LYN'S JOURNALS -
May, 2004
3,508.2 Total Miles to Date
May 1, 2004 - Saturday - Walking Day - 16.4 + 3212.4 = 3228.8 Total Miles to Date 280.2 Total AL Miles - Day 30
Total Miles for Week - 80.1
Today was a fun day - once we got started. Ronni was not feeling well during the night, so we let her sleep just a bit longer. I was awake in the night for too long, and finally got up and had my *GAJ BIT at 2 AM. It's May 1, so I began the new Global Prayer Digest, and also I was starting I Samuel today. I and II Samuel and I and II Kings are some of my favorite books of the Bible. So many lessons to learn from these books. How slow we humans are to learn, and I think I'm one of the slowest. So many times on this Journey I've blown it, but, oh, how patient GOD is. The examples from these books of the Bible encourage me SO much, for certainly the people here often reacted so terribly to circumstances, yet GOD's grace is so sure and so steady. I keep thinking I've learned the lessons GOD has for me on this Journey, and about that time He comes up with a new lesson for me to learn, or a repeat lesson that I thought I had learned but hadn't. (Sigh)
Finally we all got going this morning a bit uncertain as to whether or not we should leave Ronni to rest at the Castle or let her go with us. She, of course, was insistent that she would be fine, so we finally agreed to have her come. We drove back to Hurtsboro to place Memorial Stone #227 -- we had walked through there yesterday and prayed then as well, but hadn't taken time to leave the stone since it was starting to rain.
After leaving the stone Joni and I took pictures of some of the Hurtsboro murals - very nicely done! We also took some pictures of things around town such as the Deep South Supply Co., The Hurtsboro Library, and a man on a horse on Main St., the Pat H. Perry Hardware Store (named for Rick Perry's son, Patrick Henry Perry).
We began our walk leaving Ronni at our start point to sleep for as long as she needed. We took plenty of water and food bars with us, and we took Cassie with us. There were lots of rain pools along the way for Cassie to splash in. She does look so cute when she gets into a pool of water as she goes around and around, then lies down and looks at us, or as she walks through the water grabbing for mouthfuls as she goes.
At one point Joni found an old phone along the road -- just the ear and mouthpiece. I took a picture of Joni on the phone and we recorded a conversation between us just for fun . Ronni came along after we had done about 11 miles, more or less. We ate a bit, then continued on to Pittsview, AL where we placed Memorial Stone #228. Next to where we placed it was the William Pitts House Circa 1890 - we assume that Pittsview was named for him.
Passing through this very small town we noticed "Brenda's Food for the Body and Soul"
and I took a picture of it for granddaughter, Brenda. We also noticed a sign that said "Mayor's Office" outside a Pittsview Antique Store. We decided it probably wasn't really the Mayor's Office, but who knows????
Our route this morning began on County Road 10, and turned onto CR4 after about 4 miles. We were then on CR4 for 9 miles into Pittsview, where it joined up with Hwy 231 for a bit before heading east again by itself. We walked a few miles down this last section, then met Ronni to end the day by a cute green mailbox with a small tractor on top of it.
I got in and drove then to see how far it was to the border of AL and GA. It will be only another 5.3 miles to the border! We should get that done Monday morning and begin our next to the last state of this Journey!
Back to the castle via a quick trip into the town of Eufaula to the local KFC to get some fried chicken. We took it back to the castle to eat. When we got to the castle our neighbor was out and began talking. He had caught 25 or 45 catfish today (I'm not sure which he said). He is a delightful man (he's the one that grew up in the Paso Robles area). I told him I want Dave to meet him when he comes. I think they would enjoy talking. I took a picture of our neighbor, Bill Nuchols from Eufaula, AL - originally from Paso Robles/Shandon, CA area.
While we talked with Bill another fella came by, then he came back a bit later to invite us out on a boat ride on the lake tomorrow. We said it would have to be in the afternoon, and we'd have to see how our timing works with all that we have to do tomorrow afternoon. We got his picture and found that his name is Steven MacDuffy from Whitecross, GA
Then it was time to get to bed. Joni and I had evening prayers as usual, and journaled and went to bed.
*GAJ BIT = Great American Journey Bible Inspiration Time
May 2, 2004 - Sunday -Rest Day - 3228.8 Total Miles to Date 280.2 Total AL Miles - Day 31
Total Miles for last Week - 80.1
Today was a great day. We had our morning prayers just before heading out for church. When Joni prayed she asked GOD to lead us to the right church. We had already chosen the church we wanted to attend. Then I prayed and thanked GOD that He already had a church chosen for us for the day. I prayed that even though we had a church picked out we know from experience that He sometimes changes our plans, and we were open to whichever church He leads us to. Just then there was a knock on our door. It was Steve whom we had met the night before, and he wanted to know if he could go to church with us. Wow! I told him that would be fine. We had a few minutes before we would be leaving so Steve said he would wait for us at his place. We gals quickly decided that another church than we had picked might be more appropriate for him (we had picked an Episcopal). So we got Steve and headed out to find a church. We drove down the main street of town until we came to a church where people were entering. We asked someone what time the service started and were told 10:15. So we parked and went in.
It turned out that this church was having special services with Rick Stanley as their guest speaker. Rick is a step-brother to Elvis Presley. We met several people as we went in including the pastor, Roy Crowe. We were introduced during the service, then Rick Stanley was introduced and presented the message. It was a powerful message - powerful enough that Steve rededicated his life to GOD at the end. This was very moving for us.
After the service quite a few people came up and talked with us. One couple that came up was Jerry and Margaret Ferguson of Eufaula. Jerry went to high school in Paso Robles, CA and plans to return next year for his reunion. They invited us to go to lunch with them and we accepted. It was a buffet restaurant with true southern cooking. It really was delicious. It was a good meal and great fellowship. Jerry and Margaret are very interested in discipling Steve. That would be great.
Back at the camp we dropped Steve off at his place and we went to change into shorts for a boat outing in Steve's boat. We went to his place when we were ready and met Eddie who was staying there with him. Steve took us out on Eufaula Lake where we went hunting alligators. We spotted lots of turtles, herons, egrets, and ducks, but no alligators. Then we met a couple out fishing from one of the banks and they told us there were some alligators over by the island. So we went over there and, sure 'nuff, there was a large bull gator and a sow gator. We got some pictures. Then as we were leaving we saw a water moccasin snake swimming in the water.
Finally we got back to camp and went to tell Joni about our adventure (she had stayed in the castle with Cassie to work on laundry and such). We folded clothes, and I worked on maps for this week, and finally Dave came!!!! After visiting a bit Dave and I headed out to get our motel, then go to Wal-Mart for a few things, and to McD's for a hot fudge sundae and french fries. Finally back to the motel to finish the day's routine stuff before heading to bed.
May 3, 2004 - Monday -Walking Day - 16.8 + 3228.8 = 3245.6 Total Miles to Date 285.6 Total AL Miles - Day 32
11.4 Total GA Miles - Day 1
Total Miles for Week - 16.8
Today we got up and ready here at the motel, then waited for Joni's call to say they were coming. Joni and Ronni arrived around 9 AM and we headed out for our start point. Once there we were ready to get going. Soon we were crossing Hwy 165 and then across a bridge that took us over a part of the river that ran into a sort of swampy pool. We first noticed snapping turtles in the river, then we noticed what looked like a snake. As we walked over a little further on the bridge we realized that the snake was an alligator. We stood there for awhile and took pictures and watched it. Soon it turned around and went back to the edge of the pond. We continued on to the AL/GA border. It was around 11:30 when we went across the Chatahoochee River to cross the border. Dave dropped Ronni off to walk across with us. We took pictures, etc., then finally we headed into Omaha, GA.
Benny Lee, Norma Shingles, ?????? - all from Omaha, GA were waiting to greet us as we walked into Omaha. At the post office we met the postmistress, Patricia Cunningham from Cottonton, AL, and Tina Evans, a customer from Florence, GA. We wrote Memorial Stone #229 for Omaha - then later realized that we have three stones that should have been before this one that we planned to do tomorrow - one for Cottonton, one for AL, and one for GA. At the store in town we met Constance who lives in Columbus, and works in Omaha.
Then we continued onto Florence and the Marina where we met the manager of the park - Michael Roan (?). Then we met three fishermen at the lake where we stopped to eat lunch. They were Joe Daniels, Randall Jones, and Don Mitchell - all from Atlanta, GA. We had a delightful lunch by the lake, then continued on our walk.
Joni and I laugh a lot when we're walking. We have about a two hour period each day that we call the "Goofy Hour" when we get kinda goofy. It's late in the day and we're getting tired, and we find that we just tend to get a bit silly. But we all know that laughter is truly the best medicine.
We saw some beautiful swampy areas that looked so "deep south" to us - truly beautiful! When we reached Dave and Ronni at the end point we found another swamp like area that was also very beautiful.
It was a long drive back to Eufaula . There we got the rental car and met at the Pizza Hut. There we met a wonderful crew, and managed to get them all together for a picture. There names were Billy, Ronnie, Forest, Gwen, Cassandra, and Leticia, and Jason. From here we all went to Wal-Mart to do some needed shopping and then Dave and I went to the grocery store to get a few things. Back to the motel (Joni and Ronni went to the camp) and a phone call, and journaling and to bed.
May 4, 2004 - Tuesday -Walking Day - 15.5 + 3245.6 = 3261.1 Total Miles to Date 26.9 Total GA Miles - Day 2
Total Miles for Week - 32.3
Today we got started from the motel at about 9 AM and went straight to our start point. On the way we backtracked just a bit to place the memorial stones we hadn't placed yesterday. They were Memorial Stone #230 for Cottonton, AL, Memorial Stone #231 for the state of Alabama,
and Memorial Stone #232 for the state of Georgia.
Finally we got to our start point and began walking. At our first meeting point with the driving team we met Pat Patterson the Park Ranger at Providence Canyon State Park. He was very pleasant and fun to talk with. Then Ronni and Dave went into the park to look it over. Joni and I stopped at the restrooms then took a look at the canyon. It was like a little Grand Canyon - very beautiful. Providence Canyon was a good side trip.
We found some cudzu and entangled ourselves in it for pictures of each other. Dave found out that cudzu grows at the rate of 12" a day. Joni and I wondered later if that is for a season then it stops growing until the next year.
When we reached Lumpkin Dave came and got us then we went for our lunch at a church. From there Ronni went to the library. She called us a bit later to see if we could come over to the library to meet the librarian. When we arrived Winnie Patterson the Lumpkin Librarian was trying to arrange an interview for their local newspaper. She ended up sort of doing an interview herself. We took her picture, then were ready to say good bye when in walked Pat Patterson, the ranger we met this morning. It turned out that Winnie was mother to Pat Patterson. Dave took us back to where we had stopped and we started walking through the cute little town of Lumpkin. We took several pictures of different places, and continued walking from Hwy 39 to Hwy 27 East. We'll be on Hwy 27 for awhile now.
As we walked down Hwy 27 we waved to lots of people. After several miles we saw a man standing beside a church. For some reason I felt the urge to go talk to him. His name was Eddie Powell and he told me that his wife was the pastor of the church. He was in the process of laying a cement porch and steps. He led me into the church via a back door where I could get a cold drink of water. When we went back out his wife had returned. It seems that Eddie had seen us this morning out by Providence Canyon Park. His wife, Diane Powell, had seen us just a few minutes earlier as she drove into town. They both said we had waved to them, so we told them that meant they had been prayed for. The Powells are from Richland, GA.
After Dave and Ronni picked us up we drove back into Lumpkin and put Memorial Stone #233 at the Lumpkin Methodist Church. Then we drove on back to Eufaula to our motel. Joni and Ronni went on home, and Dave and I went to a Mexican restaurant. After dinner we went back to the motel and talked some more and watched a TV movie. It was a good day.
May 5, 2004 - Wednesday -Moving Day - 3261.1 = Total Miles to Date 26.9 Total GA Miles - Day 3
Total Miles for Week - 32.3
This moving day didn't exactly go too well. We slept in a little bit this morning, then we got up and packed up and headed out to the post office to get our mail and turn in our forwarding info. Then we went out to the campground to help with the packing up. Once we were all packed up and disconnected we had morning prayers and got ready to start the engine. It turned over nicely, but refused to catch. After several attempts I gave up and called Good Sam. They found an RV repair that would come out and work right where we were so we wouldn't have to worry about a tow at least.
They were on their lunch break at first, then it took some time to get over to us. Finally after about 2:30 or so Bernie showed up and went right to work. He had to go get a part at one point, so Dave and I went to get something to eat. When we got back to the campground Bernie had just gotten it started and was putting everything back together and cleaning up. We paid the bill and he left. The four of us got into our cars and got ready to head out. I turned on the headlights in the RV and the engine stopped. It refused to start again, so after a few minutes I called Bernie again. He came back out and began to search other places. He found some wires that were bad and he cut out sections. Finally it started again, but it was now almost 7 PM. We decided to spend another night in Eufaula and move tomorrow.
We didn't want to hook everything up again, but Ronni and Joni said they'd do fine at the castle while Dave and I got another motel. Well, tomorrow is another day. Hopefully the RV will start and we can make it to Albany, GA where our next camp is to be.
May 6, 2004 - Thursday -Moving Day - 3261.1 = Total Miles to Date 26.9 Total GA Miles - Day 4
Total Miles for Week - 32.3
Well, we did get moved today, but it was touch and go. Dave and I ate breakfast at the motel - the Jameson Inn. It was a continental breakfast, but very good. They had quite a variety including a waffle maker that you put a pre-measured/pre-mixed portion of batter in and let it bake. Dave enjoyed that!
We checked out of the motel and went to the campground to get the RV and the gals. Once we had everything ready we stopped for morning prayers, then I went in to start the engine - it started right up and held! After the warm-up time we headed out with me in the lead. Dave went to Bernie's shop to take back an electronic tester he had left yesterday. Joni and Ronni followed me into Georgetown, GA where we stopped for gas. After gassing up both vehicles we continued east on Hwy 82. About 30 miles down the road the RV engine quit on me. Instantly I began praying for a spot to pull over (we were on a highway with one lane in each direction, no shoulders, a few very small driveways, and nothing else). Just then I spotted a large area on the left side of the road, glanced ahead and in my mirrors for traffic - not another car around besides Joni and Ronni behind me - and shot across the road before the steering went out on me. It was a pretty bumpy ride into the spot, but I made it. That was a miracle from GOD!!! Ronni and Joni had to go ahead and turn around and come back to me. Dave came along and pulled up just a couple of minutes later. I decided to sit it out for a bit and see if it would start again after it cooled down. We all sat and talked and waited. Then I tried the engine and it started.
