on. We got lots of good pictures. That was fun. We needed a bit of a relaxing day, and it was really great! Finally we headed back to the castle where we worked on downloading pictures and viewed our weekly slide show. We also went over for the nightly ice cream social. We'll miss that when we move on. Cassie will miss it especially since she always gets her share of ice cream.

Finally we had our prayer time and went to bed. It really was a very enjoyable day, tho' we really felt like we had missed a part of our day by being late for the service.

July 21, 2003 -- Monday - 16.2 + 607.3 = 623.5 Miles Total to Date

16.2 + 125.9 = 142.1 Total MT Miles to Date

We began our walk where we left off on Saturday. Several trucks passed us at one point and Sam turned and said that the wind from them had blown the ring off her finger. She watched it bounce along the road, then lost sight of it. We looked for it for awhile, but didn't find it. Sam said it was just one she had gotten at the fair in their area, so it was nothing special. We continued walking.

At about 2 miles Joni turned back to get the car. Sam and I continued. It was a good walk. We arrived in Arlee around 10:30 or 11 AM. We stopped at a gift shop and enjoyed looking around. Then I bought some orange, raspberry, and mint sticks. Sam and I ate them all - Joni had half of one - she's not much of a chocolate eater anymore. Then we prayed for the town and around the town some. We walked over to the Alliance Church to take pictures. Then Joni went back to get the car again.

Soon we came to the junction with Hwy 559. I took a few pictures and we headed out on Jocko Rd. to head up over the Jocko Pass. We had just started on this road when Barbara (the gal from church yesterday) and a friend drove up. She asked us to let her know if we sense anything in particular as we walk along this pass. She also told us that there are little groups of Satanists in the area. I got her phone number and address, etc.

We continued up the road which soon headed into the mountains - actually I think these are like the foothills of the Rockies. It got cooler and much more comfortable. Joni prayed for the area as she drove, and Sam and I prayed as we walked through the area. It was like an angel of peace was walking with us and beside us.

We stopped walking at about 1:30 PM. Joni had found a real nice place to park the car and had walked back to meet us with Cassie. We then ate lunch at the spot where the car was. We were really filthy, so had to clean up some before eating. The road we are walking on is a dirt and gravel road, and has a surprising amount of traffic.

Finally we headed into Missoula to find the UPS place to ship Joni's steer skull to Paul. That was quite an undertaking. I helped Joni wrap it in bubble wrap and get it all ready. It will arrive there tomorrow. Then we went to Arby's for cokes, and asked for a health food store where I could get Kyolic. We were directed to the Good Food Store.

From there we went back to Wal-Mart for a few things, then we took Sam to pizza for her birthday. She is 16 today, tho' Barbara told me she tho't she was in her early 20's. I called Barbara, by the way, to share some things with her about the walk. She gave me some names of people and churches in Sheridan, WY where they used to live. We had a lengthy talk, and she was a great encouragement. She shared some neat words of wisdom with us for our encouragement for the walk ahead. GOD is really bringing some neat people into our lives. She also wanted to know who and where to send donations if people wanted to.

Sam talked with her family -- they had called to sing Happy Birthday to Sam. That was good. After dinner at Pizza Hut we noticed an REI in the same shopping center. I went in real quick to see if they had a good price on zip off pants, and ended up getting a pair (I've had to wear two pair for too many days sometimes).

We went back to the castle, and over for the nightly ice cream social, then back to do Bible study, share, and get to bed. We're all very tired, but really did enjoy today. It was a fun day, a good mileage day, a bit cooler of a day, and a very encouraging day. Barbara and her group meet tonight - they invited us to join them, but we are just way too tired. We did, however, give them some prayer requests, and can be assured that they will keep on praying for us. What a blessing Barbara is. I must remember to put her in our prayer book, and in our angel book.

July 22, 2003 - Tuesday - 17.0 + 623.5 = 640.5 Total Miles to Date

17.0 + 142.1 = 159.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got off to a good start time. As soon as we were ready we headed to the Jocko Pass to start walking. We all walked together for the first couple of miles, then Joni and Cassie turned back to get the car. They met us from time to time to walk together some more. It was a beautiful walk - lots of trees, streams and beautiful scenes. It is much cooler in the hills than it is in the valley.

A few cars met us or passed us today. Each time one came we stepped off the road and held our kerchiefs over our noses and mouths to keep the dust out. Most people waved and smiled as we waved and smiled to them, but a few just looked shocked to see these women out there walking in this part of the world.

