expedition56

Colorado – Sunday, October 20

I had driven down to the town of Salida last night – one of the many old gold or silver mining towns in the Colorado mountains. When gold was discovered, it would trigger another gold rush and thousands of prospectors would make their way out to stake another claim. One rich valley had as many as 5,000 men working in a 1/2 mile area – I presume it was a pretty deep gulch to accommodate all the people. I can’t imagine the chaos! Tula and I started our walking in Salida, which had a big historic district and a pretty riverfront. They sometimes have canoe or kayak races down the river and some of the gates were still hanging up. Then I found a rail trail and we covered a couple more miles walking right toward the snow-capped mountains. I walked over 3 1/2 miles altogether in Salida.

From there we headed through Buena Vista where I walked another mile or so, then continued on toward the gold mining town of Leadville, which is the highest town in the nation at an elevation of 10,100+ feet. This town also had a lot of character and lots of old mining equipment to look at. We walked past the blocked off entrance to one of the old mines, and walked down streets that still had rows of old mining homes. There must be a ski hill nearby because there was a winter sports shop with benches outside made of old skiis. I enjoyed the cool fall air and scuffling through all the leaves on the sidewalk. My pedometer said I only walked about a mile in Leadville, but I thought I walked a little farther – must have been the altitude!

I didn’t make a donation today, because all 7 Colorado donations are already done.

From Leadville I continued driving through the mountains, which were just gorgeous. I drove through a snowstorm, and crossed the Continental Divide a couple times. There were some blink-and-you-miss-them towns, and old train trestles and occasional stands of aspen trees. I simply took my time on the mountain roads and enjoyed the drive. Eventually I came to Vail – I figured I should walk through at least one of the big ski towns. I found the Gore Valley River Trail and Tula and I walked a little over 3 miles along the river as the sun was going down. At one point we walked under one of the chair lifts, and we passed countless condos and townhouses that are rented out to skiers. But most of them were empty and dark at this time of year – the calm before the storm. Then we went to the actual town of Vail, which was a very fancy, pedestrian-only village. It was pretty much a large expensive resort, designed to look like a Bavarian Village in the Alps, with exclusive shops and elegant restaurants. This is a quiet season and only a few restaurants were open. I walked another mile and a half up and down the quiet streets and tried to imagine it at the height of ski season.

By then it was late and I was getting cold and hungry, and I had walked over 10 miles today. I drove a little farther on to the town of Dillon, and picked up some dinner at Noodles and Company, and was tired enough to turn in earlier than normal for me.

Colorado – Saturday, October 19

My first stop this morning was the Air Force Academy, and its beautiful chapel. The Air Force Academy is a military school for officer candidates, and they only accept about 11% of applicants. I went into the Visitor Center and then walked down to the chapel. There are actually 4 separate places of worship inside – Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist. The Protestant chapel was the biggest and had an enormous organ and choir balcony in the back, and the ends of the pews were designed to look like airplane propellers. The Catholic chapel was the next biggest, with lots of carved marble and another big organ. The Jewish area had a Torah Scroll that had been hidden from the Nazis and was found in 1989 in Polish warehouse. And the Buddhist chapel had floor mats and a big Buddha figure. There are also areas for other religious celebrations, which can be held in a room that doesn’t have any permanent religious decorations in it, although everything is available for other faiths whenever they want to hold a service. There was a general donation box on the main floor, asking for donations to help the chaplain corps attend to all the spiritual needs of the cadets. I wanted to make a donation here for my military-related donation this week, since I haven’t yet made a donation to the military school, so I wrote a note and a check and deposited it into the box. Then I went back to the van, and drove around the campus a bit more, and got Tula out for a walk on part of the Falcon Trail that goes through some of the hills around the campus area. I walked almost 2 miles at the Air Force Academy.