Back on the road we made it through Cuthbert. This little town has a "round-about" in their town square. All cars go to the right and peel off at the appropriate street. I followed the signs to 82 east (we all agree the signs are VERY confusing on this) but missed the turn anyway. Well, it just struck me very funny and I started to laugh. When I came around the second time I noticed Joni and Ronni in front of me - they hesitated, then turned at the right place (a little easier to do that in a van than in an RV). I followed them and soon realized they had no idea I was behind them. I continued laughing, and I laughed for a long time - I needed that. I found out later that Dave followed me around the circle then he took off a different direction to get gas. He called Ronni to let her know what he was doing and said he would catch up later. Joni had gotten quite a bit behind with several cars between her and me before we came to the "round-about". Thus she didn't know that I wasn't ahead of her. About a mile or so down the road she finally realized it and started to pull over right at a place where I could pull around her. I think she now knew that I was behind her and perhaps pulled over for me to pass, but maybe I surprised her when I passed by - who knows???
On we went finally coming to Dawson. This is quite a town. Just a bit past Dawson my engine cut out again. We were now on a four lane highway with a bit of a shoulder and a grassy area next to the shoulder, then a ditch. I began the process of pulling over gradually while coasting as far as I could. I saw a spot ahead just a bit that looked a little wider and aimed for that. I was off of the road at least when the power steering went out, so I just stopped. Joni pulled in behind me, and a few minutes later Dave pulled in. After a few minutes we decided that Dave should go ahead to the proposed campground which also happened to have RV servicing and repairs on the grounds. After he left Joni and I went over the route into Albany and to the campground via Hwy 82 to 19. Then it was time to try the engine again - it worked, so off we went.
Soon Ronni called me to say they needed to stop at a service station for restrooms, and I should continue - they would catch me later. Soon after I noticed a patrol car sitting in the center median. This was not unusual and I thought nothing of it. But a minute or so later I glanced in my side mirror and noticed him right by my side and staying there. I glanced at my speed - a bit under the limit, yet he was very definitely staying with me and watching me. I was running through a check list in my mind to think what I might possibly be doing wrong, or what might be visibly wrong with the motor home that would make him stick with me like that. Then he pulled in behind me and his lights went on. I was able to pull over easily. I left the engine running - afraid to shut it off thinking it might not start again. The officer came in and asked for my license and registration. Then explained that our license plate was so old he couldn't read the month tag - the 2004 tag was okay, but he couldn't tell what month it would expire. He was really nice - no real problem since everything was okay. He did give me a written "courtesy warning". I also gave him our GAJ card and explained what we were doing. He was real excited about that. I asked if I could get his picture. He said I sure could. In fact, he pointed behind his car to where another patrolman was just pulling up and said I could get a picture of both of them. I did get their picture along with the request to not put it on the Internet since they both do undercover work. I assured them it would not go on the Internet. They did give me the okay to put it in our book though. I also told the officer who had stopped me that he had the honor of being the first policeman in all my 46 years of driving to pull me over. He was great!
I continued on into Albany, and with a few uncertainties finally made it to the RV camp. Dave had talked to the mechanic there already, and he hopped right in to take a look. He also asked me specifically what it was doing. Then he gave us the bad news. His first estimate was upwards of about $1500! He could pare it down some, but still we've put SO much into it. We told him we need to talk about it and pray before we decided. So we got our campsite, settled in, then Dave and I headed off to find a motel and talk things over.
It seems there is a major track meet here in Albany this weekend and all the motels were full. We managed to get the last available room in a Super 8 - our third place to try. It's a very nice room (thank You, LORD!). We got settled in our room, then went to eat at the Huddle House where we huddled over dinner and talked about what to do. The final decision has to be mine. Joni and I have talked about this possibility for some time. The two of us could do quite a bit of tent camping, but Ronni is not excited about that. It would be very hard for her. With only 2 months or a bit more to go we could feasiblely motel the rest of the way. We talked about a variety of possibilities, and Dave suggested I also call Marilyn Anacker just to talk about it all and get her to be praying. He knows she is my good sounding board buddy, and will certainly pray for me in this. Well I decided to go a bit further and call Charlie and Earline Ferrell, and Vickie and Henrique Ott as well. I figured the more prayer support we can get right now the better. I had good long talks with Charlie and Earline, and with Vickie, and left a message for Marilyn.
Once I was off the phone Dave suggested we go next door to McD's for hot fudge sundaes. Wasn't that sweet?! What a great guy! He sure knows what to do for me in a crisis.
Tomorrow the decision will be made about the castle. Part of the decision has been made already -- we won't pay to get it fixed. We'll most likely have to motel the rest of the way. So now we just have to get things sorted out, find a place to store the RV along with the stuff we leave in it, and pack up what we need to take with us. GOD has provided so magnificently for this whole Journey, and I don't doubt that He will continue to provide. How, I don't know, but I know He knows and that's good enough for me! Thank You, LORD!
May 7, 2004 - Friday -- Walking Day - 16.0 + 3261.1 = 3277.1 Total Miles to Date 42.9 Total GA Miles - Day 5
Total Miles for Week - 48.3
Today was a great day. I had my *GAJ BIT at about 3 AM when I couldn't sleep, then I slept until about 6:30. Dave and I ate a McD's breakfast then drove on to the RV place across the street from our park to check about repairs, storage, consignment, etc. The guy there was very helpful. We may end up storing the castle and contents there for the remaining time at $38 per month.
From there we drove on out to pick up the gals and head off for our start point. First we made a stop at the post office to get mail. I had one letter and that was all we had. As we were leaving the post office, Joni and I noticed a large bug laying on the floor by the exit. The man behind us noticed us looking at it and commented that it wouldn't hurt us because it was sleeping - we knew it was dead. Then he asked us if we were twins. We told him there was still one more of us and pointed to Ronni as we went out. Then we explained what we were doing. He was very interested and asked if we minded a little publicity. His name is Jacky McCorkle, he is with the Albany fire department, and he is a Lee Co. Commissioner in Leesburg, GA. He proceeded to call the newspaper office in Leesburg and arrange an interview for us. I just need to call the editor the day before we get there to Leesburg. Jacky also called the TV station. We heard from them later in the day and they will call us again on Monday.
When we finally arrived at our start point we began our walking. Soon we saw some clothes hanging over substation fence to dry next to a house. That looked kinda interesting. Now we entered the city of Richland, GA There we left our Memorial Stone #234 at the First Baptist Church of Richland, GA - a very pretty church, I might add.
As we were walking through Richland a young gentleman called to us to find out where we were walking to. We talked with him a bit and took his picture -- his name is Gary Larson from Richland, GA - a very nice young man gentleman. He called another guy over and we took his picture also. But he wouldn't tell us much more when we took his picture and wanted him to say his name into the camera. He finally did say his first name - Jason.
We ate our lunch in a nice shady spot along Hwy 27. A gentleman named Chuck Bruce lives in GA, and says he admires these people for walking.
When we arrived in the main part of Preston we met Chelsea, Ashley, and Sachiaka - three sisters, and we talked with them and took their pictures. We also met Stephanie Hardin from Preston who goes to Webster County School and Alexandria Newell from Preston -who also goes to Webster County School. Stephanie and Alexandria placed the Memorial Stone #235 for Preston, GA at the county courthouse. Across the street we saw some beautiful murals at "Mom's Café". One was of the "LORD's Supper"
Back at the courthouse we also met Maurie Hunter and Lorene Tindall (Lorene is the probate judge of Webster Co. and is running for re-election).
We are on the road that is titled "Presidential Pathways" It begins about 9 miles from Plains, GA
Then we came to a beautiful home with a huge yard and a sign that showed a kangaroo and the word "x'ing" then "next 8 Km." That was kinda cute. Soon after that we came to Dave and Ronni and called it a day. We drove back to the castle via Jimmy Carter's church (that's a bit out of the way). Once we left the gals at the castle we went to Wal-Mart and picked up water and a couple of other things, then to Wendy's to eat, and back to the motel to journal and go to bed.
May 8, 2004 - Saturday -- Walking Day - 12.3 + 3277.1 = 3289.4 Total Miles to Date 55.2 Total GA Miles - Day 6
Total Miles for Week - 60.6
Today we had a wonderful time. We got started walking at about 10:30 and we were about 5 ˝ miles from Plains, GA. On the way to our start point we had stopped in Plains to let Ronni out to roam around town. As we began walking a woman and her son stopped to see if we needed help. They were Marsha Roberts and son, Brian from Preston, GA. Soon we came to the Hugh Alton Carter Bridge named for a cousin of Jimmy Carter's over the Choctohatchee River.
Before long we entered Plains, GA, a Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. Alongside the road we saw a beautiful display of Poppies, Delphinium, "Joni" and Cosmos flowers along the highway. We passed by the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm with plans to go by there later to look at it. Dave called at about this time and told us to hurry on down to the Plains Pharmacy to meet the mayor of Plains. Dave was on his way back from Americus where he left Ronni to get her hair done and go to the library. As we approached town the Shortline Train - a special train for Plains, GA - came between us and the Pharmacy. The Shortline train is short and its stay was also short. We took pictures of the City Hall of Plains while we waited for the train to pass by.
At the pharmacy we met Betty Godwin (wife of mayor) and Bill Askers (?), a clerk, at Plains Pharmacy. Then we also met Boze Godwin the mayor of Plains GA for 26 years who welcomed us to Plains, GA, and I brought greetings from Mayor Frank Mecham of Paso Robles, CA.
Betty took us over to the Plains Inn where each room is decorated for a different decade from 1920's to the 1970's (at least that's the highest I saw). We ate lunch at the Plains Old Bank Café, then went to some of the shops. At one we met Bobby and Jean Salter - a peanut farmer in Plains and they have a cute little store in Plains. Carey Gonzalez works in the store and we got her picture as well. At every store we went to we were asked if we were the walkers - Ronni had gone before us . As we talked with various ones we found people who wanted their pictures taken with us. There was Jennifer Wiggins from Cartersville, GA - met us in Plains, GA and her mother, Evelyn Wiggins also from Cartersville, GA. Next were a group of motorcyclists coming through Plains, GA - heard about us and "wanted a picture of us with them so that when we appear on the cover of Time Magazine they can say they met us in Plains, GA".
After the motorcyclists left we went into the Trading Post where we met Philip Curlin from Plains, GA, Plains Trading Post in downtown Plains - now that was pretty plain. Then we walked on down the street where we had pictures taken with President and Mrs. Carter - of course, they were just cardboard cutouts. Then we took pictures of the wall of the Plains Pharmacy where it said - "If these walks could talk", and it had a variety of pictures. There were many interesting things in the town, and lots of interesting people. We saw the Historical Monument for Jimmy Carter by the Jimmy Carter Presidential Campaign Headquarters.
Then we went out to Jimmy Carter's boyhood home in the car. It was a very interesting home. The bathroom had a rigged up shower using a metal bucket with holes in the bottom. We saw the gardens and some peanut plants. That was really interesting. Dave took us back to where we had stopped and we continued our walk. This took us past Jimmy and Rosalynn's present home, and the only home they have ever owned. It's very nice and simple. As we walked past we saw Rosalynn and two children and a secret service man walk out and go across the street. It was really cool.
We then wrote the Memorial Stone #236 for Plains, GA with names of all GAJ Team members - both past and present. Joni and I had prayed earlier as we walked through the town. Then we left the stone outside President Carter's Campaign Headquarters. We got pictures there with Dave, then he took us down the street where we had actually stopped walking earlier and dropped us off before he headed out to Americus to pick up Ronni.
We took pictures of Billy Carter's Service Station and downtown Plains, GA, then we went into Bobby and Jean Salter's store again and got a few items -- including small waters for each of us -- they actually gave those to us as well as two lapel pins for GA. Then we headed on out of town. We had completed 9.9 miles before Dave and Ronni got back. We did another 2 and 4 tenths, then quit for the day.
Back at the motel Joni went up to take a shower in our room while we talked with Russ on the phone, and Ronni went to a public phone to make a call. Then the gals left for the castle. Dave and I went to McD's for hot fudge sundaes, came back to the motel and showered, journaled, watched some TV and went to bed.
May 9, 2004 - Sunday -- Rest Day - 3289.4 Total Miles to Date 55.2 Total GA Miles - Day 7
Total Miles for Last Week - 60.6
Today we headed out from here at about 7:30 - wow! A real record for us. We needed to be in Plains, GA at about 8:30 AM to get into Jimmy Carter's Sunday School Class. We parked the car in the back where it would be in the shade, then got in line. Our purses had to be searched, then we could go in and sit anyplace that wasn't roped off (the roped off areas are for the regular members). One of the members suggested we go sit in one of the first two rows on the left, so we went right to the front. Then a lady gave us all instructions about what to do when the President comes in, when we could and could not take pictures, when we should laugh (such as when the president asks if there are any visitors - the church is full of visitors), and any other instructions they needed to give us.
At 10 AM President Carter came in and asked if there were any visitors and we all laughed. Then he came to our section to ask what state we were all from. I spoke for all Californians - once a state was named no one else could say that state. This way they knew what states were represented. After a few more questions he moved on to today's Sunday School lesson. The Sunday School lesson was on Revelation 5.
After Sunday School we had 15 minutes to use the restrooms or stretch or whatever. Dave had been invited to join their choir for the morning - actually all 4 of our group had been invited, but only Dave chose to join them. He was up with the choir for the first part of the service until they sang the special number - "Teach Me Thy Ways, O LORD." Then after the sermon and closing prayer we all lined up outside to get our pictures
taken with President and Mrs. Carter. As we got closer we handed our cameras to church people and they took the pictures for us. When we get the pictures printed we can send a copy back to Mayor Godwin and he will have the President will autograph it for us. We were also instructed not to speak to the President unless he spoke to us. He did speak to us and we were able to tell him ever so briefly what we were doing. He then wished us well on our Journey. After pictures we took pictures of the church and the Air Force handler with his bomb sniffing dog, Kelly.