Cassie really enjoyed the walk today. She could run freely back and forth and over and around. Tho' we had lots of water to look at most of it was not easily accessible for her to play in or get to at all.

Late in our day of walking we came to several cows with their young in the middle of the road. We just kept walking and soon they joined up with another group and all kept walking ahead of us. This went on for a mile or two. The young ones would stop to look at us from time to time, but then turn and run as we got too close. A few times a mama would get behind us, then run to catch up. At one point two or three more came up from behind to join us. All but one of these ran past us to catch up with our growing herd. The one was quite fearful to pass us - especially if we turned to look at her. So we looked straight ahead, and she finally got brave enough to go running past us. We were hoping that Joni and Cassie wouldn't be coming toward us. Soon we came around a bend to see Joni with the car, standing outside taking pictures of the cows. It seems she had herded them with the car for awhile before they finally let her pass, so she had wisely kept Cassie inside the car knowing the cows were between her and us. We continued to herd our cows past Joni after stopping to talk a bit and take pictures. We herded our 14 head of cattle on down the road to the turn off to Jocko Lake where they headed down and we continued on the road. It was so funny watching them.

Finally we came to the junction to go to Hwy 83 and decided to call it quits for the day. Starting early as we do now we take along a variety of good healthy snacks, including hard boiled eggs to eat as we walk. We keep more food and water in the car to add to our supplies as needed. This works pretty good, and we can just continue walking until we're ready to quit for the day. Then we either stop along the road, or go to a park, or return to our castle to eat. Today we returned to the castle, put away the sandwich stuff we had taken (by the way we keep our food in an ice chest with blue ice in the car) and had a bigger meal that would be our lunch/supper. We had plenty to eat as we walked, so we're not missing any meals. We really are eating good.

When we quit walking today we had 17 miles - our best since this heat hit. We then drove 15 more miles of gravel road to Hwy 83, and on that about 10 miles to Hwy 200 and back to Missoula, and to our castle. While Sam & I took showers Joni fixed dinner. Then we ate, and she went for her shower after giving Cassie a quick shower with the hose. We did our Bible studies, and Sam and I did a small shopping, got gas, and made phone calls before coming back and going to bed.

July 23, 2003 - Wednesday - 15.1+ 640.5 = 655.6 Total Miles to Date

15.1 + 159.1 = 174.2 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I slept a bit later - 6 AM instead of 5 AM - so we got a bit later of a start. I think it was about 8:15 when we got going. We also had to stop and get gas before we could go far. Then back on the freeway and I didn't realize our turnoff was right away, so I went whizzing by. About 20 miles down the road I realized something wasn't right. We looked at the map to see if another road went across, but the only ones that went across were dirt/gravel. Well we knew what those roads were like, so I turned around and went back 20 miles to Hwy 200. Then up to Hwy 83 and back to 559 for the last 15 miles of our dirt/gravel hiking road.

We got started walking at about 11 AM - ugh! - that's the latest we've started in quite awhile. Joni and Cassie started out with us, but soon we saw ahead of us a man walking across the road with a bottle - he looked like he was weaving a bit - sort of like he was drunk. We decided that Joni should go back to the car and drive ahead so she wouldn't have to walk back past him alone if he was drunk. As Sam and I continued we soon realized he wasn't drunk at all. In fact he was very alert and posed no danger. He and a friend were out picking huckleberries to take home to a neighbor who would then bake them a huckleberry pie. He showed us the low huckleberry bushes all around (I'm used to the tall bushes we have in California, so wasn't looking down low - they are like a ground covering almost), and we picked a few to eat. They were delicious! He said his name was Ted, and he asked if we needed a donation. I wasn't sure quite how to answer that, but before I could respond he handed me a handful of quarters. I thanked him, then took a picture of him with Sam.

We continued walking. When Joni came by we told her the man was not drunk, but that he was a "teddy bear" - "in fact", we told her, "his name is Ted". We told her about the berries and promised to show her some later. We walked on with Joni and Cassie joining us from time to time. We snacked and drank our water and walked at a pretty good pace most of the day. It did get plenty hot, but we plodded ahead. Sam clocked us at a pretty steady 3 miles per hour all day.

At one point we had a huge logging truck come from behind us, and a truck with a load of lumber coming toward us. We were crossing a cattle guard at the time we first noticed them coming, so we got across that and off to the side of the road. The logging truck went by, and the lumber truck driver rolled down his window to see if we knew the area. We told him, "Not really, we're just walking through." He asked why anyone would be walking through on this dusty road, so we told him what we were doing. He and his passenger were both amazed, and asked a few questions. We gave them our card. Their names were Mike (the passenger with dread locks and other things) and Mark (the driver). Both were fascinated with what we were doing, and I was fascinated with Mike's look, and intrigued with Mark's astonishment. I asked if I could take their pictures. They were delighted to have me do so.