By now the sun was out and the sky was a beautiful blue, so I decided to head for Pike’s Peak in the hopes that the road to the summit would be open all the way to the top. I had to backtrack a little to get there but it was worth it – Pike’s Peak is called America’s Mountain, and I really wanted to visit. There is a $12 fee to drive on the road to the top, and the lady at the entrance said the road was indeed open all the way up, for the first time in a couple days. It’s only 19 miles to the 14,100 feet high peak, but with all the curves and switchbacks and the steep grade it took a long time to drive up. There are several picnic areas and gift shops to stop at on the way up. The views were amazing as I passed through the sub-alpine areas up past the tree line into a cold, windy, rocky landscape. At the lower elevation I drove past a “Bigfoot Crossing” sign – haha. There were no sightings of Bigfoot today! There’s a one-story visitor center up at the windy summit, and the cafeteria area was doing a brisk business selling hot coffee and fresh, warm cinnamon donuts, and the donuts were good. People who don’t want to drive can take a cog railway to the top, but I’m not sure if it was running today because I never saw it. It was really cold and windy outside, but I still enjoyed the views. It made me wonder how many square miles I could see from looking in all directions from the summit! I was feeling a bit like queen of the world up high on a mountain! Lots of people visit the summit, and that’s why it’s called America’s Mountain. In fact, the view was the inspiration for the song “America the Beautiful.” There was a donation box in the visitor center at the top which had different divisions for donations from different states. Michigan was in the top 3. I began to think I’d like to make a donation to America’s Mountain, but then the ranger started shooing everyone out – they wanted to close down on top so that people would get down the mountain in a timely manner. So I didn’t have time to write a note and leave it inside. But I could see the ranger was going to stick around til everyone was gone, so I did have time to write a note outside, along with a donation check, and the ranger said he could either take it, or I could turn it into the lady in the booth at the bottom of the road. I told him I’d prefer to give it to him outside on a mountain top – at 14,100 feet I know I won’t be able to “top” that donation! Everyone had to use low gear to drive down, and I drove through some blowing, swirling snow. There was a mandatory brake check about halfway down – right before the steepest 3 miles. I had to pull off with some of the other vehicles and open the hood and sit for about 10 minutes. The rangers have a tool to check the temperature of the brakes and anyone who has a reading over 300 has to cool off for a bit. Mine were just a bit over 300 so I sat and waited. The ranger was telling us about a race that is held on the mountain, which sounds absolutely crazy, and he pointed out where a couple crashes had occurred with the cars tumbling partway down the mountain, although with no injuries. He also told us that parts of the road at the higher elevations had had a couple feet of snow on them this morning, and they had to get big machinery out to clear the road, and if the sun hadn’t come out to help, the road wouldn’t have been open. I’m so glad it was!

I was only able to do a little walking on Pike’s Peak, so it was time to get a bit more walking done. I headed west and the first town I came to was Woodland Park, which seemed to be a ski town, and Tula and I got out and walked almost 3 miles before it got too dark. So I’m coming up a little short today, and will make it up in the coming days. Then I got in the car for a couple hours and continued heading west. I dipped a little south to find a pet-friendly motel in Salida, where I was also able to do some laundry. I’m pretty sure my camping days are over now that it’s getting later in the year, and colder. When there are frost warnings out, it’s too cold for me to camp!

Colorado – Friday, October 18

It was chilly, a little snowy, and very foggy when I got up, and I heard the Denver/Boulder area was getting even more snow. I took my time getting packed up, and the sun began to peek out, and the little bit of snow on the ground in Colorado Springs began to melt. When the fog had lifted, I ventured out and my first stop was at Garden of the Gods – more big red rock formations with good trails to be able to wander around a lot of them. It sort of seemed like I was back in Utah! Tula and I walked more than 2 miles admiring all the rock formations.

