The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI

Thursday - August 28,  2008   Day 176   18.9 miles

Total Connecticut miles - 40.7     Walking Days - 88

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6   Cumulative miles 1564.7

Another awesome day. Norma got to explore three cemeteries,
and I got to meet several people and enjoy some great
conversations.

It was late when I got started walking, but as the day wore on it
became obvious that I was supposed to meet certain people that
I would not have met had I started earlier. It is so exciting when
I see God working in such ways - even the timing of my
walking.

We stopped at McDonald’s to have breakfast. Two women and
a man were sitting at tables across from us and I went over to
ask them if they knew of a place where I could get copies made.
They came up with the Y, a grocery store down by Wal-Mart. I
shared with them about what we were doing. It was fun talking
with them - unfortunately I didn’t get their names or a picture of
them, but they were very interesting to talk with.

We went out to the car to see a man standing by it reading the
sign on the side. So I gave him a card and explained what we
were doing. He was a delight. After getting our maps copied we
headed on out to our start point. On the way we stopped at a
Visitor Center to get some brochures and some ideas about
places to explore on our day off tomorrow.

Finally we arrived at the start point, and I began on Brooklyn
Turnpike (remember it’s really a very small road), then turned
onto Back Road (yep, it was another one of those roads that they
actually named Back Road). I waved to a lot of people, and
almost all of them waved back.

Norma told me later that a man a pulled into the yard by where
she was parked. He came over to see if she needed help, so she
was able to tell him about what I was doing. He told her that he
had just seen me on Back Road. Norma got to talk with him for
a little while and gave him one of my cards also.

Then she drove on ahead to wait for me further up. From Hwy.
203 I went up a hill called Machine Shop Hill, and at some point
it became Kick Hill Road. Now this road had some real kicker
hills alright. About the time I reached the top I spotted a lady
walking toward me on the other side of the street. I greeted her,
and said that I seldom meet people out walking along my route.
She asked about my walk and wanted to know where I had
walked from. Well, of course, I crossed the road to talk with her.

Diana and I hit it off right away. She walks a bit over eight miles
every day - and has for years. Then as we talked about my
mission of prayer walking the whole east coast for our country,
she said she would pray for our country as she walked each day.
We ended up talking for about 45 minutes, and really weren’t
ready to part when we did. We hugged, and said we would keep
in touch.

As I walked into the town of Lebanon, CT I took pictures of the
beautiful church there. Soon after I walked away the bells in the
church tower rang. Very nice.

Soon I came to a Subway sandwich shop where Norma was
waiting for me. We decided that there was no place else around
to eat for awhile, so if we wanted lunch we should eat here. We
got a foot long turkey sandwich and split it between us. It was
really very good.

Later that afternoon as I approached a road coming in from the
side, a lady called to me from her car wondering how far I was
walking. I crossed over to talk with her. She told me that she
and the girls were wondering about what I was doing. They
figured I must have a story since I was walking with a flag. I
looked at her and asked, “Are you homeschoolers?” She then
said, “How did you know?”  I told her my daughter
homeschools, and they just look like they homeschool.

We talked for a bit, then I asked if it would be possible to get a
picture of all of them. Jennifer backed up and parked the car,
and they all tumbled out for a picture. Four of the girls were
hers, and two were friends. They all got their names recorded on
my camera - Naomi and Patience, Bethany, Grace, Susanna, and
Juliette. What delightful children.

I continued walking, now on my last segment, and before the
town of Colchester. I spotted a lady with three children working
in the yard. We called back and forth across the road, then I
walked across to talk some more. She and her 17-month twin
girls were at one end while another older daughter was mowing
another portion of the lawn. Holly put the twins, Bekka and
Addison, into the wheelbarrow, and AnnaLee joined us for me
to get a picture of them.

Walking past one house on the opposite side of the street in
Colchester I noticed a man sitting outside. He looked my way,
waved, and called out to ask me where I was walking. I called
across to tell him what I was doing, and he said something that I
didn’t quite catch. I walked over to talk with him. I have his
name on my camera, but I can’t quite make it out. Still he was
delightful.

Then I came into the main part of the town, and suddenly I saw
it - directly across the street - a Starbucks. Now I was getting
close to finishing, so I called Norma to meet me at Starbucks,
and told her where it was. I bought my drink and one for Norma,
then she took mine in the car to have for me when I finished.

When I crossed over Hwy 2, I noticed the road ahead was a
pretty good hill. Then Norma called to say she was waiting at a
cemetery at the top of that hill. I was thankful for that, because I
don’t like to start at the bottom of a hill. So I climbed on up,
then walked down Gillettes Lane to meet her. Once at the van I
took off my walking gear and put it in the back, then got in the
front seat.

The drive back to our motel was beautiful, and when we got
back we took our stuff in, then walked across the street to the
Shoreline Diner to eat dinner. It was very good, and we brought
some back to put into the fridge for another night.

Then we did out nighttime routines and headed to bed. A really
awesome day.