Then we drove out to President Carter's boyhood home for Ronni to see real quick, stopped by his present home for a quick picture, then to Mom's Café to eat lunch. It was a very interesting day in Plains, GA. From lunch we went straight back to the castle to pick up a few things and leave Joni, then to the motel to leave me with the cameras and computer to download pictures while Dave and Ronni went to look at cameras for her.
When Dave and Ronni came back we got some stuff ready for Ronni to take back to Joni. Ronni left and Dave helped me with some stuff on the computer. Then I journaled and it was getting late so we called it a day.
May 10, 2004 – Monday
-- Walking Day –16.5 + 3289.4 = 3305.9 Total Miles to DateK71.7 Total GA Miles – Day 8
Total Miles for Week – 16.5
With great apologies to all – Joni has reminded me that I was supposed to write in the April 30 journal her many thanks to all who sent birthday cards and gifts to her from America, England, Australia, etc. etc. etc. Then she said I should also thank everyone who sent Easter Cards, Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day cards (might as well throw in my birthday cards as well) or any other card of any kind. So thank you one and all from Joni and Lyn!
Today was a hard day in some ways (Dave left to return home ;), but we made good mileage in our walking (. Joni and Ronni drove to meet us at the motel. We loaded all my stuff into the van and then Dave and I went out to the start point in his rental while Joni and Ronni followed in the van. Joni and I started walking and Dave headed into Plains while Ronni stayed at the start point for awhile.
Joni and I came to a barn with signs all over it – we had seen this every time we drove by and were looking forward to photographing it. One of our favorite signs said, "Fence Jumping is forbidden – cutting fence is a criminal act – persons guilty of jumping or cutting will be prosecuted by the law". Joni got a picture of me pretending to steal this sign. ( And I got a picture of Joni pretending to steal a big Texaco sign. We also found a couple of whiskey jugs and took pictures of each other pretending to drink out of them – (hic) (. Ronni drove up while we were busy taking pictures, but she didn’t look our way and decided there wasn’t a good place to park, so she took off again thinking we must still be down the road. She came back a bit later looking for us.
Dave called from Plains to find out what state pins we were missing for our hats. He was at a store that had some state pins. Alabama was the one missing one that they had, so he got one for each of us. A bit later he came back by to bring them and the cards we had left in the store the other day. Joni walked on down the road so very nicely so that we could be alone to say good bye — she told me later she couldn’t stand all that mushy stuff. (
Soon we came to a round bale of hay in a yard -- motor bike fallen down beside it and a pair of legs sticking out from the hay bale. Time for more fun as Joni and Ronni tried to rescue "Lyn" from the hay bale. (We have pictures of this effort as well).
A bit later we stopped to take pictures of a magnolia tree in bloom when a man pulled up to see what we were doing. ( He was delighted to hear about our walk. We took his picture and found out what his name was -- Harold Israel and he is a farmer and small businessman.
Then we saw a pond with Egrets nesting in tree over the pond – a very pretty picture. Our route started out today on Hwy 308 and ended up on Hwy 19. We walked through many beautiful areas today. Smithville was our first town, and we stopped at the "Welcome to Smithville" sign where we will place Memorial Stone #237. Just past that we saw two men taking down a speed limit sign and putting in another. Their names are Henry from Albany, GA and Jesse from Leslie, GA.
In Smithville we stopped at a produce store and met Roger Smith in Smithville whose middle name is Leslie and the town just down the road is Leslie. He is from Wostershire in England. The clerk in this store is Sandra Varnum at P & H Produce in Smithville, GA. This town also has an old, but very cute Smithville train station.
Further down the road we came to some incredible bayou trees out on a pond. They had magnificent trunks, and Joni and I took several pictures. A church was nearby with a beautiful steeple. It looked especially nice with the clouds behind it.
Someplace along the way Dave called again to say that he was continuing my tradition – he was calling from the top of Stone Mountain in GA on his way to where he was staying in Atlanta. (I always like calling him from the top of various peaks – Half Dome, El Capitan, Pikes Peak, Mt. Whitney, wherever.) ( It was good to hear his voice again (. (Joni is sick of all that mush.) (
Ronni met us at the end of the day and we drove on into Albany and back to our campground. In our Castle I took pictures of the curtains that Ronni hung for us and that were made by Meredith Lewis. They are quite lovely with flags all over them. How sad now that Meredith finally got them to us and now we are packing it up and "moteling" it the rest of the way. (; But we do thank you, Meredith – they are absolutely beautiful! By the way we do plan to take them down and keep them when we sell the Castle after the walk is over.
After a lasagna dinner we journaled, had evening prayers and headed for bed.
*GAJ BIT = Great American Journey Bible Inspiration Time
May 11, 2004 – Tuesday
-- Walking Day – 12.4 + 3305.9 = 3318.3 Total Miles to DateK84.1 Total GA Miles – Day 9
Total Miles for Week – 28.9
Today was a real wild day! I had my *GAJ BIT just after 6:30 AM. Then we all got up and got going. We got away from the Castle at about 8 AM, then we drove our route in reverse to our start point. We stopped in Leesburg to use restrooms, then on to Smithville to place Memorial Stone #237, and back to our start point by the veal calves.; Our start point was at the end of a row of penned calves that we suspect are to be used for veal. Joni is ready to set them all loose – gotta watch her. (
As we got ready to walk my phone rang and it was Kathryn Simmons from WALB-TV Channel 10. She and the film crew were ready to come meet us to film us for the evening news. So we quickly finished getting our shoes and paks on to get out and get started walking. We probably got about a mile down the road when the crew showed up. They were terrific! They put a microphone on me, then they drove ahead a bit to get set up for us. When we caught up to them they interviewed us as we walked (Cassie with us) and with Kathryn asking us questions while Dalton walked backwards with the camera videoing us, and Tareyon walking forward watching for obstructions or vehicles coming toward us. (Unfortunately I don’t have the guys names in writing so I’m not sure about the spelling, etc. I think their names are something like Tareyon Baton and Dalton Christen of WALB ) Suddenly Tareyon stopped everyone to show us a snake in the grass. It was a very interesting snake with a flat head. Joni and I went over to take a closer look (not too close) while the TV crew all backed away. ( Then Dalton wanted to get a picture of the snake as part of the filming, so I used my walking stick to get him to move for us. Very interesting snake – so glad we got to see it.
After filming Joni and me for awhile and asking us lots of questions (Kathryn asked Joni how I managed to get her to come on this Journey with me and Joni answered that I had twisted her arm. She went on to tell the real story then as well), the crew had us move to the other side of the road for a bit for some filming from their car. Then they went on down to Leesburg to meet us and film us writing and placing Memorial Stone #238 for Leesburg, GA. We had to wait a bit for Ronni because she had the memorial stones, and they wanted to get some footage of her as well. I’m really thankful when the news people want to film the driver as well – Joni and I always try to get them to, but so often they don’t understand the importance of the driver as a member of the team. For us we see the driver as a VERY IMPORTANT member of the team. As I wrote the memorial stone they were filming me from behind. Meanwhile Cassie decided she wanted a drink of water and wandered over to the beautiful fountain and began drinking. It was really cute and the TV people filmed it to add to their footage. ( Before they left us we got pictures of them and the WALB van. Jim Quinn of the Leesburg newspaper came out to get our picture while the TV crew was with us. He had checked out our website and gotten all he needed about us from that, but did want a picture of us. Fun! We forgot to get a picture of him though. ;
After the film crew left we got pictures of the Lee County courthouse in Leesburg, GA. As we stood there looking at it a young man came out with a little boy on his shoulders. We got to talking with him and ended up taking pictures of the two of them. They were Buddy Cochrane and his nephew, Michael Smith. We also got pictures of Cassie lying in a circle of flowers at the Lee County courthouse.
Finally we headed back out and got pictures of each other going the "wrong way" on the highway (. A policeman stopped to ask if we were okay at one point and we assured him we were and quickly told him what we were doing. He was not in a position to pull off so we didn’t get a picture of him. We took a short break at the Citgo service station on Hwy 19, then continued on to Hwy 133 where we turned and walked down it for the rest of the day. As we arrived at a church where we were meeting Ronni for the end of the day a lady stopped and talked with us. Her name is Angel Wilson from Smithville – she is a pastor’s wife who saw us the other day in Smithville. Seeing us again she stopped and gave us each a bottle of grape powerade – so sweet.
Finally we got in the van and headed off to find a pizza place knowing they would probably have a TV we could watch to see our story on TV. After a bit of looking we found Mama Gina’s Pizza Ristorante and Picnic Pizza and went in to check it out. They had a TV and were happy to let us sit and watch the news program. We began watching at 5 PM and we weren’t on until after 6 PM. In the meantime the whole restaurant got involved and we had a great time with everyone. The owner came out and told us our pizza and drinks were on the house (we had ordered a large supreme combo). When the news clip finally came on it was really fun. When they showed the part where they asked Joni how she got talked into walking with me all they showed was her saying that I had twisted her arm ( – cute. They really did a good job and we were very happy with the program. When it was all over the whole restaurant burst into applause (now mind you it’s not a real big place, so there weren’t a lot of people there). The waitress had called a friend who was a reporter for the local newspaper, and she had come over to interview us and photograph us. We took pictures of some of the people at Mama Gina’s. There was the 18 year old owner (his father was just turning the business over to him) – Jack Manino (?) of Mama Gina’s Pizza and Carmella Ross who has worked here for 6 years and was our very kind waitress. There also was Carlos Berrantos playing the guitar and another man sitting with him who didn’t say his name in time to get it recorded on my camera. Then Sissy, the Albany (pronounced All-biny) Journal reporter took us outside to get a picture of us by the Mama Gina’s sign. We also got pictures of Sissy Garvey and Mama Gina.
Finally it was time to say good bye to all our friends and head back to the Castle where we got things put away and journaled and went to bed – tired, but happy.
Dave called from Phoenix to see how the day had gone. He was waiting for his next plane and also for a good offer to give up his seat on the plane – he might be able to get his trip out to meet me at the end of the walk paid for – or at least partially paid for.
May 12, 2004 – Wednesday
-- Walking Day – 11.9 + 3318.3 = 3330.2 Total Miles to DateK96.0 Total GA Miles – Day 10
Total Miles for Week – 40.8
What an interesting day we’ve had today! It was one year ago today that we took those first steps through the Peace Arch to begin this Great American Journey. At the Peace Arch were Lyn, Joni, Anne, JoAn, and Judi. Also there to greet us and see us off were Clayton, Carol Mervyn, and Delbert Franz.
We got out on the road around 8 AM. Right from the beginning people were honking, waving, rolling down their windows and calling out "GOD bless you" or "We’re praying for you". Many stopped and talked to us, some took pictures of us, some wanted pictures of them with us, and we took pictures of almost all of them. WALB is obviously a well-watched news channel around here. It was really incredible!
Our walk began on Hwy 133 where we left off yesterday. It took us across Lake Chehaw with its beautiful shimmering waters, then past a large estate with moss laden old trees – what a gorgeous scene. We stopped at a convenience store to use restrooms and met several people who were very excited to see us – Patricia Brown, Leesburg, GA working in Stocks convenience store,
English Esway from Huntsville, AL (originally from Albany, GA) Her husband is a marine – Gunnery Sergeant Joseph M. Esway – and will be added to our list of the military people we pray for, Kathy Stocks (?) mother of English and grandmother to Savannah and Jacob – Kathy gave us a bag of boiled peanuts – Joni and I actually like them, Ronni does not! (
Then a policeman came over and greeted us -- Graham Stacey with Albany Police Department – and invited us to a cook-off for the Albany area emergency services at about 11:30 today. We told him we would sure try to make it. Also at this spot was Deborah Crowley from Leesburg, GA who works at Stocks Market.
Just a bit further down the road we met Solomon Jones who works at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, GA. And still a bit further we met Evelyn Willis, member of Auxiliary Post 512, Albany, GA – she was on her way to a funeral – what a delightful woman. She was at a gas station. Then a car drove in and three people got out to come over and meet us. They were Bobbie Fort, Caroline Urchins, and Anthony Fort from Albany, GA – they had passed us and turned around to come back to talk with us.
A few feet further along Richard Waller from Albany, GA stopped and got out of his car to come greet us and wish us well. And a few feet further we met Dolores Runnels coming down the walk – she is originally from Richmond, VA – now from Albany, GA.
Just a bit further we heard someone call to us and turned to see a young man coming over and asking for our autograph. He is Larry McCray who works for the Salvation Army in Albany, GA.
Then we met a man on a bicycle whose name is James Johnson from Detroit, Michigan, but living in Albany right now.
We stopped to take pictures of the First Baptist Church in Albany, GA where we’re hoping to go to church on Sunday and also leave our Memorial Stone here for Albany.
We stopped in at the Chamber of Commerce office and met several ladies working there. They are Lou Johnson, Joanne Cuff, Allison Orr, Cheramie (?) Griffin, Carol Scholtz (?) Walking on a bit further we met Cordelia and Ella(?) (they called their names to us from a distance – not sure we got them right) – they were at a park with a group of children, and had seen us on TV last night. From there we crossed over the Flint River in Albany. A bit further on we met Eula Street from Albany, GA who stopped in her car to say she saw us on TV and to wish us well.
Then down the road we heard someone call to us. We went over to talk with Bud Williamson and Wayne Millner from Albany, GA who were standing in front of their shop and called us over to see what we were doing – not everyone saw us on TV (
Then we met John, and his buddy who wouldn’t let me get a picture of him for fear it would be on the news – hmmm, something to hide? We also met some men in a truck that pulled over so they could talk with us – they are Cree (?) Marvin and Ronald working for the city of Albany. By the time Ronni picked us up we had walked 5 miles in 3 ˝ hours. ( Not exactly our best mileage, but certainly the most people we’ve talked to in that period of time.
The following were all at the Law Enforcement cook-off out on Dunbar Rd. in Albany:
Barbara Barry, Amy Burns and Breena (age 3).
