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This is the last entry for "Where's Debbie" but not the last entry for this website. Debbie (and maybe Howard helping) will be posting progress on the library that is now possible because of the vision and generosity of countless numbers of people across the United States. Check the "Progress" link to the left.
10/19/2007
I have made it to the ocean!!!
Despite the rain my smile and the smiles of my mother and prayer walker
Jim Shaner as well as new friend Gary made my heart feel like the
warmth of the sun shone on me. Thank you all for the support and
encouragement you all have given me and my unlimited gratitude is
offered to the Lord for walking every step of the way with me. After
working this winter I will return to Kenya next year to begin
construction of the library. You can continue to check the website for
updates on the library progress. GOD IS WITH YOU ALWAYS!!!!
10/15/2007
I am about 6 miles from entering the last state of Delaware. This past
weekend I had a great surprise when I was invited to go sailing. I had
never been before and was allowed to steer the 40+ beauty of a
boat...what a powerful feeling when the wind catches the sails.
10/12/2007
After a couple days in Annapolis and a great class of Hula dancing I
continued out of town and unexpectedly received a ride in the back of a
police car. I had to cross the Bay bridge where no pedastrians are
allowed, I put my pack down to put on my jacket and get out my phone to
call a friend to take me across and a cop pulled up to take me
across...perfect timing and I didn't even have to pay the toll to go
across!
10/10/2007
I am still in Annapolis and have enjoyed the day speaking to the
Kiwanis club and bicycling all over town. THe couple I am staying with
have warmly welcomed me, thanks to STEVE who made the connection for
us. Last night we enjoyed some Phillipino food, the lumpia was
scrumptuous and the company was a joy to spend time with.
10/9/2007
I am in Annapolis for a couple days, staying with a nice couple who are
letting me make myself at home as well as letting me use a bike to get
around town quicker. It is so nice to use a bike to see the area when
places I need to go to are spread apart. I have only 100 miles to the
ocean!
10/6/2007
I am in Bowie, Maryland, staying with the Maryland state co-ordinator
and his wife. The weather is still unusually warm. I read a really good
article this week about how some people have been studying Thoreaus
precise notes documenting when certain flowers germinated and opened
near Walden Pond. They are being compared to when those same
flowers are opening now, many are opening a week ahead of when Thoreaus
were recorded!
10/3/2007
I am at a highschool in GreenBelt, MD, where a couple of months ago I was invited to speak to the students once I walked by the school. Tomorrow I will be speaking the entire day to the students of the ESOL classes(English for speakers of other languages), but first I will shower before sharing dinner with the teachers!
9/30/2007
I am in Washington D.C. visiting my moms cousin. I have now completed the C & O canal and have only 150 miles to the ocean. I will miss getting to camp next to the Potomac listening to the owls hooting, but I am sure I will continue having enjoyable surprises.
9/25/2007
I am about 200 miles from the ocean and am on coasting mode! A couple days ago I walked into historic Harpers Ferry (crossing the Appalachian Trail) and met a family who treated me to a wonderful lunch and then proceeded to give me a bag of goodies to take with me! I walked to Whites Ferry crossing, got off the trail to cross the Ferry into Virginia and am now visiting the ADT sponsorship/executive director and will return to the trail tomorrow.
9/21/2007
I am in the college town of Shephardstown, WV. I crossed the Potomac to come into town and will be going back across into Maryland later today. Yesterday I met the art director for 'Ranger Rick'. He called to me from his porch as I was walking and offered me something to drink and snack on and even gave me some magazines to read as I walked. After I commented on the beautiful stone barn in the field next to him he told that it was built in the 1700's, before the C & O canal was begun and it was used as a slave market. In the back were foundations of slave quarters, what horrors that barn has seen. How much our country has gone thru in its short history.
9/18/2007
Walking along the canal has been great, I don't have to worry about directions, the scenery is lovely and there are campsites all along the canal. THe past two nights I made fires and enjoyed the extra warmth. I have about another 100 miles of the canal to DC and about 250 miles to the ocean!
9/15/2007
Its getting chilly. The other morning I wore my hat, gloves and jacket for the first two miles till I warmed up. The C & O canal is a beautiful trail paralleling the Potomac river. I have not met another walker on the trail but have met several bikers. The trail runs through the town of Hancock, Maryland, so I am enjoying partaking in the apple festival this weekend after having gotten to make some apple dumplings at the church the other night.