Then I had been hoping to drive up to the summit of Pike’s Peak, which is at an altitude of 14,100 feet, but the road was closed again today due to the weather, which wasn’t surprising. They thought part of the road might open later, but if I’m going to drive on the road, I want to be able to go all the way up! I decided to take my chances and hope that the snowy weather would move out by tomorrow, and maybe the summit road would re-open. I found a bike trail along a creek close to Garden of the Gods, and Tula and I walked another mike along that.

Then I drove into old Colorado City, which had been a mining town back in the day, and I walked another couple miles in the historic downtown area. I passed several big signs (on the side of a bus stop shelter, and on the back of a park bench) for the local Pike’s Peak Habitat for Humanity, and that made me realize I hadn’t donated to Habitat for Humanity for quite a while. I figured running across these big signs was a reminder for me, and I had wanted to make a donation to some organization that was helpful for the Colorado snow/flood victims, and this would be a good one! So after I finished walking in Colorado City, I drove over to the Pike’s Peak Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop, and made my donation. There were lots of people buying some discounted building supplies and the manager appreciated the donation.

Then I had to take care of an oil change – today was a good day to do it since I wasn’t roaming too far, and I found a Jiffy Lube that was able to get me in without waiting too long. They told me the air filter was really dirty (and I could see that for myself) but they didn’t have any for my van, so the guy told me where an auto parts store was, and showed me how to change it (no tools required – even I could manage that!) and said if I still had trouble putting it in that he would do it for me if necessary. So I found the auto parts store after the oil change, and got what I needed, but I still had trouble with one of the clamps, but the guy from the shop put it in. Nice people at both places!

By this time I was in a historic part of Colorado Springs – in the old north end neighborhood, and Tula and I set out for almost 3 miles of walking through a neighborhood of big old homes, many of which were decorated for Halloween. It was fun to be out walking as it was getting dark to be able to see some of the Halloween lights – some people get pretty elaborate! I stayed on the north side of Colorado Springs, crossing my fingers that tomorrow would be a sunny day!

Colorado – Thursday, October 17

My donation for today was going to go to the Fishers Peak Soup Kitchen, where they serve lunch every weekday to whoever comes in, plus they distribute other food for the people to take with them. I called to see if they would prefer a financial donation or a food donation, and I talked to Terrie, and she said a financial donation would be wonderful so they could it add it to the funds for the big Christmas dinner with all the fixings. So I drove into Trinidad and found the soup kitchen. They start serving lunch kind of early, at 11:00, and there were quite a few volunteers to help with cooking, serving, cleaning and passing out other food. They have 80-100 people come in to eat every day. I met Terrie, and she introduced me to several of the volunteers. She was so appreciative of the donation that she had written out a thank you card even before I got there! She invited me to have lunch, and I said I didn’t want to eat food that others might need, but she said they had plenty. So they gave me a tray and I enjoyed an early lunch of pasta with meat and cheese, salad, garlic bread and cherry pie for dessert. It was good – better than lunches I would normally eat!

Then Tula and I set off for some walking. We covered 3 miles in Trinidad – an old Spanish town with brick streets and old Victorian buildings, sitting in the shadows of Fishers Peak. This was coal mining country, and they had the last coal-burning steam engine in a park. There was also a Coal Miners Memorial in the center of town, along with a big sculpture of a canary in a cage – a tribute to the birds that saved countless lives in the mines. Miners would often carry a canary into a mine to act as an early warning system for the presence of toxic gases like carbon monoxide, methane or carbon dioxide. Because their heart rate is so high, those gases would quickly kill a canary, but would give the miners time to get to safety. It’s kind of nice there’s a tribute to the canary!

When we were done walking in Trinidad, I drove north to Walsenburg, where we got out for another mile of walking. Then I headed up to Pueblo, which had a good downtown area for walking, plus a riverwalk. Between town and 2 loops of the whole riverwalk, I covered a little over 4 1/2 miles in Pueblo. Then, with darkness falling, Tula and I walked another mile around the big old train station which is now used for special events – it was a big building with beautiful stained glass windows, and we walked up on the bridge to look at all the train tracks, and I was hoping a train would come by, but it didn’t.