Sergeant Victor Camp with the Albany police department
Joni and Cassie in front of a bunch of the police cars
There were three cooking teams – each under their own canopy cooking their chicken wings, ribs and chicken.
Katrina Jackson with Johnny Graddy, Animal Control Superintendent under the Albany Police Department.
Jodi Miller and Victor Camp
Lieutenant Venita Williams with the Albany Police Department
Sergeant Joe Moored
David Gillam with the Albany Police Department holding Cassie’s leash.
Deputy Dice from Sheriff’s office, Walter Jenks from the sheriff’s dept.
Jim Wallace from WALB – he is actually the anchor man for the evening news, and we watched him all last evening while we were waiting for our story to come on.
Big Chuck Mitchel and Jim Adams in a little competition for bragging rights.
Shirley Adams cooking for Team #2 in the Law Enforcement Cook Off.
George Camp, Kevin Kacy, Vita Taylor(?), Andy Exlon(?), Jackie Nelson and Donna Black from team #3.
Then a police officer came up behind me and greeted me with recognition. He said he had seen us on TV last night, and now he was surprised but pleased to see us here at the cook off. It was my old friend, Reggie French, the officer who stopped me in the motor home for having a dirty license tag. It was fun to see him again, and this time I got a picture of him with me. By the way, his friends told me they plan to really rib him for stopping me – sorry Reggie. (
Continuing with others we saw there at the cook off -- Bobby Johnston, Chief of Police for Albany, GA and Dorby (?) Solomon a Juvenile Court Judge. By the way, someone there told us that Albany is a city of about 100,000 people.
The trophies were finally awarded to the winners of the cook-off.
"Our team" (we considered the team with Officer Graham on it "our team" since he was the one who invited us to come) won first place in chicken, and 2nd place in hot wings and ribs. We were very proud of them and offered them our hearty congratulations. We said good byes to everyone and thanked them again for the invitation and for all the great food.
As we were leaving we met three more women and talked briefly with them. They were Mary Singleton, Yvette Fields, and Angela Price. They were just heading out also.
We went back to the Castle for a mid-day break. I did my *GAJ BIT, then part of my journal. Joni slept and spent some time on her *GAJ BIT, and Ronni slept and read. When it was time to go get back on the road we watched as a group gathered outside with a little 8 year old girl. We heard someone say something about a seizure. A few minutes later the mother took her off in the car (I assume to the doctor), and the grandmother came over where we were. She told us that the little girl was born with a rare form of cancer and suffers seizures on a regular basis. The cancer is incurable. We got some information about her and wrote it in our prayer book. We’ll pray for that family for the rest of our Journey.
Finally we drove back to where we had stopped walking earlier so we could get started again. A man drove up just as we did and started talking to us. He took the card we gave him without looking at it and stuffed it in his pocket. Then told us to watch out for the crazy drivers on the road – something that many people tell us. He also told us there would be no place to stop for a bathroom along most of the way to Moultrie. People don’t realize how many places there are to hide behind bushes, woodpiles, etc. The man’s name was Bill Hazenstan (?) and he is an insurance agent. He told us a bit about the old house where we were stopped and how its only insulation was mud.
We met four gals in a car that were so sweet – they wanted our autographs, so we ended up giving them three of our cards and signed them so they could give one to "Mama", and have a couple for themselves. As we continued we met Adrien and Mary Jenkins outside of a restaurant where other customers were waving to us from inside. This really cute couple talked a bit with us and told us how much they appreciate us. They were so sweet.
Then there was Luther Lane who stopped in the center turn lane, jumped out, opened his trunk, pulled out four small bottles of ice water and ran across the road to give them to us. Then he gave us a big hug, as did many others today. On our route we came to the Marine Corp turnoff and continued. Then we met Joyce and Ernie Rogers – They had seen us last night on TV, then Ernie saw us as he was driving home. When he got home he grabbed his wife and camera and they came out to find us so they could get their pictures taken with us. We really are overwhelmed at the outpouring of love from people in Albany today. We love you Albany, GA!
May 13, 2004 – Thursday
-- Packing Day – + 3330.2 Total Miles to DateK96.0 Total GA Miles – Day 11
Total Miles for Week – 40.8
Today was a hard day in many ways – as will be the rest of this week. We took the day off from walking to pack with the idea of storing things in the RV. There is an RV storage place across the street and up a bit from our camp here in Georgia. Ronni went off to run errands for us – pick up our mail, get the van washed while it is totally empty (a miracle in itself), and find some boxes for us to pack things into.
While Ronni was gone Joni and I got busy sorting and packing. It’s amazing how much we’ve collected over the last year. Joni packed a lot of stuff to send home via UPS. I had hoped to do that also, but other things began to happen that were totally unexpected. The people from down the lane here in the RV Park came down and asked if they could talk with us. Thinking it was about the little girl who had the seizure last night we went out and sat at the picnic table with them to talk. (We did find out that the little girl is doing okay -- tho’ she has several tumors in her head). But their purpose in talking with us was to see about using our RV while we finished the walk, pay a small rental fee each month and do all the repairs on it so we could take it back to California at the finish. Well we weren’t really interested in taking it back to California now that we’ve decided to sell it, so we asked them if they would be interested in buying it. It seems they have been living in a borrowed RV for the time, but the owners want it back now, so they will be homeless. They were thinking about buying a tent to live in. So the possibility of buying our RV sounded real good to them.
Joni and I talked and prayed about this and believe that GOD has used so many people to supply for our needs, and now we have an opportunity to give back to someone in need. We talked it over with Dave, worked out the wording for a contract, wrote it up on the computer and printed it out on GAJ paper. Scott and Pam offered a price for our Castle – we had come up with the lowest price we would accept, and they were just above that so we accepted. Tomorrow we’ll fill in the contract and sign it. I hope to go with them to the local DMV to take care of the initial part of the transaction.
Scott and Pam had to go into town to do some shopping and came back with quite a few boxes for us. Between writing the contract and talking with the Wyatts, I managed to get a fair amount of packing done. Joni got quite a bit of her packing done and bathed Cassie. As if this Castle isn’t crowded enough, we now have boxes everywhere. We filled our empty van with boxes – both full and empty ones for the night.
At one point Joni and I sat down to pray about all of these happenings and ended up in tears as we thought of all the memories that have been made in this Castle over the last year. At the same time we’re excited about what GOD is going to do in this next phase of our Journey across America. We are absolutely in awe of what GOD is doing on this Journey, and especially here in Albany, GA. So many people called to us from their cars yesterday, or stopped to tell us that they were praying for us that we were just totally overwhelmed.
When Ronni returned from running errands and getting the van washed she told us the story of her experience. We had suggested she take the van to a place that Joni and I had stopped at yesterday to talk to two young men. They told us they do auto washing and detailing. We jokingly said that we needed to bring our van in to them. Well Ronni was able to find them and they were SO excited to do our van. Ronni said they called their friends and told them whose van they were working on even. I guess it made their day. (
Finally we three sat down to eat a meal wherever we could find room to sit. We cleared space on our beds and room for Cassie, had our prayer time, journaled and went to bed.
May 14, 2004 – Friday
-- Packing Day – + 3330.2 Total Miles to DateK96.0 Total GA Miles – Day 12
Total Miles for Week – 40.8
A full day of packing, sorting, storing, laundering, etc. Ugh! Joni and I have both had our teary moments today as we prepare to say good bye to the Castle. A years worth of accumulation is taking us a lot longer to pack up than we had anticipated. I went out first thing this morning to locate a mini storage unit. I stopped and asked at an RV sales and service place about mini storage places. The gal there gave very good, simple directions to a storage unit. So often around the south we’ve found that when people give directions they give you a lot of little details such as – turn right at the green barn, but make sure you go past the pasture first and don’t go as far as the signal light, and if you do you’ve gone too far so turn around and go back, then it will be a left turn at the green barn . . . . Well you get the idea. Those directions are okay if you’re a southerner, but I’m from the west and I find simple direct directions much easier.(( We do love the people from the south, though. They are absolutely wonderful. When you hear talk about southern hospitality, believe it! We have been SO blessed by these people.
I just realized I did a real southern thing above – getting sidetracked and forgetting to come back to what I was talking about. ( This southern stuff must be catching. ( I found the storage place, looked at two sizes of units, decided on the smaller one and signed a contract on it and bought a padlock. I went right to the unit and put in a couple of boxes that I had with me. Then back to our Castle to get busy with packing again. We had a lot to do and everything seems to take so long when you don’t have much room to move around (with three people trying to move around and fill boxes without getting in each others way in a thirty foot motor home. . . ). Finally we had our first full load to take over to storage. After putting it in we went to Arby’s to get some lunch.
Back at the Castle we continued packing. Joni and I had to take time out with the Wyatt’s to sign papers on the RV. (By the way, ya’ll notice that the people buying the Castle have a last name of Wyatt? Well guess what Pam’s brother’s last name is – probably her maiden name as well – the old western fans will love this – it’s Earp.) We really believe that GOD is directing this particular sale in the way he led us to them – or led them to us. We’ve really had to commit this sale and everything involved in it to the LORD. It has all happened so quick. While it is taking time from our walking to get the details taken care of, we believe it will speed everything up in the long run. We hope to be able to finish packing tomorrow morning, move the last load to storage, FAX papers to Dave, run a few necessary errands, and get some walking in – be it ever so little. (
When we took the last load over to storage tonight we went to Dairy Queen for some dinner. Then we went to reserve a motel room for the next two nights here in Albany. Tonight will be our last night in the Castle. ; The clerk at the motel had seen us on TV and seemed quite pleased to see us.
Back at the Castle we took pictures of each other in the Castle in our beds, etc. I talked to Dave about some of the details of the sale, gave him an update, and then we said our good byes. "Love that guy!"
Ronni, Joni and I had our last "evening prayer" session in our Castle. We asked GOD to truly bless this Castle – to make it a special place for Scott and Pam – that it be used for His honor and glory. We also prayed especially for Joni tonight – she has Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). It is a very real thing where the legs just want to constantly be on the move. She literally cannot hold them still. It was 3:30 AM last night before she was able t to fall asleep. We’re really praying that she’ll be able to get a decent night’s sleep tonight. Fortunately it doesn’t affect her every night, but it really has the last few nights. I believe it is closely related to stress, and this has certainly been a stressful week for us. As you read this please stop to say a prayer for Joni and her RLS. She desperately needs sleep. Thank you1
Finally we all headed for bed – and hopefully to sleep.
May 15, 2004 – Saturday
-- Packing Day – + 3330.2 Total Miles to DateK96.0 Total GA Miles – Day 13
Total Miles for Week – 40.8
Today was bittersweet for us. We got up and ready for the day. Then began a full day of packing and going through all the stuff that we hadn’t yet gotten through yesterday. We took a load of stuff over to storage finally at a bit after noon. Once we got it all in we had a few errands to run – first to UPS to ship some stuff of Joni’s. I had to FAX a paper to Dave so I did that at the UPS Store, and I made copies of the paper for my files. Then we went to the post office to put in our forwarding order and check to see if we had any mail. Nothing (we didn’t expect anything). Then to Wal-Mart to get a replacement team shirt for one we kinda messed up – oops!
Finally back to the Castle to then load up the van with all our possessions – wow! Three women with suitcases, some food and some kitchen items that we’ll use in motels. Our plan is to get motels with refrigerator and microwave as much as possible so we don’t have to eat out too much.
When we finally got it emptied I went down and got Scott and Pam (our buyers) and gave them a tour of the Castle (they had not yet been inside of it). Once we had gone over everything with them we stood together with them in the Castle holding hands and prayed a prayer of dedication for their "new" home. Then we took pictures of each other with Scott and Pam, and of me handing the keys over to them. It was a pretty exciting time for all of us, and a pretty teary time. Actually I did quite well until we began to drive off and I made the mistake of looking back – I just lost it for a bit and the tears flowed freely as they are now while I’m writing this. We’ve each had to deal with this big change in different ways. As you read this please pray for us – not just in this change, but in the many changes we are constantly making. We’ll be in a different motel every week now, but we do plan to stay in each place for a week at a time at least.
Right now we are at Inn & Suites Motel in Albany, GA. This one is just a stop-gap for two or three days until we move on to Valdosta, GA. Well, it’s almost 10 PM here – 7 PM in California – and we’re ready to get to bed. So from Georgia to California we wish everyone a good night.
Oh, I had a great *GAJ BIT today in I Samuel 15. We as a team talked about it a bit this morning as we were preparing for the day. GOD doesn’t want our sacrifices if we’re not willing to follow Him in complete obedience. We have truly sought GOD’s direction in this whole deal with the Castle and believe we are doing what GOD is directing us to do. Though we have tears we also have peace. We want to finish this Journey in the victory of obedience, and so we move forward into the next phase of this Great American Journey. To GOD be the glory!
May 16, 2004 – Sunday
-- Church and Rest (?) Day – + 3330.2 Total Miles to DateK96.0 Total GA Miles – Day 14
Total Miles for Last Week – 40.8
Today I was awake at 5:30, had my *GAJ BIT and just read awhile until the others woke up. I actually tried to go back to sleep for a bit but was wide awake. One nice thing about being in motels from here on out is the shower availability. Some campground showers are literally unusable, so we sometimes went quite awhile without showers (we sure do know how to take a good sponge bath ( ). We’re really enjoying this part of the motels. (
Ronni and I walked down to the Waffle House for breakfast this morning – Joni just snacked. When we got back from breakfast we went to the First Baptist Church in downtown Albany. We had walked past this church on Wednesday and had talked then about placing our Memorial Stone for Albany there, so we took the stone with us this morning (we left it in the car until after church). The church was beautiful – gorgeous stained glass windows. Quite a few people recognized us from the TV news, and the pastor introduced us quite nicely at the end of the service. We talked to quite a few afterwards, then set the Memorial Stone out.
We went down to Slappey Ave. and looked for a place to eat. Spotting a Staples store we stopped there for a few things first. We’re trying to get things organized better for the van with our limited space and the amount of stuff we have to have with us. Then we found a nice place to eat – Sonny’s. Our waitress and the cashier are both former Floridians. They both agreed that the weather in Florida is much nicer than in Georgia. They’re not the only ones that have told us this. We hope all these people are right because we’ve found this GA weather quite manageable. We do realize it will be June and July when we’re in FL, but people are still telling us it will be nice. Hmmmm – how about it all you Floridians – what do you think? We’ll soon be there so I guess we’ll find out for ourselves, and that’s probably the best way anyway.
