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Our morning was pretty typical with our 5:15 wake-up alarm accompanied by a cacophony of truck engines and train whistles. At times the sounds feel like a disturbing clamor and at other times the sounds offer a familiar backdrop to the unusual texture of this journey. Mom and I worked our way through our morning activities. She made coffee then went to Gary’s tent to awaken him at 5:50. Gary prepared for his day including taking his tent down. We didn’t close the camper. Mom had decided she would do that after she dropped us off for our morning walk. In the car we talked about our strategy to search for the lost item and agreed that we would all search together at every place that Gary stopped during his afternoon walk yesterday. We decided not to start looking until daybreak. We searched for about 1½ hours then discovered the item behind Mom’s seat a short distance from my feet. We were relieved and eager to get the day’s walk officially started. Gary called Cheryl to announce our success. The exercise reaffirmed that teamwork serves this project well and reset our tone for the day to one of optimism.

Mom drove us to the gas station across from our makeshift campsite where we got some coffee. She took us to the location where we finished last night. We walked at our individual paces to Vaughn, New Mexico. The terrain was notable for rolling hills with short stretches of flatland. It was overcast and chilly until about 12:30 PM when it started raining moderately. That’s the time that Gary and Mom picked me up at my 16.15 mile mark. Gary had completed 11 miles by that time. The 11 mile distance conveniently corresponded to the location of the Desert Motel in Vaughn.

When Mom and Gary picked me up, the car was still pulling the camper. Mom and I pretty simultaneously disclosed that we had decided it was a motel night. Gary said that he had also planned to stay in a motel. Little did I know the reason for Mom’s preference to stay in a motel tonight. She went on to describe the exercise she had tolerated during our walking time including setting up the camper at an RV site only to find that there was a problem with the electrical hook-up. She put the camper back down and hooked it up to the car. It started to rain. She had Gary at the almost 11 mile point and me at the 16 mile point and narrow roads with minimal shoulder and a car with camper in tow. She had to manage the ambivalence of trying to be in two places at once which added an element of angst to her perspective regarding the plan for our stay in Vaughn.

We went to the Desert Motel and checked in. Gary took a break and Mom and I took an umbrella and walked together for my last 5.55 miles of distance today (5 miles for today and 0.7 miles I had to catch up on for yesterday’s walk). We returned to the motel and knocked on Gary’s door to awaken him. He walked his last 10 miles of our distance goal for the day then we drove to Penny’s Diner for break-fast. We had checked out the menu and made a plan during the 10-mile break earlier.

We ordered a dinner with two chicken breasts and an omelet with an assortment of side items then shared the meals three ways. It worked very well and provided a well balanced meal for each of us at a frugal price. One of Gary’s favorite foods is chicken, so it met the mark on a number of counts. It is worth noting that Gary had the option of eating both of the chicken breasts that we ordered and he elected only to eat 1 ½ and gave half of a chicken breast to Mom. While we were at Penny’s Diner, one of the servers said a local reporter was on her way to talk to us about the journey and Fast-5. Brenda Duran, a reporter who writes the Vaughn news for the Santa Rosa News joined us to prepare a story for the weekly paper. We talked at some length about the dietary lifestyle and the appreciation we have for the town of Vaughn. I gave her a copy of the Fast-5 book to read and share.

There are a number of closed buildings in Vaughn with faded Café signs. As I walked by them today it occurred to me that each of those potentially represented a broken dream. It made me think about how hard it can be to keep a small business going. Small business owners work really hard. Penny’s Diner appears to be doing well. It is well positioned in the town and is clean with a great menu. They serve breakfast all day which is a real plus for Fast-5ers who happen to like traditional breakfast selections on occasion. Gary, Mom and I talked about how great it would be to have a bunch of similar diners. It is so much more fun to eat a meal in a stand-alone, well-run diner than in a chain restaurant.

We went from the diner to a Conoco station where we bought some laundry detergent. We gave Gary the laundry detergent so he could do his laundry tonight. Mom did her laundry and mine during the day today with some laundry detergent that the motel owner gave us. The laundry detergent dispensing machine was out of order. We left the Conoco station then drove to the motel and said our goodnights. Gary planned to get his official weight for the day later in the evening and again in the morning. He took the scale into his room so he could get a naked weight for the first time on his west coast leg of his journey. We look forward to hearing the result of his “weigh-in.”

Mom and I visited for a while and watched a senior citizen comedian on the TV. It was funny to hear Mom’s response to this lady’s jokes. She was genuinely funny in an odd sort of way. We returned to more basic activities to prepare for tomorrow’s walk. Mom showered and said that it felt great. I had showered earlier. The shower felt amazing. It seemed like the first time I had been completely warm since we left the desert. I lingered in the shower for a long time. The room temperature was very warm. Mom and I were really grateful for the warmth.

Mom turned in and I typed in my journal. It is time for me to sleep. Today has been another day with personal bests for Gary. He walked an 11-mile stretch and a 10-mile stretch, each without a break. He said his feet were pretty sore, so he may have to re-introduce a short break in the extended walking segments in order to minimize his end of day foot pain. He is insightful about balancing his interest in building his stamina steadily and wearing himself out. Tomorrow he can continue to work on that balance as he gets stronger and stronger and stronger. We will walk and take every opportunity to meet with people and share our important message one person at a time.