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LYN'S JOURNALS

AUGUST, 2003

August 1, 2003 - Friday - 16.7 + 737.7 = 754.4 Miles Total to Date

16.7 + 256.3 = 273.0 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got up and going quickly, but had a long drive to our start point (partly because we had to check out the route we were pretty sure we wanted to take). We were starting at Canyon Creek today - a little town of about 150. The Town Mall (actually a small market with Post Office) was owned and operated by a gal named Arlette. We talked with her quite a bit, used the cute little outhouse with wooden seat (I took a picture), bought my MT earrings (wooden grizzly bears - their state animal) then headed out walking.

Joni and Cassie started out with us. After about 2.7 miles of walking (with several stops for pictures) Joni and Cassie turned back to get the car. We walked past hayfields mostly, and got some interesting pictures. We had some rolling hills today, and collected some purple rock for our memorial rock collections (Joni and me).

We met Joni and Cassie several times during the day, but she only got Cassie to walk two more times when we were by the purple rocks and on the bicycle trail. Then we stopped at the Sinclair Gas Station and market before continuing on. Oh, restroom stops today were limited to the Canyon Creek outhouse, the Silver City Saloon, and the Sinclair Market since there were virtually no trees today.

We quit walking on the outskirts of Helena at Montana Ave. and Sierra Rd. We then drove into Helena to the AAA to get maps of our route through the rest of Montana. She laughed (nicely) when I told her we wanted to find roads off the main highway. She said, "Honey, this is Montana, we don't have very many roads." :-) She gave me maps of Helena, but assured me that after Townsend Hwy 12 was no longer so busy.

Next we drove the route around town that we chose, finding a good way to Canyon Ferry Rd., then driving around Canyon Ferry Lake (fed by the Missouri River) all the way back to Townsend where we drove around looking at churches for Sunday. We picked out several and decided on an Episcopal Church (11:30 service).

Back on Hwy 12 Joni drove through the construction area (no workers now) and we headed back to our castle. We watched as a highway patrolman going the other direction turned around and came up behind us. Joni asked if she should pull over right where we were. I replied that she should and suggested she pull into the bigger turnout just a few feet ahead. She did, then realized he was stopping her - not just going past. :-) I got out the registration and insurance papers. He looked at her license and explained we were in a 35 mph construction zone going 60. Oops! He asked where we were going and Joni and I explained what we were doing on the GAJ and that we were going to Silos RV Park. We gave him our card. He asked what we were praying for and we told him. Then he said he liked what we were doing, and appreciated our prayers. He gave only a warning and let us go. I quickly asked if he lived in Townsend - he did. So I asked him for a recommendation of a church. He suggested the Baptist Church, gave us the address, and told us he was the pastor. :-) Joni assured him we would be there this Sunday and she would ask forgiveness for speeding. He laughed. He also told us his wife was riding in the car with him today. He was really nice, and, yes, we will indeed attend his church Sunday. We just never know what means GOD will use to get us to the church we are supposed to go to each week. :-) What an experience.

I have to say that I imagine my first ticket will probably come on this year's walk. I do the driving each morning to our start point, and Joni drives each evening, so I have plenty of opportunity to get caught doing something wrong also -- not that either of us will break the law intentionally. We had all missed seeing the 35 mph sign, so it could have happened to either of us - it just happened that Joni was driving. We will laugh about this experience much I'm sure. Oh, the fine would have been doubled if he had ticketed her, and we would have had to pay on the spot because we were out of state. Yikes!

We got back to the castle safe and sound, fixed dinner, did Bible study, prayed and went to bed after journaling, etc.

August 2, 2003 - Saturday - 12.1 + 754.4 = 766.5 Total Miles to Date

12.1 + 273.0 = 285.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we were up and out a bit late, so didn't get started much before 9 AM I think. Oh well. It was a nice walk to begin with as we walked on Sierra Rd. and curved around onto Floweree Rd. - yes, that is the correct spelling. Joni parked at the end and walked back with Cassie to meet us. We walked past the Montana Police Academy - a beautiful group of buildings on just as beautiful grounds. After that we had scenic green fields, a cute little ranch with a wigwam in front and a sign on the lawn that said, "Hi". We had fields of cows that we enjoyed talking with. :-) We always admire their "earrings" - these were black cows with pretty blue "earrings".

We continued on just a bit on York Ave., but turned off very soon onto a little residential dirt road. That took us around to Wylie and on down to Canyon Ferry Rd. This is our long straight road that we stay on for the rest of today and part of Monday. At about 12:45 we saw Joni waiting for us. We had hoped to continue to the big turn in the road, but Joni was the one feeling sick today. It was me last week. She had no shade to wait in and ended up getting very sick. So we felt it best to call it a day.

I drove us into Helena to McD's where we had salad and fries (and a burger for Sam) and drinks inside a nice cool building. Then we drove to the Cathedral in Helena and looked around for quite a bit. It was an incredibly beautiful Catholic Cathedral - as impressive as many European Cathedrals. We spent a lot of time studying the stained glass windows - each had a main story theme with a smaller -- usually connected - story theme at the top of the window. There were stained glass windows everywhere. Joni talked with the priest a bit, then came and got me so I could talk with him. He was very warm and friendly, and very appreciative of what we are doing. We stayed there for about an hour, then we went over to the capital building to park the car, and walk around it praying at three different points for the city of Helena, the state of Montana, and things in general.

After that we went to Wal-Mart to do our shopping. We bought brown summer pants to wear with our uniform shirts, got my prescription, and a few other odds and ends besides two weeks worth of groceries. Joni did her stuff real quick, then went out to move the car up and bring Cassie into the big entrance area where it is cooler. That sat there and waited while Sam and I did the shopping.

We asked a clerk if they had a certain item - he wasn't sure, but went to ask. When he came back we got to talking about what we were doing, and found out he is an E V Free pastor here in Helena. We talked at length about prayer requests for Montana. He was very appreciative that we were praying for their city and state, as well as for the country. I told him we have requested to have some time with the governor, and he said that if she has any time available he believes she will make every effort to see us. Finally we said good bye and I went back to find poor Sam who had continued on with the shopping.

We finished up and went to check out. That took quite awhile since we had two weeks worth of stuff. We loaded all the stuff into the van and headed out. I had a message from Dave, so Joni drove and I called Dave. We got to talk for a bit before we lost the connection. I called him back after I got service again, but he was in the auditorium by then, so I just left a message for him.

We got to the castle and unloaded the car, then Joni and Sam put things away while I started on journaling. We got the generator working and were able to do our pot pies in the microwave - ummmm good.

We made phone calls, did Bible studies, had our prayer time and went to bed.

August 3, 2003 - Sunday - 766.5 Total Miles to Date

285.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we went to Faith (First) Baptist Church in Townsend where the pastor greeted us warmly. He said he was really hoping we would come to day and he was glad to see us under better circumstances. :-) He introduced us to the church as 3 women he met Friday evening when he stopped us for speeding. Later when they had a time of greeting with everyone going around to each other, a lot of people came up to us and told us he stops anyone. One or two asked which of us was driving.

The pastor had also introduced us as 3 women driving across America praying, so during the greeting time I was able to talk to him enough to correct that. He then corrected his statement to the church and someone asked if we were walking how did he stop us for speeding. He said something to the effect that we were fast walkers, I think.

His sermon was really good - on Psalm 119: 97 - 104. He talked about the importance of loving GOD's word, loving GOD and loving people. It was really good, and so fitting for this Journey of ours.

After church we talked with quite a few people, then the pastor's wife introduced herself and seemed real excited to meet us. Another gal said she had something she wanted to give us -- an album with a flag on the front and the word glory underneath. She said seeing us with our flag shirts on, she knew we were the ones to give it to. We asked her where in town we might get a good meal and she directed us to the Horseshoe Café. She said she would bring the album to us at the restaurant in just a few minutes.

We left and soon found ourselves in a traffic jam - seems there was a parade just ending in town. We finally got to the restaurant where half the church was gathered, including the pastor, his wife, Joanne, and son, Seth. The pastor's name is Mike Wenzel. Denise Bakkum (?) found us there and gave us the album. That was really sweet.

After our lunch we went back to the castle and worked on pictures, update, made phone calls, etc. Joni tried to do laundry, but it was too busy, so she'll try tomorrow. We talked with both Earline (and Charlie for a bit), and Marilyn - good long conversations.

Finally we had our slide shows and ate popcorn, then went to bed.

August 4, 2003 - Monday - 15.8 + 766.5 = 782.3 Total Miles to Date

15.8 +285.1 = 300.9 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we woke up to a beautiful morning -- it was raining when I first woke up, and had rained some during the night. The clouds were beautiful as the sun was coming up. Everything was fresh and alive. We got our stuff together and headed out for our start point. Joni dropped us off and Sam and I walked up the last 3 or so miles of Canyon Ferry Rd. before the big curve. Joni drove to the big lot by the bar, and she and Cassie walked back to meet us. When we had all walked up to the car she and Cassie left us and drove on ahead.

After the turn we headed uphill quite a bit. We soon had the lake in sight. Soon a couple of men stopped to ask if we needed a ride. We told them "No thank you" and explained what we were doing. Their mouths dropped open and there was silence. Then they said something like right on and good luck. We continued walking and soon came to where Joni was parked. She and Cassie walked with us from that point to the dam across the Missouri River/Canyon Ferry Reservoir. It was a beautiful walk and we took lots of pictures. Joni and Cassie walked a bit further with us then left to go get the car. They got a little gas at one of the stations along the lake, but didn't fill it cause the price is quite a bit more. We forgot to get gas yesterday.

Sam and I continued on through a few construction areas, but most were closed down for the noon hour. We talked with Woody, a flagman, and took his picture with Sam. Later we talked with a group of construction men eating their lunch. One of them had seen us with the dog earlier. We explained what we were doing and gave them a card. I'm running low, so I need to ask Dave to make more. As we walked away I realized we hadn't taken a picture of them. Oh well, next time. I'm sure we'll have plenty of construction opportunities along the way.

Joni passed us to go find another place for her and Cass to walk back from. Soon a family in a small truck stopped to say that we had walked a long way. They had seen us earlier in the day. We gave them a card and explained what we were doing. They seemed genuinely overwhelmed by it, and offered us what they had - some warm pop. We said we still had water and were fine, but thanked them and wished them GOD's blessing. Many people in this state have been so genuinely appreciative of the fact that we are praying for the nation, their state, their town, them. LORD, help us to be faithful to the call YOU have placed on us.

We walked a bit more with Joni and Cass, then she drove through one last construction spot for the day while we walked through it. We were able to walk down along the road in the dirt so we didn't have to walk on the fresh asphalt. We finished our day just after entering Broadwater County. Then we drove back into Townsend. We finished filling the car with gas, then headed on to our camp.

While Joni went over to start laundry, Sam and I started lunch/dinner - burritos today. They were delicious. Joni left the clothes to wash while we ate. After eating Joni finished laundry, Sam worked on Bible study, I took trash over, dumped our holding tanks and put in the chemicals. Since Joni was over at the laundry Sam and I did a little movie ad on her camera with the Thetford Chemicals. Sam downloaded it, and we'll surprise Joni with it this evening. These humorous little diversions are important for our sanity. :-)

Dave called from the Phoenix airport where they had a 3 hour layover. We talked a bit about the church Sunday, the request to see the governor (we haven't heard from her yet), and a few other things in general. Then said good bye.

Sam and I both got back to our Bible studies, and Joni returned with folded laundry. We all put it away. Sam went for a walk down to the lake - our campground isn't far from it. She was going to take Cassie with her, but Cass said "No way".

We did odds and ends the rest of the day, wrote some letters, and finally went to bed.

August 5, 2003 - Tuesday - 11.3 + 782.3 = 793.6 Total Miles to Date

11.3 + 300.9 = 312.2 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was beautiful - not too hot, tho' it was getting hotter. We walked our next to the last stretch along Hwy 284 by Canyon Ferry Lake. It was pretty open, but not well used. In fact we were able to let Cassie off the leash so she could run. She's good about stopping when we tell her to so that cars can pass. Cars were really few and far between. We walked pretty steady (much of the time at 4 mph).

Sam memorizes scripture portions while we walk and often quotes them to me. I can't read it to make sure she says it right as we walk, but I can listen and that gives her good practice. Back when we first moved from Idaho to Montana I asked Sam to help me relearn Isaiah 53. I had memorized it 10 years ago, but had really forgotten how it went. Sam says it ever so well in the NIV. I think I previously learned it in the NASB. She began teaching me then as she and I drove in the RV from Priest River, ID to Thompson Falls, MT. I told her not to tell Joni I was working on it so I could surprise her when I finally finished. I think that was July 7. Mostly we worked on it while we walked when Joni was in the car.

Well, last week I finally memorized the last part, then I took until today to smooth it out. Finally when Joni was walking with us today I asked Sam if she was ready for her recital (she and I had worked out how we were going to do this). She said she was, and that she would quote for Joni the latest portion she's been working on - Psalm 91. She quoted the whole thing (she only started memorizing it yesterday). When she finished we talked about it a bit, then I started in quoting Isaiah 53. I completed the whole thing (I think without a mistake), and, yes, Joni was surprised. I want to start another portion now - maybe I'll have Sam teach me Psalm 91 now. It is an excellent Psalm for this Journey, and she's a good teacher. I found it really nice to have her teach me rather than learn it from a paper that I've printed it out on. Joni is also thinking about working on some scripture memory.