After lunch we went back to our motel and all set to work right away sorting and rearranging things. I found I need to get a couple more file boxes, so the next place that has something like Staples I’ll do that – we’re trying to get rid of the cardboard boxes because they are more awkward to handle when we have to do it so much.
I also downloaded pictures for all three of us, and tonight we’ll eat popcorn and watch a slide show of our pictures. I called Georgia (our 83 year old friend from NE) today, and I also called Dave ((
The day is almost gone and we’ll be getting ready for tomorrow and watching our pictures after this, but that’s about it for today.
May 17, 2004 – Monday
-- Walking Day – 19.5 + 3330.2 = 3349.7 Total Miles to DateK115.5 Total GA Miles – Day 15
Total Miles for Week – 19.5
Today I was up a bit before 5 AM, dressed, did my *GAJ BIT and woke the others up. We headed out at about 7 AM for McD’s to eat breakfast (thank you M. R. for the gift certificates!), then we headed out to our start point and were walking at about 8:30 AM. It was beautiful at that time, but with the promise of being quite muggy.
Soon after we started walking we saw a couple outside working in their garden. They saw us and headed right out to meet us. Their names are Hansel and Imogene Atkinson. They invited us to sit a spell and brought us some ice water! Ice water is one of the nicest things people can give us. We carry our own water, and though it starts out cold it doesn’t take long to get warm in this weather. ( We talked with Hansel and Imogene for awhile. They had seen us on TV last week and watched for us to go by during the next two days. When we didn’t come by they thought they had missed us. So when they saw us today they were so thrilled – as were we. Meeting people on this Journey has been the best part of it. When we finally prepared to leave them, Hansel and Imogene held our hands and prayed for us – oh, how we appreciate that. They are the second couple on this road to do that – and all because they saw our story on TV – to GOD be the glory! Oh, yes, one other thing – Joni and I both thought Hansel reminded us of my brother, Ernest in Colorado – looks and many mannerisms.
Soon after we started walking again we noticed a van pull off the road in front of us and a man got out. We thought it might be Ernie from last week -- and it was! He was surprised to see us still in the area, so we explained about the RV and packing up for storage, etc. He told us they had prayed for us in church Sunday. We told him to tell Joyce hello for us. He said they had checked out our website and were quite impressed by it (thank you, Dave, for a job well done on the website!).
Walking on we saw a wood cutout of Jesus with some sheep, and a bit further a large sign made with wire between two boards that said JESUS. It amazes us how many families put things like this in their front yards. Many businesses have signs with their business name and then a scripture or a Christian thought. It is so amazing to us coming from California. I hope and pray this never changes.
We stopped in a small corner market to buy something cool to drink. Eloise Gray was behind the cash register and greeted us in the store. She had seen us on TV and was so pleased we had come in. We got drinks and a candy bar and went to pay for them, but she wouldn’t let us. She said it was on her. I will never get used to people being so kind to us. It’s just incredible.
From there we continued on Hwy 133 (our route to Valdosta). Walking by one small stream of water Joni pointed to the water below where we saw an armadillo that actually didn’t appear to be roadkill. However, it was still dead – drowned – maybe, but at least it was whole. ( We still want to see a live one.
Then a bit further we saw a bicyclist coming toward us with an American flag flying from his bike. Of course when he got closer we had to ask where he was going. To our surprise he said Alaska, and that another fellow was right behind him. Kevin Lane and Dave Murkison were delightful – and yes, we did tell them what we were doing.
Starting to cross a street down a bit further a car turned in front of us and stopped. It was C. W. and Ella J. Davidson from Doerun, GA. They had seen us earlier and just had to know how far we were walking and where from and where to. They were so nice.
Then we noticed a section of Cudzu in its beautiful state covering a bunch of trees with its large green leaves and looking quite beautiful. We stopped to take pictures of it for we are more used to seeing it without leaves and looking quite frazzled.
Finally we reached Doerun and prayed and prepared our Memorial Stone #240, and we placed it at the foot of a cross in front of the First Baptist Church. It seemed like such a perfect spot – Ronni had picked the spot out.
There were big pots of coleus on the main street of Doerun, and we also saw a garden plot filled with coleus. There was such a variety of colors and types that it was just amazing.
With all the changes in our routine and not having the same set up we were used to I forgot to take my phone this morning. Dave was trying to get in touch with me, and finally called Ronni to see why I wasn’t answering. She told him what had happened and he asked her to have me call. I did soon after. He was writing up a report to send out and wanted to get my information straight. We didn’t talk long since we had a bad connection.
As we walked through town a number of people waved and honked and called to us to say they were praying for us or to wish us well. Two policemen honked and waved at us. Then we saw one of them that had passed us parked by the side of the road up a ways. We stopped and talked with him – he had seen us on TV last week. We got his picture and his name. He is Lt. Burnett with the Doerun police department for a bit over two years.
As we were starting to look for a nice tree area to make a pit stop, a gal pulled into the road ahead of us and got out to come meet us. She had also seen us on TV. Her name was Mildred T— from Doerun, GA – born and raised here. She was absolutely delightful! I know, I know, I think they are all delightful – well, they are! ((
On down the road we watched a woman putting her garbage in the trash can. We kept looking her way to wave to her if she should look our way. Joni was walking in the shade on the other side of the street, and I turned to look at the cars coming toward us so I could wave to them. Just then I heard a scream – sort of – and turned to look to see Carolyn Edge Flowers from outside of Doerun, GA calling to me – she was very excited. I went over and talked with her for awhile. She is a retired school teacher and now lives in a little one room (or one bedroom) house. She wanted to invite us in for lemonade, but Joni hadn’t seen me stop and was far down the road. Her house was down the lane a bit and I dared not take the time then to stop. So I took her picture and hugged her and said good bye. Soon after this we saw Ronni and stopped for the day.
Joni drove back to the motel in Albany, then she stayed there while Ronni and I went to get some groceries so we don’t have to eat out so much. With refrigerators and microwaves in motels that really helps. Joni and I both showered tonight (how wonderful!) and we ate our dinners that we bought, watched a bit of news on TV, journaled and went to bed.
May 18, 2004 – Tuesday -- Walking Day – 15.5 + 3349.7 = 3365.2 Total Miles to Date
K131.0 Total GA Miles – Day 16
Total Miles for Week – 35.0
Today was another early day, though we didn’t get away quite as early as yesterday. We did have breakfast stuff here this time, so we had breakfast out of the way before we left. We drove straight to our start point and got on the road. Soon after we started walking we were startled by a pick up truck pulling up beside us on the wrong side of the road. It was two men who had seen us on TV and were just so pleased to meet us. ( Their names were Roy and Leon Pitts from Doerun and Moultrie, GA respectively. These are two brothers of 11 siblings – they said they fit somewhere in the middle. The one, Roy, is a paraplegic, and has been for 18 years! What delightful men the two brothers are. I thought Roy’s beard was priceless. They both had a great sense of humor.
A bit down the road we saw and old shed with small washbasins and bedpans hung all over it. Rather interesting. ( Then a car pulled up in front us just a bit. It was Claud Home Jr. from Moultrie, GA. He had seen us on TV and just wanted to meet us. ( Then a bit further a car pulled up on the far side of the road and two people got out. They came across to talk to us – it was the young man from Mama Gina’s Pizza in Albany and his girlfriend, we think. They were so excited to see us again.
We kept walking until we got to our junction into Moultrie, then we had Ronni come get us so we could take a break during the heat of the day. We drove into town to get the mileage, and to go to McD’s to get some snacky food which we ate with our cheese and crackers. We also stopped at the Chamber of Commerce office to get a city map. I went in alone and talked with Karen Thomas from Moultrie, GA who was very helpful.
After our break and before we went back to walking we prepared and left our Memorial Stone #241 at the Colquitt Co. courthouse. It is a beautiful building and on the lawn is a huge, beautiful magnolia tree. I took several pictures of it from different angles.
Back to walking Joni and I came in on Main Street, and met a man who was curious about what we were doing. We talked to him awhile, then took his picture, but he wouldn’t give us his name. ( He was real cute.
We took a mileage reading in Moultrie to see how the total mileage here compared with the original schedule. Our mileage to this point is 3361.0 miles to Moultrie, GA. As we walked into town I told Joni, "Don’t look now, but we are being photographed." This is not unusual anymore, but we still can’t get used to it. John Mercer, chief photographer with the Moultrie Observer was the photographer, and he’ll be doing a little write-up on us for tomorrow’s paper – unless the article gets bumped to another paper. We’ll be driving through Moultrie tomorrow so we’ll check it out.
We continued our walk through town after stopping at McD’s for hot fudge and strawberry sundaes. When we resumed our walking we heard a man calling to us and asking how far we were going. His name was Raymond Brier from Colquitt Co., GA. He’s taking classes to become a policeman.
Then a nice lady stopped to say she had seen us on TV and had made up her mind to stop and meet us if she saw us. She did and she gave us dinner money – very nice!
Kathy MacMurphy – saw us on TV and stopped to talk and give us dinner money. A bit later we saw a lady standing by the side of the road waiting for us. She was 82 year old Katie Majors from Hartsville, GA. She was quite delightful!
Passing through the east end of town we saw Fire Station #3 – one of the fanciest I’ve seen. It was rather interesting. It looked like a very nice home.
At the end of the day when Ronni picked us up she told us her big black bag had been stolen from the van. We tried to think of anyplace it might be other than stolen since we just haven’t had any trouble like this before. We went back to a couple of places to see if it was there, but it wasn’t. It had mostly unimportant stuff in it, but it did have her expensive glasses in it. We’ll stop in Moultrie tomorrow and report it to the police – that way she might at least get her glasses covered by insurance.
Well, we went back to Albany, picked up TV dinners for Joni and me and went back to the motel. Ronni preferred going next door to the Dairy Queen. We plan to try for motels with microwaves all the time – an refrigerators as well. Dinner was great, as was the shower. Then journaling and to bed. I called Russ and talked with him for awhile as well.
May 19, 2004 – Wednesday
-- Moving Day – + 3365.2 = Total Miles to DateK131.0 Total GA Miles – Day 17
Total Miles for Week – 35.0
Today was the most relaxing moving day we have had in a long time. No problems with the motor home, no delays, just a nice easy drive with all of us together in the same vehicle! We do miss the Castle in many ways, but it is so nice not to have the break downs.
My day began at 5:30 AM. After my *GAJ BIT I sat and read my Guidepost for awhile. Ronni got up, and at about 8 AM – more or less– Joni finally woke up ( sort of, maybe, part way. ( After we ate our breakfast we packed up and loaded the van (it is really loaded when we move now). After checking out at the office we headed over to storage to drop off a few more things, then headed for Moultrie. In Moultrie we stopped at the post office first to see if the RV papers had arrived – they hadn’t. Next we went to the Police Department to report the theft of Ronni’s bag. They were very helpful and nice. They told Ronni that unfortunately this happens all too often, and that the garbage men often see the stolen items in the trash bins and notify the police. Ronni is supposed to keep in contact with them just in case her bag shows up. The main thing for reporting it is so she can get a police report for insurance purposes. From there we went to McD’s to get drinks and snacks.
Then we were off to Valdosta. It was only about 1 or 1:30 when we arrived in Valdosta and began checking out motels. We decided that since we were early in the day we’d drive around and try to get the best deal for a week’s stay – we need a place where we can have the dog, a room with a refrigerator and microwave, and beds big enough for me to have a corner while Joni roams over the rest of the bed. ( Ronni gets a bed to herself. ( Cassie has her blanket which she may or may not use. Often we wake up to find Cassie on the bed with us. (
In our search today we went to several motels. I give them our card and explain what we’re doing, and that we need to get the best rate possible. They are all very pleasant, and some give fairly good rates, but when we stopped at the Ramada Limited we got the best rate of all. After I told the gals at the desk what we were doing, the one began asking questions. After several questions the gal (I soon found out her name was Evelyn) said, "We’ll take care of you." She then told me they were born again Christians and that they believed in what we were doing and the whole week’s stay was totally on the house. (Now I also found out that Evelyn is the General Manager.) I was flabbergasted. They gave us a room with two full size beds, brought in a microwave and fridge, and a roll away bed! – all this for free! Wow! It’s very interesting – just yesterday Joni and I were talking about how we were going to keep expenses down, and would we be able to make it okay with the added expense of the motels. We remembered how every time we’ve had a real need or big concern GOD has come through for us. Absolutely incredible! If there’s anyone out there reading this that doesn’t believe in GOD I challenge you to read over our year’s adventures and misadventures and see whether or not you still believe there is no GOD. "My GOD shall supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19 That’s my sermon for today, for free. (
We got settled in our room, then I took Ronni down to the mall to get her hair done. I went to Wal-Mart to get a couple of crates to organize our things a little better both for in the motel and for packing in the van. Back at the motel I transferred our kitchen stuff into one crate, and our office supplies into the other one. It really works great – that’s two more cardboard boxes we can get rid of!
Ronni called when she was done and I went on back to pick her up. Joni and I got Boston Market TV dinners to fix in the microwave while Ronni chose a Burger King meal (with onion rings – she is really enjoying the onion rings here in America – we think Ronni will go back to Australia looking like an onion ring ( .) We each made some phone calls, and then tried to get to bed fairly early so we can get going early tomorrow.
Joni and I are really feeling quite high right now knowing that we have only about a week left in Georgia, then it’s on to Florida our 15th and final state! What an incredible Journey this has been! It’s now a bit after 9 PM here in the eastern U. S. – 6 PM for those of you in California.
May 20, 2004 – Thursday
-- Walking Day – 15.5 + 3365.2 = 3380.7 Total Miles to DateK146.5 Total GA Miles – Day 18
Total Miles for Week – 50.5
Happy Birthday, Jeremy!
