Saturday, July 17, 2010

Somewhere in Michigan

Howdy folks

I forgot a huge detail about walking on the old dirt highway- for probably a good 3 or 4 days the part of the highway we were traveling was infested, and I mean INFESTED, with grasshoppers! Sounds harmless right? Well yes OK they were harmless but they were gross! Grasshoppers are cute to look at and maybe even to catch and play with for a minute but these little buggers were EVERYWHERE and every step we look was into another bunch of them. They do a pretty good job of getting out of your way, but every now and then one would jump up and hit you in the ankle. UGHHH! It was such an unsettling sensation and every time it happened I shuttered in disgust and actually yelled out loud a couple of times. I ran into the middle of the street to escape them but they were alllll over the street. That was not fun. It was funny...and I could laugh at it even at the time. But it was nonetheless disturbing and super distracting! I remember that week it really started to warm up, and we were sweating like pigs on the last few shifts of the week just from the sun's heat alone. I also forgot to mention the little diner that Barbara, Mike and I went to on Monday of that week. We passed it while walking and after finishing up our first 7 mile shift of the day we drove back and went to have lunch. I think the funniest reactions we've gotten from people are those when we are traveling in small groups and especially when we go out to eat. When our waitress asked what we were up to and we told her the typical "we're walking across the country for Pro-Life we started in Seattle and we're headed for Washington, D.C." she seemed stunned and in disbelief. She was young and very nice but had a serious sort of character and it was funny to watch her walk away and come back with more and more questions as if waiting for us to say "OK we're only messing with you." It was laughs, but it really is amazing all of the attention we get for just wearing our matching Pro-Life tees into a place. Imagine all of the thousands of people who have seen us walking, the thousands of those who have seen us speak at their parishes, the hundreds who have seen us in local restaurants and checked us out at the grocery stores. When someone finally speaks up and asks us questions it's never a dull conversation, and it just makes me think of all the people who were dying of curiosity at who the heck we were and what on earth we were doing but never approached any of us. At least their wheels are turnin'! That's all I can hope for...that people THINK about it. It's not a lukewarm issue.
So yeah yeah yeah enough about that week. The weekend in Sioux Falls followed those days in BFE. We stayed in Tea, a small town right outside of Sioux Falls at St. Nicholas parish. This was a find-a-spot-on-the-floor kind of weekends, the sort which we hadn't had since Seattle, fortunately. The church was air-conditioned so we were happy. This was the weekend I gave my very first parish talk in Spanish! I offered to give the talk because I had take classes for nine and a half years and only had to read off of a piece of paper with a nice accento. We went to Our Lady of Guadalupe and I spoke twice that day. The first mass was at 7 AM and the priest asked me and Faith to sit right up front, so not only was I still half asleep during the mass but also completely lost- I can understand some Spanish if it's spoken slowly, I can comprehend it in written form, and I can write it fairly well myself. But I think the ultimate test of fluency would be to attend a Spanish mass and be able to talk about the readings, the Gospel, and trickiest of all the homily! I knew what was going on for the most part obviously, especially because we go to mass every single morning. But it was hard to follow nevertheless. At communion time they do it old school style where everyone comes up to kneel and receive the Eucharist. Faith and I had no idea what was going on and when we were supposed to go up- we waited for an usher but apparently there were none. It seemed as though the congregation was lining up back rows to front, but I think it was all just random. We kept looking at each other and around at the other people and then back at each other and then at the altar boys to see if they could help us out. Hahaha we just looked so out of place- lost and confused little English speaking girls in the middle of a Spanish mass. Ay yay yay! That morning Barbara left to get some lunch and to pick up the other group from a church nearby and on her way out of the parking lot some kook sped around the corner and almost hit the Dingy (the minivan, in case you forgot). She had to swerve out of the way and nicked a car parked on the street right outside of the lot. She came inside the church where we were waiting for the next mass wish a distressed look on her face..."I hit a car." "Was it your fault??" "Yeah...it was a parked car." Lol. So we had to deal with that nightmare!