The way Sam and I worked on it was to have her tell me a small portion, a line or two - then I would repeat it over and over a bit and add it to what I already knew. Then she quoted one of her portions to me, and I would quote what I knew of Isaiah 53 to her, then she would do another scripture, and so on. She has quite a bunch of them memorized - Daniel 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5; Psalm 1 and 103; I Corinthians 13; James 1: John 18 and 19; and others. So while she went through a bunch of them with me saying what I knew between each of hers, she also continued to learn new portions. Now she's learned Psalm 91 in two days - it'll probably take me another 3 weeks. But now I can alternate my quotes between the two portions.

When we got to Confederate Gulch Rd. we stopped walking and rode in the car over it to see if it would work as an alternate walking route. It was a beautiful route (dirt for about 20 miles), through a little creek, past a gold mining operation where we talked to some miners, and through a beautiful National Forest. We came out finally onto a paved road that continued into White Sulfur Springs. Then we drove back to Townsend via Hwy 12. We decided it would be better to walk all the way on Hwy 12 and 89 than to take the dirt road since it would add about 20 miles of walking and lots of driving to get to and from start/end points. I'm glad we checked it out. Sometimes it's hard to tell on the map. Probably tomorrow we'll be half way through Montana.

In Townsend we stopped at the Post Office to mail the CD to Dave for this week. Then we went to a store that Joni had spotted this morning. It is a sports store and souvenir shop. It had a lot of cute items in it. We talked with the owner a bit and found they had just opened the store about 6 weeks ago. He was thrilled with what we were doing and asked if we would add their store to our prayer list. We took his card and promised to do so. They had a large USA map up with push pins to mark where people were from. San Jose was already marked, but Paso Robles and Los Banos weren't, so Sam and I put our pins in.

From there we went on home to the castle to get our lunch/dinner and take care of our afternoon and evening duties. Joni had a message from Beth. After talking with her she told us she had to get to her e-mail, then to a notary and get some papers back to Beth this week if possible. We discussed various ways to do it. Joni checked at the office here, and they gave her the hours of the Townsend library. After we ate Joni drove back to Townsend to get her e-mail and find where the closest notary was. We'll get to the notary tomorrow, and she can mail the paper tomorrow as well. Hopefully all will come together okay.

We did our Bible studies, had some sharing. I talked with Dave and updated him. Finally we all went to bed.

Oh, no call from the governor's office today, so I doubt we will be getting in to see her. At least we tried. Just making the effort was a good experience.

August 6, 2003 - Wednesday - 16.6 + 793.6 = 810.2 Total Miles to Date

16.6 + 312.2 = 328.8 Total MT Miles to Date.

Today was a pretty good day - nothing super exciting, but it was comfortably cool and we had lots of beautiful scenery. We started at Confederate Gulch Rd. walking toward Hwy 12. Joni and Cassie drove ahead and walked back toward us, and we enjoyed walking together for awhile. Later as she walked back toward us another time a man in a pickup truck came along just as Joni and Cassie were meeting up with Sam and me. He asked Joni if we needed help, and she explained what we were doing. He asked some questions about the walk. She answered his questions and he ended up giving us a twenty dollar bill to have lunch on him. He kept looking back and forth between us in awe. Then he left and we continued walking. It has really been amazing to us how many people have stopped to ask if we needed help as we've walked around this lake. Many of them have wanted to do something for us. Yet we notice that none of them look like they have much. Still they are willing and desirous to share what they have when they hear what we are doing.

Later as Sam and I were walking along in silence for awhile deep in thought I suddenly heard a noise beside me and instinctively jumped about 10 feet ahead (maybe a slight exaggeration). Looking back I saw a huge rattler coiled beside the road about a foot from where I had passed. After the initial shock I walked back (keeping a safe distance) to have a better look. I got my camera out and got a good picture of him, using the zoom on my camera. I was fascinated by the looks of him, and would have loved to see him at full length.

When we met up with Joni again we reminded her that we need to watch for rattlers when walking in the grasses. It made us a little fearful of finding pit stops in the bushes, but we do need to find those places from time to time. We all realize that we do need to use much caution though.

Another fun thing today was finding the road that leads down to the lake that is directly across from our campground at Silos. We could actually spot the silos from straight across on Dry Gulch Rd. We could even see trucks on the highway beyond the silos, but they looked very tiny.

We continued walking, stopping briefly at St. Joseph's Catholic Church up on the hill above our road to look around and take pictures. The grasshoppers were out in full around the church. We left the church and walked on getting hit on arms, legs, face, wherever by the multitude of grasshoppers everywhere. Sam and I tried to get pictures of them hopping and flying - we'll see how they turn out when we download them Sunday.

Finally we walked up to Highway 12 at about 1 PM, more or less, to call it a day. We decided that since we weren't actually going to walk into Townsend that we would pray for Townsend at the mileage sign where we were there. We put our little memorial rock in place and prayed and took pictures.

Then we got in the car and drove into Townsend where we went to the Post Office first to mail some letters, then to the Creamery to get ice cream before going to the library. At the library we were able to get enough computers for each of us with plenty of time. Joni got her stuff from Beth with Sam's and the librarian's help. Then Joni went to get her signature notarized and the papers mailed to Beth while Sam and I continued getting our e-mail. I was able to respond to all my e-mail, but couldn't seem to print any of them out. Later when I finished I discovered they had printed out on the printer way over by Sam instead of the one closer to me. Joni returned after finishing all her errands just as I finished up and signed out. Sam still had a LOT to do (she had 95 new e-mails). We left my phone with her and then we went back to the castle to do stuff there until she called. We knew the library closed at 7 PM, so at a quarter to 7 Joni headed back to get her while I stayed and fixed dinner. We had Chef salad tonight.

Once again we were overwhelmed by how nice the people of this area are as we went to pay for our extra copies at the library (the first 5 copies are free). We had already told them what we were doing and they refused to charge us for anything. Nor did they make Sam stop when the computers filled up. Instead they moved some of the kids around to switch off with each other. Sam had my pen to use to make notes while she was looking at her e-mail and several people asked to borrow it at times. She also helped one lady figure out what or how to do something. People really thought Sam was so nice - they are right about that. :-)

After our dinner we had sharing time and ended up talking for quite awhile. It was a good, profitable time for us. We also made a list of the things we hope to accomplish tomorrow on our work day (we're taking a day off from hiking to work on paperwork, cleaning, repairing, etc. etc.). There are so many things we need to do and just not enough time to do them all.

Finally we had evening prayers and headed for bed. What a good day. There is something so peaceful about this place. It would be so nice to find campgrounds like this all across America. We're staying at this one for 12 to 13 days since it works out pretty well with driving distances. I'm still amazed at the contrast between this place and the last one where we felt so oppressed.

August 7, 2003 - Thursday - 810.2 Total Miles to Date

328.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a day off from walking to get some work done around the castle. Most of my work was on the computer - writing a letter to Anne, JoAn, and Judi; typing a follow-up letter to one we sent out a week or two ago to a select group of people; and typing up Part II of a report to everyone. Joni cleaned the van and part of the castle, and bathed Cassie, and washed out a few things, and wrote letters. Sam sorted an organized our files and some of the general cupboards. She gave me lots of papers to go through, so I sorted those in between things just to get a break from the computer. We all accomplished a lot, but there is still much more to do. I need to print out another copy of Margaret's list of questions since I can't find the one I printed out anywhere. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to the library just long enough to do that. I sure hope I didn't delete her letter after I printed it. Maybe she still has it on her computer if so, and I can ask her to send it again. It is a good list and I really want to use it in our updates.

We stopped long enough for a quick lunch of macaroni and cheese, then continued with the things we were working on. When I finish this Journal entry I will address envelopes to put the letters in to Anne, JoAn, and Judi; and also for the follow up letters to go to the group that got the other special letter.

Then I need to call Dave - except that Sam is now talking to Chip someplace, so hopefully they'll finish in time for me to call. Sometime we need to fix ourselves a little something to eat, and have our sharing and prayer time before going to bed.

August 8, 2003 - Friday - 17.6 + 810.2 = 827.8 Total Miles to Date

17.6 + 328.8 = 346.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a really good day for us as we got a good start from our camp, headed into Townsend and got gas, dropped letters at the Post Office, then headed out to our start point which wasn't too far away.

The walking was pretty steady uphill, but an easy uphill so we made good time. Joni and Cassie were able to walk with us quite a bit today. There were streams quite a bit so Cassie had some good water play.

We really had fun today actually. We were all in a pretty jovial mood, the weather was good, the scenery was great, and we saw a horse with a very newborn colt. Joni saw a coyote one time just after she left us to drive to the next point. Sam and I saw several deer run across the road leaving 2 fawns on the opposite side when they saw us and were too scared to follow the others. They ran off into the meadow bounding and jumping as fast as they could go.

Once when Sam and I were walking alone we stopped to talk to some guys and one gal who were loading their horses into a trailer. They had seen us earlier and were curious. We told them what we were doing and talked with them a bit. They immediately pulled out bottles of ice water and iced cokes to give us. We're learning to accept these gifts with much appreciation. Their names are: Pat Hurkey, Steve Ernst, Rex Medford, and Robin Alley. They were great and so appreciative of our prayers. They wanted to know specifics about when and where we prayed. That was kinda neat.

Still later as Sam and I were walking we were surprised when a lady turned around to come back and check on us to make sure we were alright. The hospitality of these Montanans east of the Rockies is really great.

We ended the day fairly close to the top of the Pass I think, so tomorrow we should make it over and head down the other side. When we ended we got in the car and headed back to Townsend. We stopped at the library and I went in to see if I could find Margaret's letter, but it appears I erased it when I printed it out. So I e-mailed Margaret to see if she could send the questions again.

Then we drove on into Helena to the Post Office first. There we picked up a couple of pieces of mail, sent a couple, and left forwarding addresses.

Next we went to McD's for hot fudge sundaes. I asked for extra hot fudge in separate containers as usual. To our surprise they gave us two cups (not just lids) FULL of hot fudge. The manager wasn't too pleased with them I think, but the girls who waited on us were new. If we had realized what they were doing we might have stopped them, but we didn't notice until it was too late. Well needless to say we had more than enough hot fudge. We used what we needed and took the rest back to the castle with us.

Our next stop was Wal-Mart where we got several things to tide us over for most of Montana since we may not be near another Wal-Mart in this state. That kind of depends on what we can find for campgrounds this next week. It's not looking too good for the places we want. We may end up having to go a bit further and be where there is a Wal-Mart.

After shopping we went back to the castle, unloaded groceries and put them away. We fixed dinner (taco salad) and ate. Then I went over to check the Woodall book for campgrounds and look at a phone directory for the phone number of the church in Helena we are hoping to attend this Sunday. I called and left a message.

After taking care of dumping the black water I settled down to do my journal and Bible study, then to bed. We had prayer time early since Sam was very tired and falling asleep.

August 9, 2003 - Saturday - 17.3 + 827.8 = 845.1Total Miles to Date

17.3 + 346.4 = 363.7 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we headed out to finish walking over the Big Belt Mountains. When we got to our start point began getting our gear on and Cassie ran off into the brush and started barking. Sam was the first one over to see what she was barking at. It was a young bear running up the hill on the other side of the stream. It may have been down drinking when we first came, then run when we stopped. Sam said the bear stopped to look at Cassie then continued running up the hill. Unfortunately Joni and I didn't see the bear. Oh well.

We finished getting geared up and headed out. Joni and Cassie drove ahead to walk back to us a bit further up. We had beautiful weather again this morning, and enjoyed a great time in the trees with a stream running along beside us. Later, as we walked up over the top of the Pass (no indication of elevation or any other marker here) the trees disappeared and we found ourselves in rolling hills alongside fields and pastures. It was very pretty.

Joni was able to walk with us a couple of times today, but Cassie didn't allow it anymore after that. We had one lady stop to see if we needed a ride, then wish us well as she headed on. She had no real place to stop and cars were coming up in a bit. Joni told us later that she had seen a coyote in this same section.

We met up with Joni and Cassie at the car a bit before the junction with Hwy 12 and Hwy 89. We told her we would continue on 89 for awhile, and encouraged her to go into White Sulphur Springs to see if she could get a break in a store or café. She reported later that the only things open were a bar and a casino. Hmmmm, too bad.

Sam and I walked on along Hwy 89 now going south for a time. As we walked we had a few people in cars to wave to, plus several motorcycles. Chris Thompson called in response to the message I left for him last night about wanting to attend his church in Helena tomorrow. I could barely hear him, but he gave us directions and the time of the service. I thought he said they were meeting in a restaurant, but I think he gave directions to his house. Maybe I misunderstood and they are meeting in their home. It sounds like it is just a new start up church. Anyway he said he is looking forward to having us and hearing more about our walk. His wife's name is Mary Ellen. Unfortunately the directions seem to be back toward Canyon Creek on the far side of Helena. Oh well, we still want to go. The service is from 10:30 to 11:30 so we'll need to leave here between 9:15 and 9:30 - I think I'll say 9:15.

Joni caught up with us after about 2 ½ miles and we told her to go up to the next mile marker and find a spot to meet us. After she left and we were walking on, Sam asked me what the animal was to our right. I looked and tried to figure it out. Just then it turned its face toward us and we realized it was a badger. It quickly turned and ran and disappeared into the brush and then we heard a splash (there was a small stream there).

We caught up to Joni, got in the car and sat looking at maps for awhile. Our camping for the next two weeks is going to have to be down along Hwy 90, so we're thinking of taking a slightly different route from Lavina to Hardin. It would take us down through Billings and across to Hardin just south of Hwy 90. It might shave off quite a few miles as well, which would be good for making up a little time. We'll decide this weekend probably. That still takes us through the Crow Indian Reservation - in fact a little more of it - which we like. We've heard there is quite a Christian community in this reservation.