We got started walking at about 9 AM this morning. Shortly after we began Cassie and Joni moved over to walk by a pond just off the road. It was a really beautiful picture that I couldn’t resist taking. While walking there we met Ray, who works at the Maule airplane factory, and his black German Shepherd, Willy. Willy was quite beautiful. He told us a bit about the Maule airplanes – what movies they had been a part of as well as magazines that covered them. As we continued walking we saw two nests of duck eggs – one with 9 eggs and one with 8 eggs. Meanwhile Cassie frolicked in the pond among the reeds.
Ronni had parked ahead in a parking lot of the Green Oaks Center. As we came up we noticed Ronni talking with one of the ladies there. It was Sheryl Philips. She told us this was a center for the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled adults. Then she asked if we would be willing to come in and share with them for a few minutes. We agreed, and found them to be a delightful bunch. Another worker there was Jackie Hill from Moultrie, GA who told us – "I’m a child of the King."
We saw a silo with cudzu – or some other green vine growing up the sides of it – rather an interesting picture.
In Berlin, GA we stopped at a convenience store/deli to get some drinks. The man inside said they had just been talking about us and he invited us in to sit in the back room – air conditioned and comfortable. It was very nice. When we left he told us to get some bottled water out of the fridge to take with us – lovely!
At about 1:15 or so we all got into the car to go back to Moultrie. We went to the post office, then to the police department. Ronni got her police report on her stolen bag. They thought they had her bag, but it was a different one, and not hers.
After a long mid-day break we began walking again. Janice Robinson and her daughter, Sinclair (?) stopped to talk with us. They are from Moultrie. Janice works at the prison in Valdosta.
We saw several cabbage patches – could it be where cabbage patch doll babies are born?????
We stopped at a small Baptist Church in Berlin to lay down Memorial Stone #242 for Berlin, GA.
A little later we stopped to rest under a shade tree and a little shepherd puppy came out to play. While we stood there a car drove up and stopped. It was a young man named Tony Hairo who stopped and talked with us for quite awhile and had us sign our autographs on a white t-shirt he had with him. That was a first. He was real excited about meeting us. We continue to meet many people who saw us on TV – that is amazing. We thought by now we’d be out of that area.
A bit later Kenny Merritt – 72 years old -- stopped to talk with us. He said he had honked at us this morning several times while driving his cabbage truck. We were delighted to get to meet the man that seemed to delight in honking at us on his funny sounding horn. He told us he has lived just outside of Berlin, GA all his life. He was on his way home when he stopped, but we had seen him several times earlier driving a cabbage truck – each time he went by he honked long and hard – that was a very interesting sounding horn!
Then we met Gerry Bridges and Mary Anne Knox both from Moultrie, GA who were working in physical therapy rehab. They had stopped at one of their patients homes to help her with her rehab and she told them about us walking down the street just before they got to her place. So when they got through with her they came looking for us. They were very excited to see us, and said that the other rehab nurses wouldn’t be able to believe they had met us. We gave them each one of our cards.
We’ve see a few fields that we didn’t recognize the crop that was growing, but were wondering if it could be tobacco. Just then two women stopped and Angie jumped out of the car with a camera in hand. She wanted to know if she could get a picture of her and her son, Cody, with us to put into his baby book. Now that’s another first. ( We were happy to oblige. Angie’s mother, Carol Anne was with her and took the picture. Then we took pictures of them. They are from Moultrie.
Then my phone rang and it was Dave Pritt calling to say he was helping Scott Wyatt work on the RV. They wanted to sell him the generator (it was not working properly and could start a fire) so they could make their payment to Seek Him First Ministries. I talked with him a bit then said it would be okay. Then a car drove up beside me as I hung up, and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine. He had seen us on TV, and wanted to know if we’d like to ride through Morven in the police car instead of walking through – he was an off duty policeman. I told him that we hadn’t missed a step of this walk yet, so we sure didn’t want to now. He totally understood – just thought we might be tired of walking. ( I got his picture and found out his name is Lt. Noel Cook with the Morven police department.
Dave called to say he had heard from Joe at the RV park in Albany – some things that made our deal sound bad with Scott and Pam on the RV. I called Dave Pritt back and talked with him some more because I didn’t like what I was hearing. He gave me more of a run down on the whole thing. We agreed that Scott and Pam need this chance and that they are really trying, so there is no way I will change my mind on this. Dave at home agreed with me when I called him back to tell him more details. I believe in Scott and Pam, and I won’t let them down, nor do I believe they will let us down. I truly believe this whole deal is from GOD the way it all came together and all.
Back at the Castle we decided to order pizza. The Pizza Hut by our motel doesn’t deliver, and the other one doesn’t deliver in this area. The other gals were already in their PJ’s, so I drove over to get some pizza for us. After we ate I took a delightful shower, then journaled and headed for bed.
It was a long, hot day – no breeze today and fairly humid. We’ll try to get an earlier start tomorrow. Finally to bed.
May 21, 2004 – Friday -- Walking Day – 18.4 + 3380.7 = 3399.1 Total Miles to Date
K164.9 Total GA Miles – Day 19
Total Miles for Week – 68.9
Today I overslept – until 6:30 AM. We all got up quickly and got ready and down to breakfast here at the Ramada - the breakfasts here have so many choices it’s hard to know what to eat – I love it. There’s boiled eggs, sausage and biscuits, biscuits and gravy, Danish, french toast, waffles, and more. After breakfast we loaded up the van and headed out for our start point. I measured from the Wal-Mart intersection to our start point and got 19.1 miles. We’re hoping to make that today if sore feet don’t get too bad or the heat doesn’t keep us from it.
It was plenty warm (an understatement) as we began walking. (Believe it or not there was fog outside when we first went out this morning.) The first two miles or so were pretty uneventful. We met up with Ronni about then and put Cassie back in the van to ride. It’s just too hot for her, and also too hot for Joni to handle Cassie and the heat at the same time.
After we walked on we soon came to the Morven City Limits where we stopped to pray and take pictures. Just as we finished taking pictures a man drove up and stopped. He came across the street to talk with us telling us that his name was Larry Wiley – route supervisor for Keebler cookies – on his way to Valdosta. He saw us on the news, and saw us walking from Moultrie, and then again today, so decided to stop and talk with us. We were glad he did. A bit further we met up with Ronni at a service station/convenience store where she was parked in a nice shady spot. We used restrooms there and got snacks. I set up one of our chairs on the grass and rested while I drank my V-8 and ate my Ding Dongs. ( Joni took a ten or fifteen minute nap and ate her snack. Ronni also got something.
Finally we walked on through town ending up a few miles up the road at a small cemetery at 9.9 miles. Then we drove back to the motel to eat lunch and take our long break. I did my *GAJ BIT and worked on my journal, ate a nice lunch, and ran some errands – also wrote the Memorial Stone #243 for Morven so we could take it back when we go to start.
Right now we are in the middle of our mid-day break from about 1Pm to 4PM. It’s just too hot to do much until then. As we walk we find ourselves just absolutely dripping with sweat at 8:30 in the morning. It really doesn’t bother me too much – tho’ I am ready for that mid-day break – but it just does Joni in.
The rest of this Journal will have to wait until we finish the day a little later.
We walked this afternoon until almost 9 PM, then went to Burger King for dinner. By the time we got back to the motel it was 10 PM.
This afternoon we went back to place Memorial Stone #243 at west entrance to Morven. Then we went back to our start point and got started walking again. Soon we came to the produce stand where we bought peaches the other day when we were driving to Valdosta to get a motel. There we met the man who had waited on me that day – David Brown. With him today were Bobby Carter, Patricia Wethernton, and Elise Wethernton. We took pictures of them behind some of the produce at their stand. It all looked so good, but too hard to carry. Oh, well.
A little later we heard a voice calling to us and looked around to see a man walking out to the road to ask us if we’d like some water. His name was Joe and he sells pre-owned books at his house outside of Valdosta, Ga. He gave us some ice water and we visited with him a bit.
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Then we came to a sign that read "Watch your step, everyone else does" on one side and "Patience is trusting in GOD’s timing" on the other side. These sayings were on the sign at Gateway Baptist Church outside Valdosta.
The weather was nice as we walked this evening, and we continued right on into Valdosta. Just before we came to the city limits a car pulled up and an excited couple asked if we were the people walking across America. Her name was Stephanie & James was her husband. They had with them their two boys, Ethan and Christopher – they live in Brooks Co. GA and they had actually turned around to stop and talk with us. They were real excited, cause Stephanie had seen us on TV and nobody believed her. We autographed our cards for them to show their friends and family.
We walked on over the two bridges into the city of Valdosta and to the "Race Trac" service station and convenience store where Ronni was waiting. As we began to take off our gear Robert and Carolyn Dinken with Little Robert from Valdosta, GA pulled up behind us and asked what on earth we were doing?( – Robert had seen us this morning on the west side of Morven, then they saw us as we were getting to the van and just had to know what we were doing. We talked with them for a bit and took their picture.
Then we piled into the van, went to Burger King to eat, back to the motel and to bed as quickly as possible. GREAT DAY!
May 22, 2004 – Saturday
-- Walking Day – 8.6 + 3399.1 = 3407.7 Total Miles to DateK173.5 Total GA Miles – Day 20
Total Miles for Week – 77.5
Today I got up at about 5:30 and got the others started getting up at about 6 AM. After our breakfast in the lobby we got loaded up and headed out. We didn’t have far to go to our start point so we were actually able to get started a bit before 8 AM. Then we walked on into the main part of Valdosta.
We came to an intersection where a car was stopped with a woman and young girl sitting there. The girl commented about Cassie. We talked briefly with them and gave them a card. Their names were Tiffany and Dennie Childers from Springfield, TN – Tiffany was coming to Valdosta to live with her dad.
Just after we left them we noticed a sign at another church that said, "Get an expert opinion, pray to GOD." I’ve needed that a lot lately. So many things have happened on this Journey that I’ve had to make decisions on – I really need the expert opinion that only GOD can give. The others give good input, but the final decision still usually has to be made by me.
A bit later we spotted a runner across the street, then he came across to talk with us to tell us he had seen us on TV. His name was Leon Colfin and he was 50 years old and a local wildlife artist from Valdosta.
We met Ronni at about .8 mile and we got in the car and went to drive part of the route ahead to check it out. We drove through part of Valdosta that we hadn’t yet been through. We found where we needed to go and took the mileage, then when we went back to where we had stopped. Joni and I got out and walked on. We stopped at the corner of our next turn to look at a cute puppy and talk to its owners. The dog was part chow and part weinermeier (?). We took pictures and got their names – they told us they are Linda and Dale Reicker with their dog, Blue, and they live on a very busy corner in Valdosta.
Continuing on we walked through the downtown area, met Ronni and moved on down the road while she looked around. As we walked a pick up truck pulled up and the man called out that he believed in what we are doing. His name was Charles Mayor of Valdosta, and he had with him Eugene, his helper.
Then finally we saw another car pull up and Jimmy Holmes got out to ask us if he could take our picture. He had seen us on TV and wanted to get our picture. We gave him our card and let him take our picture in exchange for us taking his picture. He lives in Valdosta and drives trucks for Fed Ex.
We continued walking, but Joni’s feet were hurting real bad and we finally decided it would be better to take off the rest of the day so she’d have half a day today and all of tomorrow to rest her feet. Hopefully that will give them time to heal. We called Ronni and she said she was on the way. We had a good place to wait for her, so we waited and she soon came. Back at the motel the maid was still working on our room, but we went on in and she finished with us inside. She was really sweet. Her name is Kimberly and she goes to the same church as Evelyn, the general manager here. That is the church we plan to attend tomorrow. We enjoyed visiting with her while she finished putting clean sheets on our beds.
Ronni went out to run some errands while Joni slept and I talked on the phone to Carol Crouch and to Marilyn Anacker. It was really great to talk with them both for quite awhile each. Ronni went out and got our TV dinners, and we fixed and ate them when she came back, took showers, watched some TV, and went to bed.
May 23, 2004 – Sunday
-- Rest Day – + 3407.7 = Total Miles to DateK173.5 Total GA Miles – Day 21
Total Miles for Last Week – 77.5
Today we went to church at the Rosedale Church of GOD in Valdosta, GA. This is the church that the General Manager, Evelyn Webb, of the Ramada Inn where we are staying attends. Also Kimberly, the young gal who cleaned our motel room, attends this church. Unfortunately neither of these young women were at the church this morning – rather disappointing since we went there because of them. Oh well. It was a most enjoyable service – great country singing and an excellent message that gave Joni and me some real food for thought. Pastor Butler did not speak this morning since he is recovering from some illness and the doctor wants him to rest for awhile. The visiting preacher, whose name I can’t remember, gave special recognition to Pastor Butler and his wife. This is Pastor Appreciation Sunday for all the Church of GOD denomination. They took a special offering for them and had all the members come past and hug them or whatever. It was really nice. Most of the church people talked with us either before or after the service. It was a great little church.
After the service we went to Ole Country Buffet for dinner – ummm, ummm, ummm – great food! We could really get plump on this great southern cooking. I had okra and tomatoes in a sauce on rice, and roast beef cooked to perfection with mashed potatoes and brown gravy, and a southern stuffing made with cornmeal that we’ve had several times. There were other things as well, and oh so good! For dessert I had some banana pudding made in the southern style and sweet potato cake – very different from our California food.
After dinner we went back to the motel and got laundry ready. I went with Joni to do laundry and a bit of shopping while Ronni stayed at the motel and rested. At the store I got my earrings for Georgia -- the Cherokee Rose is their state flower, so my earrings have the Cherokee Rose on them. When we got back I downloaded our pictures and we watched a slide show of all of them while we ate popcorn.
After watching the slide show I helped Ronni pick out pictures to print, but I will print them out another night since it is getting time to get to bed so we can get up early in the morning to set out walking. In the next day or two we should cross over into Florida, and Joni and I are really excited and also a bit apprehensive. We really want to see GOD work as we walk through this final state on our Journey with Him and we know that we need to keep things clear with the three of us. If you read this while we’re still walking please keep us in prayer as we walk through the state of Florida. This whole Journey has been one spiritual battle after another, and we know it could happen again in Florida, but we’d like to see it end with the words that we put on every Memorial Stone – To GOD be the glory!
