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!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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)
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
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