Finally we headed back to our castle to have our lunch/dinner, rest, study, read, shower, etc. I'm just finishing up my journal now and will try to call Dave while I have the computer up and running to give him an update. Then maybe I'll read awhile and head for bed.

August 10, 2003 - Sunday - 845.1 Total Miles to Date

363.7 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we slept in just a bit, then went to Helena - or actually the northwest side of Helena - to attend church at the E V Free Church. It is just a start up church, held in the home of the pastor. I met Chris Thompson at Wal-Mart where he works part time. He is the pastor of this little church. We really enjoyed it. Today there were only 12 people present - The pastor and his family - Chris, Mary Ellen, John, Andy, Tori, Micah, and Karin - another couple - Clark and Ruby - and the three of us.

The service was simple - one hymn, some sharing by us and by Clark and Ruby, and the message. He spoke on Matthew - the last few verses. Clark and Ruby are in charge of a camp way over in southeastern Montana, and they had just returned from there. During the time they were gone they had moved a building from someplace else to the camp property. That was an exciting time for them.

Clark talked with us more later about our walk route. We looked at our maps and he was able to tell us quite a bit - not just about the Montana route, but about the Wyoming route. He grew up in the section of Wyoming that we will be walking through. He was able to show us where there will be a couple of roads to take us straight across two sections and save us time. He said they are quite good roads. He was very helpful.

After visiting for awhile after the service, Chris invited everyone to stay for lunch. Clark and Ruby had to go, but we did stay. Mary Ellen served us at the picnic tables in their front yard - their place is set way back from the road, and up on a hill. They have an acre and a half of land. Lunch was really good - we had bratwurst and potato salad, fruit salad, and a very good punch she had left over from a party a few nights before.

Sharing together with the family as we ate we found out that John works as a shift manager at McD's on Prospect in Helena - one that we've visited several times. We told him about our little incident with the hot fudge the other day (where the two new gals gave us two full sundae cups of hot fudge instead of just two squirts of fudge extra) and he just couldn't believe it. What a surprise to him.

The Thompson children were all very nice and a delight to visit with. I asked Chris a bit more about the church and their goals for it. He shared that for now they are not necessarily trying to grow, but more to make a difference in their community. He must now work 2 jobs, gets nothing as a pastor, and is Chaplin for several emergency services in the area. He is able to make a difference in people's lives in each place. Also MaryEllen has contacts where she makes a difference, and she homeschools her 5 children. She frequently does dissecting classes for other homeschoolers. She is also a nurse, but I don't think she works at that right now. They want the church to grow from new people, not from people coming from other churches. Their family has taken up ham radio as a way to influence their ham radio enthusiast neighbor.

Finally we had a time of prayer together, then headed back to our castle. There we downloaded our cameras, watched our slide shows, printed pictures and made phone calls. We had a lot of fun, as usual, with the pictures. I had several pages of larger photos printed on the back of GAJ paper to use for stationery this week.

Sam and I both talked with Dave, but had to go out to the car to get a decent connection. Russ will be heading this way in about a week. He'll take a week to get to us, stay with us a week, then take a week to get home. It will be so good to have him with us.

Joni and I went out to take pictures of the almost full moon coming up over the camp office. It was so pretty and we had fun taking the pictures. Finally we headed for bed.

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August 11, 2003 - Monday - 17.9 + 845.1 = 863 Total Miles to Date

17.9 + 363.7 = 381.6 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got a good start out to our beginning point - a long drive. Once we got there we got started walking and made good time. Joni was able to get about 10 miles in meeting us 3 or 4 places to walk with us. Sam and I saw some bulls fighting. There were about 10 or so in the field. Two were fighting and others were snorting and kicking dust over themselves. Soon there were 6 of them standing in a face off - 3 against 3. The snorting noises they made were quite interesting, and it was fun to watch them.

Further on, after Joni joined us, we saw a sign lying off to the side of the road. It was one of the yellow warning signs with a picture of a cow on it. We picked it up and took a few pictures with it, then left it where it was as we continued. We soon reached the junction of Hwy 89 and 294. At that point we turned onto 294 to continue. The next time Joni was with us we saw a man with a truck and a backhoe on it. He was getting ready to take the backhoe out to where his cattle were in the hills. Now I wish I had asked him more about what he was going to do with the backhoe. We imagined Montana Tex (as we called him) rounding up his cattle with the backhoe - an interesting mental picture.

Further up the road we came upon an old substation that was abandoned for a brand new one across the road. We took pictures there. We had taken pictures earlier of a sign that said the locals were in a battle against Knapweed. Our pictures included me hacking away at the weeds. Then a bit later we got a picture of me being choked by a tall weed of some sort, and in Joni's talking camera I called for help, saying that the weeds were winning the battle. Cassie came running to my rescue and gave me a big slobbery dog kiss on the face. Yuk. :-) We do have to have some fun. :-)

Just as we finished taking these last pictures a man drove up and stopped. His first question was, "Are you ladies prayer walking across the nation, too?" He had seen two Methodist ministers just a couple of days before walking across the nation. We talked with him a bit and gave him a few cards. He was most anxious to get us into the news. He said Montanan's eat this kind of stuff up, and it's the kind of thing that should be in the news. He was going to try to contact someone in Billings. We also gave him our home address and showed him where he could call to get in touch with either Dave or myself. His name was Warren Fagen. We got his card as well - he makes barn frames.

We continued walking a bit further and came upon an old abandoned railway track without the track. Unfortunately it wasn't made into a trail, but we decided to walk on it a bit anyway. It wasn't marked "no trespassing" and was quite open. It was somewhat overgrown with weeds, but not bad. Sam and I started down it as Joni and Cassie were coming toward us still a ways off. They saw where we were and cut across the field to join us. Then Sam and I came to a part where there had been a trestle, and it had been destroyed. Now there was quite a drop off between the two sides. We looked around to find a place to get down one side and up the other. We succeeded, and met Joni and Cassie on the other side. We took lots of pictures of this, then went a little further to a couple of old gutted signals. There was a ladder on the signal, so we took turns climbing it and taking pictures of it. Finally we headed on. Joni and Cassie soon walked back across the field to the van, while Sam and I continued on the abandoned track bed a bit further. It came to a driveway soon, and the other side was completely fenced off, so we took the driveway back out to the road.

We went a bit further, and Joni and Cassie met us again. Joni had something ahead she wanted Sam and me to do while she took pictures. Hmmmmm. We soon came to some large rolls of hay neatly stacked. She wanted us to climb on top while she photographed us. When we got closer we looked at it and said it couldn't be done. She took pictures of us beside them doing crazy things instead. We also walked between the rows of hay and took pictures. Cassie loved this.

Then I began feeling the need to get to the car and quit for the day - not feeling any too good. We decided that Sam and I would sit down and wait there while Joni went for the car. It was a hot, humid afternoon and I was ready for some more food. Once we got in the car I had a big glass of water (which I had done several times today), and then a coke with some crackers and cheese. I was soon feeling fine. We headed back over the Big Belt Mountains to the castle. On our way we turned onto this small road leading up to a most unusual house. It is white and has about 4 or 5 floors, and looks more like a huge water tank or a stark office building than a home. Yet every indication is that it is a home. We got pictures of it close up - it had a gate so we could only get so far.

Then as we continued through the mountains the lightning began. We kept stopping and trying to get pictures of it without any luck. We even tried movies in hopes that it would capture a flash of lightning. We don't think we got any, but we'll know more when we download to the computer.

Finally we arrived back at the castle only to find that we had a power outage. We cooked our dinner on the gas stove instead of the electric. That was good. I went over to the office to pay our bill since we are moving tomorrow. The gal there worked it out different ways to get us the best deal. For 12 days it was under $200. That's really good.

At about 7 PM they came around to let us know we had power again. It was evidently just our row that was without. They had to call an electrician to fix it because something got blown, not just shut off.

We also watched a helicopter carry its bucket to the lake, fill it and take it to the grass area to dump it several times. Some of the men by us told us that they were practicing and that they use the area frequently to practice. It was interesting.

Finally we did our Bible studies, our journaling, prayers and went to bed.

August 12, 2003 - Tuesday - Moving Day - Three Monthaversary of our Walk -

863 Total Miles to Date

381.6 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was our day to leave the Townsend area. No one slept in too late, so we got a pretty good start. As we started out Joni noticed the Change oil light come on, so we stopped to check that. Then we noticed the left rear tire on the van was real low. We found the air pump at Silos and filled the tire. But on a quick inspection of the other tires we found one coming apart. Then we knew we had to get something done. We got the name of a good tire place from the gal in the Silos office, called to see if they could work us in. They said they could, so we headed right down. I had Sam call Dave to see when we had gotten tires last (I thought it was just a bit before we left home). It turned out to be October 2001. We checked the warranty and it was good for 45,000 miles. It seems we had gone 48,000 miles, so we knew it was definitely time.

We went to K.C.'s in Townsend to get new tires. He said it would take about 2 hours. We went to the Creamery for ice cream and to sit for awhile. The library opened at 2 PM, so Sam and I went there to get e-mail. Joni chose to wait in the RV with Cassie. We had K.C. knock on the RV when he was finished to let Joni know. Then she came to get us. We finished the e-mail we were working on and quickly printed others out. Then we headed back to K.C.'s. I paid the bill and we headed out.

We drove via Hwy 287 to Hwy 90 which was the freeway. It was a nice drive, but it went over the Bozeman Pass at almost 6,000 feet. The RV had a real hard time getting up over it. It has no power over the hills and gets down to a very slow mileage (around 35 mph). But we made it! We stopped in Livingston to get gas, then on to Big Timber and a bit beyond to our KOA Kampground. We arrived at about 5:30 or 6:00 I think, checked in and got set up. We have some very nice neighbors who say they come here every year with their grandchildren. I talked with them a little bit and explained what we were doing. They were quite impressed that we were all women.

We were going to eat out tonight, but Joni was too hot and didn't feel like eating so we'll wait to celebrate the start of our 4^th month until another night. Sam fixed one of our noodle dishes and she and I enjoyed that. Russ called to remind us of the meteor shower tonight, and we talked a bit. He was getting ready to fix Sloppy Joes for him and Dave. He said they had gone shopping at Food 4 Less last night and stocked up. It opened just 3 days ago.

Sam talked with Alyce some today while we were driving. Then she talked with Chip for awhile. I did my journaling and eventually called Dave for the Tuesday night update. Then I headed for bed.

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August 13, 2003 - Wednesday - 12.0 + 863.0 = 875.0 Total Miles to Date

12.0 + 381.6 = 393.6 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a pretty good day, tho' long. We headed out from our camp at about 7:30 and stopped in Big Timber for gas. While we were there Sam got stung by a bee. It was a really mean sting and the stinger was still in her finger. I went back inside the store and bought some baking soda to make a paste to put on it. Her finger was swelling so Joni suggested the blue ice from our ice chest. With a baking soda paste on and an ice bag we drove the 80 miles or so to our start point. We had to stop at one point for construction, and talked with the flagger for awhile. His name was Dick Toaves - he attends the Christian Missionary Alliance church, and told us he would share with his church tonight about us. He also told us about the substation we had seen on Monday at the top of the hill when we were walking. That point is the Montana Central Divide where 4 rivers run 4 different directions. The only river we could remember was the Mussellshell River, which runs east from that point. We took his picture, thanked him for the information and told him we might see him again later in the day as we walked through.

We soon came to our start point and began walking. Joni drove ahead and she and Cassie walked back to meet us. Sam's whole hand began to swell, so we decided that when we got to the car we would go into Harlowton to see a doctor. I think we each began praying that GOD would take care of her and not allow it to be serious. Soon after, her swelling began to go down, the pain began to go away, and it just got better and better. We were thankful that GOD saw fit to heal so we would not have to delay our schedule again.

Walking along the road I glanced down to my left into a ravine where a stream flowed, and noticed an antler. Joni climbed the guard rail, eased down the embankment, through a barbed wire fence, across the muddy stream, along the edge to where the antler was. She picked it up and held it up in victory. Then she kept looking for the other antler, but it was not there. She walked ahead by the stream for awhile hoping to find the other antler, but no luck. We followed her ahead up on the road. Cassie, of course, was splashing around in the creek (crik) the whole time. Finally Joni decided to come up. Not as easy as going down. She finally made it - with a muddy shirt, and her prized antler! Sam and I captured the whole scene on digital. :-)

A bit further we came to the car which Joni had parked at the turnoff to Lennep. There we stopped and petted a couple of horses. Cassie and the black and white one rubbed noses, and Cassie tried to get them to play. It was really cute. We got several pictures of this as well. Then we hopped in the van for the short drive into Lennep, a town with an abandoned Post Office, a house that looks lived in, and a beautiful Lutheran Church. Warren Fagen had told us about this chapel two days before, and we had decided then we wanted to stop in and pray there. Of course we took pictures as well. It was open, so we went in and signed the guest register, then took pictures before kneeling at the altar for a time of prayer. When we got back to the corner where the horses were we left a couple of rock memorials saying we had prayed for the area there. Our prayer for this area is mainly for the prosperity of the ranchers, for their land is being eaten by the grasshoppers. Of course, we also pray that they will be blessed with knowledge of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and a personal relationship with HIM.

