Habitat Office    - 501.623.5600 835 Central Ave., Ste. 401 Regions Bank Tower Hot Springs, AR Check out John and Dick on WCBI TV in Columbus, MS! Click here  www.wcbi.com to view the article WEEK 7 (October 30 – November 5) The last 2 or 3 miles of each day’s walk seem to be more difficult than the first 10 miles, so I had the brilliant idea of putting those end miles in the middle of the walk.  What a difference! This week’s daily trek has been so much easier. Remember it is 80% mental, 20% physical. This week we walked through the interesting Georgia towns of Sylvester (Peanut Capital of the World and Home of Peter Pan Peanut Butter), TyTy, Tifton, Enigma and Willacoochie (birthplace of Willa and Hoochie. You may have heard of Hoochie Coochie, the dancer). Walking through the little town of Enigma felt puzzling and mysterious. Couldn’t seem to discern the little town’s nature. Was it even real? Or just an inexplicable situation. John Ball founded the town sometime around 1876-1880 and called it Enigma. He said, “It was a puzzle what to name it anyway.” I didn’t make this up. Another thought: We have stepped around and over literally hundreds of animal carcasses of all species. I have pondered this for many hours along many miles of highway. I cannot recall having read any reliable data on animal suicides. Based on hundreds of gruesome observations, I am of the opinion that a good number of these animals may have intentionally hurled themselves under speeding vehicles. Anyway, we have relocated our RVs to the Laura Walker State Park in Waycross, Georgia. We are now parked amongst the alligators at the northern tip of the Okefenokee Swamp. This is the 12th RV campground in these 6 weeks. The weather has been absolutely perfect for walking. We have truly been blessed with great weather. When we begin each morning, we can see our breath, but the sun warms us up by mid-morning. Here in the deep-south, the early November temps are ranging from the low 40’s to low 70’s.  After this week’s hike, we have just over 100 miles left before we reach the Atlantic Ocean.  We can almost smell the ocean. When we reach the beach at Jekyll Island, our total miles will be over 2,600. God willing, we can easily stroll to our goal on November 19 and celebrate victory. Coast to Coast Walk Update WEEK 8 (November 7 – November 12) us with more accolades than we deserved. He then invited us to the front of the congregation for special prayer.  He invited all the youth of the church to gather around us, and then Pastor Trip offered up a heart-felt prayer for our success and safety and thanksgiving for the ministry of Habitat for Humanity. This experience will no doubt be among the top spiritual experiences of our journey across America. I met a gentleman after the church service who had worked on several Habitat houses in Waycross before the affiliate fizzled. When I inquired about what happened to the affiliate, he said, “We just all got old.”  Evidently this Habitat affiliate did well for a while but never moved beyond being a “volunteer led” affiliate.  A couple of people handed us money and thanked us for our involvement with Habitat. (Any money we receive is sent to Garland Co. HFH) Dick, Carol, Ruth and I enjoyed being ambassadors for Habitat at a lunch this week at the Exchange Club of Waycross as guests of Pastor Trip.  As I learned, Exchange Clubs are service organizations similar to Rotary Clubs. One of their primary goals is child abuse prevention. A brief note for the “whatever it is worth” category: As Dick and I have walked across America, our one consistent observation has been the trash along the highways. Some people just don’t seem to care. Let someone else pick it up. Here’s how long it will take for their trash to decompose to a non-recognizable form: Styrofoam-never; plastic bags-10-20 yrs; plastic containers-50-80 yrs; cigarette butts-10-12 yrs; paper containers-2-5 mos. It is important that we all do what we can to help protect our environment. As I prepare this update, we only have about 30 miles left to reach the Atlantic beach at Jekyll Island. Our plans call for a relaxed schedule into and past Brunswick by Wednesday, take a couple of days off, and then complete the final 2 miles to Jekyll Island beach on Saturday morning, November 19, (Dick’s birthday) for a victory celebration on the Atlantic beach. WEEK 9 (November 14 – November 19) We did it!!!!  We walked from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean! From sea to shining sea! What a great Saturday! We walked the final 3.5 miles to the Atlantic beach with a spring in our steps and smiles on our faces. Our daughter, Jonna, and her family came down from D.C. to join us for the celebration. On their way south they picked up our son, Rick, in Savannah, to our great surprise. Rick had flown 32 hrs. from Australia via Dallas and Atlanta to Savannah. Rick, Jonna and our grandkids walked the final miles with us. Our other two sons, Doug and Ken had walked with us at various points across America. And then to end it properly, Ruth and Carol, who have served us without much fanfare for the entire journey, joined us for the last mile. Pastor Trip McKinnon and his family, whom we had met in Waycross GA, joined us for a cookout on the Jekyll Island beach. I marvel at how God placed a special pastor named Trip into our lives to minister to us in the final two weeks of our trip. Looking back over our journey, I can clearly see on numerous occasions how "things don't work out, but God works out things." Before we took a step eastward in March, 2008, we stood on the Pacific coast with heads bowed as my good friend, Army (Retired) Chaplain Wes Sullivan prayed for God to walk with us, to bless us and watch over us. Over 3 years later, here we stood on the Atlantic coast with bowed heads and teary eyes, as a beautiful Benedictory prayer by Chaplain Wes was offered. As we walked the final mile, so many thoughts flooded my mind - the price we have paid to reach this point - the wonderful people we have met. When we left Capistrano Beach, California, on March 19, 2008, and headed east, I'm not at all sure we had a grasp of the enormity of what we had undertaken. 2,620 miles according to my calculations. We walked in rain, snow, wind, dust, heat and cold. The roads of America took us through mountains and desert, through forests and farmlands, through small towns and large cities. People all across this great land were kind to us, and maybe some were inspired to chase their own dreams. To be honest, there were times we considered ending the walk. The journey had some extremely trying times, accidents, illnesses, and other hard challenges both physically and emotionally, especially across New Mexico. But we refused to quit and kept returning. For the rest of my life I will be rewarded each time I look back at what we accomplished.  We are members now of an exclusive club. The "Walk Across America Club".