The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VIII

Friday - October 10,  2008    Day 219   10.8  miles

Total Maryland miles - 68.4        Walking Days - 104

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6   Cumulative miles 1800.2

There’s a lot we have to do before we leave here, then we’re
going to be driving the Beltway around Baltimore before we go
to Potomac, so it’s not going to be a real early day. Oh, yes,
we’ll be pre-driving the route for the next three days of walking
as well. This will allow us to pick our ending points for those
days.

Would you believe that I only have four walking days left?!
Wow! Three days in Maryland, then Washington D.C.

On our way to the walk I took some pictures of the trees along
the highway. They are changing a little each day, and it’s
beginning to look very pretty.

This morning started out with pre-driving today’s route on the
southwest side of Baltimore. The pre-driving helps give Bonny
peace of mind about not getting lost.  Once we had done that,
we stopped at the Burger King at our route’s end. There I sat in
the car and talked with radio station KPXQ in Phoenix, AZ.
Keith Schull was the host, and I loved talking with him. I think I
was on for just under an hour (I had thought it was to be 30
minutes, but loved having longer).

Keith knew the book, Putting A Face On America, quite well,
and he had also been onto the website enough that he knew the
latest on what was happening. He gave me enough time to really
speak my heart, and to tell quite a bit about the last walk, as well
as the present GAP Walk. It was great.

It was about noon when we finished with the interview, so we
ate some lunch before heading for the start of today’s walk. I got
started at about 1 pm.  The weather was warm and beautiful. My
route looked a little uncertain from the car, but I’ve learned that
when you actually get out there you can usually find a place to
walk even if there is no shoulder. Only a few times did I have to
just stop and wait so I could walk.

People were friendly, and doing a lot of waving and honking.
Then a man stopped to ask what I was doing. I got to share with
him a lot, and also prayed with him. I trust that God will use
what was said in his life. John needs a lot of prayer.

A little later I was waiting at a signal light when I suddenly
heard someone say, “Are you walking somewhere?” I jumped,
not realizing that someone else was coming up behind me. His
name was Mark, and he was heading back to Trenton, NJ. Now
I wish I had asked him more questions, because I think he was
walking also, and Trenton is a good way off. He said he would
pray for me.

Still further on I met Dave - I’m pretty sure that was his name.
Right after I left him I met another man asking directions - I
couldn’t help him unfortunately.

Finally I came to the Burger King at the end of the route for
today. It was good to finish and head for home. We stopped at a
Wal-Mart on the way to get some things we needed.

Finally, back home in Aberdeen, I picked up some Taco Bell
food for my dinner - Bonny had stuff at the motel. I ate first, and
showered later. It wasn’t a real hard day - pretty straight-
forward. I wrote my journal, but unfortunately it won’t get onto
the website tonight. We have to purchase a card to get the WI-FI
here, and mine ran out. It’s too expensive to purchase another
24-hour card.

Well, I’m falling asleep at the computer, so guess I better quit
and get to bed.  Good-night