We continued walking. Joni and Cassie drove ahead. We walked through the construction spot again and all the workers by now knew who we were and what we were doing. They greeted us and wished us well as we continued on. Soon we came to where Joni waited, talked to her a bit, then continued on. She hadn't been able to get Cassie to come out of the car this time.

We told Joni we'd do another 3 miles or so. It was getting quite hot and I just can't walk too long in that heat anymore. My inner thermostat doesn't work like it used to. This time when we reached Joni we packed up our stuff and got in the car. As I was getting a drink before getting in I felt something on my elbow. Thinking it was a grasshopper I reached down to push it away (we had been bombarded by grasshoppers today, hitting us on the face, arms and legs). As I pushed it I got a bad sting, and realized it was a bee, not a grasshopper. These bees give a sting that gets worse and worse for the first few minutes. I immediately pulled out the baking soda and made a paste and put it on my elbow. Joni spread it on a little better for me. Instant relief, but a bit of numbness for awhile. Well, Sam and I both have had our stings - now it's Joni's turn. She says, "No" . :-)

Now we drove into Harlowton, found the Post Office and got our mail. We had quite a bit - what fun. We love mail days. We saw quite a bit of the town - a cute little town that we'll be walking through in two or three days.

Then we drove on into Big Timber and looked around for the Pizza place. We finally found a young gal to give us directions. It was very good pizza, tho' quite different than any we have had before. We're enjoying trying different foods in different places. Our reason for eating out tonight was to celebrate the beginning of our 4^th month of the Journey.

Back at camp we took things in and got them put away, then settled into Bible study, journaling, and cleaning up for bed. Really a very good day.

August 14, 2003 - Thursday - 15.1 + 875.0 = 890.1 Total Miles to Date

15.1 + 393.6 = 408.7 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was an interesting day. Sam continued reading from Hinds Feet in High Places as we drove to our starting place. That is truly a most incredible book - one we have each read before and loved. But since we've been reading it on the GAJ it has become so much more meaningful. The story is an allegory and fits this Journey so incredibly. The main character is "Much Afraid". Some of her enemies are "Pride", "Bitterness", "Self Pity", etc. She is escorted to the High Places by "Sorrow" and "Suffering." Today as I was driving and she was reading I saw so many things that "Much Afraid" was struggling with that are the same things we've been struggling with the last few days. Me and my emotions just spilled over and the tears flowed. When we got to our start point we talked about today's reading for a long while, then had a time of prayer and commitment again. It really was a beautiful time.

We began walking a bit before 10 AM. We had a few more miles on Hwy 294, then on to Hwy 12 again. Hwy 294 took us to the edge of Martinsdale where we stopped and prayed and left our memorial stone. Then our road turned and took us past the Bair House Museum which is closed. It is a beautiful place and we took several pictures. A lady was out setting water to keep things wet with all the fire danger around. We were able to ask her about the place. She told us it had originally been owned by Charles Bair, and passed down to his heirs. Finally it was the property of two sisters who never married and had no heirs. So it now belongs to a bank. They set it up as a museum for the last several years, but this year the board of directors voted to not open it for some reason. Well, we enjoyed it from the outside, and we enjoyed talking with the lady whom we think is a caretaker. She told us that security guards live in the house. Joni told us that after we left and she was walking to the car a security guard came out and watched until she got in and drove off. Interesting.

Soon we were at the junction of the two highways, and turned east toward Harlowton. This road is very narrow until it comes to the turnoff to Twodots. There Hwy 12 finally gets shoulders again. We walked about 9 more miles on Hwy 12 with a bit more traffic now, but still not too bad. The worst one was a guy who was moving some hay. He could move 6 huge rolled bales at a time. He came toward us with 3 different loads, and back the other way empty. When he came toward us we had to step down the steep embankment to get out of his way since there is absolutely no shoulder. After his third pass we soon came to a spot where some rolls of hay had slipped off of a truck (his?) And spread down the embankment. We decided that if we saw him coming again we would cross the street to let him pass. If one of those bales came down on us it would be disastrous.

Today was another BIG day for grasshoppers. They were mainly the small ones, but in spite of their estimates of 40 per square foot we think there were about 80 per square foot as they bounced off of our faces, arms and legs again. One hit my toe and shot ahead about 10 feet. These were mostly on Hwy 12.

Each time we meet Joni with the car we try to drink big drinks of water from the car supply. I keep a cup in the car and drink that full cup each time. We seem to be doing well at keeping hydrated by doing that to supplement our water that we carry and drink as we go. We also continue to eat a variety of food bars, hard boiled eggs, pudding cups, and apples as we walk on about an hourly basis. This keeps our energy up. Today I made a point of timing our walking. We were pretty consistent in doing 15 minute miles with virtually no effort. That is great, and helps in keeping the mileage good in spite of the need to quit by 2 PM or so. Today we actually walked until about 3 PM, tho' it was plenty hot. I was definitely ready to quit when we did though.

We drove on to Harlowton, mailed a letter that I had ready, and filled with gas at the Conoco station. I got a recommendation for someone to service the van, and we drove there to make arrangements. He said we could bring it in anytime in the morning. I told him we had to come from Big Timber and it might be 10 before we got there. He said that was okay, and that it would only take about 20 minutes. We'll probably get there around 8:30 or 9, but I wanted to be sure it would work out okay.

Then on to the highway back to Big Timber and a stop at The Fort - a gift shop we wanted to check out. We got a few things (cards, candy, and small gifts) then headed back to our castle. Just after we left The Fort we heard a loud bang and discovered our windshield had again been hit by a "flying missile". We now have a little star shaped crack right in front of the driver. Ugh!

At the castle we unloaded stuff, put stuff away, fixed dinner, ate, journaled, did Bible study, cleaned up and made phone calls and went to bed. Chip sent a package to Sam that she was told not to open until she was on the phone with him. We got the package yesterday, so he called this evening and Sam took the package outside to talk with him. After a bit Chip wanted to talk to me. He asked me to look at her hand and tell him what thought of what she had on it. It is a beautiful black opal ring. Joni and I asked her later what it signified. She said it was a promise of more to come - or something like that. :-)

I enjoyed a good talk with Dave before going to bed.

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August 15, 2003 - Friday - 11.1+ 890.1 = 901.2 Total Miles to Date

11.1 + 408.7 = 419.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we were out on our way to our start point at just a bit after 7:30 AM. With the distance we have to drive it was about 9 AM when we actually started walking. Joni dropped us off then she and Cassie went back to Harlowton to take the van in for its 3000 mile servicing. She then walked around town, spent some time in the library, talked to a couple of boys around 10 years old. They wanted to pet the dog. One was really excited that she was from California - seems his family had just moved here from Napa, CA. Joni and the librarian got well acquainted while she was there. In fact the librarian - also a Joan -- wanted to take a picture of Joni and her dog. Then Joni also took her picture.

When Joni picked up the car the guy told her it needed a new oil pump, and that he could fix the windshield for $35. She told him it wasn't her car to make the decisions on, so she would have to ask me. We really don't think it needs an oil pump, but we will get a second opinion on that. As for the windshield, I need to call our insurance company on that and they assign a place for me to take it and give me a claim number.

Joni came to meet us, and after a brief stop to talk with us she drove off to go see the town of Twodot and its "world famous bar". She talked to a couple of men at the bar, and the lady who owned it. She told them what we were doing, and they told her about the town of Twodot. One man said his name was "Mr. Nobody" - preferred to remain anonymous I guess. Joni got the names of the others. Mr. Nobody said he owned the bank next door - a brick building that has been gutted inside. He told her she was welcome to take a brick if she wanted to - so she did. Tomorrow we're going to go back and get one for me. :-) The town has a population of 29 - mostly ranchers. The bar's claim to being "world famous" - probably just an idea for a sign that someone had. Joni is definitely our "Ambassador of good will".

Sam and I had a rather boring day compared to Joni's. :-) We walked on hot asphalt through hundreds of grasshoppers bouncing off of our faces, arms, and legs. We waved to many people - and usually got return waves. One father/son duo stopped to ask if we needed help. They both wore cowboy hats - the boy looked to be about 8 years old. He had a sucker in his mouth that he sucked on like a piece of field straw. We talked with them just a bit and gave them our card. The dad asked a few questions, and just before they left the kid said in a soft voice - "It's gonna git hot".

After Joni visited at the bar in Twodot - by the way, she had nothing to drink there - she drove back just a bit to cut some cattails that we had seen yesterday. We now have a real nice cattail arrangement in the castle. When she drove back to where we were she pulled in the first turnout she found and walked back to meet us. She asked how we were doing and I told her I needed to sit down for a bit, get some water and some crackers and cheese (which we always carry in the car). After a few minutes we decided we'd better call it a day. I had really wanted to make it all the way into Harlowton, but we still had 5 miles to go and I was feeling pretty bad. We drove on into Harlowton and Joni took my mail into the post office for me, then we headed back to the castle.

I rested, Sam fixed lunch/dinner, and we ate, then I did my Bible study and wrote letters. Joni did laundry. I felt better after awhile. This heat just gets to us (Joni and me) - tho' it never used to. Oh the changes as older we grow. :-) We are all trying to be very sensitive to each other's physical needs, as well as trying to be honest with each other as to how we're feeling. That's hard sometimes, cuz we don't want to quit, but we think it is very important to listen to our bodies.

We're hoping to get out of Montana in about 18 days, but a lot depends on the weather and other factors.

We had some phone calls and did some reading, then finally headed for bed.

August 16, 2003 - Saturday - 12.3 + 901.2 = 913.5 Total Miles to Date

12.3 + 419.8 = 432.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was really interesting. We left camp at about 7:30 and drove into Harlowton and down the road to the west to our start point. We got out and got ourselves ready, then started in. Joni drove up just a bit to the edge of town where she then walked back to meet us with Cassie. We walked to the "Entering Harlowton" sign and found a rock to use as our memorial stone, wrote our note on it, took pictures, and prayed for the town. From what we had seen this town needs prayer - many stores and shops are closed down and boarded up. Yet it is a cute town with lots of personality.

As we walked through Harlowton (Harlow, as the locals call it) we stopped first to take pictures of the Montana National Guard Training Center. Then continued on to look at the Veterans Memorial on the lawn of the Court House. It is a very nice memorial, and we spent quite a bit of time there. Finally we moved on to the electric locomotive that stopped running in 1974. A sign tells us that it was the last of the electric locomotives to be used. Harlow was quite a booming town until the train stopped running. How sad. We prayed that it would make a come-back, but most of all that people would turn to GOD and to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Continuing on we stopped on the east end of town at Ray's sporting and Western store. We were hoping they had the Woodall's Camp book, but they didn't. We also looked for western shirts with an American theme, but no luck there either. Then we asked about rain covers for our hats. That they had. They only had the large size in the smoke color, but we went ahead and got one for each of us anyway. I would have preferred the clear ones, but we've looked so long we figured we'd better take them while we could.

We told the clerk what we were doing. She was very interested. As we were leaving we also talked with the clerk in the gas station part of the store, and shared with her. Then Sam and I went outside where we were studying the relief map of Montana. A man started in the door, then stopped and asked if we were the walking ladies. We said we were, and he asked what it was all about - he had seen us on the other side of town earlier. We told him what we were doing and gave him our card. We talked to him again when he came out and asked him if he knew what the rivers were that flowed all directions from the Montana Central Divide. He could remember three of them - the Smith, the Shields, and the Mussellshell.

Finally we headed on to the east on Hwy 12. A bit east of Harlowton we saw a car stopped on the side of the road. As we got nearer we realized there was a man sitting in the passenger seat. We said hi as we walked by, then immediately went back to see if he needed help. We didn't know what we could do if he did, but sensed we should at least find out. He told us that they had a blowout and help was on the way. He was just waiting. We talked with him a bit and told him what we were doing and gave him our card. Then we asked if it would be okay if we took his picture. He laughed and said we could. I asked his name. He said it was Harry Toaves. Sam and I looked at each other and asked him if he was related to Dick Toaves. He laughed and said that was his son. We told him we had met Dick on Hwy 294 as he was flagging at a highway construction section. I told him we had also taken a picture of Dick. What a small world. He and his wife were on their way to attend a baby shower for Dick's daughter in White Sulphur Springs. That is really amazing. We told Harry to be sure to tell Dick hi from us. He said he certainly would.

A few minutes later Joni pulled up and we told her about Harry. We got big drinks of water and told her to meet us in about 2 miles. It was getting very hot and we felt like we should meet fairly frequently to avoid any unnecessary heat problems. Joni drove down to where Harry was waiting to see if he needed water since we carry several bottles with us all the time. She told him she was with the walkers. He thanked her and said someone else had just stopped and given him some water. Then he pulled out a $10 bill and told Joni we should use it for gas or hamburgers or whatever. What a neat experience.

We continued on through tons of grasshoppers, and met Joni again between Mile Marker 108 and 109, and decided to call it quits for the day. It was getting very hot, and I really didn't want to chance another episode like yesterday. Joni's thermometer said the outside temp. was 111 degrees! It felt like it on the hot asphalt with no trees at all.

We headed back to Harlow, got gas at the Conoco by Ray's, then drove into Harlow to a store where Joni had seen her state charms that she is collecting. She got the M and an American flag. We drove on down to the old train station. It looks like they are fixing it up. There we talked to a motorcyclist from Calgary who was on his way back home. His name was Robert, and we took his picture.