9/8/2007
Coming towards the town of Fort Ashby I used country roads, early this morning met a woman and her friend (wearing curlers in her hair) fascinated that they were walking on a trail. They asked me if they could pick up my pack and huffed and laughed as they tried to pick it up. That was a great photo op!
9/4/2007
I am in Keyser,West Virginia and have had a beeeeuuutiful walk this past week. There have been more deer this past week than anywhere else on the trail. From Parsons I walked to Blackwater Falls State Park where a couple volunteering at the park welcomed me to stay with them in their camper. From there I walked into Canaan Valley State Park and was welcomed to stay at the lodge where I was honored to meet Jim Shaner the next day and have him walk the next 2 days with me thru Dolly Sods. Jim Shaner is on a prayer walk across America, you can read more at www.cathyswebs.com/walkamerica
8/27/2007
I have arrived in Parsons, West Virginia, Saturday afternoon and have stayed with a couple this weekend. They have a farm and I got to participate in herding the cattle into the other field(on the back of an ATV) as well as watch Ruth feed her goat, Matthew, some Pepsi. Matthew also likes oreos!
"Lost?"
by Melanie from Logan, Ohio Melanie joined Debbie for a mile of her walk through Ohio.
"Am I lost and don't know what to do?
Keep my mind clear.
Overly simple, but believe this true:
Don't get down on myself
God cares and is near.
He's not putting me on a shelf.
Push away that dog of an energy buster,
Keep walking in faith - don't get flustered.
God will always make a reason
And redeem my trying season -
If not realized in this world,
Then the next -
I know cause it's in His text."
(Genesis 45)
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8/22/2007
I have walked to Grafton this afternoon (home of Mothers Day) and spoke to the Rotary club, unfortunately my pants were wet from my backpack being drenched but it didn't deter from my ability to get up and share my mission.
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8/20/2007
I am in Bridgeport, West Virginia. I had taken two weeks off to work and visit family and managed to have good timing by avoiding some of the heat wave. It is supposed to rain all week, I have just pulled into the library after being drenched from a thunderstorm. It feels good to be walking again, I was able to repair my pack with alot of glue and ducktape. May it just hold out until Delaware.
Debbie told me (Howard) that she was taking two weeks off but I got busy and forgot to post it.
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7/30/2007
I entered a new state!!! I am in West Virginia, John Denvers "country Roads" is going thru my mind :) This weekend I was warmly welcomed by the St.Ambrose parish, I was allowed to share my mission at all three masses and then went back to the retreat house and waitressed at a dinner, how fun! Yesterday I took my time going thru town and found myself in the city at dusk. It is difficult finding a place to put up my tent with larger populations and walked right past a homeless shelter. They let me stay and I had a shower and bed to sleep in, so many people struggling to find balance and peace in their lives.
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7/23/2007
Am now off the Buckeye trail section of the American Discovery Trail and will soon be walking into West Virginia. Met another trail angel last night when I stopped to fill up my water. I was invited to stay in a cabin and was lulled to sleep by the cows and sheep.
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7/20/2007
I have strolled into New Straitsville today and will continue onwards, but first am going to take a shower! A local has invited me to clean up and then I will be on my way. The other night I camped in a couples yard and was woke up in the middle of their night by their dog, then woken early by their rooster and thank goodness they warned me about the peacock in the tree above me!
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7/13/2007
I have been in Richmond Dale since Wednesday night, I was planning to continue walking but after having been invited into a church and then brought to a couples home who takes in hikers I am takin it easy! Connie and Mike have hosted many of the cross country hikers and are having a visit from Peter and Joyce Cotrell tomorrow. They are coming thru on their way home from just completing the ADT, I am looking forward to getting to meet them.
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7/10/2007
have made it to Waverly, I was not planning to walk to this town, but yesterday when I got to the library outside of Latham and learned that the internet was down I decided to walk on to another library. I attended my first pig roast this weekend and watched a spectacular fireworks display- lots of great food and great people.
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7/5/2007
I am in Peebles, Ohio and have had a lovely walk thru Shawnee state forest, it looks like I am now in the foothills of the Appalachians. I had two friends come and walk with me for two days, Richie who had walked with me thru California, and his girlfriend Kaia shared an enjoyable couple of days meandering down country roads and eating our fill of blackberries.
