Judi's Trek Blog

September 5, 2006

We also stopped by the market to get fruit and nuts to give to the monks as a thank you for their generous hospitality. It’s a small thank you, but seemed best. Mom arranged the platter as Gary offered advice on the best configuration. They bantered in a friendly manner about the arrangement and overall artistic expression.

 I just smiled at the warmth they express when they communicate. They have a lot of common ground in their military backgrounds. It leads to some humorous discussions between them. The stress of the journey is easier to manage because of the growing cohesion of our “unlikely trio” as the media has called us. We returned to the monastery. It was amazingly hot in the camper. We turned on the air conditioner; Mom and I tried to take a nap. We were modestly successful as the camper gradually cooled. Gary said he worked on the internet and washed his hat. His hat looked dramatically improved after he laundered it. He talked to Bert about a St. Louis Channel 5 interview that Gary had given yesterday evening.

Gary said that he and Bert talked for about a half an hour. Gary told me that he and Bert talked about what it is like for Gary to be out here walking with me for so long. Gary said that his analogy was that the walk is similar to him taking an extended time with one of his sisters. He often reminds me that I am the little sister, so I have to be okay with a certain amount of teasing. Blister management steps for the evening walk proved successful, so the evening walk was vastly better than the morning walk.    

Today Gary’s weight on the digital scale I brought was 306. The first day we started walking, the digital scale read his weight to be 324. Gary has a strong impression that the digital scale we are using is off by about +10 lbs. It is certified to be reliable to 300 lbs, so his impression may be correct. He bases his impression on a comparison weight displayed on a mechanical scale at a Pilot Truck Stop on the first walking day. It read 314 lbs. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we are many miles east of that Pilot now, so serial measurements on that scale are not practical. We have concluded that the absolute weight number is less important than the degree of decline for a while. However we slice our confidence in the digital versus mechanical scale, Gary has lost 18 lbs since his first walking day. Today is walking day 19 and Fast-5 day 18 for Gary. In summary, he is losing about a pound of fat per day with the Fast-5 lifestyle + walking combination. That is a three fold increase from his weight loss success due to walking without Fast-fiving when he was back east.

We retrieved our marker flag and started walking at about 5:15 pm today. There was a minor dust storm that compromised distant visibility briefly. I tried to capture the start of the storm on film. I’m not sure how well it demonstrated the real time image. The walk tonight was pleasant. Three fire trucks passed us midway into our walk. One of them was sounding the siren and kindly stopped the sound a short distance before and after our location. We were on Old Rte 66, so the traffic was negligible. It was kind of the truck’s driver to choose to not blast the noise in our ears.

A short while later, one of the three trucks traveled west on 66 specifically so the driver could speak with Gary. He had seen the news clip and wanted to say hi. The driver was Stephen Miller, assistant fire chief of the Newberry Springs Fire Department. He and Gary talked of the weight loss struggle and their success. Stephen wished us well and we continued on. Before he left, I asked about the outcome of the fire. He said it was good news. I talked on the phone with my kids at some length while we walked tonight. That has been my pattern for the last few days because I have been lucky enough to have a cell phone signal at a convenient time. 

We completed our walk for the night about 7:15 pm. The total miles for the day were 11.3. We stopped early to allow Gary some relief from his sore blisters. We are hopeful that his new shoes tomorrow will dramatically improve his foot health.

We returned to the monastery where Mom cooked a hearty dinner including hamburgers, salad and a leftover rice dish. We ate outside of the camper picnic style. I took a couple of pictures, because sometimes this whole flow that we have each day seems very surreal.

 It is my hope that the pictures will help me to recall that feeling when I reflect on the events in the future. We all enjoyed the meal and thanked Mom for her hard work. I noted to her that she could make a great meal out of sawdust if she had to. Her skill at taking a few scattered ingredients and producing a phenomenal meal is evident to us time and time again out here. Mom did the dishes. Gary went to his room. I went into the camper to try to get some work done. Tomorrow will be another great day. We are moving closer to our destination with each footstep. We are hoping to have ever growing efficiency as each day passes. Time will tell.

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