Then we headed back to Big Timber. There we went to the grocery store to get a few things. While Sam and I shopped Joni and Cassie walked over to the church we want to attend in the morning and checked out the time of the service. We all finished at about the same time. Then we headed back to camp. As we were getting out of the car the owner drove up on her ATV and asked if we had the extra car permit. We said we didn't realize we needed one. She called the office and had them make up one, then went and got it and brought it back to us. She also questioned us as to how many of us there were and made sure we had that number registered. She seems to drive around much of the day looking for offenders. We've found this to be the worst KOA Kamp or any other camp almost. It's sad that they are so mistrusting of anyone. Their showers are really bad - one doesn't do more than a trickle. Whenever I am in the restroom and others are in there, I hear them complaining about one thing or another at this KOA. I told the owner about the shower, and she said she would check it out. It will be interesting to see if she does.

We soon had dinner, then started looking in the KOA directory. We noticed that the KOA headquarters was in Billings, MT. So we decided we want to try and stop there and see if there is any possibility of us being inspectors for the KOA Kamps we stay in since we plan to stay in quite a few across the country. We'll tell them what we're doing first and talk to them about our trip and how many miles we've done - it will be over 1000 by the time we get to Billings.

We looked at our maps for awhile and then I went out to wander around a bit. I went into the office/store and asked about the possibility of extending our stay. She said we could - that the extra days were still open. We're not pleased with this place especially, but we need to stay a couple extra days for convenience for the walking. I also asked for the latest update on the fires. We can see one burning to the northeast of Big Timber. She didn't think it would affect us on Hwy 12 or Hwy 3.

Back in the castle we got busy with Bible study and journals. I talked to Dave, then headed for bed.

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August 17, 2003 - Sunday - 913.5 Total Miles to Date

432.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was an incredibly interesting day. We went to St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Big Timber, MT. It is a small church, but a beautiful building, and delightful people. Following the service we talked to most of the congregation. One couple that Joni talked with quite a bit invited us to join them for the afternoon at their ranch. We said we'd love to. When we finished visiting and taking pictures at the church we got in their car - Edward and Nancy Clement - and headed out to their ranch. We stopped at the market in town so that Nancy could go in and get a few things.

While Nancy was inside I noticed some men across the parking lot dressed in look alike shirts. Finally I said "I have to go see if those guys are Barbershoppers". They were indeed. So I told them my husband was a Barbershopper also from SLO, CA. We talked a bit, then I told them I wanted to get a picture of them and give them our card. I went to the car for a card and my camera. When I went back they told me they wanted to come sing for us. So they came to the car and sang to us as we took pictures. What a delight.

We drove on out to the ranch, got a tour of the house, then while Nancy prepared our meal we rode with Edward out to tour the ranch. It is called Yellowstone Bend Ranch Preserve. It's alongside the Yellowstone River and is something like 3030 acres. We drove to different spots and took pictures. I took off my shoes to wade into the river at one point. It was very slippery, so I didn't go out far - just enough for a picture. They have tremendous views, but because of the smoke covering the area from many big fires, we couldn't see the mountains that can normally be seen.

Back at the house we soon sat down to a delicious meal of cheese and garlic grits, a great quiche, and asparagus spears. We had peach melba for dessert, and a delicious peach tea. They are from North Carolina - thus the grits, and what a great way to fix them. Edward and Nancy live in North Carolina for the winter and at their ranch in Montana for the summer.

After more visiting and pictures Edward took us back to the church where our car was. We took more pictures of the church, then headed on back to the castle. There we walked around for a bit to take pictures of the campground, and to add time to our stay here. I wish we could move right away, but we really need more time for this section. The KOA owners here are not at all friendly, and very distrustful of everyone. The restrooms are usually quite dirty. It gives a bad name to KOA I think. They get most of their business because of the adjoining water park. I frequently hear ladies in the restrooms complaining about this place. When I extended our stay I asked about a late check out time like motels usually do if you ask. She said they do that some and only charge for half a day extra. Forget that. On moving day I like to let the other two sleep in a bit, but they won't get to sleep in much this time since check out is at 10 AM - most unusual for campgrounds.

We spent the rest of the day and evening downloading pictures, writing letters, making phone calls, and snacking. Finally it was time to get to bed -- a long, but very good day.

August 18, 2003 - Monday - 15.0 + 913.5 = 928.5 Total Miles to Date

15.0 + 432.1= 447.1 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we started out, but as we backed out we remembered the windshield washer that we wanted to get, so we stopped and got that so we could wash the window. It took us awhile to find where we had stored it, but alas, after much searching we found it in the castle under the kitchen sink. :-) Much better once we got it in. Now I can see out the front window - well, it really wasn't that bad, and we do wash it when we get gas - at least sometimes.

On the way to our start point we stopped a few times to take pictures of things - mainly the long straight, up and down road - we see on our daily drive that we won't see walking.

Finally we stopped at our start point and got ourselves geared up and headed out. For the first few miles it was a long straight road along farmland. The grasshoppers were still sleeping. Joni and Cassie met us after a couple of miles or so.

Soon after Cassie and Joni left us to drive ahead again, Sam and I walked into Shawmut. We prayed at the sign and looked around for a memorial stone. Not finding anything more than pebbles we settled on a small piece of metal we could use. We did consider writing one letter or number on a bunch of pebbles to spell out our message, but quickly decided against that. :-)

As we walked through town we saw a lady in her garden. She asked if we were taking a long hike. So I whipped out a card and told her what we are doing. We stopped and talked with her a bit, then I took a picture of her and Sam. Her name was Sarah (I think) and her last name was Lynn. I think I got stuck on the last name being the same as mine and kind of forgot the first name. Anyway she was really nice, and quite thankful that we had prayed for their community.

We said good bye, and continued on. Then we had a "mountain pass" to cross over. Well, maybe it was just an itsy bitsy hill, but after flat for a day or two it seemed like a mountain ?! Sometimes we have to have a little hill to keep life interesting. We walked a long way before we met Joni and Cassie again. Then we continued on past Farmer O'Brien (my made up name for him) out plowing his field. I would love to be able to talk with one of the farmers in their field, but they're usually inside their air conditioned tractors and can't hear us - they seldom even see us. Farmer O'Brien did see me take his picture and he waved and smiled.

We continued on stopping to look at a strange plant that we've been seeing for days along the road. We took pictures of one of the blooms, plucked a pod and opened up one of the closed pods to see what it looked like inside. Very interesting.

Finally we came to the town of Barber. We called it quits there. After we changed shoes, we ate some cheese and crackers and other stuff. Once we were rested and filled we headed out to Harlowton and back to the Castle. Before we left Barber we took pictures of the little town with a couple run down, but cute buildings and the very nice looking country church. There were also a couple of nicer and newer homes.

As we drove back to Big Timber we played one of the tapes of ECBC singers that was made for Alyce-Kay's sales with her books for the Home School Convention. We sang along as much as possible. That kept us awake and alert as we drove - or at least it helped a lot, and it was fun.

In Big Timber we went to the grocery store and got a few items we needed. Then we stopped at a gift/antique shop to look around. I found a large item that we (Dave and I) have wanted for a long time. She gave me a good price on it, so after thinking about it a bit I decided to get it for Dave's birthday. It's big, but Joni and I figured we could find a place to keep it in the castle for a short time, then when Russ comes he can take it home with him - we hope. I can't say what it is here because Dave will get this before he gets the gift. I'm not going to make him wait for his birthday to see it though. I want him to get it as soon as Russ gets home with it. Oh, yes, the clerk at the store was the organist at the church yesterday. When I went to ask her about the "item" I looked at her and said, "Oh, you're from the church yesterday - you're the organist!". She looked at me and said, "And you're one of the walkers!". We talked a bit and she asked how far we had gotten today. I told her where we ended up - she recognized the place. Joni bought a couple of little things also. The clerk's name is Sandra Jennings and she is the Senior Warden at the Episcopal Church.

Back at the castle we figured out what to do with "the item" until Russ took it home. Joni suggested taking out the middle laundry bag and putting it in there where it would be sheltered from banging and sliding. So that's what we did. It worked. Good idea, Joni!

We finished getting stuff out of the car, then we let Sam (she had a headache) rest while Joni fixed dinner. I did the journal part way, then we ate, and I finished journaling. Next I did my Bible study, We did a few other things and went to bed.

Back to "Lyn's Journals" Index

August 19, 2003 - Tuesday - 14.0 + 928.5 = 942.5 Total Miles to Date

14.0 + 447.1 = 461.1Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got our usual start and headed for Barber. Sam is reading a new book to us now called "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. We are doing one chapter a day, then discussing the questions at the end of the chapter. Our discussion was pretty deep and really relevant to our Journey. In the end we decided to use my little tape recorder to record our conclusions at the end of each chapter.

Finally we started walking from Barber heading towards Ryegate. Sam and I spent most of the morning praying together for people on our prayer lists -- including ones in the GAJ Prayer Book. We weren't with Joni a whole lot this morning so she didn't pray with us, but probably will when she is with us more. We talked about this last night, and we all agreed that this would be a good way to pray for the requests in the book on a regular basis. Plus in our morning and evening prayer times we are each taking one request from the book to pray for. This includes the military personnel we are praying for.

Scenery along our route has changed some now as well. We have bluffs above us frequently now, and a few more trees again, though the trees are rather short or crooked in many cases. The ones along the rivers are taller, so it must just be a lack of water. It's a mixture of trees - most I don't know what they are since trees are not my specialty at all. We keep seeing this rather large odd shaped bird in the fields that none of us recognize. I keep forgetting to look in the bird book. Of course, we see plenty of pronghorn antelope everyday.

At Ryegate Sam and I stopped to pray and leave a memorial stone and take pictures, of course. We walked into a lot of smoke from the fires today. Sam had to use her inhaler once. It got hot again, and I finally called it quits at 14 miles. We're about 8 miles from Lavina now. We took time to eat crackers and cheese or salmon, then headed on to Roundup to pick up our mail and turn in a forwarding address. I gave the postman our card and explained what we were doing. Many of them just say, "Oh, that's nice", but often they do ask questions - and he did. I asked him if by any chance he knew Bob McNary of Lavina. He said he didn't. I explained that we had an article about him walking from Lavina to New York, and he went to get a phone book. He looked up the name, gave me the number and a phone to call him. Wow! Dr. Bob answered the phone, and I told him who I was and what we were doing and how I heard about him. I told him we'd be walking through Lavina tomorrow and asked if there was a chance we could get together when we came through. He said, "Well tomorrow is Wednesday. Yes, I'll be home, and I'd love to get together." Then he asked about what time we thought we might arrive. I told him it would probably be just before noon. He said he was planning pancakes for lunch tomorrow and asked if we would like to join him. I told him we'd be delighted! So we have a date for lunch. How exciting.

Finally we said good bye to the postman, thanked him, and headed out. We then had a long drive back to our castle. We stopped at Ryegate where Joni had purchased a woodpecker earlier that we had been seeing for weeks. It turns out that they are made right here in Ryegate, and we've been seeing them all over Montana. The man who makes them has only one arm we were told. We also stopped at the Post Office in Harlowton, but they were closed already. We had our forwarding information filled out already, so we just put it in the Harlowton slot. While we were in there a man came in to get his mail, looked at us and asked if we were the ones he's seen walking out along the road everywhere. We told him we were and I whipped out a card and explained what we were doing. He is a vet and travels up and down the road to various farms attending many animals up and down the area.

When we finally arrived back in Big Timber we stopped by the Crossroads Country Store to say good bye to Sandra. She had a bag of doggy biscuits for Cassie, and brought them out to her. She was so sweet. It's so nice to meet people and then see them again while we're in the area.

Back at the camp we got stuff in and put away, then Sam fixed dinner, we ate, did journaling, Bible study, phone calls - including making our Hardin reservations - and finally went to bed.

August 20, 2003 - Wednesday - 13.4 +942.5 = 955.9 Total Miles to Date

474.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was really fun. It began when I woke up at 3:30 AM, made myself wait until 4 AM to get up. I went ahead and had my Bible time before waking Sam up at 5:25 AM. Then I called Joni at about 5:45 AM. After her usual "2 more minutes" I gave her the second wake up call. This time she moaned "What time is it?" I told her it didn't matter, but she blindly reached for her watch after noticing it was still DARK outside. She actually did get up! And we actually got out before 6:30 AM! Amazing!

We had a LONG drive today to get to our start point. This was our last time to drive 191 to Harlowton - that 44 mile stretch we've had to do everyday from this campground. The first few days got shorter as we got closer to Harlowton, but once we had walked past it the driving got further again - today being the longest. We made our usual stop at the park in Harlowton, then drove on to the start point.

Sam and I began walking, then met up with Joni and Cassie. We enjoyed the "rim" all along for awhile - this is what the Montanans call the type of bluffs we were walking beside. Swallows build nests on the under side of these rims. We enjoyed waving to the many trucks and cars that go along on Hwy 12 - many are repeats and wave a little extra or honk at us. For several days we've noticed trucks coming from behind us with the oversized loads, and have wondered if they had something to do with the work of putting out fires or cleaning up after. We think it more likely they are doing some of the clean up, but on the other hand they might not have anything to do with the fires. We've just seen a lot of them, and always they honk as they come up behind us so we're pretty sure we've seen them/they've seen us before.

Joni and Cassie got back in the car when we arrived at it, and they headed on to Lavina to check it out, find out where Dr. Bob's place was, etc. Then she met us at the corner of Cemetery Road and Hwy 12. She told us we could either continue on 12 to 3 or go down Cemetery which turns and goes right into the town. We chose Cemetery Road, but then figured we better pray for Lavina right then, mark our rock and have Joni drive it to the entrance sign to place it there. That worked. Sam and I walked to the Cemetery, took pictures of the sign, then turned to go into the town.

