Day 25, Monday
April 25, 2005

Four AM…why did I keep playing that M*A*S*H tape over and over last night? I didn’t even finish the first episode and there must have been at least four on the tape. The Shero’s are fixing you a real breakfast. It’ll be ready at 5 AM. At least I have only one pack to pack. Dress. Bandage feet. Brush teeth. Feed dog. He won’t eat solid food…again, so another Ensure down the hatch. There’s a knock at the door. “Breakfast is almost ready.” It’s Bo. He’s five minutes early. I pretty much have everything together now. I head over for breakfast. Joanna is up also. They’ve made a scrambled egg & sausage skillet casserole kind of thing-y that looks really good, and pancakes, and grape juice. It’s hard for me not to feel bad that these people will get up ‘before God’ as my family says about my early morning rising. I live with a crew that would rather have fingernail ripped out than get up early.

Breakfast is over and Joanna has bagged up some of that wonderful chocolate chip pan cookie thing-y for me to take with me. I had back to the Bo-tel and grab my stuff. It is really DARK out here at 5:15 AM! We’re all loaded and off we go.

The twilight of dawn was overtaking the darkness. I began to notice that the landscape was different here than on the east side of Brownwood. It was more scrubby – more mesquites, more cactus, smaller and fewer oaks. Thank goodness, I still have not seen any snakes. I continue to worry more for Walker’s sake than mine – he’s never seen one and I have no idea what his reaction will be. He is so curious about everything and simply wants to play.

Several people honked at me here in the early dawn. I waved. Two guys in a van were starring at me from a side road stop sign. I waved and they pulled along side me. “You really walking to Denver?” “Yes.” “I used to live in the Springs ( Colorado Springs).” “Really? Ever make it to Denver?” “Not much.” “Well we work with the homeless and runaway teenagers that live on the streets downtown.” I gave them some basic information, a card, and suggested that they visit the website. “God bless you and have a great day.” The materials and equipment in the back of the van indicated that they were painters. They drove away.

It was still early – barely 9 AM. I was looking for somewhere to take a break. Up ahead was a gas station with a Subway. Walking up to the place, I spotted an attendant. There were no customers. I asked him if it would be OK if we took a little break there and if I could use the restroom. He was very nice. His name was Vick. He wanted to know what “walking to Denver” was all about. I gave a brief synopsis, a card, and invited him to visit the website. I got Walker secured and watered and used the restroom. Walker and I rested there a few minutes. I was very encouraged that we had come this far so fast - roughly halfway in less than three hours. This is always deceiving. I want to assume that we can keep the same pace all day long. I suppose I’m still insane in this regard, because I continue to believe this even though every day of the journey so far has proven it to be untrue.

Pack on, but Walker is never anxious to get up and get going after a break. Finally, he’s up and moving…slowly. At the western edge of town, there’s a white Oldsmobile approaching, appearing to be intent of making a right turn at the intersection just ahead. These ladies were not making a right turn. They simply turned into the intersection parallel to the highway and stopped. Clearly, they had stopped because of me. I walked up to the driver’s window. They were full of questions – “What are you doing? Why? Where do you stay?” As I began to explain, particularly about how I had stayed with the preacher of the Brownwood church of Christ last night, would be staying with a member of the Brownwood church of Christ, and with the preacher of the church of Christ in Coleman the next, they began to see a pattern. They were from Abilene. They were very enthusiastic. She wanted to know if I would take a donation. “Sure,” I said. She gave me $5. “God bless you, and have a great day. I hope to see you again Friday night.” This would not be the last time I would see these ladies.

A little further along the road, a van was pulling off the road in front of me. A man got out of the passenger side of the car. He began walking towards me still a hundred yards or more away. I waved and he waved back. When we got close enough to speak, he asked,”Are you Jeff Robinson?” “Yes,” I replied. “I’ve heard about you, you’re walking to Denver.” “Yes, that’s true.” Daniel Brandon and his wife, Andrea, along with their five month old son, Jesse, were on their way from Clyde, just outside of Abilene, where they lived, to Austin. “Would you mind if I walked with you for a while?” It still blows me away. Lots of people I don’t know stop to see if I want a ride or need help or just to find out what I’m doing or why. But, these people I’ve never met before in my life have stopped and want to walk with me. Daniel opens the back of the van and unloads the stroller. Andrea gets Jesse and places him in the stroller. Before long, the four of us are headed west.

Not long after we began walking together, a woman stopped to ask if we needed assistance. She just wanted to check on us to see if she could help. I explained that I was walking to Denver, gave her a card, and that these kind people wanted to join me in the journey (where have I heard that before…join the journey…?) At that precise moment, on the other side of the highway there was a long honk. I looked up to see the white Oldsmobile with two ladies waving. There they were, heading back to Abilene from the orthodontist. Three separate yet related blessings all converged at one point in time and space.

Daniel, Andrea, and Jesse turned back east and I continued to the west. I was basking in the afterglow of their visit for a good long while praising God for sending them and marveling and the wisdom and mystery of how He works.

