Day 11, Monday
April 11, 2005

I wish I could get used to the 4:00 AM beeping. I’m still adjusting to life on the road. Being settled in one place for three days has been a real blessing. I think it has helped to speed my healing. I still have this new blister on the bottom right side of my right heel but everything else is healing really well.

I sort, separate and repack both packs. I am going to leave one with Bob and carry the other. Either Jennifer, Justin, or Amber is going to come pick it up later today and transport it ahead to my destination in Paige, TX. Paige is probably 45 to 50 miles away, one way. Today’s schedule is for a little over 20 miles, plus the 1.5 miles I was short yesterday. Fortunately, I did not know what the reality of the day would bring and I was not to discover this until much, much later. Anyway, my pack is pretty heavy today, maybe 45 lbs.

We get everything loaded up and off we go. The forecast is for rain. I’m hoping and praying that we do not experience this complication today. We start walking and Bob drives away. A couple of curious things happen before the sun comes up. First, I keep sensing lights behind me like there is a car coming up from the rear. Everytime I turn around to look, there is nothing there. This happens a number of times. Finally, when I turn to check, I notice a massive thundercloud behind me with very beautiful lightning flashing within the cloud. This is the light I have been sensing – but there’s no thunder, and the lightning is not striking the ground.

Shortly after, my phone rings and it’s Bob.”You OK?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” “Not raining there?” “Nope, but it sure looks like it’s raining your way.” “It’s pouring here and the power is off. I just wanted to check and see if you’re OK.” Praise God! I would anticipate that sooner or later I will have to walk in the rain or even a significant storm, but I am not looking forward to it.

We continued on. Traffic was very heavy. The skies were clear, or at least there was nothing blocking the piercing rays of the sun. It was starting to take its toll on Walker. He was panting hard and looking for shade. At times like this, he hangs out along the fence line. He’ll stop occasionally in the shade of the trees. Sometimes he’ll lie down. Usually, though, he simply stands and stares at me like, “What are you doing to me?” Times like this are hard for me. I know he needs to rest and cool down, but I also know that each minute we spend stopped, the temperature simply continues to climb, delaying the end of the day’s journey, and making what remains even hotter.

lucky if you see one every ten miles or so. Now, in a car, traveling at 60 or 70 mph, this is no big deal. You see a mileage sign or a town every five or ten minutes. Walking is another story. You see a sign and three or four hours later you see the town. As I said before, it is difficult to determine how far you’ve come or how far you have to go. But, the second thing I learned today is that there are telltale signs of civilization ahead. Today I noticed towers that appear to be cell phone towers, however, these are not always reliable indicators because sometimes they stick them right out in the middle of nowhere. The other indicator I noticed today is the town water tower. Very often, you can see that before you see any other sign of life.

Returning to the journey, I spotted the water tower for Paige, around the bend and over the next hill. Now I had talked with Buddy Burrows on the phone earlier in the day. I told him about what time I expected to be in Paige, assuming that he, or someone would pick me up and carry me to the church building. I would be sleeping in my tent (for the first time) in the churchyard of the Ridgeway Baptist Church tonight. Buddy had told me that the building was actually located on Highway 21 (not on my route) about a mile off of Highway 290. Now, 21 crosses 290 about 2 miles west of Paige. Walker and had already made up the 1.5 miles we were short from the week before and stopping in the middle of Paige on schedule would have been over twenty miles, plus the 1.5 makeup. Now, we were going to have to travel another 3 miles or so to get to the church. We were already worn out. Not only so, but now we had another hour to hour and a half walk ahead – all up hill as far as I could see.

We crossed back to the other side and started up the long hill. Finally, as we got closer, he started our way. I dropped my pack on the front porch of the church, got Walker some food and water, got myself some water and sat down to talk to Buddy.

Buddy told me about the church, about the preacher leaving and giving him the keys, how he had been named ‘administrator’ until a more permanent solution could be made. He told me where not to camp because of septic tank problems. He told me about the cats on the property. He told me that State Troopers (undercover) recently executed a drug bust on the property, that ‘magic mushrooms’ grew wild all around the property, and that a church member might show up later to return a van or to feed the cats. He offered to open the building so I could get ice. He told how he had lived on the property for several months building the new building. Then our conversation turned to his conversation and the mystical experience of God he had had on a mountain in New Mexico. I will not attempt to retell it here, but it was amazing. Later, I asked him to write it down and email it to me so I could include in my story. I hope he will. He said many people do not believe him or think he is crazy when he tells it. I was intrigued. I am learning to be much less skeptical of the ways and means God uses to ‘connect’ through the Holy Spirit with his children. Who am I to question the validity of another man’s experience. His experience is between himself and God as he understands him. My relationship with God as I understand him – my eternal relationship with him – is in no way threatened by another man’s experience, no matter how different from my own it may be. It is not up to me to determine, judge, or criticize his experience. Clearly, this experience left this man profoundly changed, closer to God, and with a completely different perspective on life here and now, and life eternal.

During our time together, I had several conversations with Jennifer. She and Russell were late leaving Houston but were on their way. They had picked up my stuff from Bob and Patti. It looked like they would not arrive until about 7:30. I couldn’t set up camp because my tent, sleeping bag, and mat were coming with Jennifer. In the meantime, Buddy needed to leave. He had a 45 minute drive home. I made a few phone calls and soon Jennifer and Russell arrived. We were going to get something to eat before they left, but it was going to be dark before we got back so I decided to set up my tent and get everything ready so that when we got back I could just go to bed. I was very tired. I had cut a couple of miles off tomorrows walk by coming all the way to 21, but I had also added nearly two miles walking to RBC from 290 and then back again tomorrow.

Once we set up camp, we set out to Bastrop to get something to eat. Twelve miles or so down the road and after 8 PM we found very little in Bastrop, and most it closed. We finally found a nice little place and decided to eat on the patio so Walker could see us, hoping he wouldn’t slime Russell’s car. Service was very slow and it was getting pretty cool outside. I wish we could have more of these cool temperatures about 12, 1, 2 o’clock each day. We finished dinner and headed back to the church. It was really dark by now and we had to watch carefully for the entrance. We found it and went in. There was a van parked in the lot. The lady was obviously a little startled by our approach. I got out and explained what I was doing and that I had met with Buddy and had his approval. She seemed fine with it all until Jennifer got Walker out of the car. It seems that she was the cat caretaker and was very concerned about having a dog onsite. I assured her that he would be in the tent with me and had no interest in cats for anything other than friendly play (unfortunately, we’ve yet to meet a cat with similar interest). The kids helped get all of my rechargeables plugged in for the night. Before they left, I was already in my tent, in my sleeping bag, ready for night-night.

This is only the second or third time Walker has slept outside. Every noise sent him into a state of alertness. Not to mention the fact that he would have preferred to have slept on top of my sleeping bag and on top of my sleeping mat. I had both my packs and Walker inside the tent. It was a little bit crowed, but we managed.