Joni met us at the corner of Cemetery and Hwy 3. She decided to go park the car on the little side street beside Dr. Bob's house and walk to meet us so we could all go in together. However when she parked Dr. Bob saw her and came out. So as Sam and I walked to his house he was out front taking pictures of us. What a thrill to meet Dr. Bob. We went into his very interesting home, visited a bit, then he prepared bacon and pancakes for us. Excellent bacon and pancakes! The pancakes had a mixture of wheat and corn flour I think he said. The bacon was real good thick bacon.

Dr. Bob has a 14 year old dog named Little Bear who has a teddy bear that she holds tightly with her front legs. She is a very sweet dog. Cassie wanted to play a bit more than Little Bear wanted to, but Little Bear was very nice about it. Dr. Bob showed us pictures of his walk across America. He also showed us the quilt he had made for it, his flag that he carried, and a large welcome back sign painted on a sheet by the school. He had a lot of questions for us as well, and we had a whole packet of stuff prepared for him. Oh, yes, we wore our summer uniform shirts in honor of our visit to him.

Finally it was time for us to leave. We did take several pictures with him at his house, and the outside of his house as well. He then walked with us for awhile, so we got to talk some more. When it was time for him to turn back we all took more pictures - he of us and we of each of us with him. Then we asked if we could say a prayer for him and Lavina again. He was most appreciative. We assured him he would be put in our prayer book and we would continue to pray for him. We hugged and said good bye, then he walked on back to town while we continued on a bit. We got over the hill and down the other side a bit, then decided we needed to call it quits - both because the heat was getting to me and because we had a long ride home to the castle.

We got into the car and drove on the next 30/40 miles or so to Billings, then onto Hwy 87 and next onto Hwy 90 heading west. We stopped in Park City to get gas, then on to our castle in Big Timber. We stopped first at the Prairie Dog Town, picked up a brochure, then to the castle. We fixed dinner, ate, cleaned up and talked about past experiences of childhood or grandmahood or other kinds of hoods. Finally we called it a night and headed for bed.

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August 21, 2003 - Thursday - Moving Day - 955.9 Total Miles to Date

474.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a busy day. I was up before 6, showered and had my Bible time. I woke the others up at about 8 AM. Joni took her hairy sheets over to wash (they're hairy because of Cassie, the furry person - dog -). When she came back she told us that there was "trouble in Paradise". It seems that two RV's came in during the night. One left without checking in and the other came in to check in this morning. The men's bathroom lock had been broken during the night, and now the owner was accusing the guy who was there to check in of breaking the lock. She actually called the police and told them that she's sure this guy is guilty - then added that he looks and talks like a gypsy. How sad that she is so untrusting of people, and so prejudiced. We have been disturbed by her actions the whole time we've been here. She's frequently riding around on her ATV looking for infractions of their rules - of which there are many. They neglected to give us a tag for the car when we arrived, and since this is the first time we've ever been required to have a tag we were surprised we needed one. She then asked how many we had registered. I told her 3, and she asked if we had anymore than 3 here. She never talks to anyone other than to make accusations or find fault. They also have a 10 AM check out time - the earliest any RV Park has had yet. At 10 AM on Sunday she was riding around on her ATV checking licences to see who was still here. On and on it goes. We've added her and this KOA in Big Timber, MT to our prayer list. Something has happened sometime in her life to make her a very bitter person. She seems to have no real interest in people. How sad. We often heard women in the restrooms complaining about one thing or another about the place or about management. We ask that anyone who reads this journal entry please pray for these people. They really need to know the One who can give them joy and peace.

We had a light breakfast, packed and disconnected everything. Then I started the engine on the RV. For the first time it didn't start right up for me, so we got out the starter fluid, sprayed that in and tried again. A couple of sprays of the fluid and she started right up. We left at 10:04, but we had turned our restroom keys in already, so we were okay. We headed down to the freeway - Hwy 90 - going east. At Park City we stopped to get gas in the castle, then on through Laurel, MT to stop at an RV place to get a new sewage slinky. We got the strongest one they had since the cheap one we got last time didn't last very long. We asked about the stand to put them on (I've been "coveting" one of these every time I've seen them under other people's sewage slinky's). I found out these stands are called slunky's. The RV place in Laurel was out of them, but he called another place not far away and they had them. We drove there and picked one up, so now we have a new "slinky" and it's cousin "slunky". :-) This will make draining sewage a lot easier. Marilyn Anacker will appreciate this even if no one else does. :-)

From there we got directions to the Wal-Mart, went there to do our major shopping which took about 2 ½ hours or more, then while Sam and Joni got those put away I went to Office Max a few stores down, to get copier paper and CD's. Then we left the castle at Wal-Mart while we went to a Del-Taco to eat our lunch/dinner. Back to get the castle, and off we headed to Hardin - our next campsite. It was only about 45 to 50 miles away. So it didn't take too long to get there. We checked in (they seem very nice here) and got settled. Joni and I got things set up outside while Sam set up inside - this is our usual method and seems to work very well. Joni and I had fun (at least I had fun) setting up our new "slinky" and "slunky". One very nice man across the way offered his help, but we were just finishing up. We thanked him and I gave him a card.

When we were all set up (it doesn't take us long anymore) we settled in to write in journals, make phone calls, and other odds and ends before going to bed. There is a strange sound here, which we have pinned down to some sort of critter like locusts (????) or something. We haven't seen them yet, but we can hear them quite distinctly.

August 22, 2003 - Friday - 16.8 + 955.9 = 972.7 Total Miles to Date

491.3 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we left the castle at about 7:30, but we didn't get to our start point until about 9:30. That really surprised me that it took us so long. We missed one turn, but caught it right away and didn't take long to correct it. Finally we arrived, got ready and were just about ready to head out when a car drove into the driveway where we had parked. Thinking it was the rancher who owned it I headed over to talk with him, but we quickly saw that it was Dr. Bob getting out of the car coming to walk a bit with us again. He walked about 2 miles I think. He said he had read all the literature we gave him about our walk - that included updates, etc. He posted some on his front window which is like a community bulletin board.

As we walked he shared with me that he noticed I had walked every inch so far and how that seemed very important to me. He encouraged me not to hold tight to that. He, too, had started out that way, but after about 600 miles had begun accepting a few rides. I really appreciate his opinions and input, and was able to tell him that we've talked about that very thing just the night before and that morning.

Sam and I continued talking some more after he left. Basically we both feel that at this time GOD is calling us to walk every step and to claim this land for Him, but if at any time GOD shows us that is not to be we are willing to obey. Dr. Bob is very interesting and has a lot of good insights. We're hoping he'll be back to walk with us some more before we get too far away, and perhaps even when we're further away he'll come join us for a bit. Who knows.

As Sam and I walked we prayed together as has become our custom. What a beautiful time. One time when we met up with Joni and Cassie they were parked at one of the many ranch gates along the road. There were some beautiful rim rocks on this property and we needed to make a pit stop. We opened the gate and went up into the rocks. We spent extra time here looking around and taking pictures of the area and the tops of some of the rim rocks. These are really fascinating. Back out to walk, locking the gate behind us, we continued south, snacking as we went. We continued praying for those back home as well as for those we've met on this walk. Then we went to our Scripture memory. We really hadn't worked on that together for a week or so because of narrow shoulders and heavy traffic, but we're on an easier stretch for that now. I'm working on Isaiah 53 (review), and learning Psalm 91 now. Sam has a bunch she has memorized and is reviewing. She is also continuing to learn new ones.

At one point we stopped to talk with 4 fellows working on painting the white and yellow lines on the highway. They were taking their lunch break. We talked with them for a bit, then took pictures and got all their names. They are Jason Stene, Tom Tilzey, Walt Houghton, and Owen Richardson - that is their names in the left to right order that they are in our pictures. Later we saw them 3 or 4 times again as they were working on the lines along the way. They always waved and smiled.

We walked the last part of the day busily waving to all the motorcyclists heading toward Billings for a rally there. Many of them honked as they came up to us even before we waved. It would not be a surprise to us if they have heard about our walk from others already. That happens a lot. What a delight the motorcyclists are. We really delight in waving to them.

Finally we dragged on (well I dragged on - Sam was having no trouble) to the final meeting with Joni and Cassie for the day. I was really tired today. We got in the van and headed for Billings and Hardin. When we got to Billings I directed Joni a different way - unintentionally at first, but then realized this might possibly work as our route to Hardin. By the time I studied the map I realized this was too far out of our way, but it wasn't practical to turn around and go back the other way. This was just another side to a triangle to get to Hardin. This route also took us past Pompeys Pillar, so we stopped to see that and climb up to where William Clark signed his name on the rock on July 25, 1806. That was very interesting.

We then continued on towards Hardin and our castle. I drove the last part. We got home, fixed dinner and took care of all the usual things, plus called Marilyn Anacker. They've had another delay and are now scheduled to leave for Russia on Friday, 8/29. Their court date in Russia is 9/4. We are praying they will not have anymore delays so they can get those children here to the United States and to their home.

I also called Brenda and left a message. I did my journaling and my Bible time, and finally went to bed.

August 23, 2003 - Saturday - 16.5 + 972.7 = 989.2 Total Miles to Date

507.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we headed out at our usual time of about 7:30 AM. When we got to our start point it was about 9 AM. Dr. Bob didn't show up today. Oh well. We finally got started. There was a nice wind much of the day, and the sky was actually blue with white puffy clouds - the first blue sky in over a week. Up to now the sky has been filled with smoke. It was really great to see blue.

We walked along fields of hay and grain - the varying shades of gold and brown were really quite beautiful! We stopped at Comanche to pray, and leave our memorial stone. While Joni drove on and parked the car to get out to come meet us, another car stopped and the people talked with her. He was the postman from Ryegate - he and his wife and son were heading to Billings to get school supplies for the son who was preparing for college. They had seen us a few times as we walked and wondered what we were doing. His wife finally told him that for heavens sake if he wants to know what we're doing he should stop and ask - so he did. :-) Joni talked with them for awhile, then when they left Joni started walking toward us.

We had 10 miles in by noon, and stopped at the car to eat some crackers and cheese and have gatorade. We then continued on up the hill to the edge of Billings where we called it a day. We drove on into Billings down the hill and through on the route we're hoping to take through Billings. Eventually we decided to make some changes to it, but they are minor and can be done as we walk through. We were hoping to take the Old Hardin Rd. out to Hardin, but when we tried to drive it we discovered it's now a dead end.

We back tracked a bit and then took the New Hardin Rd. which is called Johnston or Johnson. It works real well to a point, but it goes way south, then back north to get to Hardin. But as we were on the part going south we came to a road that went to Pryor. We looked at the map and that may just work to take that road, then cut across to our previous route. It looks like a great idea, and certainly better than going south and back north so far.

Finally we arrived at Hardin and drove through looking for churches. We picked out a few, then saw one church in the distance and found our way over to it. It turned out to be a museum piece. We went into the Visitor's Center and got a list of churches, looked around and got MT hat pins for our hats. Then we headed on to camp. As we drove into camp I spotted Russ' truck and tent, then saw him. I got out of the car and headed right over to greet him. We talked a bit, then we headed off our own ways to fix our meals. We invited Russ to join us, but he had a steak that needed to be cooked right away. He also was going to wait to cook his until dusk.

Later, just as Joni finished dishes, she mentioned a smell. It turned out I had forgotten to pull the drain outside and it had backed up into the shower again. That's the third time this trip. The first was before we knew how to work all that when we first got the RV. I can't remember when the second was. Now the third one - ugh. This time when I connected the sewage I was busy setting up our new "Slinky and Slunky" so that distracted me. Funny thing tho', I remember at Big Timber waking up in the night wondering if I had pulled the drain out, so I checked it the next day. This time I thought nothing of it. Oh well. We hurriedly got everything out, Joni drove the laundry over and got it started since much of it was caught in the gunk. Sam and I got the rest of the stuff outside (including the "item" I got for Dave's birthday that we had stuck in there). Then she cleaned the shower with Clorox and we got the hose over to the other side to clean off the various things that were in the shower. That done we got back to journals and other things.

I went over to see Russ to let him know what we are doing tomorrow and see what he wanted to do. He'll join us for lunch after church and we'll work on things together in the afternoon. I went back to finish my journal and call Dave, then get to bed.

August 24, 2003 - Sunday - 989.2 Total Miles to Date

507.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I was up and about by 6 AM, and the others were up a bit after 8 AM. We got ready and headed for the town of Hardin, 1 mile down the road. We hadn't decided for sure what church we wanted to attend so drove around town for awhile looking. Nothing seemed quite right, so we kept driving. Then we came around on one street and saw a nice little white church with a lot of cars around it. We couldn't find any sign to tell us what time it started tho'. I drove around the block and came back, then Joni hopped out and went up to ask someone. It was now 10:45, and they told her the service was scheduled for 10:30, but that they were late getting started and we should come in. So we drove to a shady spot to park for the dog, and went on in.

The church was an Open Bible Church. The music was good. The service was good, tho' it was a guest speaker. The pastor was there and we got to meet him, but he didn't preach. The service went for an hour and a half or more. Then they had everyone sit down again after the closing prayer, and invited the District Superintendent to come up. At first I thought maybe we shouldn't be there, but quickly realized that GOD had led us to this church for a reason - they're having some church conflict that the superintendent is there to help with. We have no idea what kind of conflict, nor do we want or need to know - we only know they need our prayers. We were able to talk briefly with both the pastor and the superintendent afterwards, tell them what we are doing, and assure them of our prayers. They were very appreciative.