The next week was fun too. I'm realizing that these blog posts are probably way too lengthy and not too interesting so I'm gonna try to make them short and sweet from now on. I'm going to TRY...
The next week was alright, we walked through a piece of Minnesota and then scooped down into Iowa. The parts we were walking through in Minnesota had miles and miles of wind turbines! It was crazy I'd never seen so many in my life especially not all in one place at a time. We had beautiful weather and nice scenery for the days (or day perhaps) in that state, but once we hit Iowa things changed a bit. Iowa was probably my least favorite of the states we've walked through so far- I actually even forgot that we walked through it until I asked Barbara what we did during the week between Sioux Falls and St. Paul (sorry Iowa). It was so stinky! Literally the whole state smelled of horse poo and...well pretty much horse poo. I was on night shift for the last part of Iowa and during my first walk of the first night Curtis, Margaret and I had a sour encounter with a truck o' cows. The truck drove by and I prepared myself to bask in the breeze that big trucks always provide for a couple seconds after they pass. It passed, and I felt the breeze, but we all felt something a little unexpected slash into our faces! We don't know exactly the details...but we're pretty sure a cow was takin' a leak right as the truck was passing by. It was repulsive...to say the least. The rest of the week went well and as Thursday night approached we were all very excited to hear that Curtis was giving us the last night and day shifts of the week off! We were parked at a really awesome KOA (Kampgrounds of America...yes with a 'K') in Jackson, MN. The family running the place was so incredibly friendly and generous and they were so excited about what we were doing. We got ourselves one of the few cabins in the lot and cooked up some yummy brats (spelling?...the sausage. The really good sausage.) for dinner. Afterward we all suited up and went in the pool! It was so much fun and we made a huge scene for about an hour and a half. We played all sorts of crazy games and I'm pretty sure we were a source of entertainment for the entire campground for as long as our childish pool adventures lasted. We got to hang out around the fire pit and make s'mores that night...it was nice to just chill and not have to worry about walking or speaking a parish or anything the next day.
That weekend was St. Paul and Minneapolis. Walking-wise we were still traveling in Iowa but we drove up Friday afternoon to the twin cities where we had delicious local pizza at this great place in St. Paul. After that we went to the Franciscan Brothers of Peace (I hope that's right...) monastery for a Holy Hour (an hour spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament). There were several other locals there and it was a really great experience to share that time in prayer with them and the brothers. Afterward we were invited for coffee and danishes and got to chat with everybody for a little while. Kate, Amy, Miriam and I left soon after with Sr. Joan from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet at whose convent we were invited to stay for the weekend. The rest of the girls stayed with the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the boys stayed with the Brothers. We had such a nice time at the convent. Sr. Joan was just amazing; she made us feel right at home and introduced us to quite a few of the sisters there. This convent was an "institution", as Sr. Joan would say, which I think meant that there was more than one order living in the building and so breakfast, lunch, and dinner and such daily activities were all on a schedule; during these times we got the chance to meet quite a few of the sisters living there, and that was such a treat for us. They were all so full of joy and life. I didn't know until after we left for the weekend that Sr. Joan was 80 year old! I woud've guessed probably 73, 75 at the most. She was so active and lively and spry I never would've guessed 80. There's something to be said about the health and length of life of religious (sisters I mean). That is definitely something I've noticed on this trip for sure.
We all loved the cities- on Saturday everybody but me and Amy went to the Mall of America. It has a water-park and roller coasters and everything INSIDE. Pretty cool...but I still wasn't interested lol. I took a much needed nap in my own little room in the convent and then Sr. Joan drove us to the church where we were speaking that night. That night and the one before the ladies and I went down to the kitchen and enjoyed ourselves some late night treats : ) ice cream and cookies and the like. We were sad to leave the convent that weekend : ( and I know that if I ever return to the cities I am definitely going to visit Sr. Joan! She rocked. She even called Curtis "Curty" when she was asking him about lunch plans and wanted to get down to the point. We love Sr. Joan!!!!
Sunday was the Fourth of July, and although we were let down with the fireworks, Curtis let us take the night off from walking. That started our new no-Sunday-night-shift-for-night-crew policy, if you will. I think we're on schedule enough, or possibly ahead although Curt won't let on to that, that it isn't necessary to walk Sunday nights. So night crew only had 4 shifts a week! And I benefited from the change two weeks in a row : ) and this week could very possibly make it the third haha. Hopefully not...I need some sunshine. So for the 4th we headed back the the KOA in Jackson and hung out there around the fire again with s'mores and cigars and relaxed for another night. It wasn't the most exciting Fourth of July I've had in my days but nonetheless it was enjoyable for what it was.
Tired now...I'm actually in Ann Arbor (actually, Ypsilanti a town right outside) Michigan and have mass early in the morning. I've been trying to play catch up on the blogging...so that's why the locations in the titles don't match up with the content of the blog. Oh well! I'm doing my best!