Finally we came to the part of the road that goes along in front of the homes on the lake - this is Placid Lake, and is quite beautiful. We walked on past all the homes and out to the road that goes another 3 miles to Hwy 83 where we would quit for the day. It was 4 PM when we reached there. We drank cupfuls of water - yes, we had water with us, but we often drink by the cupful when we meet the car through the day.

Once we were settled in the car, Joni drove us back to the castle. There we got dinner ready - salad with a variety of toppings and Ranch dressing. Then Joni started the laundry (there's a laundry room here at Jellystone), while Sam took her shower, and I stayed with Cassie to work on the computer. Eventually we all got showers and did our Bible studies. We went over for our final ice cream social.

After sharing from our studies, prayer time and taking care of all the clean laundry we headed for bed.

July 24, 2003 - Thursday - Moving Day - 655.6 Total Miles to Date

174.2 Total MT Miles to Date

As usual on our moving day we slept in a bit - I slept until about 6 AM, then had my Bible study and did some other odds and ends until the others got up. I think they were both up by 8 or 9 this morning.

I prepared a vegetable omelet for our breakfast. After breakfast we began cleaning up, packing up and disconnecting. Sam went around with Joni's and my cameras taking pictures of the different things here at Jellystone. It had clouded over quite a bit, and I made the comment that it looks like it might rain. Right after that it started to rain. In fact we were just starting to disconnect when the rain came. It wasn't bad tho', and it was warm.

Finally we headed out at 11:30. Joni turned off at Reserve Rd. to go to Costco to get her glasses fixed. Sam and I continued on to the junction at Hwys 200 and 83 where we pulled into the rest stop and waited for Joni - this was a planned meeting spot. She wasn't too far behind us.

We continued on the next 40 miles to Lincoln, MT, and arrived there at about 1:45 PM. We drove into town first to get gas (we always get gas before we camp now - we learned our lesson at Thompson Falls), then back to Spring Creek RV Park where we had reservations for the night. One guest came up as we drove in and told us there was no room. I told him we had reservations. We talked a bit, and he said the caretaker wasn't in right now. Metta, the owner, had told me she and her husband, Jim, would be gone, but the caretaker would be here. We left the RV parked and went into town to the Post Office to get our mail and find the library. We also stopped at a gift shop, then went back to the camp. Still no caretaker, so we ate our lunch and rested. Soon the caretaker came.

It seems that one couple decided to stay another day that they hadn't expected. Then another RV broke down and had to be towed back here, so all the spots with full hook ups were taken. The people that decided to stay another day are military, so we were happy to let them have that space since we are praying for military. Anyway they had something all worked out for us over by the barn. They had an electric extension set up for us, and a water hook up. Then when the military people leave they'll reserve that space for us. I told Les, who really is just a friend of the owner, that we'd be fine until Saturday without a dump station if necessary.

Les and his wife Betty are very nice. It seems that deer come up close every night and they put crab apples out for them. There are also a couple of pet rabbits that run loose (a good reminder to keep Cassie on a leash here at all times when she's outside). We can hear coyotes in the distance howling. We got pictures of the deer, the rabbits and the sunset. There are also two horses that come up in the evenings - a buckskin and a pinto - but we didn't see them tonight. Cassie really wanted rabbit stew - she went absolutely wild when she saw the rabbits outside. She climbed clear up on the dash of the castle, ran up and down in the castle, and just went crazy.

While I was outside I began talking with the people next door - theirs is the RV that got towed back. Their part will be in tomorrow. I told them what we are doing. They were curious about our route. I got my maps to show them what we are doing, and they okayed our routes in some states and tried to discourage routes in some. They move around all the time from reservation to reservation. Their names are Three Feathers (the wife), Timber Wolf (the husband) and Jessica (13, the granddaughter). I talked with them quite awhile. They told me some about their beliefs and the cross they wore around their necks. They'll be around a couple more nights so I hope to talk with them again some.

We watched a beautiful sunset, and took several pictures of it. Then finally went in and got things ready for tomorrow and headed for bed.