Then we left and headed back to our castle. I walked over to let Russ know we were home and that he could come over anytime, and that I would be preparing a veggie omelet for our brunch. He came over soon after and visited while I cooked. Sam was working on downloading our pictures, and Joni fixed toast to go with our omelet and tater tots. We enjoyed the meal and the visit with Russ. Soon we watched the first part of our slide show from our cameras. Then Russ went back to his camp for a bit. Later he came over for another slide show of more pictures.

Then I went over to his camp with him for awhile and sat and talked quite a bit. When I went back to the castle I headed around to dump our black water and heard a voice say "hi". I turned around to see a man nearby. He was curious about our Great American Journey sign on the RV. I told him what we were doing, gave him a magnet and cards, and talked with him for quite a bit. I got his picture and his name, as well as his wife's name and their "kids" - 6 cats - that are traveling with them.

Later Russ came over to get Sam to go over and help clean his telescope and give her a telescope lesson. I called Dave and we talked for quite awhile. Joni and I had some popcorn. Lois called to talk to Sam - she and I talked a bit first, then I went over to see how Sam was doing. Lois wanted her to call back when she got a chance. I got in on the tail end of a lesson on planets or such. Then Russ set up the telescope and Sam and I looked through it. I couldn't see the star it was pointed at, but I think Sam did. It is a cloudy night, but seems to be breaking up. Anyway, I'll try again another night.

Finally I headed back to the castle and did my journaling and went to bed. It was a good day. So nice to have Russ around. He will get up and go with us tomorrow morning, and use the van to run a few errands, then come back to pick us up. We'll be walking through Billings, so we'll have places to stop and a bit more shade than when we are out in the middle of nowhere.

August 25, 2003 - Monday - 8.0 + 989.2 = 997.2 Total Miles to Date

515.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today I slept until 5:45, then I got up and got things started. We finally left a bit before 8 AM. We drove into Billings and tried to figure out just how we wanted to go through Billings when we got there. We found North Park - a very nice park where we used restrooms, then drove to our start point. Russ walked with us a short distance with Loki, then turned back to the van and on to try and line up some publicity for us.

What seemed like a very short time later I had a phone call from the Montana News. They wanted to know where we were and could they come out to meet us. We told them where we were, then we stopped at the Billings sign, prayed and left our memorial rock #14. We just started walking again when the Montana News Car arrived with Donald and Donald (father and son). After introducing themselves he told us he was with a Christian Internet News program. He showed us the news camera in his car and he held the mike. He then began interviewing us. I really liked the way he did it going back and forth between us asking us each questions. He seemed to favor Joni - much to the delight of Sam and me. He asked her quite a few questions. He also mentioned that this was going out live to 22 million people. I was hoping Joni wouldn't faint. :-)

After they left we began walking again, but got only a short distance when we saw two men cross the road ahead of us and start taking pictures of us - at least the camera was aimed at us. We just continued walking until we came to where they were. The reporter introduced himself as Jim from the Billings Gazette. I'm not sure we got the cameraman's name. He did a good interview, then as they were finishing up two more men came. These two were from Fox News at 9 on channel 6. They did a taped interview, then filmed us walking down the road from both in front and in back. We continued on then and had no more interviews. Needless to say we really didn't get very far with all the interviews. However this kind of thing will only happen when we're in the city so it is okay - in fact Russ was just pointing out to me that we need to spend more time in the cities and towns and make up our time when we're in the country with no people around. What he said makes sense - he said the time we spend when we're around people is like a footprint that we're leaving. Since prayer for the people and the leaders of the towns, cities, communities, states, and nation is what we're all about we need to really use our time wisely when we are in those communities.

We saw no more reporters the rest of the day. Finally we walked into the main part of the residential area of Billings. Russ called and we met him at the University of Montana, then he took the dogs and met us at the park where we had stopped this morning on our way to the start point. We quit walking there and I drove on to a couple of sporting stores to look for shoes for Joni and me. We didn't find any of the ones we like, but I found one store that would order them for me, so I had them order two pair and they'll mail them to me in Sheridan, WY.

We then headed back to the castle, and had burritos for dinner. We talked and visited, went down to the office to see if we could watch the news at 9 PM. Finally to bed.

August 26, 2003 - Tuesday - 8.7 + 997.2 = 1005.9 Total Miles to Date

524.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we headed into Billings to walk around the town. We started at North Park where we had nice restrooms. As we left we noticed a man sitting in a car. He had been sitting there yesterday all day as well. We said "hi" to him as we walked by and he greeted us as well. Our walk went on through the main part of Billings where a few people began to wave at us. Sam and I went into the various buildings that had the skywalks between buildings and walked through them. We stopped at the middle each time where we could see Joni and Cassie and wave to them. Joni took pictures of us and we took pictures of her and Cassie. At the first one Joni kept trying to get Cassie to look up at us, but she kept watching the door where we had gone in instead. Finally Joni took Cassie to the other side of the street where we would be coming out. Then when we came out Cassie jumped and yelped for joy. It was really cute.

We walked on down the street, and as we walked past two men standing beside the railroad tracks, they said "Hi, and God bless you for what you are doing. We saw you on TV last night." We stopped and talked with them a bit then continued. We saw a cute dog sitting across the street and stopped to look at him. A man on a ladder painting the building came down and sat by the dog, then motioned for us to come over to him. We went over and introduced ourselves - tho' he already knew who we were from the TV news last night also. His name was Doug and Buster was his dog. The store was named "Buster's", and it was an "Antique and Collectibles" store. He told us it was the oldest building in Billings and showed us a picture of the original building. It has a new facade over the old building, but the original building itself is still there. He also owned the building next to it - the 2^nd oldest in Billings - and was in the process of renovating it. He was doing an incredibly beautiful job. As Sam and I talked with him Joni ran back to get pictures of the two men we talked with earlier. We all got pictures of Doug and Buster and of Buster's store and the next building.

We continued on past the Women's Prison and on to the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is a real nice building with a beautiful sculpture of a cattle drive. Inside we talked with the volunteers for quite awhile. They had several of our cards set out and some news articles from the Newport Miner (Washington state). Before we left a new shift of volunteers was coming on, so we also got to talk with one of them. Her name is Helen Cossitt and she writes cowboy poetry under the name of Stacey Sue. She gave us one of her books and will be sending us two more, I think. Anyway, we were treated very well, and wished well by all.

Finally we headed back to the van. When we reached 27^th and First we split up with Joni and Cassie returning to the van, and Sam and me continuing on to the Frontage Road. Joni met us when we were almost to our underpass at the freeway. She had talked to a couple of homeless men at the park where our van was. One was the guy we had seen in the morning sitting in the car. When Joni talked with him he was reading the newspaper and said he knew exactly who she was because he was just reading about her. He then gave her that part of the paper to keep. She got his name and told him we would be praying for him. When we met her out on the Frontage Rd. she was reading it and laughing. Then she read parts of it to us so we could all laugh. Obviously Jim, the reporter, had called Doctor Bob McNary and talked with him quite a bit. He was quoted several times as well. It was a fun article.

We continued on to where we decided to finish for the day. We got in the car and drove to The Mall and found a spot in the shade where we could sit and eat a bit. Then we drove to Wal-Mart and Sam and I went in to do a mini shopping while Joni went to look for new hiking sandals. We finished our shopping and waited inside in the lobby area where we could watch for Joni. She came and we went out to load stuff into the van. Then we headed back to the castle. We stopped for gas in Hardin before we got to the KOA.

At the castle we unloaded stuff, and Russ brought vanilla diet Pepsi's over to us which we all enjoy. A bit later I went over and talked with Russ about our day and about plans for the rest of the week. He will stay here tomorrow to do some more studying and work on the RV things he couldn't get done today. Back to the castle to have dinner and journal. Russ came over for a bit to visit, then he went up to soak in the hot tub.

We made phone calls, measured for vests that we are having Beth make for us, and went over to look at Mars through Russ' telescope. Back for Bible study and to bed.

August 27, 2003 - Wednesday - 9.3 + 1005.9 = 1015.2 Total Miles to Date

533.8 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we headed out to our start point at the south end of Billings on Johnson. Before we left the KOA we stopped to register for another week here. In talking with Tim he mentioned that he was still trying to get in touch with the local paper. So I mentioned that we were thinking about walking around Hardin on Monday. He suggested we stop in at the school since it was the beginning of the school year. Then I realized that Monday was a holiday, so I said we would do Hardin on Tuesday instead so that we could stop at the school. Tim said he would talk to his sister who was a 5^th grade teacher. He was sure she would love to have us talk to her class. How exciting and fun that would be.

We were a bit delayed when we arrived at our start point by an intense discussion, but finally began our walk at about 10 AM more or less. Joni went on ahead in the van to wait with Cassie. Sam and I walked on down Johnson until we came to the end and turned left onto Hardin Rd. Shortly after we got onto this road we saw a young dog sitting up by a fence along the road. At first we thought he was caught on the fence, then when we went to look closer we discovered he had been chained to the fence with just a short chain around his neck and metal clip. He could barely move because he was so tightly chained. First we went to the house he was in front of. A man met us at the door and asked what he could do for us. We first told him what we were doing, then told him about the dog chained to the fence. He said that it was quite common to have dogs dropped off there, but they were usually just dropped. It was really sad to see this one chained like this. He said he would call animal rescue. We waited with the dog for a bit, then we decided to take him with us, so we told the man that we would be walking along the road with the dog and to have animal control come down the road. He said he would, but no one ever came.

We tried to get the dog, who we dubbed "Journey", to walk with us after rigging a temporary leash out of some rubber we found on the road. Journey would have nothing to do with it. We sat with him for awhile, then we took turns carrying him for awhile, but he was heavy. We sat resting with him by the road, gave him some water, fed him a bagel, and a raspberry nutri-grain bar. He gobbled it down. Soon a car drove by and a few minutes later came back. A woman asked if we needed help, so we explained first what we were doing, then about the dog. She parked her car and she and her children got out to talk with us. She homeschools her children, and is a delightful Christian. Her children were absolute angels and so concerned about the dog. After awhile the man whose home we were now in front of came out to see if we needed help. We explained who we were and what the present situation was, and then he said that as long as we were okay he'd better get back to killing gophers. I thought that was kind of funny since Kari (the lady) had just told us he was a Southern Baptist Minister. He didn't seem at all interested in what we were doing. Oh well.

Kari and her children sat down on the ground with us and we prayed about the dog and about our journey and about her family and neighbors. She and the children got into the car reluctantly and headed off - they were on their way to the hospital to visit someone. We continued on down the road carrying Journey. Soon we stopped again, and Kari and the children drove up again. This time they handed us a bag of corn on the cob and a bottle of water for Journey, and a check for our walk. We had such a hard time saying good bye to this lovely family. What a special meeting. I pray that GOD will bless that family abundantly. We got pictures of them and all their names. They all begin with the letter K. Kevin is the husband (he wasn't there), then Kari (the mom),and the children are Kenton, Kieran, Karson, and Katriel. They were around 1½, 3, 5, and 7. I'm just guessing at their ages so that may be way off - well, not too far off I don't think.

We continued walking, now with Journey up on Sam's shoulders just as in the picture of Jesus carrying the lamb. That seemed to work pretty well, but we were happy to see Joni come driving up soon. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but was as indignant as we were about the way Journey had been left. After a bit of time we got Journey into the car - he and Cassie took right to each other. Joni told us later that Journey tried to nurse from Cassie, and Cass just licked him. How sweet.

Finally Sam and I walked on with Joni and the kids driving on ahead a bit. Once we were assured that Cass and Journey got along okay Joni drove on to the junction to wait for us there. The scenery in this area is really quite beautiful with rim rock and hills and just a different beauty than we've been having. About a quarter of a mile down Hwy 418 we came to Joni and the kids. We stopped there for the day, then drove to Pryor to see just how far it was, and what the road construction was like. The flagger said it would be fine for us to walk it. It was a beautiful tree-lined road for about 6 or 7 miles, then came the construction portion, and finally some more open road. We arrived at Pryor, then drove on over the road that goes to St. Xavier. It was about 43 or 44 miles on that road, so that will take close to 3 days, plus a day and a half on Hwy 418. Maybe it will work for us to walk Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday doing full days (by that I mean 15 or more miles), then on Tuesday we walk Hardin, do the school, and go finish up the part day on out to St. Xavier. Well, it's a thought, but we'll see how it works out.

Back in Hardin we drove through to find a vet. Not finding one right away we asked a lady on the street where one was. She directed us to one not far from our KOA. It was the Sugar Factory Veterinarian. Sam and I took Journey in, explained who we were and what we were doing, and the situation with the dog. She had two ideas for us - 1. A man had come in earlier looking for a lab or lab mix to buy or take. He left his number in case they found one. Well Journey seems to be a lab mix. First she called another number of a lady who rescues dogs and left a message. Then I called August Washington, the man who left his number. I got his wife and explained who I was, what we were doing, and about how we had found Journey. She seemed real excited and said she would call her husband right away to ask him. I gave her my phone number, and he called back just a few minutes later. He's going to try to find us on the road to Pryor tomorrow morning. I went back inside to tell the receptionist what happened. She said she thought it was divine intervention that we found Journey first of all, then that this August Washington had come in that very day to ask about a lab mix, and that finally we show up with Journey. I also told her where we were staying and made sure she had my number in case anything more came up.