Peace and love <3

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Chicago, IL

Weekend #7, 5 more to go! It's crazy to look at a map and see how far we've come. Sometimes I forget that it's not a normal way to spend the summer...and then I see people's reactions when we explain what we're doing and I remember!
Anywho....
I left off last time in Deadwood, SD (Rapid City weekend). Yes, Deadwood was fantastic- you can't go wrong with a live country concert with tons of locals crowding the streets of an old western town notorious for being the death-place of some crazy poker-playin' cowboy. Another plus was the rectory we hung out in all of Sunday day (Father's Day actually). It was a beautiful and very cozy place in back of St. Patrick's in Lead where we were invited to spend the day lounging on the couch watching TV and to cook and eat a nice dinner. Being there two churches close by, each with it's own rectory, and only one priest between the two, the rectory in Lead was unoccupied and Father offered for us to stay there for the night. The ladies slept out in the RV; we didn't stay inside because we enjoy sleeping in the loft, but more so because Mike was making creepy demonic sounds and pretending to be possessed, and basically he scared the cahoots out of us and made us afraid of the house. We hadn't need to travel far for daily mass that Monday morning because we were conveniently right next door to the parish. I was wiped out from the weekend and didn't feel the need to shower that morning or the night before. Crossroads has an unspoken spoken rule that mandates that any opportunity you get to shower- YOU TAKE IT AND YOU SHOWER. Well...we hadn't yet learned the genius behind this rule until this week. Not only did I not shower that morning, but I didn't shower the next, or the next, or the next. We were not happy campers this week (although I didn't mind not showering all that much...you get used to the grunge look living in VT ;-p just kidding...sort of). After hitting old Highway 31 (or some old highway...and I mean OLD highway), the chances of finding a nice RV park with showers were looking pretty bleak. It was a dirt road for, from what I remember, at least all of Monday. We saw wolf spiders and rattlesnakes along that route...just to give you a mental image of this highway. Scary!! We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so that night and the next we had to park the RV on the side of the road to sleep for the night. Usually we can at LEAST find a Walmart lot to park in, and in these cases we're just happy to have a bathroom close by so we don't complain! But yeah, side of the road on Old Highway 31 in BFE, South Dakota. BFE is what we say when we're literally in the middle of nowhere. And we were....in the middle of nowhere. Both nights turned out to be super stormy, so night shift had to sit out the lightning in the van while us poor squatters on day crew hugged our rosaries and prayed that a tornado didn't come and sweep us up into oblivion. We had NO cell reception, NO internet, NO NOTHIN'! All I could think was...everyone in South Dakota knows of this huge tornado coming through the state and they're all fully prepared for the worst but safe and sound in their homes, thankful for the warning...and then I'd think of our 'Boat', parked like a sitting duck on the side of Old Highway 31 with not a clue in the world of this record breaking tornado funnel headed our way. Waaah! It was all good though we made it through the storms, and night crew actually got to hang out with some pretty cool animals that night once the walking once again commenced. They met a cat which they named Lola, whom I believe they actually met before the storm and kept her in the van with them until they went back out (surely all Brad's idea), and then later they met a dog whom they named Scrunto. Their story went that they said goodbye to Lola and a few hours later they saw an animal in the dark walking towards them. They all got excited that Lola had returned but as it neared they noticed this thing was waaayy bigger than Lola!
So yeah none of us showered that whole week until Friday. For most of us it was at least only since Sunday morning, but for others it was Saturday night...which doesn't seem like that big of a difference but when you start counting the days 5 is a much bigger number than 4. We were pretty stinky and greasy and grumpy because of our stench and grease-bomb-ness (as I said I didn't really have a problem, which is probably more unhealthy a mindset itself than the lack of showers haha). On Wednesday of that week we came to the legendary Faith sign (I think the Northern walk has stopped there every year for the past 6 years and took pictures, so of course we had to do it up). The sign just says FAITH in big white letters and underneath it says '<-- 28 miles'. So we climbed all over the sign and took some fun pictures there. I wish I could post pictures on this blog! Bahhh!
So after a week of taking baby-wipe showers (which is a pretty common form of self-cleansing on Crossroads...or at least is a really popular one with our group lol) we finally got to shower. I don't remember where, but I know it was pretty flippin' awesomeeeee. The morale of the group bumps up a good 5 notches every time we are able to shower after having been deprived for more than 2 or 3 days (which is less common than I was expecting, but not totally rare). The stinky week ended well and we headed for Sioux Falls for the weekend!
But that's another days blog posting...I've gotta get to bed. Mass at 6:30 AM tomorrow followed by a 3 hour drive back to our ending point in Iowa. We're really close to Illinois though! Wooty woot!