By then it was totally dark, and I decided to drive a little farther north to Colorado Springs. It was chilly out, and I’d have to pay attention to snow forecasts since I was now close to the Rockies.

Colorado – Wednesday, October 16

The first thing I did today was go back to Brew Unto Others to talk with one of the managers so I could find out if there was any particular kind of food I should shop for. She told me that anything non-perishable would be great, and that they’re hoping to fill up a truck with all the donations. So I went shopping and got pasta and sauce, cereal and oatmeal, cans of chili and soup, mac and cheese, cans of tuna and chicken, and ravioli. As I carried things in, I met one of the volunteers who had worked on the new floor in the shop – the whole place looks great and was clearly the result of a lot of hard work. I wish them well with their endeavors!

From there Tula and I walked around town for another half mile, then I went in to the visitor center to find out a little more about town. Apparently the town came into existence when someone surreptitiously moved the railroad depot from the town 3 miles away to this new location, so the railroad was built through Lamar instead of the other town, and back then, the railroad had the power to make or break a town. They also had a wind turbine blade on the ground – I can see why a truck can only haul one at a time! I also learned about something I’d never heard of until now. There was a statue in town called “Madonna of the Trail”, and it’s one of 12 Madonna monuments in the country (in 12 different states) that mark the National Old Trails Road.They were dedicated to the spirit of the pioneer women and were commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This particular statue represents the women on the old Santa Fe Trail. The other 11 Madonnas of the Trail are in the states running east to west from Maryland to California. I’ve already been in all 11 of the other states (most recently Albuquerque, New Mexico). All 12 statues are the same – the pioneer woman faces west with a rifle on one arm, an infant in the other, and a toddler grabbing at her skirt. This is just one more piece of history on the old National Road that I first learned about in Maryland – a road approved by Thomas Jefferson even before there were cars. So many old roads…this journey’s gonna need a sequel!

After soaking up some of that history, Tula and I headed for a big park on the south end of town, and walked a mile and a half before leaving town. The stone fences and other stone structures have been here since the 1930s – there was also an outdoor fireplace that the Boy Scouts built with the motto “Always Be Prepared” on a plaque. I started heading west along the old Santa Fe trail, and the next town I came to was Las Animas, and we walked nearly 3 1/2 miles in that town. Then we continued west toward La Junta. The road was following the railroad tracks, and there were still telephone poles (or maybe old telegraph poles?) using the old glass insulators. I’ve always like those, and to see so many still in use was pretty interesting. As I was getting close to La Junta, I passed 3 guys walking along the road with backpacks, and one of them was carrying a very large American flag. That caught my attention – with the backpacks and a stroller-sized cart with more gear, they looked like they were on a journey of their own. I decided to turn around and see if there were any logos or any signs of what they might be doing. But I didn’t see anything. I had to pass them again as I headed into La Junta, and my curiosity got the best of me. So I turned around again, and pulled off the side of the road, and started walking toward them (and I’m not the first person who had done that!) It turns out they were 3 19-year-olds – Mike, George and Drew – who were walking across the country to raise awareness,support and money for Livestrong, an organization that helps fight cancer. They had started their journey in Connecticut on April 21 and had been on the road for 6 months. They said they averaged 17-20 miles a day, and from Colorado they would walk across Arizona and finish up in Huntington Beach, California. Two of them had enlisted with the marines and would be shipping out when their journey was over. Of course I had to support their Walk Across America! I was going to give them a check for Livestrong, but they said making a donation online would be better so they didn’t have to forward a check. They had a card with all the necessary information on it. So I promised to do that, and drove into La Junta. But when I got there, I realized I also wanted to support them – in the form of a cash donation for food or a motel stay in bad weather, or whatever would personally help the 3 of them. So I retraced my steps (worried I might not find them again!), and found them, and they were very appreciative of the money. They were very polite and personable young men – it’s quite an undertaking, and they could be a good example for their peers. So it turned out to be a double donation day – one to their cause (Livestrong) and one to support their day-to-day needs. They did say people had been good about helping them out with food and occasional places to stay. I’m guessing the big flag draws a lot of attention! I found it kind of ironic that my Expedition 56 and their Walk Across America crossed paths near La Junta, which is Spanish for “the junction” – it was like the junction of 2 American journeys!

