The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI

Saturday - August 9,  2008    Day 157   21.4 miles

Total Maine miles - 294.8     Walking Days - 75

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6   Cumulative miles 1300.2

Today was an awesome day. We woke up to a cloud cover, but
that turned to fog as we drove to our start point. By the time we
arrived at the start the sun was starting to peek out.

I began walking without rain gear for the first time in several
days. It was so beautiful! I felt invigorated, and moved swiftly
along. The temperature was nice all day. There were several
hills to climb this morning, and some really beautiful scenes
with the sun shining on them. I took quite a few pictures.

One of the pictures I took was of three horses and a donkey on
the crest of a grassy hill. Another was one of the homes with all
the other farm buildings attached. The house is at one end,
connected to an in-between room (maybe like an enclosed
breeze-way), connected to the garage, connected to a big barn,
connected to a smaller barn. This is so typical here in Maine,
and for good reason. It makes a lot of sense to have all the
buildings connected in the harsh winters they have here.

Soon a man stopped to say he had seen me yesterday back in
Norridgewock, and he just had to know what I was doing. I
explained and gave him my card. He was very enthusiastic. I
was going to ask about taking his picture when another car came
up behind him and he had to leave.

I turned onto Highway 133 and walked on it through Beans
Corner, and Stones Corner, and on into Livermore Falls where I
met Norma for our lunch break.  We ate at the Chuck Wagon
Café where we both ordered the exact same thing. This has been
happening with us a lot. We seem to like the same things, and
our orders are almost always the same.

While we were eating lunch we looked outside to see rain
pouring down. Wow. By the time we finished, the rain had
stopped. Now we drove a short section to make sure we would
both make the same turns. Then back to walk it.

This part took us across a bridge over a river that I cannot find
the name of on any of my maps. I looked for a name at the
bridge, but didn’t find one there either. It’s a huge rushing river
that goes over a large dam at that point, and it’s incredible to
watch all that power.

Once across the river I turned onto River Road - appropriately
named. This was a small road with no shoulders, but very little
traffic. Much of the time I walked down the middle of the road
where it was easier, and just moved over when cars came. But
the scenery was great, and I so enjoyed it.

Norma met me twice on this road, the latter time was at the
finish for the day.  Just before I got to her I went past several
calves separated in three different sections by size.  They were
quite curious about me.

Then I noticed a few sprinkles of rain, and heard approaching
thunder. I called Norma to alert her so she could come get me if
it got any closer. Just then I rounded a bend in the road, and
there she was waiting for me at the end. After I got in and we
headed back it began to dump buckets of rain on us. I had
made it through the whole day without rain while I was walking.
Though it had rained at lunch and again after I finished. Now
how cool is that?? Thank you, Lord, for the joy of walking in
great weather today.

Now I have to tell you that Dave reminded me the other day that
at least I’m not in D.C. now where it is very hot and humid. He
said our neighbors in Paso Robles just returned from there and
said that the heat and humidity were dreadful. He also reminded
me that heat and humidity kill, while the rain will only give me
web feet.  I was wondering what that was growing between my
toes.

Back to Skowhegan to shop at Wal-Mart, then to Charrier’s to
eat dinner. It was packed, and we had to wait. While we waited
we got to talking to a gal named Theresa. She and her husband
are from Texas, but they’ve been on the east coast for awhile in
their RV. They are actually full-time RV’ers. Because of the
wait, and because we got interested in one another’s stories, we
decided to share a table.

What a delightful time we had with Michael and Theresa. When
we finished eating we went out to their truck with them to meet
Happy, Christmas Carol, and Kris Kringle, their three adorable
dogs. This was a doggie fix for me, which I need every once in
awhile.

Back to our room to get ready for bed, and do the journal, etc.
Russ called to see how we were doing, and he and I had a good
talk. It’s fun to be able to tell him where I am in the walking,
knowing that he can picture it on the maps that he worked so
hard at putting together for me. It’s great.