God Bless : )

Sunday, July 4, 2010

St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while! I haven't had much access to the internet over the past couple of weeks. Let's see where did I leave off....we were in Ashland, MT last time I blogged. Man, I've already been through all of South Dakota since then!
Soon after Ashland we crossed into South Dakota by way of Highway 212. Our first weekend there was so much fun. We stayed with some really great host families in Rapid City who were so exited to hang out and talk with us about our adventures. The family that fed us all weekend was just the best- we had Indian tacos again the first night and yummy kielbasa and doggies the next. They had a nice house with a sweet pool table, which I was pretty psyched about and took full advantage of : ) We ate and hung out in their backyard, where Chad, the dad (amazing guy who is very knowledgeable about JP2's Theology of the Body and actually gave me a copy of the book!), showed us a game his family plays that consists of simply throwing a small ax at a tree stump that's been turned on it's side (with the flat face of the stump facing the thrower) and lifted up onto a little pedestal.
On Saturday we got to go see Mt. Rushmore! Wooty woot! That was a real treat for us because we often don't get to really explore the cities in which we stay on the weekends. It was very cool to see such a national treasure, although it wasn't quite impressive as I was expecting. It was a little smaller, and Roosevelt's face was kind of receding into a grove because of years of re-constructive surgery on his face : p It was still a cool experience though and the grounds around the mountain were beautiful and nice to walk around in. That night we had to go into the towns of Deadwood and Lead because there were no parishes for us to speak at in Rapid City. Deadwood was so cool! Many of you may know the story of Wild Bill Hickock? I didn't....but apparently he was a pretty notorious guy back in the Old West who was shot and killed in Deadwood during a game of poker. We had mass in Lead (only about a 5 minute drive away) and another in Deadwood; after the last mass we went down the street into town and there was a big concert going on. There was a cool country band and people lining the streets...they had chairs set up everywhere and people were dancing and singing and just having a blast. We joined in the festivities for a bit but had to head back to Rapid City shortly after. We all loved Deadwood!
I have to go now but I'll try to get online this week to finish catching up on all of the fun times we've had since then. We were in Sioux Falls last weekend and are in the Twin Cities now, but heading out soon to get ready to walk tonight! That's right....I'm on night shift this week. It's about time though I was on day for 3 weeks in a row. I've got some really attractive tan lines to show off : )

xoxoxo

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Somewhere in MT

We've been so blessed this week with such generous host families inviting us into their homes. Sunday night, as I've mentioned in the last blog, we stayed with Curt's friend Kelti in Billings. Monday and Tuesday night we stayed with Maria, another one of Curt's friends from High School, and her lovely family in Hardin (I think that's where we were at least...). Maria walked the Northern Walk last summer and she joined us on Monday for a shift during the day. Her family has an amazingly beautiful home that is decorated with Native American pictures and all kinds of other Indian themed things. The walls are covered in wood panels, but a gorgeous wood that I've never seen before. It is very light colored with brown spots and is so smooth to touch! The wood used for the hand rails going up the stairs and the railings on the second floor looked like big tree branches, and they had other arrangements of these branches throughout the house. (I wish I could post pictures on this blog page to show what I mean because I'm really not giving this house the compliments it is due. I'll get pictures up online somewhere hopefully soon and then post a link so that you can all look at them!) The first night we had Indian tacos for dinner- which are basically fried dough (although more bread-y than any fried dough I've had, and much tastier) with regular taco toppings on top. You eat it by cutting it up and eating it with a fork. I would definitely recommend trying the fried dough as a substitute for hard shells. The second night we had elk and buffalo! The elk was offered in the form of steak and burgers. The burger was pretty tasty but the steak was delicious! It was marinated in soy sauce, which in my opinion could turn cow poop into a yummy meal, and it cooked medium rare- just how I like it! We asked if elk was easy to find in Montana (like if you could go find it in a grocery store or a butcher shop), and we were told that if you wanted to eat elk you pretty much have to go out and kill one or get some meat from a friend who hunts them. The buffalo was prepared in jerky form- like little bits of beef jerky, only buffalo. That was pretty tasty also, but I preferred the elk.