Tula and I walked 2 1/2 miles in La Junta, then I walked a little more around the grounds of a community college. Even though it was dark, I was ready to drive for a bit, and I’d been listening to weather reports. It was snowing in the Denver area, and I already knew the west side of the Rockies had been hit pretty hard. I decided to stay in southern Colorado for at least another day until the latest snowstorm blew through, so I headed southwest to Trinidad, where I stopped for the night.

Texas to Colorado – Tuesday, October 15

I ended up in Amarillo last night, and I had one mile left to walk in Texas, so I drove over to the National Quarter Horse Museum and walked Tula around the international headquarters building and the museum building, then I couldn’t resist going into the museum since I’ve had quarter horses for so long. I enjoyed the visit although it seemed to focus more on quarter horse racing than some of the other activities quarter horses are well suited for. There was also an art show in one of the rooms, and I really enjoyed looking at all the original paintings and sculptures. After the museum I drove over to the livestock auction building – once a week Amarillo is the site of one of the biggest livestock auctions in the country. I didn’t see much there except for a lot of cattle hauling trucks. Amarillo is a railroad hub too, so there were lots of trains going through town.

Then I continued to head north, and halfway between Amarillo and the Texas/Oklahoma border, Tula and I made one final stop in Dumas for a walk around the city park, and then my week in Texas was complete. I had walked all 56 miles, and made all 7 donations – the Santa Rosa food pantry in Pecos; a donation for a military care package in Pecos, the Alamo, Project HOPE, Caritas Community Kitchen, Kids in the Kitchen, and GRUB.

I finished the drive to the TX/OK border and then I only had to drive about 40 miles through the skinny panhandle of Oklahoma before I crossed into the southeast corner of Colorado. This part of the state was all treeless grassland with numerous windmills. The first little town I came to was Springfield and Tula and I got out for a couple miles of walking. There were interesting metal sculptures throughout town, depicting different kinds of people who had lived there (Native Americans, cowboys, miners, pioneer women etc.) As I continued driving north toward Lamar, the landscape was still pretty flat all the way to the horizon with the exception of one butte with twin peaks, which really stood out in all the flatness. I passed a sign that said something about Twin Butte Rec Area, and I decided to go check it out. Basically it was a dirt road leading to the butte, and there was no traffic, so Tula and I got out to walk around part of the base of it. The butte was a remnant of some long ago volcanic activity. I seemed to be the only person around for miles and miles, and with the wind blowing, I felt like I was truly in the middle of nowhere – but in a very pretty way! We turned around and headed back toward the car, and at one point Tula lagged behind so I turned around to see what caught her attention on the road, and saw that she had overturned the biggest spider I think I’ve ever seen. I yanked her away because I was worried it might be a tarantula or something, and I didn’t want her to get bit. I flipped it back over with the toe of my shoe (spiders don’t scare me like snakes do) and it was huge and black and fuzzy with some odd markings. I took some pictures (one of which is below in case anyone doesn’t like spider pictures!) with the intent of trying to identify it.