July 25, 2003 - Friday - 16.0 + 655.6 = 671.6 Total Miles to Date

16.0 + 174.2 = 190.2 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got up at our usual early hour in spite of the hard time we had going to sleep last night. We got up and ready and on our way by a bit after 7:30, but it was a long drive to our start point today, so it was about 8:45 when we began walking. We all walked the first 5 miles together.

Joni and I collected another rock each, then Joni got still another one. The rocks here are so pretty it is hard to resist them. I saw many I would have liked to have, but getting them home is another problem. Oh well, we just have to limit them. We were by the lake most of the morning stripping (oops, Sam just asked me how to spell stripping, so I typed it in to use spell check to see if it was correct or not, then I read what went with it. :-) ) No we didn't really spend the morning by the lake stripping. We walked by Salmon Lake for the first 5 or 6 miles.

At one point a small dog came running toward us from across the road. It is a busy road so we were quite concerned. Some young people were busy putting up signs on the road at a camp. After the dog ran back and forth a few times we went over to talk with the young people. I asked about the camp (Camp Legendary, I think) and they told us it was a camp of the local Catholic Diocese. We talked for a bit - they were all staff people - 2 guys came from Rhode Island, and one gal came from Sheridan, WY where we'll be going through in a few weeks. They were fun to talk with, and I took their picture with Sam.

Soon we came to the 5 mile marker and Joni and Cassie headed back for the car. Sam and I continued, stopping now and then to take pictures or look at something. We came to a nice cemetery where the wrought iron gate proclaimed it as the "Best Last Place". Further down I took a picture of the creek (pronounced crik by the locals) that ran out from Salmon Lake, and still further we saw some mules way out in the field who saw us and began heading our way. As we kept walking by they kept turning to aim in our direction. We stopped at an archway that read "Home on the Range", took pictures, then realized the mules were almost to us. Of course, we had to stop and talk to them and pet them for quite a bit. Finally we said good by to them, and went on down the road.

We finally reached the corner of Hwy 83 and Hwy 200 where we wanted to stop to take a picture of the giant steer, shop in the gift shop, and make phone calls at the rest stop (there will be no phone service after this for awhile :-( ). While Sam and I took pictures, a young man called over to see if we wanted him to get us both in. He came over and introduced himself, and told us he was a river rafting guide (we've seen a lot of these large rafts on the water). We told him what we were doing and he was really impressed. He got our names (I gave him a card) and said now he would be able to say he had met us when he reads about us. :-)

We started to go into the gift shop, but realized it was closed due to a fire - then we could see that the windows were all smoked up. So much for that gift shop. Next we crossed the road to the Rest Stop, where we called Dave, and Alyce-Kay. Joni came after awhile, and we sat at the picnic table and ate lunch. After a long break (because of the phone calls that we knew would be our last for a few days) we headed out to walk again. We did another 6 miles - now on Hwy 200. It is beginning to climb again, but it is an easy climb. We had lots of cars and trucks to wave to. A few honked at us from behind - that usually means they've seen us before.

Finally we got in the car just before mile marker 38, and drove back to camp. We noticed the military guy was still there, so another night without sewage dumping. That's okay. Later Les came over and talked to me. He said the military guy was leaving in the morning, and Timberwolf and Three Feathers were leaving Sunday. We could have a choice of either place. If we take the Military place we'll be closed in on both sides, the Indian place means we have more open space and better view, plus further from the highway. We said our only concern was not being able to dump our gray water for another day. He said he'd come over and dump the gray water for us tomorrow - he didn't seem to understand that we could let just our gray water run out on the lawn. Oh well, he's going to hook up his hose to it for gray water. Whatever works. :-)

The three of us had a good discussion tonight after our Bible study. Then we had prayer time, journaled, and finally headed for bed.

July 26, 2003 - Saturday - 19.2+ 671.6 = 690.8 Total Miles to Date

19.2 + 190.2 = 209.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today Joni woke up feeling pretty sick. She insisted we go ahead and hike (tho' we were willing to take a day off if necessary) . She was able to go with us to the start point (I drove) , then she took the car back and slept until about 12:30, and came to pick us up a bit after 1 PM (we started at about 7:30 AM). Sam and I took plenty of snacks with us - energy bars, pudding, apples, juice, hard boiled eggs, etc., so that we could just keep going until she came. That works out quite well. We stopped only for pit stops, picture stops, and to talk with a couple of people. We had mostly easy ups and downs today in terrain - few trees in some sections, but we always managed to find what we needed when we needed it.