Last night we were invited by Fr Paschel of St. Labre's parish (and school) to stay the night in the rectory (I think that's what it's called...the place where the priest lives), which is in Ashland, MT located on the Indian reservation. He had a very nice little home a short distance from the parish, and there we cooked pizzas, ate ice cream, watched movies, and chatted with Father. The parish itself was unlike any I'd ever seen. The outside was shaped like a tee-pee (again, wish I could post pictures here!!) and the inside had stained glass panels located at very specific spots so that at different times of the day (sunrise, noon, sunset, etc) the light would shine through and illuminate different things inside the church, i.e. the tabernacle or the altar. Ribbons are very sacred to the Indians so much of the church was decorated with ones of different color, thickness, and length. The floors were simply made of gravel (you know, like those portions of sidewalks and roads, and often driveways, that are made of gravel and gray cement) and had no kneelers. If you wanted to kneel on a cushion you had to grab one from the back of the church. I personally like it when there aren't any kneelers (plus I got used to not having any at school!) because it is a reminder of the sufferings Christ took upon himself in his Passion. And the part of the mass during which we kneel is that which allows us to share in that Passion on the altar. Staying with Fr. Paschel was a real treat and we were sorry to leave Ashland and St. Labre's parish this morning.
Tonight we're somewhere near Broadus staying with a family of 6- 2 young boys and 4 girls, one is a baby. This is the first time we've stayed with a couple that has children! It's fun for us to be around kids (even though we're tired) and they are so excited to have 12 new people in their house!
I didn't walk today because I hurt my foot yesterday trying to stretch out the muscles around my shins. Something funky happened when I tucked my foot under to feel a stretch, and since then it's been a little swollen and really stiff. It feels much better today than yesterday, and icing it helps a lot...hopefully I'll be good to go by tomorrow, and, if not, at least by this weekend! Having an injured foot makes it difficult to walk across the country ; )
Well I've got to run off to bed, even though I slept most of the afternoon away today. Hugs and kisses and prayers and blessings!

PS we should be in South Dakota by tomorrow night...woo hoo!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Billings, MT

Ok scratch some of the info from that last blog...we were on 12 until shortly after Shawmut, where we turned onto Highway 3. From there we will take Highway 3 into Billings and then hop back on I-90 for a short distance. Then we'll get on 212 and walk that into South Dakota hopefully by the end of this week! Montana has been nice... but I'm ready for a new state! I haven't had many opportunities to see the "Big Sky" out here because of the rainy/cloudy weather we've had these past two weeks while I've been on night shift. There was one night last week that was stunningly beautiful though; the sky was clear and the stars seemed infinite. I don't mean to be a downer...but there was still some light pollution on the horizon so they didn't appear so low to the ground. The night I'm waiting for is one that is so dark and so clear that, once your eyes leave the horizon, everywhere you turn your head you see stars until the sky meets the ground and you're looking at the earth again. I was told that western Montana would be flat...but that South Dakota would be even flatter. I hope that's true because I won't leave these flatlands until I see those stars from horizon to horizon!
This weekend we stayed in Billings- the largest city in Montana (which really doesn't say much, but it actually is a rather good size...about 126,000 people. Much bigger than Burlington!). The group split up this weekend and was hosted by four different families. I stayed with Margaret, Kate, Faith, and Barbara at Diane's house. Diane is a wonderfully generous woman who fed us delicious dinner and breakfast all weekend and opened up her beautiful condo for us where she allowed us to sleep, do laundry, and relax our bodies and our minds. : ) Thank you Diane for your welcoming hospitality! We all thoroughly enjoyed our stay at your home. Thank you for sharing with us not only your home but also your thoughts and experiences. We are pleased to have gotten to know you as much as we did in such a short time.
The rest of the walkers were split up and stayed at their respective host homes, and we were all shipped off to different parishes last night and this morning for mass. We had six different churches to go to this weekend! We normally go to 4 (give or take one) per weekend, so this was a busy one for us. I had the honor of attending mass at St. Patrick's Co-Cathedral twice, once Saturday night and once this evening for 5:00 mass. Beautiful church and mass. We had a fun experience on Saturday while we were praying outside of Planned Parenthood...which sounds bizarre but bare with me! As we were praying our first set of mysteries I saw a little girl walking down the sidewalk in our direction with a basket of brownies in her hand. All of a sudden Brad ran our from the line and hugged her and picked her up! I had no idea what was going on at first but soon learned that the girl was his little sister! Their sister Emily and their parents drove two days out from Sacramento, CA to meet them for the day and night. It was such an exciting surprise for everyone and obviously such a treat for Brad and Barb.
I'm on day shift this week! Woot hoo! Night shift was cool but I'm excited to walk in sunlight for the first time in two weeks. I'm exhausted so I'm gonna head off to bed. I apologize again for the disorganization of my blog. I'm tired!
Let me know if you have any questions so I can have something specific to write about!
Love you all and hope all is well :o)
God Bless

BTW Dave Bathon was here for the weekend. He's one of the guys that works behind the scenes to set up weekend mass locations and times and host family houses and allllll of that fun stuff. Thanks for all you do Dave! On a more personal note...Dave was the one who was at the booth at the FOCUS National Conference that I attended this past Christmas Break. I learned about Crossroads by talking to him and right off the bat I told him "I'm in!" He knew I was being sincere and he gave me a free Crossroads Pro-Life tee right then! If he hadn't been at Conference I probably would never have learned about Crossroads and I wouldn't be here right now. So thanks for being there Dave!

