Judi's Trek Blog

September 3, 2006

We arrived in Daggett without incident. Rick Oakley met us near the “Welcome to Daggett” sign and gave us some bottled water. He and Gary discussed the surrounding mountains as Gary attempted to confirm his impression about the location of Fort Irwin. Gary described times when he would be on a mountain on the grounds of Fort Irwin and look out over Highway 15. We thanked Rick for his kindness in giving us the water. While we were talking with Rick, Nicolaus Kypriotis stopped by to visit for a few minutes and tell us about the arrangement for us to pull our camper to the Holy Resurrection Monastery in Newberry Springs.

Nicolaus said that his wife is intent upon starting Fast-5. I gave him a book to take to her and suggested that if she has questions, she should contact us. We are happy to discuss the diet and lifestyle with her or anyone for that matter. We finished the morning walk at the intersection of National Trails Highway and Cabin Rock Road.

We planted the flag and headed back to Barstow to attend church at the Barstow Church of the Nazarene.

Gary and Mom attended church while I drove to Victorville to pick up a package from the Victorville KOA Campground. At the campground I spoke briefly with Brian Williams about the Fast-5 Diet and Lifestyle. He listened with interest and accepted a copy of the book to read and share with others he knows who may be looking for a weight loss solution. I went from the Victorville KOA Campground to the Antique Station in Oro Grande, CA to direct deliver two copies of The Fast-5 Diet and the Fast-5 Lifestyle. Two merchants at the Antique Station had attempted to order the book, but found that the books may have taken 4-6 weeks for delivery due to being on back order. It was lucky that I had some copies of the book in the car and the Antique Station was on my way back to Barstow. While I was there, Barbara told that she and some of her associates had adopted the lifestyle and were very happy with the results. We look forward to following their progress should they elect to email us to share their long term progress.

I returned to Barstow to pick Gary and Mom up from church. Nancy and Pastor Jerry Winder invited us to make ourselves at home in their home to await the passing of the hottest part of the day. They scooted out to meet some folks and left us to take showers or relax or journal. Gary relaxed in a Lazy Boy lounge chair. He commented that Cheryl would disapprove of his choice to “plop” into a recliner, but reconsidered and said that she would actually approve for this time given the outcome that the position was really helping his knees to not hurt. Mom took a shower and then “plopped’ into the companion recliner to Gary’s. I teased them about looking way too comfortable and decided to take a picture. I called to them to look over at the camera for a picture. Mom and Gary made me laugh out loud as they looked over with flawless synchrony flashing a “you’ve got to be kidding me” look at the camera. As I laughed, Gary said that the reason he and Mom had such funny facial expressions was because the very act of head turning was more energy than either of them cared to spend at that moment. Gary called Cheryl and we shared the humorous moment with her.

While we relaxed at the Winder’s home, we discussed whether or not Gary has been making the plan for this journey or whether he has been even slightly persuaded by suggestions from the “peanut gallery.” I asserted that Gary has been making all of the plans with his firm resolve draped in the words, “that sounds good, but ‘we will play it by ear.’” I told Gary that I now know after spending the last 2 weeks with him, that his standard reply of “we’ll play it by ear” to any of my suggestions really translates to “we’ll do it my way.” We all laughed together as we reviewed his unshakable conviction (until yesterday) that the heat in the middle of the day was “not bothering him at all.” He conceded that he had dismissed my recurrent petition (beginning on the phone before our first day of walking) that we would do well to walk in the morning and evening and “siesta” or break during the heat of the day.

The circumstance that prompted this particular discussion today was Gary’s physical compromise from the heat yesterday. Yesterday Gary had symptoms that even he could not brush off as insignificant. I negotiated firmly with Gary until he consented to go to the Barstow Emergency Room for evaluation. It was a great decision, because Dr. Samuel Wilson evaluated Gary and then convinced him that he cannot safely walk in the highest heat of the day. I appreciated the positive influence that Dr. Wilson had on Gary; now he has agreed that walking in the morning and evening will serve us best to complete this journey safely. I teased Gary that he just had to hear it from a “real doctor” in order to take the advice. As we walked this morning, we agreed that we will try to start every morning with “feet on the ground” at 5 AM then take a late morning break followed by more walking as soon as it cools off.

We left the Winder’s home at around 3 pm to return to the camper to trouble shoot a problem with the brake, blinker and hazard lights. A bit of diagnostic exercise revealed the need for a part before the problem can be resolved. We will get the part on Tuesday and get the lights fixed. Right now they are intermittent because of an unreliable connection on a power converter. We pulled the trailer to the Barstow Pizza Hut where we bought a large pizza. We returned to the place where we stopped walking this morning and had a picnic of pizza and fresh vegetables. We took a few pictures of our evening break-fast meal, cleaned the area and began the evening portion of our day’s walk. It was a successful strategy yielding a total of 11.06 miles walked today.

We will probably be able to increase our distance tomorrow by getting a 5 AM start. The walk this evening was glorious. The temperature was forgiving, the breeze was refreshing and the sunset was inspiring. The road was well paved allowing Mom to pull the camper slowly along without inconveniencing anyone. Gary and I didn’t have to struggle to avoid traffic hazards. These were undeniably the best walking hours we have had yet. I talked with my kids with ease because it was peaceful and pleasant. We finished our walk at dark, marked our spot then drove to Newberry Springs to the monastery. Fathers Nicholas and Basil welcomed us with warmth and gracious hospitality. There was a room for Gary and a great place for us to set up the camper. We look forward to learning more of their mission when we return for our afternoon break tomorrow. Our stay here promises to be rewarding in ways that we can only imagine.

Fast-5 LLC 904-685-5117 888-352-8439 P.O. Box 5671, Jacksonville FL 32216 info@fast-5.com