By eating our dryer foods first we managed quite well without getting the full cups of water and replacement water that we normally get when the van is with us. We did miss the extra water, but we were okay having planned for the day without Joni. It was good to get some good mileage in tho'. On Monday we should have only about 14 miles to our campsite, and then be able to get in and through Lincoln a bit.

Joni picked us up and we went back to camp. We were very tired and ready to just sit and read or nap for awhile. Then we began showers. It did feel good to get cleaned up. We're still uncertain about where we're going to end up. Les said he got another hose from the guy with the parrots and was able to dump our gray water today, so we could wash dishes, etc. Also we can share the sewage dump with Timberwolf and Threefeathers, but that's kind of a nuisance. They are supposed to leave tomorrow, tho' we understand that where they were headed is being evacuated due to forest fires. Who knows they may end up staying longer. I'm sure it will all work out, but I do hope that the owners give us some sort of compensation for the lack of services we've been able to get here, and the uncertainties of everything. We've really not been able to settle in since we arrived. Our stuff is still in baskets since we don't know when they'll move us to a permanent spot.

A large group of bicyclists came into camp this afternoon - they're biking from Helena, MT (I think) to Eureka/Fort Ross area. It looks like quite a variety of ages in the groups. They seem to be a nice group.

I fixed a cube steak dinner - we ate - shared - talked, and went to bed.

Back to "Lyn's Journals" Index

July 27, 2003 - Sunday - 690.8 Total Miles to Date

209.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a good rest day. I slept until 6 AM, then Sam & Joni got up around 9 or 9:30 AM. We went to church at Blackfoot Valley Bible Church. Their pastor was on vacation (not surprising this time of year), and they had a visiting pastor from Lolo Community Church - David Barndt was his name. He preached a good sermon on Deborah, Barak and Jael and the need to be ready and willing to do what GOD calls you to do. During the time that people were sharing prayer requests I stood up and introduced our team and shared what we were doing, and asked for their prayer for us. After the service we talked with a few of the people. One young man came up and asked me to put a friend of his on our list of military personnel.

From the church we went to PondeROSE's for our brunch. We had a very good meal, a fun conversation with a couple at the next table and with our waitress. We stopped at the Blackfoot Market to see if the Chamber of Commerce lady was in (the Chamber President owns the market). She wasn't, but the clerk said she would be in later.

We went back to the castle to write letters and cards and rest. Then we went down for ice cream and fries, mailed our cards, and went to Blackfoot Market again to get a few things and talk to Karen, the Chamber president. She was very nice, but not overly excited. My personal feelings about Lincoln overall is that it's just no big deal to them that these women are walking through their town on the way to FL praying for the nation. I sense that prayer is not a big thing on the minds of most here. A few people give us real good response, but overall I don't see the response we get in so many towns and churches. That is my personal opinion - not necessarily the opinion of Joni and Sam.

Back to the castle to download our pictures. Then we went next door to talk with Timberwolf, Threefeathers, and Jessica for a bit. Actually we were talking with them a bit before we went for ice cream. We wanted to get pictures of them, but they said "Not until they showered". So then we got our ice cream and back. We were going to watch our slide show when we got back, but went to talk with the neighbors first and get pictures - they had all showered. We ended up talking with them all evening, and buying some of Threefeathers' crafts. It was getting late when we went back into our castle, so we skipped the slide show for tonight. Instead we just got ready for bed, had our prayer time and went to sleep.

July 28, 2003 - Monday - 14.9 + 690.8 = 705.7 Total Miles to Date

14.9 + 209.4 = 224.3 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got up and ready quickly and on our way by about 7:30. We didn't have far to go so we were soon walking. We did start together, but Joni soon went back as her shoes just were not at all comfortable. She had tried to cut the elastic in her sandals that were too tight, but that didn't work. So she went back to the van and got her other sandals. She drove on ahead and walked back to meet us, much more comfortable now.

We had good scenery today as we did a little easy climbing and enjoyed a meandering small river. I took quite a few pictures, but it wasn't a terribly eventful day of walking. We had quite a few cars to wave to.

Joni was with us when we entered Lincoln. We took pictures of the sign, then stopped and prayed for the town at the sign - something we've been trying to do more of. We had just been praying as we walked, but really like doing it this way. Then Joni picked up a stone and set it by the sign as a memorial of our prayer for Lincoln. The idea came then of doing that at each town and also writing on the rock the date and that the town was prayed for at this spot and time. I will get my black marker pen to carry with me for that purpose.