OK bedtime!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

White Sulfer Springs

I realized today that the route we're walking is a little different than the one listed on the Crossroads website (crossroadswalk.org). The site is accurate through Washington until Missoula, MT. A little past Missoula, where we were walking at the end of last week, we switched over to highway 12. We'll stay on 12 until we hit 87- which I'm assuming we'll take down into Billings (where we'll stay next weekend). After Billings we'll get on 212 and stay on that until South Dakota. I'm not sure what we'll do after that but I'll keep you posted!!
I much prefer walking on highways to the interstate (I think this is the general consensus) for a few reasons. For one, I like walking through towns and seeing their little shops and restaurants and houses and things of the sort. It's definitely more fun during the day to walk through these places, but at night it helps the miles seem a little shorter and the time seem to pass a little faster. Plus, it's nice to see the different 'personalities' of the places we walk through. I also like that the support vehicle has more flexibility in reaching the walkers if there is a problem, i.e. it starts raining or someone really needs a jacket or water. Another big one is bathroom accessibility!! All in all it's just nice to get off the interstate for at least a little while :-)
Well I'm on night shift again this week so I have to wrap it up. We're going to pray evening prayer now and then head out to where day shift left off. We're going to try and get a lot of miles in tonight because we have tomorrow off! Curt says we're doing really well so he's giving us a day (and a night!) of some good old R&R.
We're parked at a motel for the night and inside are 2 hot spring pools! My group went in for a little while before dinner tonight...it was reeeally nice : ) : ) The sulfer in the water made the air around the pools reek of rotten eggs...but it was worth going in! The first pool was nice and warm and that's where we lounged for a while. The second pool was a little smaller but much hotter- it must have been at least 105 degrees! It felt really nice to sit in there...just for a minute though! I think tomorrow we'll go back in the springs for a little while and then try and find something else to do for fun. We were hoping a couple weeks ago to get far enough ahead to go to Yellow Stone Park for the weekend, but that plan fell through and Brad and I came up with the brilliant idea of going to a zoo! Maybe we'll find one close enough to drive to tomorrow : ) (I doubt it though...I think the closest is Zoo Montana in Billings).
OK I have to get going! We walked through Helena last night and day shift walked through Townsend today, so we're picking up a little outside of there tonight. Keep us in your prayers! Love yas!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Great Falls

I gotta make this one quick because we're heading out soon to go pray at an abortion clinic. We're in Great Falls right now at Curt's dad's house. We are staying at a host family's house about 20 minutes away, so we left from here after dinner last night and came back over this morning for a delicious french toast, sausage, and yummy eggs breakfast.
The place we're staying is home to a very nice Baptist family and is located right on the Missouri River. Their names are Bonnie and Mike Mitchell and they have three boys who are apparently all into hunting! In their living room is mounted the head of en elk- it's incredibly huge with antlers that are at least 2 and a half feet in length. In another room there is a stuffed mountain lion (!!!!) on a rock display thingy on the wall. They are both so scary and I hope I don't see either of them while walking, especially at night! Bonnie works for an organization that helps women in pregnancy crisis situations (I believe it's called LifeWay but I have to double check tonight). She shared with us an amazing story about a girl who was faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The girl had called a few months back and set up an appointment for what she thought would be an abortion, but she never showed up on the set date. She called about a week ago and the people at LifeWay had her come in yesterday. Again, she thought she was coming in for an abortion. While at LifeWay she was given facts about what her baby looked like and how it could function at the stage it was at. She was twenty weeks along, which is just 3 weeks shy of point at which a baby can live outside the womb. I have to leave but I will wrap up with saying that the girl ended up calling her boyfriend (who was outside in the car with their 4 year old daughter) and telling him that she couldn't go through with it. She was the 47th woman who came through LifeWay and changed her mind about an abortion (they've only been open for 4 and a half years!).
Bonnie also had models that were the exact size and weight of babies at 12, 20, 24, and 30 weeks. It was incredibly moving to hold them, and it's wild that with all of the technology now-a-days people still think that a fetus at 12 weeks looks like an "alien" or a "fish". It looks like a new-born baby...only smaller.
OK I need a nap! Love all of yas :)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Montana!