We drove the rest of the way into Lamar, and it was dark so I decided to stop. There were lots of streetlights in town, so Tula and I walked another mile and a half up and down Main Street. We happened to pass a coffee shop with a name that caught my attention – Brew unto Others…Coffee with a Cause. I looked in the window and there were still some people there, so once Tula and I finished our walk, I went back to the coffee shop and went inside to find out what their cause was. The place was bigger than I expected – the storefront wasn’t all that big, but the building was deep, and it looked very inviting to sit down with a hot drink and a book or a computer, which several people had done. I talked to the young man who was working there, and he told me the coffee shop had only opened up about 3 months ago, and was run by a board of directors made up of people from several local churches. All the proceeds from the coffee shop, as well as all their tips, go to support local food pantries. They had designated October to be canned food month, and there was a box for people to leave food donations. It was too late to get to a grocery store and back tonight, so I told the young man that I’d be back with a donation in the morning!

Texas – Monday, October 14

My first stop today was going to be at the South Plains Food Bank, where I was going to meet Maxine, who’s the director of GRUB (Growing Recruits for Urban Business). GRUB operates a large 5-acre garden, and is designed to help young people between the ages of 14-21 learn about both farming and business. I met Maxine after her staff meeting, and she was a wonderfully kind lady. I had called her a couple times to make arrangements to stop by when I was in Lubbock (and it took longer to get there than I thought!) and she had even offered to take me out to the garden during the weekend if that’s when I came through. Despite all the rain over the weekend, she was still willing to take me out to the garden so I could see what they’re doing. The kids learn about all aspects of gardening like planning, soil prep, irrigation, planting, nurturing and harvesting. They gain marketing and business skills by going to the farmer’s market. During the school year the kids come out on Saturdays to work in the gardens, and during the summer, 25-30 of them are actually hired to work in the garden. Sometimes when the kids are not working in the garden, local prisoners come out to work. In addition to traditional gardens, there are some raised bed gardens so people in wheelchairs can work in them, and there are also some greenhouse-type buildings called “high tunnels.” One of the high tunnels was full of 5 different varieties of strawberries. Lots of the produce had already been harvested (several crates of roma tomatoes were in the building) but there was still work to do. It was really interesting to see everything, and I was happy to support them. The thing that surprised me the most is that they grow loofas for use in soap making. I had no idea loofas were grown on land – I thought they came from the sea! They had a big trellis for the loofas to grow on, and they hang from their vines. They sort of look like zucchinis. Once they’re picked, the loofas are soaked and then peeled. They have a lot of little seeds in them, and those are removed with a great deal of shaking. The loofas are then soaked in bleach and dried, then they’re ready to be used in making the soap bars. One of the ladies was in the process of making soap bars to be sold at a local market to raise money for the food pantry – she would put a dry loofa in a tall container, and then pour melted soap with added fragrance and the soap fills up all the hollow spaces in the loofa, and when it hardens they have a machine to cut it in thick slices, which are sold as a soap/scrub bar. I’ve bought those at craft shows in the past. She gave me an almond-scented bar, and Maxine also gave me a bag of small yellow pear-shaped tomatoes which were yummy!

Then it was time to do some walking. Tula and I started off with a little over a mile and a half downtown, then I found the Texas Tech campus area. We walked another mile and a half by the “Cottages of Lubbock” which were blocks of cute little homes – maybe both for families and college students. Then Tula stayed in the van while I walked another 2 1/2 miles around the Texas Tech campus and some of the surrounding area. Before leaving town I wanted to visit the Wind Power Center because I like windmills, but when I got there I discovered they’re closed on Mondays. So I couldn’t go inside the museum, but I still saw dozens of different kinds of windmills on the grounds. The variety of windmills is amazing. From there I saw the Canyon Lake Bike Path which went around a lake, so Tula and I walked another 3 miles. Then I really needed to head north!

This area was still cattle country, and they grow a lot of grain, and it’s also one of the biggest cotton producing regions in the country. I drove through all the wide open spaces, and passed some big grain elevators. I passed a town called Tulia, and drove through it, but it was getting dark and I didn’t see any place to finish my last mile of walking, so I’ll have to do that in the morning. I continued driving along through a fiery red sunset to the town of Amarillo, where I stopped for the night.