When Joni got to the car she and Cassie drove on to the end of our route for today, while Sam and I walked on into town and down the road to Stemple Pass where we'll begin tomorrow. Then drove down the road a bit to see the mileage sign and to drive through the more residential area of Lincoln. Then back to the castle to fix lunch, watch our slide show (what fun to see the pictures we take each week in this way), and rest.

Timberwolf and Threefeathers hadn't left yet - seems they now had an oil leak, so Timberwolf was trying to fix that. They had disconnected everything, so I took advantage of that to go empty both our black water and gray water. It has been very unsettling here not being able to really set up camp. This is a very pretty campground, but it's been very hard to be so unsettled as we've been with the makeshift hookups and such.

Even the owners have made no effort to contact us since they got home, and Metta had said on the phone when we made the reservations that she would look forward to meeting us when they got back from their mini vacation. So I've been surprised that they have ignored us since returning on Saturday. We've not known how much to pay - especially since we've been without dumping.

After resting awhile we went to the Post Office which closed at 4:30 (it was now 4:45), so we'll have to pick up mail tomorrow (they're closed during the noon hour too), then to the library to check our e-mail. They only had 2 computers working - one was in use, so we let Joni go first since she takes the least time. We were each allowed 30 minutes when our turns came. That put a lot of pressure on as I tried to quickly see what I had and figure out what to do with it. I deleted some right away that weren't anything special. I sent a couple of quick responses and printed out a couple, but this library charges for every page printed. Two people were waiting so we had to quit right at the end of our 30 minutes. As I paid for our print jobs I gave the librarian our card and told her what we were doing and how much we appreciated the libraries where we could get our e-mail. She didn't seem too impressed, but one of the gals who took our places on the computers stood up and asked if we were the ones she saw walking out by Ovando the other day waving to people. I said yes, and that with every wave we sent a prayer, so she had been prayed for by us. She asked a few more questions, and wanted our names so their prayer group at church could pray for us. I gave her our card. That was a real plus for me since I am feeling quite down this afternoon about not being able to get regular mail or much e-mail.

Back to the castle. Joni soon noticed the owner out moving the sprinklers so I went out and waited for her to finish that so I could talk to her. I introduced myself and asked about the price. I explained to her that we felt very unsettled here. She thought we had made the choice to stay where we are. I told her we had, but with the understanding that we could then have Timberwolf's space on Sunday. Well they haven't left, and we have real mixed feelings about that since we've really enjoyed them. They've been good neighbors - better than if we had been in the spot closer to the road where the people with the noisy parrots are.

As I'm writing this Joni or Sam asked a question that got us to talking about this area and their feelings about it. It seems we all have much the same feelings - mainly that there have been some people who have been real nice (such as the lady at the computer in the library), but overall we don't really feel the welcome here. As we continued to talk we realized that Lincoln needs our prayers more than many places. Joni has been reading Revelation in her Bible time lately, and we realize that the Christians here seem to be mostly lukewarm. So our prayer for this town is that the Christians will have a renewed passion for GOD, and will begin to reach out to this community. I think we're really learning from this experience to listen to the heart of GOD more as we are in an area for a period of time.

I've had such a burden for Timberwolf, Threefeathers and Jessica, and also for the little church we visited yesterday. LORD, help me to recognize when I have these feelings that YOU are trying to give us some insights about how to pray.

The rest of the day was spent taking care of a variety of odds and ends before having something to eat, and getting ready for tomorrow, and having our evening sharing and prayer before bed.

July 29, 2003 - Tuesday - 16.1+ 705.7 = 721.8 Total Miles to Date

16.1 + 224.3 = 240.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I slept a bit later (5:45), then got up and ready for the day. The others got up in our usual order. We left the castle about 7:45 and started walking a bit after 8. We crossed the Continental Divide at Stemple Pass today (6349 feet). This was all dirt/gravel road, and was one of those dusty days. :-)

We had quite a bit of traffic early in the day, but that soon gave way to just a car now and then. The first part was pretty easy and we made good time. Joni stayed fairly close all day by driving ahead just a couple of miles then walking back with Cassie. Cassie was happy because she was off leash today. It was fun to see her running back and forth and into the woods short distances chasing little critters or birds or butterflies - all of which she was never able to catch.

We watched all day for moose or grizzlies or any other large animal, but never saw any of them. People had given us all sorts of warnings and cautions, but we felt quite comfortable all day - we did stay alert, and we will also stay alert tomorrow as we go down the other side. Tho' we understand that tomorrow we need to be more alert for rattlesnakes - especially when we go off to the bushes.