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6/30/2007
I am in West Union, Ohio. It has rained the past couple of days and is cooler out so it feels great to walk. Two nights ago because of T-storms I received permission to sleep in a barn, it was great to be able to lay my gear out to dry while I slept under the shelter of the roof listening to the rain. Last night I received a surprise and walked by a drive in movie, I propped up my backpack, unrolled my sleeping mat and sipped on a soda. THe owner allowed me camp there at the end of the movie.
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6/25/2007
I am in Milford, Ohio, the beginning of the Buckeye Trail section of the American Discovery Trail. Towns will be far apart and off the trail so I will not get to check email often for the next couple of weeks. ADT Map
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6/24/2005
I walked out of Indiana, crossed the Ohio river in a ferry to Kentucky and then walked across the bridge into Ohio. I am on the outskirts of Cincinnati and had a wonderful visit with some friends celebrating a marriage. I learned a tradition from the town of Youngstown that I may just need to adopt, they have a cookie table at celebrations. Needless to say I had my fill of a variety of cookies and now need to walk them off.
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6/19/2007
I am in Aurora, Indiana, and have been hiking long days, I am planning to visit a friends wedding celebration this weekend and will be picked up along the way by another guest so I need to continue walking to make sure I get to the pick-up point on time. I had to say goodbye to the hiking pants that I've had since Utah, they were just getting too worn so I stopped by a yard sale and walked out in a pair of pink pants. I am not a pink person...but I needed some pants! A little humbleness teaches me alot.
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6/15/2007
I am in Lexington, Indiana, and have crossed into my forth timezone. It is now staying light out until close to 10PM so lots of walking time. Last night I stopped at a house to seek permission to camp in their yard and was invited to use a tent that they already had up, how could I refuse a tent that I could stand in and spread myself out in? It is so interesting how each day unfolds.
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6/11/2007
The great Ohio river has been my companion for awhile as I walked thru the hills of southern Indiana and into the town of Corydon, Indiana. I came into town Thursday and have been warmly welcomed and am staying Ken and Yvonne, a couple who are helping me get to church and out to share my mission. I have even been welcomed to wear clothes out of Yvonnes closet! It has been a full couple of days inspired by seeing the love of God in so many I meet. After praying outside an abortion clinic I went to a birthday party and then went to several parishes with Father sharing my mission. Tomorrow I will continue Eastward with a powerful affirmation of Gods goodness and love.
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6/5/2007
Leavenworth, Indiana, is where I walked to today. It is next to the Ohio river and has some of the prettiest country roads that I have had the joy of sauntering down.
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6/1/2007
I am in St.Meinrad, there is a large abbey on the hill that I walked up to and received permission to stay at the guest house. When coming here I passed a relay for life that was just about to begin, hundreds of people will be walking till midnight tonight outside of the abbey to raise money for cancer research.
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5/29/2007
I am in the town of Newburgh, Indiana, which is nestled next to the Ohio River. People have been very friendly and inquisitive about my hike. It pleases me greatly when I meet someone who understands my purpose of living my faith. Faith is so beautiful and it is more than just a belief, it is a way of life.
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5/18/2007
Southern Illinois is gorgeous with the thick lush forests and the neat rocks and ample stream crossings. I walked to Eddyville today and have been totally spoiled for the last 3 days. The previous 2 nights I spent the night at my Aunt and Uncles, tonight I am staying with the southern Illinois state coordinator and his wife. The food has been plentiful!
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5/16/2007
I took last week off to go home and give some talks. Let's just say I am very happy to once again be on my feet, they are quite a bit more reliable than my car! I have now walked to Southern Illinois near Vienna and am at my Aunt and Uncles who live only a mile from the trail. I will be eating well tonight and enjoying their company before continuing on the rIver to River trail tomorrow.
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4/30/2007
I have made it down to Murphysboro, IL, and am visiting my sister before I walk back west towards the Mississippi river to catch the River to River trail heading East which is part of the American Discovery Trail. THis past week has been an enjoyable walk, my body feels great, but my feet are sore as they have to get broken in again. I had a moment where I felt I was in Kenya again, as I was walking past a field with horses I thought I saw a zebra. I stopped and stared and sure enough, it was a zebra in a field in Illinois!
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4/21/2007
I decided to start a new page with the beginning of Debbie's 2007 walk. Look here for updates.
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