Texas – Sunday, October 13

I ended up in Abilene last night, which is ranch country. My goal for today was to get my walking done while dodging raindrops, and to get up to Lubbock where I’d be meeting Maxine, who was going to take care of my last Texas donation. I knew lots of Texas was getting some heavy rain, and I found out later that Austin, which I’d just left last night, would get a whopping 12 inches of rain today, causing a lot of problems and closing down the last day of the big music festival. The panhandle area seemed to be the only part of Texas not being hit with a deluge, although skies were gray. So I was feeling pretty lucky!

Before the town of Abilene was established, this was buffalo country – wide open spaces, flat and grassy. Early ranchers soon started replacing buffalo with cattle, then several railroads came to town, and Abilene became a major cattle shipping town. And livestock is still big business, although the oil wells are still around too. The actual town didn’t look all that interesting to walk through, so I found a park on the outside of town that had a small lake, ball fields (full of noisy young teams of kids playing baseball!) and walking/jogging trails. Tula and I walked over 2 1/2 miles there, and then I drove over to the other side of town. On the way, I passed a farm with about 20 white horses in a pasture. I’ve seen lots of horses on my journey, but I’ve never seen so many white horses in one place. It’s very eye-catching, and it reminded me of an albino filly that my old broodmare had years and years ago. I think those white horses are used in parades. I found Red Bud Park on the other side of town, and that one had even more miles of trails. There was also a prairie dog town, and there were lots of tubby little prairie dogs scurrying around, and eating all kinds of fruits and veggies that someone had put in their space. A low wall enclosed the “town” and Tula knew something was on the other side of the wall, but she couldn’t quite see over the top! We walked almost 2 1/2 more miles in that park.

Then I backtracked 8-10 miles to go visit Buffalo Gap Historic Village, which was a collection of buildings from the turn of the last century. Dogs were allowed on this property – even in the buildings, which is kind of unusual. The buildings were all from West Texas, and had been moved to Buffalo Gap complete with all their furnishings. It was a really interesting visit. The courthouse originally had a noose hanging from the top of the stairs (which was one of the few things that was no longer there), and there was an old jail cell on the second floor. There was a spur display and a barbed wire display, and the old schoolroom had a school bell display. The playground had some old-time playground toys, and the print shop had an original Heidelburg press. I especially liked the old bank building (I was able to walk behind the teller’s “cage”, and the old gas station – I finally understand how those old pumps work! After a peek inside the old chapel, I was ready to drive north. There were some really old buildings even outside the historic village too.

As I headed north through the panhandle, I saw lots of red dirt fields, and hundreds of wind turbines. There were cattle ranches and cotton fields, and everything seemed to stretch endlessly to the horizon. After a while I came to the town of Sweetwater, and since it looked like it was going to rain soon, I wanted to get a little more walking in while I could. But we were only able to cover about a mile in the very quiet town before the rain started coming down pretty hard. We got a little wet! Then I drove for a couple more hours in the rain up to the town of Lubbock.

Texas – Saturday, October 12

I headed into Austin to start the day with some walking, and got out in the South Congress Street area because it looked like a fun place to walk, and wasn’t really downtown. I heard later it’s call Soco (combining South and Congress), and it was a lively area on a Saturday morning with lots of funky little shops, eateries and people. I had to park quite a ways away, but Tula and I didn’t mind the walk. We walked all around the Soco area, and went into some of the little neighborhoods with their small tidy homes. Then I put Tula back in the van and walked a little more and actually went into a couple shops. There were some interesting stores, but the most amazing one was the cowboy boot shop. I could smell the leather even before I walked through the doors, and the whole place smelled like leather – it smelled even better than some of the food stands I’d been walking by! I can’t imagine the amount of inventory they carry – the boots looked like they sold for $300-$800, and there were countless pairs on display, not to mention leather purses, belts, wallets, and still more boots! It was too rich for my blood, but sure was fun to look around. I went back and got Tula and we walked around another part of the neighborhood, and then I needed a bite to eat. I didn’t want to leave Texas without having some good tacos, and I had noticed a taco place that always seemed to have a long line of people waiting to eat, and finally by mid-afternoon there was no more line, so I was able to sit at the outdoor patio with Tula. It felt good to sit down in the shade – it was still really hot and muggy out. I ended up sharing my table with a couple other people, and one of them was an Austin native and it was fun to hear what had changed over the years.