We met one man in his truck today who stopped and talked with us for a bit. He was very interested in what we were doing. He lived in a home on Stemple Pass. Surprisingly there were quite a few homes along this route. In one section of about a mile there was almost a whole subdivision with homes fairly close together. It was very interesting.

Finally we came to the 5 miles from the top sign. From there it began climbing a bit more - it had been climbing some most of the day, but now it got a bit steeper. It was also getting hotter. We kept drinking our water, and we ate our energy bars, but as we got to the last couple of miles I really began feeling it. I really had to slow down, and knew I should have had some Tums at the last stop (my cure for altitude sickness that I seem to be more plagued with every year). As we neared the top I just tried to keep moving.

Joni and Sam were doing fine. Joni offered to pull me up on the leash (joking of course). Then we gave Sam both cameras and had her take pictures of Joni supposedly pulling me up on the leash. We all laughed and had fun doing it. Then soon after I just sort of fell to the ground unable to go further. It was only about a hundred yards to the top, but I couldn't do it. Joni went to the car at the top and brought back Tums and my cup of water. After taking Tums and drinking a big cup of water and lying there in the grass for awhile, I was able to get up slowly and finish walking to the top. I really didn't want to leave until I made it. At the top there were nice benches, so I lay down again for a bit and we ate cheese and crackers and rested.

After a bit we had a prayer time for Montana, and especially for the towns in or near the area we are in. We wrote on a rock near the bench we were on as a memorial of our prayer time there. It will wash off in the rains after awhile, but for now people will see it and know the area has been prayed for. Finally we took pictures of the Pass sign and a few other things, then headed down in the car. As Joni drove I slept.

Back in Lincoln we stopped at the Post Office to pick up mail and to mail some things. We received our newspaper from Newport, WA finally. Walking into the Post Office at the same time we did was the lady who led the worship team at church Sunday. She took care of her stuff and at the same time was writing down stuff. When she finished she handed me a list of military people from their town - at least two of them were related to her. She said she was going to e-mail them to us (I had given her our card Sunday), but since she saw us she wrote them out right there for us. That was great.

We went back to the castle then and I stretched out on my bed to do my Quiet Time. Joni wanted me to just rest through the afternoon, so I read my book and dozed a lot. It was good. Sam also slept, and I think Joni may have slept some - at least we all lay on our beds and rested. (Joni says she didn't sleep.) Finally Joni got up and prepared dinner (we're low on supplies now as we wait for a Wal-Mart, we hope, in the Helena area). She searched the cupboards and came up with another one of our interesting "Castle Concoctions". These are always fun. This time it was rice with onions and seasonings, beans with bacon bits, and canned chicken with seasonings. We put it all together on our plates and found it quite good - well, at least Sam and I enjoyed it - Joni wasn't so sure. :-)

Finally it was clean up time, sharing, prayer time and to bed.

July 30, 2003 - Wednesday - 15.9 + 721.8 = 737.7 Total Miles to Date

15.9 + 240.4 = 256.3 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I got up a bit late (5:45), but we still managed to get to our start point at about 8:15. We started from the top of Stemple Pass this time and worked our way down the other side. It was really fun. Joni started with us and went back after a bit to move the car ahead. She and Cassie did this all the way down and we really had fun.

Cassie loved being able to run again. Sometimes there were old homes or cabins that she could look into - and at times there were critters running around in those old run-down buildings. She chased chipmunks and other critters, but never caught any, of course. :-) It was a gorgeous day on the pass and we took LOTS of pictures of old buildings, scenery, creeks (criks), flowers, and whatever else suited our fancy.

Finally we came out to Hwy 279, turned right and kept on walking. We met Joni 3 times on this highway, but kept going until the third time. We stopped and talked with her each time, and got water or other things. Cassie refused to walk anymore so Joni had to stay in the car with her.

When we got to Canyon Creek we called it a day and got in the van. Then we drove on another 22 miles or so into Helena. There we stopped at McD's (our first in quite awhile) for hot fudge sundaes! I made a few phone calls and listened to my messages. I was able to get a campsite lined up in Townsend, MT for this next week. It sounds like a real nice place - I sure hope it is. Really most of our places have been quite nice, tho' some are definitely better than others.

We next drove around Helena a bit, found out where the capital building is and also where the Wal-Mart Super Store is. We drove by the capital, and went into the Wal-Mart to do a mini shopping of things needed before Saturday. Saturday we plan to do a full shopping when we end our day in Helena.