After Sunday night we were walking through Spokane, which was our last city in Washington state. Day shift on Monday crossed into Idaho through Post Falls, and that night I had the pleasure of walking through Coeur d'Alene. What a beautiful city... it reminded me a lot of Church St. in Burlington- lot's of cute little shops, pubs, and pretty restaurants. We walked past the Coeur d'Alene lake but unfortunately couldn't see it because it was already dark outside. Curt and I had a funny experience walking in the area-a group of people coming out of a bar asked what the heck we were doing walking through the city with rain suits on (rain jackets and pants...they're very flattering as you can imagine). We told them we were walking across the country and they all flipped out they were so excited (they were a little fired up lol). It was someone's birthday in the group and his friends started taking pictures and videos of him with Curt and me-it was laughs!
The rest of the night was good- it was a little rainy but not too cold. I can definitely feel myself getting stronger and into better shape- Curt is a fast walker but I was walking at his pace and we made good timing each 5 mile shift. Night shift is different from day shift in many ways but one significant difference is the amount of conversation that takes place while walking (and while waiting in the van- it's different from the day in that there is none). While walking through the city with all of the lights and people and activity Curt and I were chatting, but it seems like once we hit the highway and it's back to darkness everyone tends to grow silent with the surroundings. It's nice though- I like the peace and quiet, and the darkness too. It's fun during the day to see the places you're walking through and the landscapes you're passing by (I get a lot of use out of my camera during these times, especially while in the van driving to the next stop), but there's something really nice about walking through the night. Silent personal prayer sneaks up on you and before you know it you're in a state of deep contemplation. I've found it's a nice time to reflect on the day and to ask God to help me with those faults I find myself guilty of. In the peaceful silence I feel that God reveals to me the ways in which He is working in my life. I've found myself laughing a couple times thinking of how He has literally grabbed my hand and lead me to Crossroads. I have no hint of doubt that my being here is an integral part of His master plan for me, and I know that the challenges I will be faced with this summer are going to be (and have already begun to be) His little ways of presenting me with opportunities to grow in virtue.
We met Steve Sanborn, the founder of Crossroads, yesterday. His lovely family allowed us to shower at his house and then we had a chance to hang out with his kids for a little while. They were adorable and so sweet- there's something to be said about Catholic kids!! It's no wonder Susie and I were so very angelic 0: ) Steve told us that back in '95 he and 9 (I think?) other friends from Franciscan University of Stubenville decided to walk across the country for Pro-Life. They borrowed an RV from a friend and hit the road with not much of a game plan. They sort of winged it walking into parishes every now and then asking if they could speak during the mass and tell people what they were doing. A priest from Australia was walking with them and at one point he made a comment about the next year's walk and how it should be different in so and so way and Steve was like 'I'm not doing this again next year!' I guess the priest knew it would catch on, and obviously it did! Here I am 15 years later...but hopefully Crossroads won't be necessary for too much longer. Pray for an end to abortion! Every single day!
Steve said that there are 3 stages during the summer that each walker will go through. The first is the physical stage- one that we are all still in now. Our muscles are sore and our little feetsies hurt : ( 4 or 5 of the walkers are having problems with their achilles tendons- say some prayers for them! The second stage is personal- we're living 12 people in an RV for 3 months. The glamour will wear off soon. Enough said there. And the third is endurance- he said that at a point it will feel like everything is dragging on and going nowhere. These all make sense and I was expecting these types of struggles. Bring it on! I'm definitely in the physical stage right now but getting into the personal : / I get really frustrated when people talk when I'm trying to sleep! So my challenge right now is remembering that it's more important to practice patience with my group members than it is to fall asleep right away.
I'm pretty tired and I don't feel like reading through this entry to check for mistakes or to see if it even makes sense...sorry if I rambled! Leave comments if you have questions or want to hear more about something in specific.
Tata!

Oh yeah.... we're in Montana! Day crew crossed the state line yesterday afternoon and last night we continued the route on 90. We're in our 3rd state!!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Night Shift