We took Journey on back to camp with us. Russ came over and said that it didn't look like Cassie that we carried in. We explained to him what had happened and he, too, was very indignant over what had happened to the poor pup. We figure that Journey is about 6 months old. Such a sweet dog, and she and Cassie love each other - they romp and play and have a good time.

Finally we ate dinner, then journaled, visited with Russ a bit, and did Bible study and to bed.

August 28, 2003 - Thursday - 8.7 + 1015.2 = 1023.9 Total Miles to Date

542.5 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a pretty good day, but another short day. We walked along Pryor Rd. today from near its junction with Old Hardin Rd. to about a mile short of the construction area. We still have Journey with us, so walked with both dogs for a bit. As we walked we kept watching for the Fedex guy to come - the one thinking about adopting Journey. This was with great fear that he would take him since we were all very much in love with Journey by now. Well, he did come - at first he just drove on by, but later he came back and stopped. He got out and looked at Journey, petted him, and said he wouldn't do for his friend and if he did decide to take him it would be for his own family. The guy's name is August Washington, and his manager, Jeff, was with him. I talked to Jeff a bit while the others were showing Journey to August. Joni told him he didn't need to make up his mind right away. Well, he said he'd think about it some more, and left.

Sam and I and Journey continued walking while Joni and Cassie went back to get the van. She drove up further and walked back to meet us with Cassie. We had a good talk as we walked about many things. We've had some hard times lately and needed to talk out some things. It was really good. We also made a decision that should August return we would tell him we have decided to keep the dog. Journey came at a time that was perhaps one of our lowest points emotionally of the whole walk. This was yesterday as we walked on Old Hardin Rd. Having this poor little (well maybe not so little) pup to care for just lifted all our spirits and brightened our day. We just felt like GOD had put Journey there for us. Journey and Cassie play SO well together also. Then there is the fact that I had really wanted to bring a dog with me in the first place, but neither of my dogs are good for walking long distances. Also when I talked to Alyce-Kay last night she assured me that when they got moved to Tennessee they could take him, so that way he will stay with one of us (Sam) on the team.

We quit walking early today because we were coming up to the construction zone. We didn't want to get part way through it and have to quit, so we stopped about a mile north of it to allow for pit stops among the trees before the construction area tomorrow, then we should be able to get through this area and beyond tomorrow.

We then drove on back to Hardin where we stopped at a Hardware store first to get a drill bit, then the grocery store to get some blue ice and some things for Journey. Next we went to the Vet near the KOA to make arrangements to get Journey checked over and to begin shots or whatever needs to be done. We'll have to take care of his preventive medical needs as we go, but at least we'll get him started here. They are so nice at this vet's office, and are just thrilled we decided to keep him. The receptionist really thought we should from the beginning.

Finally back to the castle where we unloaded stuff, took Journey for a walk in the pet area, fed them both, and got our meal prepared. I took care of the "slinky/slunky" duties, then we ate. Russ came over while we ate and we talked about his day - looks like he may have a pretty good car lined up to trade for his truck so he can get home. Then if all goes well he'll walk with us on Monday next week, and head for home on Wednesday. If we make the mileage we hope to the rest of this week we should be in what I call the "Painted Desert" area along the Pryor to St. Xavier Rd. It is a very pretty area along the ridge of the Pass with multicolored rocks.

Russ fixed the part on the dump handle of the castle, but said eventually it will need some extra sheet metal and different way of fixing it. He will talk with Joni about it later (she was sleeping). He went back to his tent to get ready to go to a place in Hardn for dinner tonight. Joni slept, and Sam and I worked on Bible study, journaling, and other odds and ends. I made some phone calls, including my regular one to Dave. I visited with Russ some more in the evening, and then headed for bed.

August 29, 2003 - Friday - 8.1 + 1023.9 = 1032.0 Total Miles to Date

550.6 Total MT Miles to Date

Today was a fun day. We headed out to our start point stopping for gas first. Once at the start we got our gear on and headed out. It had rained quite a bit in the night, then a bit as we drove to our start, but none once we started walking. It was overcast and breezy and cool enough to wear long sleeves over our shirts, but really great for walking. We walked about a mile before we came to the construction zone.

As we started into the construction zone we came to the first workers as they were cutting down trees. We said hi as we walked past, but as we got just a bit beyond them the guy who was cutting one of the trees called out, "Aren't you the people walking to Baltimore?" We went back and talked with him and the other two with him, explaining that we were actually walking to Florida, and that we were praying for the nation. They asked several questions, and we asked if we could take their pictures. They agreed to it, and we got their names - Greg, Nate and Ken - that's left to right as they are in the picture.

Next we came to a guy lifting trees with a big machine with jaws - his name was Alfred, and Herschel Hill was driving one of the trucks. Elliot Mountain Sheep was working in the construction area there as well. Continuing on we talked with Makalia Gutierrez who was a flagger at the far end of the main construction. With her was Candy Felicia, and the driver of the pilot car was Sherry Rideshorse. Most of these - if not all - are Crow Indians. This portion of the walk is across the Crow Indian Reservation. Everyone of these people were just wonderful to us. We really had so much fun walking through here.

Sam and I and Journey walked all the way through the construction area and Joni and Cassie met us to do the far end of it together. We continued to do more with them for awhile, then they drove farther down and walked back once again. Finally we had to quit so that we could get into Billings, then on to the vet in Hardin for our appointment for Journey. But as we drove back through the construction area we asked Makalia first if she knew the Crow word for Journey, because we wanted to give Journey a Crow name since we found him on the edge of the Crow Reservation. Makalia said she didn't speak Crow - only understood it, but she said Sherry might know the word. So when Sherry came Makalia asked her. She said there isn't a word for Journey, but suggested something I couldn't understand or say.

We drove on down to a couple of men that Sherry suggested might know. They had us pull over to talk with them, and came up with the name Bishke which means dog. Driving down further we came to the tree cutting area and had to wait since one tree had just been felled. We talked with Ray the flagger. He didn't speak Crow, but his friend, who was working on the trees did. As soon as possible he called James over. James thought about it at length and finally came up with the words that mean traveling dog - Owashta Bishke. We like that so that is Journey's new Crow Indian name.

Now we went on to Billings stopping on the way to take pictures of a freshly killed porcupine and steal some of its quills. It was not badly damaged so it made for some great pictures. Then on to Billings. Dave called to suggest I call Joe Benson at KPRL on his Sound Off program. When we parked at Wal-Mart I did so. He asked me a few questions, then said he was talking with a computer man on the phone, but wanted to call Dave and try to arrange a time for me to talk with Joe on his program for the full time. Dave later told me that the next caller was a lady who said she was a friend of mine, but he didn't hear her name or recognize her voice.

Dave will be coming up on Sept. 17 - the same day that Meredith will probably be leaving. I told Dave about Owashta Bishke. He will add his name to the next cards he makes, and will probably make bigger cards for us next time to fit in all the info we want. Dave told me that he is having Carol Crouch do an initial editing of my journal to be used in our book. He also said that the reporter for the Paso Gazette who interviewed him had said she would be happy to help edit our book. She read all our journal entries to date, and wrote quite a lengthy article for the newspaper. Dave will send us a copy. He also called the Billings Gazette and got permission to use the picture they have of us in the paper for other things. If we want to use it in our book we'll have to get another permission from them.

Joni went to Famous Footwear to get another pair of her hiking shoes, but the sale ended yesterday, so she didn't get them. Sam did the Wal-Mart shopping, and then we headed back to Hardin for Owashta's appointment. We were a few minutes late, but not bad. Everyone there is so nice. We liked the vet very much. Owashta got his shots, and weighed in at 40.2 lbs. The vet made up a list of boosters he'll need down the road - actually one booster in about 3 weeks, and another rabies in a year. We also made an appointment for him to be neutered on Tuesday.

Back at the castle we got things put away, then I went over to talk with Russ. I told him about our day and he told me about his. The car deal is still in limbo for him, and he can't find out more until Tuesday now. He will walk with us tomorrow and Joni will take the day off with Cassie. Joni is in need of a good rest.

We had our dinner, watched a slide show of some of Joni's pictures. Russ came over to go through the circuit breakers with us, and talk about a few other things. Later Joni and I went over to look at the sunset and the moon through his telescope. The moon is just a sliver, but on his highest power we can see the craters and hills on it. It was really awesome.

Finally I finished my journal and my Bible study and went to bed. Poor Owashta seems to have some bad dreams - probably about his awful time of being chained to the fence. We are so thankful that God led us to him. He is so happy when he's out walking with us and romping and playing with Cassie.

August 30, 2003 - Saturday - 10.0 + 1032.0 = 1042.0 Total Miles to Date

560.6 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we left Joni sleeping - or at least in bed going back to sleep. She's been really tired and Russ said he would go with us and drive today, so she stayed at the castle to rest. We drove to our start point out on Pryor Rd. and all of us walked together - Sam and me with Owashta, and Russ with Loki. It was a pretty nice walk along this part of the road. A few homes here and there with lots of dogs. Most homes had at least 3 dogs, and many had 5 or 6. The dogs always came running out - sometimes just to the edge of their property and sometimes all the way out. Once when 5 came out, one of them attacked Owashta, but didn't hurt him - only scared him. After about a mile Loki had about enough so Russ took him back to the van.

Once a man and his wife stopped to see if we needed a ride to Billings or something. We told them what we were doing and they were real excited. They pastor the church just down the road from where we were. They wrote down their names for us -- Pastor Patrick and Sharon Stands -- and I took their picture. They wished us well and warned us to be careful when we go into the bushes because of the rattlesnakes. I assured him we were very careful and watchful for rattlesnakes. There are times (many of them) when we have no choice but to go into the bushes, and we have learned to be VERY careful.

We continued on to Pryor with Russ joining us once more, but not with Loki this time - Loki wouldn't get out of the car. He brought Loki's retractable leash for us to try with Owashta. It worked really well with him stretching out to great lengths. It was starting to get a bit warm, so we looked for a creek. We soon found a way to get to the one running alongside our road. It was a nice little creek, and with the retractable leash Owashta could go down to the water with us still hanging on. It worked great and he had a great time swimming and playing. Russ turned back to get the van again, and we continued to Pryor where we prayed and left our Memorial stone #16 across America - since we started doing them.

We walked on through town and turned left toward St. Xavier. Just after we turned a pick-up truck pulled up beside us. The guy asked if he hadn't seen us up further on the other road. They wanted to know what we were doing. We told them what we were doing, and they said they really need prayer. They wrote their names down in our notebook and we took their picture. They also gave us their address and asked us to mail them a picture. Then we asked for specifics for prayer requests and they gave us some to put in our book. Their names are Levi Little Light, Larissa Dawn Little Light, and Vidal Not Afraid. They also gave us another Crow name for the pup -- Bishke Waliluke, which means "Dog Walking". Maybe his full name will be Chief Owashta Bishke Waliluke.

Right after they left a man rode up on a horse. He said his name was Jerry Flat Lip and he was heading to the re-enactment at Chief Plenty Coups State Park and we should come. He told us he would be in a full head dress. We took a picture and continued on.

After we had walked about 3 miles on the St. Xavier Rd. I was beginning to wonder if Russ had turned the wrong way from Pryor. As we continued on we finally saw him coming our way just before the 4 mile marker. Loki had stayed in the van again. When we got to the van we got in and headed back to Chief Plenty Coups. We watched for awhile as speeches were made, then we went over to where several Crow Indians were riding their horses. We watched a lady making papooses for the re-enactment. She also made special hairpieces for her boys who would be in the re-enactment. It was interesting watching them and talking with some of them. Jerry Flat Lip came by in his full headdress and posed for a picture after recognizing us. He asked us to send him a copy, and gave us his address.

We went back to the van, had a little bit to eat, then headed back to the castle via St. Xavier Hwy. We enjoyed the various colored rock along the road. When we got back to the castle we got Joni to put on her shirt like ours and we went out to the road with Russ to get pictures of us all. After our photo session we went back in and ate, then did journals, Bible study, and other things. Then I went out to look at the moon through the telescope with Russ again.

Finally I headed to bed.

August 31, 2003 - Sunday - 1,042.8 Total Miles to Date

561.4 Total MT Miles to Date

Today we got up and went to church at Christ's Evangelical Reformed Church. This was our first time leaving Journey in the car with Cassie without us. We covered everything with blankets, then went hopefully inside praying all would be well when we came back out.

We were greeted at the door by the pastor's wife - a delightful woman. When we told her who we were she remembered seeing our article in the paper. I think she went to tell her husband about us because during the service he introduced us and asked us to tell about our Journey. I shared what we were doing and a few details.

The service was very good, then we were invited to join them downstairs for coffee time. We went out to check on the "kids" first and let them out of the car for a bit. Then we put them back in and went on downstairs to visit. We had some good one on one time with several of the people, took pictures, and finally said our good byes. We drove back to the castle.

Sam and the two "kids" stayed at the castle while Russ and Loki joined Joni and me for brunch at the Purple Cow. It was excellent food and we all had a really great time. When we left there we went out to the museum in Hardin for a quick run through - actually a walk through. It is a very interesting museum with a boardwalk connecting all the different buildings that make up this little "town" of yesteryear.

When we left there we stopped at the IGA to get a couple of things, then back to the castle. We all worked on various things during the afternoon. I called Dave and talked with him for quite awhile, even taking Journey out for a walk while we talked. Russ joined us for awhile.

Back in the castle Joni and I watched slide shows of our pictures for awhile, then finally quit and headed for bed. I went over to tell Russ tomorrow's plans first, then went to bed. Sam was still out talking to Chip on the phone.