At Wal-Mart we saw a postal person in line at one of the check out stations. We asked her where the main post office was in Helena. She gave us directions, and we went there next to see if we had any mail. We had a big bunch of it! That was exciting! Then we drove a route for a bit to see if we could find a way to bypass Helena with the RV. I think we came up with a pretty good way. I'm just not excited about driving it in downtown traffic.

Finally we went back to Lincoln via 279 all the way. It will work out nicely to take the RV on that route to the route we chose to go around Helena. We had dinner, did Bible studies, shared, had prayer and went to bed.

July 31, 2003 - Thursday - Moving Day - 737.7 Total Miles to Date

256.3 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we all slept a little later (I didn't sleep much later than usual), but once up we got busy. On moving days now I usually fix a nice breakfast since on other days we only drink slim fast and eat bananas and slim fast bars, etc. Today I fixed french toast (some bicyclists had given us some of their left over syrup the other day). We all enjoyed the french toast - a real treat after days of slim fast. I have to admit the slim drinks and bars really are quite good (is that because I'm hiking - or is it really that good?).

Enough of that - Joni and I went into town (Lincoln) to turn in our forwarding address and to see if we had anymore mail (we didn't). Then back to the castle to start disconnecting. Once it was all done we headed out for our next place. We drove Hwy 200 to 279. This section of Hwy 279 took us over 6,000 plus Flesher Pass. It was quite steep and at times I could only get the RV to go 25 mph. But it didn't take long. Soon we were at the top and taking pictures of the RV with Sam and me at the Continental Divide. We had taken pictures of the 3 of us in hiking stuff the day before when we drove back to Lincoln after walking and going into Helena on business. The route we walked on had no sign other than the hiking trail sign for the Continental Divide.

After we let the vehicles cool down a bit from the climb to the top, we continued driving into Helena. We parked the RV outside of town, then drove into town together in the van. We went to the state capitol where we proceeded to check out the possibility of meeting with Governor Judy Martz sometime between now and next Wednesday. The appointments secretary wasn't in, but the receptionist told us the governor wouldn't be in until Monday and we could write out a request and she would give it to the appointment secretary. She gave us pen and paper and we sat down to write our request. After turning it in we toured the capitol building. We took lots of pictures and talked with some other people. A group from Texas had seen us go into the governor's office and wondered why. We explained what we were doing and why we wanted to meet with the governor. They thought that was great. If we meet with her or a representative we hope to get a list of things to pray for both for her personally and for the state. We've really prayed about this, and felt that we needed to at least ask about a meeting with her, then it's up to GOD whether we do or not.

Another couple we met were the parents of the young man who did all the marble restoration in the capitol building two years ago. We really enjoyed talking with them. Finally we went to look at the Montana State Constitution as recommended by the Texas group. We picked up a printed copy of it. Finally we left the capitol and went to a Dairy Queen to eat a meal. Then on out to Townsend via Hwy 12 (after going back to get the RV, of course). Hwy 12 had construction down near Townsend (6 miles of it in fact). It was awful driving the RV through it - very slow, and often had to stop for several minutes. We were also going the worst way, and were in a lane on the edge of the road (not a drop off since we are now east of the Rockies and on fairly flat ground), but mostly dirt and gravel with the construction cones restricting us to a narrow (at least it seemed narrow in the RV) lane. Well, 6 miles later we drove out of the construction zone and into Townsend. We got gas and I called the RV place to get directions. She told me I needed to go back 8 miles, then turn right onto Silo RD. Yes, that meant through the construction zone again.

While we were in Townsend Dave called and I called him back after I got gas. We talked for several minutes. He told me about his and Jim's trip to St. Joseph, MO for the Barbershoppers Harmony College. It included a canceled flight, a search for a new flight which meant driving to San Jose, a sick pilot who had to be replaced somewhere along the line, broken down air conditioning in a plane that almost canceled another flight. They finally arrived in St. Joseph 6 hours later than scheduled originally. Ugh!

After talking with him, we headed back through the construction (much easier now since it was later and the lane was an almost finished lane - quite smooth) to Silo Rd. and down it 0.7 of a mile to Silos RV Park. The lady in the office was really nice and helpful. After we chose from several sights that she told us about we went back to let her know which we had chosen. We also got a map of a way around the lake to walk rather than having to walk on Hwy 12 with all its construction.

We got settled in, downloaded pictures, then headed to bed. It was a full day, tiring, yet I'm really feeling good about this place. It's interesting how in Lincoln where it's so pretty we felt such oppression, yet here where it's dry and barren I feel such a freedom in my spirit. It's good.

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