By this time I had walked about 4 miles in the Soco area, and I was ready to go to the other side of the lake and walk around the “real” downtown Austin. Tula walked about a mile and a half with me in the heat, and it just wasn’t as interesting on this side. I walked along more of the lake trail and covered another mile and a half, and then it was time to put some miles on.

I didn’t make a donation today because I only have one left for Texas, and I had plans to meet up with the person for my last donation whenever I was in Lubbock. I knew I couldn’t make it as far as Lubbock tonight – Texas is a big state to drive through! After a pretty sunset I ran into some heavy rain which slowed me down, and prevented me from walking my last mile today, so I’ll have to add it on to another day. I drove til it was pretty late, and made it to Abilene where I stopped for the night.

Texas – Friday, October 11

I spent my morning taking care of 2 donations (neither place would be open on the weekend, so I took care of both of them today). When I was researching donation possibilities last night, I first ran across a program called Kids in the Kitchen, which is run through the Capital Area Food Bank. These programs are 7-8 week sessions where kids learn how to cook simple healthy recipes, and I liked the sounds of that, so I thought that would be my donation. But I often read about other things and dig around a little more, and that’s when I ran across a soup kitchen/food pantry called Caritas. Since I’m one of 4 generations with Caritas for a middle name, I KNEW I had to make a donation to them! And that’s where I went first. Traffic was very heavy and slow because of the music festival, but I finally found the location, and went inside and met Ally. Caritas Community Kitchen provides free lunches with no questions asked to about 350 people every Monday through Friday. And they also provide groceries for people to take home. They anticipate providing enough food this year to make 43,000 meals. Ally seemed to enjoy the story of my journey – especially the fact that my middle name was Caritas, and she offered to put half of my donation toward the soup kitchen, and the other half toward the food pantry.

From there I went on to the Capital Area Food Bank and met Angela, who runs the Kids in the Kitchen program. This is a mobile program, to be able to reach the kids in need, and Angela and her co-workers pack up everything necessary to head out to teach the kids not only how to cook, but a bit about nutrition as well. They cover a different area of nutrition each week – there are 3-4 nutritionists on the staff. The kids learn simple recipes for snacks and meals, like tostadas and whole wheat pancakes; and they learn to cook not only for themselves but for their family too. And it sounds like they enjoy their classes!

Then it was time to do some walking! It was another really hot and humid day, and since town seemed crowded with the first day of this music festival, I decided to do some walking by Lady Bird Lake – a huge lake right in Austin named after Lady Bird Johnson. There were trails around lots of it, and Tula and I set off on a 2+ mile walk, and then she had enough in the heat. I walked the other direction for another mile and a half or so, and then I drove over to the north side of the lake where Tula was game for another couple of miles, and then I continued on for another 2 1/2 miles after she was ready for another break.

It was turning into evening by this time, and becoming a bit more comfortable out, and even though I had pretty much finished my 8 miles of walking for the day, I thought this might be a good time to drive over to the Capitol building since the Friday afternoon crowds would be gone. I liked the state capitol – it’s big and solid and majestic – very fitting for the biggest state in the “lower 48!” The grounds were pretty with lots of trees and there were several buildings to walk around. The lights came on as it got darker, and it was a pretty place to walk another mile and a half in the falling darkness with rain clouds moving in.

By then I had walked almost 10 miles for the day, and was more than ready to get a little Chinese take-out and head back to the motel – feeling happy I was able to enjoy a free room during such a busy weekend in Austin!