*
May 24, 2004 – Monday
-- Walking Day – 19.7 + 3407.7 = 3427.4 Total Miles to DateK193.2 Total GA Miles – Day 22
Total Miles for Week – 19.7
Today was probably the most exciting day of the walk, so far – We crossed the border at 7:05 PM into the state of Florida!!! We can hardly believe we are now walking in the final state of this Journey!
But first we have to go back 19.7 miles to the beginning of our day when we began walking for the day. Soon after we started walking we saw a lady on the other side of the road coming toward us jogging. Then she crossed over to our side and asked if we were the ladies she had seen on TV awhile back. We said we were and enjoyed talking with her for a little bit. Her name was Lenora Van Pelt, and this was one of the days that she is regularly out walk/running. It was fun talking with her. Then we continued on. Just down the road a bit we had a man pass us in some sort of official vehicle. A bit later I saw him again and he motioned us over to his truck. Then he said something like – "You’re not going to overwork that dog are you?" We assured him we weren’t, and that these days she walks about 2 miles with us then returns to the air conditioned car for the rest of the day. He was pleased with our answer and gave Cassie a "cookie". He had a whole box full to give us for her if we wanted to carry them. His name is Don Van Pelt and he works with animal control services. ( He is also the husband to Lenora whom we met just a bit earlier. ( He was really very nice and we enjoyed talking with him a bit.
A little bit further down the road Cassie got into the van, and soon after that Joni and I came to a home with a beautiful garden full of day lilies. We got some pictures of them, and I took one of Joni beside them and cut off the top of her head – sorry, Joni.
After we walked about 10 miles we were ready for our mid-day break. Ronni picked us up, then I drove us to the state line to see how far we had to go to reach it. It was another 8.6 from where we stopped for our break, at which point we had actually done 11.1 miles. When we drove to the state line we found there was a nice big shady parking area with an abandoned building. We decided to park there for our lunch break. Ronni and I pulled out the folding chairs to sit in outside while Joni opted for the front seat of the van with the back laying down. We ate our lunch and wrote or slept or just rested – I finished my *GAJ BIT (I had done part of it before we left this morning). Then we explored the inside of the abandoned building which was a bar at one time. Ronni and Joni "ordered" drinks. Joni, of course, ordered her sarsparilla and said, "Set ‘em up, Joe! ( – a line from the old movie, Calamity Jane.
Before we left the state line to get back to walking Ronni carried her chair over to sit under the Florida State Line sign, and I took pictures of her with both my camera and hers. She also got me sitting in the chair.
We drove back to where we had stopped and began the last stretch to the State line. Joni has had miserable blisters the last few days, but she said she was going to make it to the state line today if she had to crawl the last two miles. I told her to let me know when she was ready to crawl so I could take pictures. ( First we had to pass through our last town in GA – Statenville, and turn at our last junction (from 94 onto 129).
Joni told me to go ahead and walk ahead since she could only walk slow with her sore feet. I planned to wait for her every so often. We planned to walk across the border together! With my very sore leg and foot I feel better when I can move along at a fairly fast pace, so we each went our own pace, but met up from time to time. At 4 ˝ miles before the state line we came to Hester Rd. I took a picture of the sign and we decided to dedicate this last 4 ˝ miles in GA to the memory of Mom (Hester Black).
When we got to the 2 mile marker before the border Joni and I stayed together the rest of the way. Actually at that point we had taken a short break, and from there on Joni moved real fast to the border – we were both SO anxious to reach it! Ronni was there waiting in the van. As we got close to the border Joni and I walked side by side, and the minute we stepped over the line we hollered and screamed and hugged. We couldn’t believe we’re finally in our final state!!! As we yelled and hugged Ronni honked and honked! It was SO COOL! Finally I tried to call Dave, but there was no service – funny, I had called him from this place when we took our lunch break here.
I drove us back to Valdosta and to KFC – this is what we wanted for dinner to celebrate this happy occasion. KFC may not sound very exciting to some of you, but believe me it does to us. ( We just drove through, got what we wanted and took it back to our motel so that Joni could lay in bed to eat it – her feet were pretty miserable. I called Dave to let him know we had made it. A bit later I also called Gail to let her know. I called Dellie as well, but she wasn’t in so I just left her a message. ; Then I also called Laurie and talked with her for awhile, and with Jeremy just a bit. So good to talk with them.
May 25, 2004 – Tuesday
-- Walking Day – 7.5 + 3427.4 = 3434.9 Total Miles to DateK 7.5 Total FL Miles – Day 1
Total Miles for Week – 27.2
Our day began a little slow and dragging. Yesterday was such a high for us, but today we had to get moving and we just weren’t doing it too well. Anyway after a great breakfast at the Ramada we headed to our start point at the GA/FL border. First we put out Memorial Stones for Valdosta, GA (#244) at the Ramada Inn by the palm trees, then Statenville, GA (#245) at the United Methodist Church, then the final Georgia stone (#246), and finally the entering Florida stone (#247). We took lots of pictures at the border this morning, then finally set out walking.
My phone was very busy today, so after we got service I had to stop from time to time to talk. We saw some new flowers today that were very pretty along the route. Of course, there were the usual trees covered with moss. We didn’t meet any people in person as we walked today, but many waved to us and a few honked. Our route took us to Jasper, FL where we met Ronni. Dave had called to tell me that the California DMV package had finally arrived in Moultrie, so when we got to Jasper we got a quick bite to eat, then headed out for Moultrie and Albany.
In Moultrie we got the package from the post office, and stopped at the police station to see if Ronni’s bag had turned up, then on to the new place where Scott and Pam have parked the Castle to stay. Pam was in, but not Scott when we got there, but he came soon after. We went over all the papers and got them filled in, signed and dated, then hugged and said good-byes. Joni drove us back to Valdosta where we stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. A man commented about us being triplets, then asked if we were a bowling club or something. I gave him a card and told him what we were doing. Then he remembered that he had seen us walking up near Moultrie one day. We ordered our dinner and I started to pay when to my surprise this gentleman stepped up and said he’d like to cover our dinner. His name is David Stipka and he lives in Moultrie, GA. We visited some while we ate, then he left and we soon went on back to our motel.
I printed out maps for the first part of Florida and did my Journal, then headed for bed after a quick shower.
May 26, 2004 – Wednesday
-- Moving Day – + 3434.9 =Total Miles to DateK 7.5 Total FL Miles – Day 2
Total Miles for Week – 27.2
Today we left Valdosta and Georgia. We had our breakfast at the Ramada where we were staying, then loaded up our stuff. Joni and I both went in to check out so we could say good bye to the wonderful staff. Evelyn (the General Manager) had her list of prayer requests ready for us. She came around the counter to give us a hug and we assured her we would be praying for her and the list she gave us.
Then we left Valdosta at about 10:15 AM. We drove via the freeway to Jasper, FL, then we began driving our route the rest of the way to Starke, FL. We began going from motel to motel – most were way too small for all our stuff. Though we don’t spend a lot of time in our room we do need space to set up our "office" and stuff for three women and a dog. Many of the motels were pretty dirty, and most of the clerks were quite rude. Finally we decided to backtrack to Lake City and check out motels there. We couldn’t believe the difference – the places were busier, cleaner, and everyone was very helpful. All were willing to deal with us on special rates, but most were full up for the Memorial Day weekend. Econo Lodge (newly renovated) could accommodate us, and the rooms were nice, clean, and very good service from the clerks. I told Amanda, the clerk that set us up, that we were amazed at the difference between Starke and Lake City. She looked up at me and asked if I meant how rude people are in Starke. I said, "yes". She told me that is the way it is in Starke for some reason. Interesting. We are quite happy with everything here.
We got our stuff unloaded and organized our room. Then we watched the news and worked on various projects. We got some dinner and got ready for our day of walking tomorrow, and went to bed.
May 27, 2004 – Thursday
-- Walking Day – 18.2 + 3434.9 = 3453.1 Total Miles to DateK 25.7 Total FL Miles – Day 3
Total Miles for Week – 45.4
Today I woke up soon after 5 AM and got up so that we were all getting ready and down to breakfast soon after 6 AM. We were in the dining area with one other couple who noted that we prayed for our meal and commented that they appreciated seeing us do that. I gave them a magnet and told them what we were doing. They were delighted and wished us well then headed out. We went back to our room and loaded up our stuff and headed out for Jasper. I think it was about 7:45 when we got started walking this morning.
We walked through the town of Jasper praying for it as we walked. Then we placed Memorial Stone #248 at the foot of a large cross in the town by a church and pre-school. After placing our stone we walked on to the City Hall and decided to bring greetings to the mayor of the first Florida town we walked through from Mayor Mecham of Paso Robles, CA. The mayor wasn’t available, but we did take a picture of the 4 gals in the office. They were – ?, Pam, Margaret and Evelyn.
Cassie walked with us for the first two miles or so, then Ronni picked her up and headed back into Jasper to get her hair done.
Continuing on we spotted a bank sign welcoming home a troop of soldiers. It didn’t give the troop number here, but we had seen it earlier – two hundred and something, but I didn’t take a picture of it unfortunately. Then on a sign for a florist/notary/ and bait place we saw a verse "Blessed is the nation whose GOD is the LORD." Following that we got pictures of several Jasper signs, and an *ape swinging from a tree. A bit further on we saw about 2 or 3 dozen buzzards flying around from tree to tree in a forested area across the road from us. We got pictures of some of them.
A bit further we heard a car pulling up beside us and turned to see a gentleman calling over to us to find out what we were doing. He pulled off to the side of the road to talk a bit when he heard what we were doing. His name is Burt Dotson from Thomasville, GA. He works at the Phosphate Plant outside of Jasper, FL and says he drives about a thousand miles a week back and forth.
A little bit later we made a pit stop off the road behind a row of trees. As we walked back there we noticed a lot of clothes on the ground. At first we wondered if someone was sleeping there, so moved rather carefully. Then we wondered if we would find a body in the pile of stuff (and we haven’t been watching too much TV). We walked carefully over, and Joni began going through some of the stuff. She found mostly new stuff – some still had sales tags on them. It was mostly clothes and a set of curtains. Then Joni found a beautiful red velour teddy bear. We hooked it onto the back of her pack and took off. The question remains where did all this stuff come from? It was all in large garbage bags that had been ripped open.
Moving on we came to Genoa (a town ? with basically nothing there), then miles and miles of straight, flat road with no shade whatsoever. Ronni came along a bit after 12 noon and we took a long mid-day break. Actually Genoa was after our break. Genoa was 11.6 miles from our start. Then the next place we came to was Facil (another non-town) – this was at 14.9 miles. We took another break here as it was still very hot and there wasn’t yet much shade. Shortly before we got to Facil another man who works at the Phosphate Plant stopped to ask what we were doing. He didn’t stop for long, but did tell us we were going the wrong way when he found out we were walking across America praying for the nation. Maybe he thought we were just starting and were supposed to be walking west????((((
As the shadows began to get a bit bigger we got ourselves up and began walking some more. Joni’s feet were hurting so we didn’t try to get the 20 miles in as we had hoped to do, but we did make it to White Springs and that brought us up to over 18 miles. We drove home via Wal-Mart, and Ronni and I ran in to get a few things – including our dinners for the evening. Then to our motel only to find that our keys didn’t work, so I had to go to the office to get them re-keyed. This type of thing happens every once in awhile at motels we’ve noticed, but it is a pain when we’re tired and want to get in.
We finally got in and got showers and dinners started and phone calls made and finally to bed. It was a good day. Plenty warm (an understatement) but bearable.
*The ape, by the way, was a painted plywood cutout.
May 28, 2004 – Friday
-- Walking Day – 18.5 + 3453.1 = 3471.6 Total Miles to DateK 44.2 Total FL Miles – Day 4
Total Miles for Week – 63.9
Today I got up before 5 AM and got the others up at about 5:30. We got ourselves ready and headed out for our start place at about 6 AM, and started walking a bit before 7 AM. We’re trying to beat the heat. It was beautiful walking.
Our walk began in the town of White Springs where the Suwannee River flows – this is the famed "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" (Note: Stephen Foster used "Swanee" instead of "Suwannee" because it fit the meter of the song better.). What a darling town – lots of beautiful old homes, parks and nice walkways. People were friendly and quite delightful. Cassie was with us for the usual first two miles. She is so funny. She loves to chase squirrels, so as we walk she watches for them. When she sees one or more she takes off after them, and never understands why she can’t catch them. After a mile or so, Cassie starts looking back every few minutes wondering where her ride is. The heat gets to her quick and I think Cassie thinks she’s a queen now anyway as she spends most of the day being pampered in the air conditioned van. (
As we walked through White Springs we prayed for it and Facil and Genoa. These last two towns are only names of communities with no real towns that we could see, so we did the three together. Then we placed Memorial Stone #249 at the United Methodist Church for these towns.
As we walked people waved back as we waved to them. Some honked. We’ve had several truckers who carry cargo back and forth in this area who recognize us and honk regularly. One in particular always gives us a sing song beep that we’ve come to recognize. I commented to Joni at about 10:30 or 11:00 that I hoped we would see him today. A few minutes later along came that familiar sing song beeping. He was smiling broadly and so were we as we waved quite heartily to him. That’s probably the last time we’ll see him as we’ll be turning off of Hwy 41 this afternoon soon after we begin walking following our mid-day break that we are now taking.
Joni and I took one break this morning sitting on the steps of Mt. Moriah Church between White Springs and Lake City. We notice a lot of churches are Mount something or other. We also see some places named the Heights, or Hilltop such and such. I’ve come to the conclusion that names like these in Florida are just wishful thinking, since there’s nothing in the state higher than three hundred and some feet. ( As we sat at the church I noticed an unusual daddy-long-legs spider. This one had a larger than usual furry body with two white spots that looked like eyes. I also enjoyed a pretty green dragon-fly standing on the sidewalk bobbing its head around as if looking for something.
