Journal entry, 8-18-06 Today I woke up at 3:15 am and packed and got ready to leave San Diego. I had agreed to meet the limo driver in the lobby at 4 am sharp. I went down to the lobby and the limo driver was waiting for me already. We left at 4 am sharp and drove all the way to Victorville, Ca. We arrived there at the KOA at 6:20 am. Dr. Judi Herring and her Mother Mary were waiting for me. I got out of the limo and got straight into their car and we left for a town hall meeting in Hesperia. We met some very wonderful folks there and we were asked to introduce ourselves and tell about what we are doing. We really had a wonderful time there. After the town hall meeting, we left for La. We arrived there at about 11 am or so and walked about 8.1 miles. I was a little out of the walking mode after having not walked for nearly 3 weeks. Mary drove the support vehicle near us as we walked toward the mountain. Dr. Judi walked with me and after a short period she had her pace adjusted to match mine. I was impressed by her willingness to slow down to my pace. I began to enjoy her company. Having her Mother Mary close by with extra water and other necessary supplies soon became very important to us. The walk was pretty much on a flat surface and wasn't very hard. Shortly after we started We ran into a small group of Harley Motorcycle riders. They were very nice and we had a wonderful time talking with them. Thank you guys for being so kind and friendly to us. You certainly made us feel at home in a place we are not accustomed to. A short time later Mediha Fejzaglc DiMortino, with the Upland News Bulletin called and asked if she could do an interview. We met her at a nice place inside out of the sun and gave her an interview. Then she went outside and took a photo of us walking. You can find a link to the story on Dr. Judi's web site. We walked a little ways further and stopped at 8.1 miles. I felt like not getting to exerted my first day back to walking in California. We planted a flag beside the road marking the exact place we stopped. Then we rode with Mary in the support vehicle to the campsite where they were set up. That is where I pitched my tent. At the campsite Mary prepared us a meal on a grill attached to their camper. We really had a wonderful meal and I decided to call Mary Cookie because she sure can cook good. This is the beginning of me being on the fast-5 plan to lose weight. I will attempt not to eat again for 19 hours. I hope I make it. After dinner, we took showers and everyone went to bed. I called Cheryl and reported my first day walking to her and explained that it is really working out well with Dr. Judi and her mother Mary. Cheryl and I both agreed that it is an answer to our prayer. We had been praying for some sort of support to help get me through the desert. Take care all, Gary, "Keep on walking, one foot in front of the other." Journal entry, 8-19-06 This morning we woke up at 4 am. We were on the road by 5 am. We ran into a little traffic getting to where we had left off the day before. We made fair time and soon were walking again. We are still close to Las Angeles and there are red lights on every block. We spend a lot of time waiting for the lights to change to green so we can cross the streets. We soon ran into a lady named Rosa and her son David. We talked with them for a while. They saw our story in the paper from the interview we did yesterday. After talking for a while I told David that he should never forget the words, "Never get fat!" They left and in a short while brought back several neighbor kids to meet us. Soon I had them all chanting, "Never get fat! Never get fat! Never get fat!" It was a pleasure to talk with them. As we continued to walk we came upon a shop that had metal sculptures. I stopped and posed near one while Dr. Judi took my picture. |