I haven’t said much about the pain in my lower left leg, just above my ankle. I’ve never had anything quite like it before. It started last Thursday afternoon long about Zephyr. It felt like I had pulled something, and also like a bruise – a kind of dull ache – nagging but not really painful. I wore my boots all day that day. I had re-laced both feet very tightly because I was getting hot spots (the precursor to blisters). The next day I had opted for running shoes in stead of boots. The pain was still there, but minor. Most of a day off Friday and no walking at all on Saturday or Sunday – surely it would be healed by Monday. Unfortunately, it was still the same today. It did not slow me down, but it remained tender. What could it be? Could it be a stress fracture? I’ve never had one so I don’t know. If it were a pulled muscle or ligament, I would think it would have improved with sixty some-odd hours of rest. Not yet.

I passed another line crew. I was getting tired. I was ready to be in Santa Anna. I was to meet Gary Absher, the postmaster in Santa Anna at the post office in the middle of town rather than ending my day at the far side of town as planned. That would make today easier and shorter, but would mean more distance tomorrow. We really needed a break but there was no shade anywhere. Up ahead on the opposite side of the highway, there was a side road leading into some trees and no gate or fence in sight. We crossed the highway and turned in the side road. There was shade. Walker wasted no time in getting off his feet. Anyway I leaned back against my pack. I took off my shoes, then my socks, then my sock liners. I laid my head back on my pack. I fell asleep. It wasn’t long before the reality of the passing of time and the ever rising temperature reminded me that the longer we indulged in this comfort, the later we would be ending our day, and the longer the rest of today’s journey would take.

Gary said to turn right one block to the post office. There in the distance beyond the traffic signal, is another traffic signal. Which one is the end. We cannot know for sure until we reach the first one. Please be the first one. I’m supposed to walk through town to the other end of town. Please let the post office be here. We approach the first signal. I look left and see no post office. I look right and see no post office. But there is a church of Christ sign pointing right. Then I see it. It is truly a sign. It says, “Post Office.” I secure Walker to the flag pole, drop my pack and fix him some water. It’s nice and shady here for him. I go into the post office to check in with Gary. We’re right on time, but I have not called ahead as I should have. Gary seems surprised that we are here. He really did not expect us until later. He tells me he’ll be ready to go in a minute so I head back outside and plan to sit down and relax with Walker. Gary really meant a minute. No sooner was I down than he was leading Walker to his car. That left me to get my tired and unrested body up and pack on. I headed for Gary’s car. Pack’s in the trunk, Walker’s in the back seat, and I’m in the front. Gary heads for home.

On the way home, he makes sure I understand how to get back to the highway in the morning. Suddenly, tomorrows distance has grown by about a mile and a half, since we stopped short, AND have to walk back to the highway. Oh, well, we’ll get an early start tomorrow and it will be cool. The anticipation of being in Abilene in two days is a powerful motivator. Sherri will be there, Justin, Amber and Abigayle; Matt, Nikki, Cheeto and Bob as well; and Buddy Mills. Arriving at Gary’s house, I open the gate and close it behind us. I turned on the ceiling fan and laid down on the bed. I was asleep in no time. I had set the alarm for 4 PM because I had writing to do, and emails to answer, and a few phone calls to make. I try to call my dad on Mondays. After I got up, my first call was to the Duncanville church of Christ office to get Kip Cartwright’s cell phone number. The lady that answered the phone was frantic and wanted me to call back. “There’s tornadoes in the area,” she said. “I’ll call back later.” I immediately called home because Sherri had told me earlier that rough weather was forecast and approaching. I asked God to let it pass over (Passover) us. I dialed Sherri. She answered but said, “I’ll call you back, I’m watching the weather.” “No,” I said, “stay on the line and turn the TV up so I can hear it.” I was watching their TV showing Dallas and listening to Troy Dungan and David Finfrock as Sherri switched between channels. It didn’t sound good at all, but nothing had touched down – no damage done yet. Heavy rain, high winds and some hail. From the looks of things, it was headed right for my house – and Sherri. The two separate storm clouds joined. Sherri asked me if I could hear the wind and rain. It’s probably best that I could not. I stayed on the phone for what seemed like an eternity – maybe half and hour – just listening to her local stations while watching the Weather Channel radar. Soon, she said the wind had gone calm and the rain had stopped. Good sign or bad? She saw sunlight. The danger had passed. I talked with Robbie and Matt in Denver. I also heard from Jay Harris and Donald Dunn. What a crazy afternoon. Matt also called back to say that the church in Sweetwater wanted us to teach and present at their church on Sunday morning May 1 and that they were planning a pot luck lunch afterwards.

We enjoyed a great meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, asparagus, English peas, macaroni and cheese, and iced tea. Dinner was a pleasant and fun event. At ten, I gave it up. Walker was fed and down. I was fed and down. We were both down for the count and out like a light.