I was really tired this morning. Unfortunately I’m usually up later than the others working on journals, making necessary phone calls, checking maps or printing them out, while the others are already in bed. Most of the time I hold up very well, but every so often it all catches up with me and I find myself feeling VERY tired. That’s me today. So when we got back to the motel today for our mid-day break it was very disappointing to see they had not yet been in our room to clean or change towels. I did my *GAJ BIT first, then lay down to take a nap. The minute I laid down there was a knock on the door. Joni was asleep, and Ronni had gone shopping, so I jumped up to answer it. I told the cleaning girl just to give us clean towels and not bother with anything else. So she brought those to us and I gave her our dirty ones. Then I tried laying down again, and after a few minutes – another knock. I jumped up and opened the door. This time the cleaning girl said she needed to check to see if we had one of the new air conditioners or an old one. By now I had given up sleeping, so I got a coke and started working on this journal. Joni can fall asleep in two seconds, so being awakened is no big deal for her, but for me it destroys any possibility of sleep. ; I fixed myself a bagel as well. Maybe I’ll see if they can schedule our room to be cleaned before noon so we don’t get interrupted when we come back for a mid-day break. We don’t always have the luxury of coming back to our motel – only when we’re close enough to make it reasonable. Most of the time we just find a shady spot to park, set up our chairs and rest out in the open.
Today we got in 11.4 miles before our mid-day break, stopping at Honeycutt Cars a couple of miles before the Lake City city limit sign. Well, I’ll finish this up this evening after we finish the walking for the day.
We went back to walking about 5:00 PM. It is still pretty hot even then, but we did have a nice breeze this afternoon – at least part of the time. We walked into Lake City on Hwy 41 turning onto Hwy 90 and on through to Hwy 100. We’ll be on Hwy 100 now for several days. Our walk finished for today about 2 miles past Lake City. We prayed for Lake City as we walked through and will place our Memorial Stone tomorrow morning.
We drove back to the motel via a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up our meals, then Joni fixed mine while I got started on my Journal. We ate, watched the news, showered and headed for bed.
May 29, 2004 – Saturday -- Walking Day – 18.1 + 3471.6 = 3489.7 Total Miles to Date
K 62.3 Total FL Miles – Day 5
Total Miles for Week – 82.0
Today we got out walking a bit after 7 AM. We stopped on our way to our start point to leave the Memorial Stone #250 at Lake City – We had prayed yesterday as we walked through. Like most cities of any size Lake City has its better spots and its not so good spots. We got to see some of both as we walked through.
Today we walked our first two miles with Cassie, then Ronni picked her up and Joni and I continued. Lately Joni and I have been having morning prayers as we walk after Cassie has been picked up. It’s nice having our prayer time as we walk – there’s no rush to get out to start walking because we already are. Right now we’re walking on a road with good shoulders so we can walk side by side as we pray and not have to move over for traffic. It’s also nice to be praying with the sound of birds singing around us, or frogs croaking. This morning we were interrupted in our prayer by a tiny snake – or snake-like critter that was slithering across the road at an incredibly fast rate. However he stopped part way across so Joni went out and gave him a little nudge with her walking stick, a little further and he stopped again, another nudge and a bit further. Joni nudged him about 4 times before he got all the way across – we do our best to keep even the smallest of creatures from getting hit by cars. (
Our walk today will take us to the town of Lake Butler (if all goes well this evening). The road from our start point to Lake Butler is one loooooong straight road heading south. There are tall trees on both sides which provide shade when the sun gets down far enough. This morning we had cloud covering most of the morning. Our skin is always damp with perspiration, and my face drips constantly (I keep a kerchief handy to wipe my skin). We drink water every few minutes (easily done with our handy Camelbak water paks). I find I feel fine and can continue walking in the heat as long as I have water to drink. Joni, on the other hand, loses all energy when the heat gets up there too much. I pretty much let her decide when and how long we walk in the morning. Her feet are healing nicely, and my leg is doing much better than it’s done in a long time. Except for the heat we are both doing great! We’re trying to get in at least 10 miles in the morning and hoping to raise that to 12 miles starting next week. Then in the evening if we can do 8 to 10 miles that gets our mileage up there real good.
One of the interesting things we saw this morning was Mt. Zion Slaves Cemetary (that’s the way cemetery was spelled on the sign). It was just on the side of the road and wouldn’t be seen if you weren’t walking or specifically looking for it. The sign read: "Estb. 1910 Erected 1996 in memory of Joseph Anthony’s relatives and friends who lived and picked cotton for their livelihood. In a by Gone Era." Behind the sign was a single grave with a headstone that read, "Reverend Joseph Anthony, Sr. November 25, 1922 October 7, 2000". On his grave were some small figurines and beside it stood a short handled leaf rake. There were a few small posts nearby – one with some very old fake flowers – that may mark other grave sites. All of this was back in a small cleared area of the trees. This was just at the edge of a little town named Lulu.
When Ronni picked us up for our mid-day break today we had done 10.1 miles. We drove back to the motel to eat, rest, work on Journals, rest, and finish my *GAJ BIT and rest. Sis (my sister, Lois from WA state) called while we were at the motel on mid-day break. It was great to talk with her a bit. – As you can tell rest is very important. We often find that a 10 minute break with our legs up prepares us to do another good segment. When we break out on the road and can’t return to a motel I always get out my collapsible chair and set it next to the back of the van – with the back raised up I rest my feet up on the floor of the van. This does wonders for me. Joni usually rests inside the van with the seat laid back. We’ve had to make lots of adjustments with the changed weather conditions in GA and FL, but we’re doing okay.
We got started walking again after 5 PM a bit – it really doesn’t cool down until about 6 PM. Then it doesn’t cool down real fast. We enjoyed our evening walk with our goal to get to Lake Butler and get in at least 18 miles. Both goals were accomplished. It was great. When we got into Lake Butler I heard a voice, but couldn’t find the source at first. Then we looked back to see a gal coming out of the laundromat asking how far we were walking and were we on some sort of mission. So we stopped and talked with her and got her picture and name – Lala Redmond. She was delightful. Then just a bit further another voice from behind us asked how far we were walking. I turned and said we were walking to Key West. After a pause I also added where we had walked from. Then I gave him a card and took his and his friend’s picture and got their names – Toby Kitchens and Paul Ruse (?). We ended the day at the Baptist Church in Lake Butler. Inside the glass doors of the church we could see a beautiful stained glass framed lighted picture of Jesus, and were able to get a picture of it. It really turned out interesting with a reflection of trees behind it.
Joni drove back to Lake City, and we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up dinners and return to the motel to eat and take care of a few things before going to bed.
May 30, 2004 – Sunday
-- Resting Day – + 3489.7 = Total Miles to DateK 62.3 Total FL Miles – Day 6
Total Miles for Last Week – 82.0
Today we went to the First Christian Church of Lake City. We were warmly greeted by the pastor and introduced to the audience. Their service is on the air live, so when he asked me to come and share I was talking to a few more than were in the audience in front of me. People were very receptive to what we were doing. Quite a few talked with us afterwards. One of those was a gentleman with a beautiful tie on. It was a white background with purple design, and right in the center was a purple cross. He offered to take it off and give it to me, but I told him he should keep it. He was such a nice gentleman.
Joyce ? sang a couple of solos. The first was "When He Was On The Cross" – a song that I’ve heard a few times, and it is SO good. The words go like this:
I’m not on an ego trip – I’m nothing on my own – I make mistakes, I often slip – Just common flesh and bones. But I’ll prove someday, just why I say I’m of a special kind. For when He was on the cross, I was on His mind.
Chorus: He knew me, Yet He loved me. – He whose Glory makes the Heavens shine. – So unworthy of such Mercy – Yet when He was on the cross, I was on His mind.
The look of love was on His face – Thorns were on His head – Blood was on His scarlet robe – Stained a crimson red. – Though His eyes were on the crowd that day, He looked ahead in time – For when He was on the cross I was on His mind.
Chorus: He knew you, Yet He loved you – He whose Glory makes the Heavens shine. – So unworthy of such Mercy – Yet when He was on the cross, We were on His mind.
What beautiful words. On this Journey we have been tested harder than we’ve ever been tested before. Sometimes we’ve failed and sometimes we’ve been victorious, but no matter what, we can be assured that He knew us, yet He loved us – for when He was on the cross we were on His mind. Awesome!
Pastor Sherrill gave his message on "Where Are the Nine?" from Luke 17:11-21 Ten lepers were cleansed, but only one came back to say thank you. The nine had too much of self in the way and kept going on their way, but the one had a mission to accomplish. He had his focus on Jesus, and ran back to thank Him. We need to move self our of sight, and get our focus on GOD so that we can give Him all the glory. That is the theme of our Journey "To GOD be the glory". But it is so easy to get ourselves in the way. Joni and I often talk about that and pray about that.
After church we went to Bob Evans Restaurant for our Sunday dinner. There was about a 10 minute wait. As we were sitting waiting in walked the man with the purple cross tie. We waved to him, and he waved back, then went and sat at the counter. Soon we were seated and we ordered our drinks while looking at the menu. The manager came over and welcomed us and commented on how nice we looked in our red, white and blue shirts. I gave her a card and told her what we were doing. She asked a lot of questions, and told us how she used to do prayer walking with a group in and for another city. Then she told us that our meals were all paid for and we should get whatever we wanted. At first we thought the management was paying, but then she said someone was paying and she couldn’t tell us who. GOD is so good to us.
We enjoyed our meals immensely. Before we finished, the man in the purple tie came over to say good bye and wish us well on our Journey. After he left I realized I should have taken his picture. I grabbed my camera bag and rushed out the front hoping to see him in the parking lot still. Looking around I saw him just backing out of a parking space, so I ran over to catch him. He kindly got out of his car so I could take his picture, and gave me his name – Ray Kinnaman. What a delightful man. He told me that his wife had died six years ago on her birthday. Then he said, "What a birthday gift she received that year!" meaning that on her birthday she got to see her Savior face to face! He has such a beautiful faith that GOD will call him home at just the right time, and not before. (I’m SO glad I went out to find him in the parking lot!)
Back to our room after we finished our meal to find that our room hadn’t been cleaned yet. Oh well. Soon the maid knocked on the door as we were preparing our laundry. She thought we were checking out today and was surprised to see us. We told her we were registered until Wednesday and asked that if possible she do our room before noon. I gave her a card and explained what we were doing and that when it is possible we like to come back to our room for our mid-day break to rest. She was real nice, and when she finally realized that we were prayer walking she asked if she could give us some prayer requests. Of course, we said yes. Her name was Shelly, and we wrote down her requests.
Ronni and I went to Wal-Mart to do the shopping while Joni rested. Then when we returned Joni went to do the laundry. The dryers at the laundry didn’t work too well, so we ended up with clothes hanging all over the place – some in the car where it’s nice and hot, some in the window of our room, and some over chairs or in the bathroom on the shower rod. ( While Joni was out I downloaded pictures and tried to print out some for Ronni. I ran into problems with the ink cartridge – it was a new one so don’t know what the problem was. Anyway I put it all away for another day.
Finally we did journals, and watched a slide show of our pictures, got ready for tomorrow and went to bed.
May 31, 2004 – Monday
-- Walking Day – 18.5 + 3489.7 = 3508.2 Total Miles to DateK 80.8 Total FL Miles – Day 7
Total Miles for Week – 18.5
Well I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. I toyed with the idea of waking the others up to get a real early start, but knew I really didn’t dare. I managed to wait until 4:45, then got the others up at around 5:15. It was a bit after 6 AM when we headed out, stopping first to fill up with $2.15 a gallon gas. Down the road a ways we found it for $2.04. Oh well, we can’t win them all.
On the way to our start point Joni and Ronni both slept. At one point I was about ready to pull over feeling a bit sleepy myself. So I began to sing and turned on a tape to sing with. That helped, and I was then able to make it to our start point which wasn’t much further anyway. It was now about 7:15, and we needed to set out Memorial Stone #251 before we began walking. Our start point was at a Baptist Church, so we decided to set it there. We have found that churches are really nice places to put our Memorial Stones. We’ve even heard from a couple of them that have found them later. One was in MO and they wrote it up in their church newsletter, then sent a copy to us. Another found our stone as a wedding party was exiting the church in Wetumpka, AL. They contacted the local newspaper, and eventually Dave read their story on the Internet.
After we left this stone in Lake Butler, we began walking. It was pretty nice at this time of the morning, and we enjoyed the walk. Cassie chased squirrels and we went a bit over 2 ˝ miles before Ronni picked her up. We then hooked on our sprayers to help keep us cool as we walked. They did indeed help some. We met Ronni again at about 7 miles and took a short break before heading out to end our morning with 11.6 miles – still a few miles short of Starke. Ronni had stopped at a church parking lot and the pastor’s wife had come over to talk with her. When Ronni told her what we were doing, the pastor’s wife told her that the picnic area across the street belonged to them and we should make ourselves at home there for our mid-day break. It was perfect. Lots of shade – a slide, but too hot to slide on it (, and, no, I still haven’t grown up. (
There were swings as well, but they looked a bit small for me.
We sat and ate, and I did my *GAJ BIT and read, and slept, and read, and just sat and talked and enjoyed the rest until it got cool enough to begin walking again.
We started walking again at about 4 PM, but soon realized it was too hot for Joni still. I put in a call to Ronni who came on the run. When she got to us we piled in the van and went to McDonald’s in Starke for another hour. There we had hot fudge or hot caramel sundaes (a first for Ronni, and I think she’s hooked) and fries. Then Joni decided to have a hamburger, and that seemed to energize her a bit. We’re thinking that this heat saps more out of us than we realize. We not only need to drink lots of water (which we already do), but we also need to eat a bit more at our mid-day break whether we feel like it or not.
Finally we started out again and it was much nicer now. So we walked on through Starke. As we walked through the town we noticed a car park just ahead of us and a young woman get out. She came over to us and commented that she had seen us this morning way back by Lake Butler, so when she saw us here in Starke she just had to stop and find out what we were doing. We told her and gave her a card. Then she told us that her husband is in Iraq, and we immediately asked for his name so we could pray for him and for her and her little 7 month old girl that he’s never seen. We took her picture and gave her a hug, then she took off. She told us her name is Amanda & her husband is Clayton Davis and he’s stationed somewhere in Iraq. She also told us that it has been 14 months since she’s seen him. We know this story is told over and over of many families affected by this war, but it is so sad anytime we meet someone personally affected, and our hearts go out to them.
We continued our walk through Starke and on down the road a bit more. Finally it was time to call it quits for the day, and return to our motel after driving through McD’s to pick up some salad. We were all tired so we went to bed as quickly as possible