It's 6:45 AM and I don't have much time to write because we're leaving at 7:15 for mass at 8 (after that I'll be zonking out), but I just got back from my first night on night shift! It was a whole different ballgame than day shift- as I was expecting. My group left at 8:30 PM to drive out to where we left off Friday afternoon. On the way I realized that I forgot my sneakers! : 0 whoopsie! So Scott and the day shift gang drove the RV out from the Retreat Center where we had been staying for the weekend and met us at the first mile marker (they're the best).
Curt and Margret are super fast walkers and no one likes to walk with them because our sorry behinds can't keep up! So the two of them walked the first 5 miles and Miriam, Brad, Kate and I waited in the van for the RV. We started our walk around 10:15-ish after I unsuccessfully tried to keep everybody awake for the hour and fifteen minutes we were waiting for the other walkers. We were a little groggy but excited to walk in the dark- there were some clouds in the sky but we could see tons of stars because we were walking by big open fields and there were no lights for miles. The weather was really nice too (until the last 5 miles when it started raining) which was a huge relief because most of last week was rainy for both day and night shift; a few poor night shifters ended up getting sick because of the rain and cold weather.
The thrill of walking in the dark wore off preeety quickly (for me at least). The miles seemed longer and it was hard for us to walk while tired. It wasn't so bad overall though and we ended up getting in 30 miles (we each walked 15!). It's raining now so I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby today and be well rested for tonight's walk.

Some of the places we've walked through so far:
Seattle (kickoff)
Snohomish
Munroe
Gold Bar
Skykomish
Steven's Pass (through the Cascades)
Leavenworth
Wenachee
Waterville
Wilbur
Davenport
Spokane (our shift last night walked from Davenport to Spokane)

We've been walking on Route 2 through Washington because it's illegal to walk on the interstate, but we're getting on 90 soon and heading for Coeur d'Alene, Idaho after Spokane.

That's all folks...I'm tired. Goodnight!

(Written Monday morning after walking Sunday night)

First one : D

First blog!! Woot woot! I'm a loserhead for not having blogged until my second weekend of the trip but alas the blogging has commenced. Crossroads is awesomeee : ) : ) My teammates are so much fun and we all get along swimmingly. I swear it took 24 hours for us to feel completely comfortable with each other. There are 12 of us including our fearless leader Curtis. To give an idea of the wide spectrum of home states I'll write where everybody's from: Curt-Billings, MT, Amy-Philly area of PA, Jessica-Naples, FL, Kate- southwestern MN, Margaret-Petoskey, MI, Faith- Pittsburg (southeastern), KS, Scott- near Indianapolis, IN, Brad and Barbara (brother and sister)- near Sacramento, CA, Miriam- South Bend, IN, and (Mad) Mike- also South Bend, IN. And that's my crazy crew!
The northern route walkers broke ground last Saturday; we began at the Space Needle in Seattle and ended at U.Washington 3.3 miles away. I felt a little apprehensive about the week to come because I was kind of pooped after those 3 miles. haha! The rest of that weekend was spent attending mass at various parishes and giving talks about Crossroads (the talk basically covers 3 main points- pray for us, give us intentions so we can pray for you, and give us $money$ ! ). We are all volunteers so we rely on donations from the parishes where we talk to pay for gas, food, water, sunscreen, odor-eaters (crucial!),etc.
As far as the dynamics are concerned, a typical week goes as follows: the group is split into two shifts- a day and a night shift which both aim to get in about 30 to 40 miles in a 10ish hour time span. We travel with an RV where we sleep and store all of our stuff and a support vehicle (soccer mom mini-van- it's pretty swanky though) that drives the walkers on duty out to the starting point and drives along with them until the end of the shift. By 'drives along with them' I mean that the van drives 3.5 MPH on the highway alongside the walkers for 30-40 miles. JUST KIDDING! 6 of us drive out to wherever the last shift left off and 3 people get out and starrrrrt walkin'. The van drives up the road 5 miles (the mileage can be measured on the car itself but we try to stay matched up with the mile markers) and the walkers make the trek to the van. Then we switch it up- those who were in the van get out and start walking and those who just finished up jump in the car and drive ahead 5 more miles. Get the picture? We try to each get in 15 miles in a shift, but everything depends on time and where we're staying for the night and what time mass is in the morning. Curt tries to stick to a schedule but things often change quickly so we're learning to be prepared for anything.
So what the heck do we do in the car for an hour and a half while people are walking to the van? We laugh. A lot. Haha we have fun- we talk, we tell stories, we read, we listen to music, we find places to go to the bathroom, we nap (!!). This is only true for day shift though, night shift is going to be a completely different story (one that begins for me tomorrow night). Poor night shift didn't get much sleep this week- they leave between 8 pm and 12 am and walk until mass in the AM, so once we get into the swing of things they should be able to sleep through the day in the RV. But because it was only the first week and everyone is still getting used to everything they got the short end of the stick as far as sleeping goes. Hopefully my group will figure out a way to get enough sleep during the day so that it isn't as painful as I'm imagining it will be to walk through the night.
OK that's enough for one day! Love you and miss you all : ) keep me in your prayers and I'll keep you in mine! I've been dedicating miles to my loveys so I hope you're all on your best behavior so as to reap the most benefits from your graces ;-)