Old boots, Snow & Down-Hill Speeding

Merry Christmas folks! How was your day? I had a fun day experiencing a very different Canadian Christmas with the Quist, Lefsurd & Landers families on a mild, snow-covered day. Chris & I began by teaching a few willing participants the traditional Autralian past-time of playing back-yard cricket on Christmas day but the game came to a sudden holt when Paul Quist lost control of the bat (a plank of wood) and cracked his brother in law on the head, splitting the bat in two. Jeff's head was fine, but the bat was stuffed. Time to play by Canadian rules. We sang carols around the piano as grandma played & later played a fast paced game that pretty much involved a lot of shouting & not much else. Late in the evening the younger ones (me included) made our way down to a small hill with a large sled & spent a few hours sliding on our butts. We could fit 4 people on the sled at a time so we were able to pick up some decent momentum on the way down. We crashed regularly. I'd like to thank Jon & Will who broke my fall on the two occaisions I got air-born. They made for great landing pads while still slidding down hill. That evening I had my first oppurtunity to drive a car in over 12months. It was a 30min drive at night with snow on the road, the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car & all the drivers driving on the wrong side of the road. Somehow we all made it back home in one piece. A few days later I was back in the car as Jon, Chris & I took a 4hour drive out to Jasper National Park for 2 days of skiing. It was such an amazingly beautiful place with mountains soaring sharply around us & rivers rushing between sheets of ice down every valley. Coyotes, elk & big-horn sheep lined the road & the snow cover was just under 70cm. We skied at Marmot Basin & after a 2hr brush-up lesson, hit the mountain. On second thoughts, I should've had 4hrs of brush-up lessons. On my very first run I took off from the chair lift, missed my first turn as I hooked my inside ski in & corrected in a direct line down a rather steep slope that I would have preffered not to have attempted for at least another couple of hours. Chris reckons I topped around 50km/hr but I think it may have been a little quicker than that. With most people skiing in nice carving motions I whooshed straight down through everyone in a straight line for around 800m before finally gaining control again & managing to slow myself down with a sweeping carve. My heart was in my mouth as I finally pulled to a stop & looked back up at the mountain. Chris & Jon were still standing at the top, apparently with mouths wide open as they prepared my eulogy. With my little 'Sam moment' out of the way my guardian angels were able to relax a little over the rest of the two days as we all enjoyed the beautiful slopes. On the first night I somehow ended up with the very last run on the mountain. The slopes were completely empty as I hopped off the lift & it slowed to a stop. The view was incredible across the valley below & as the sun set behind me the only sound on the entire slope was that of my skis carving through the snow. It was a beautiful change from walking. It was priceless. Of course, when it was all over I still had to drive home again on the wrong side of the road. I was thankful to have an oppurtunity to get some physical exercise in as the resting has been irritating me a little. One night I was heading off to bed but instead rugged up & went for an 11pm jog out along the country road here. Then the next morning I roled out of bed into the push-up position & after a few minutes decided that I really needed to get out a little more. Skiing was a great antidote. I'm leaving for Vladivostok on Wednesday afternoon & it would appear that it will be without new boots. I'll be heading into Russia with my very worn Scarpas that I've been wearing since Nicaragua. The new pair didn't arrive & with no size 16 Scarpa boots in stock anywhere within a 40,000km radius I'm just going to have to push on with what I have. There is one pair of Scarpas in the world that I've been able to find & I happen to own them. Unfortunately they are sitting in Panama & not looking like moving for some time yet. I'm not too bothered by this & I'm kind of interested to see exactly how far these boots can carry me before they dismantle. I'm very ready to hit the road again & feeling rejuevenated & healthy after my time here with the Quists & all their friends & family. They are all exceptionally inspiring people! I'll miss driving around with Paul (Jon's dad) when his alarm flicks on at 4:01pm & he decalres, "Time to pray for Christian unity!" He'd then pull the car off to the side of the road & we'd pray. Now, as for next weeks blog entry, next Sunday I should be somewhere in central Siberia so there is a good chance that I may not be able to find interent access. I arrive in Moscow on the 15th of January so there should be an entry by then but it's most likely going to be hit & miss until that point. Let the black-out begin. God bless & I'll hopefully see you sometime again next week! Peace be with you, Sam.
"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Ps 91:11-12 (or break your neck on a mountain while skiing...)

Rest & the 12 days of Christmas

On the 370th day since beginning in Brazil & after 9444km on foot I finally arrived in Edmonton, Canada. This is the end of the road for the America's & an opputunity for me to take a short break before flying across the Bering Strait into Eastern Russia. The final day of walking began in Leduc after spending the night at the home of Shaun & Sandra Woodard. That final day was a 35km stroll down along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway in mild conditions to St Joseph's Basilica in downtown Edmonton. A few hours into the day I was met by a Global television newscrew who took an hour or so to take some footage & conduct an interview before I was ableto continue on. That was my only break for the day as I'd organised with some friends to meet them at Calgary Lutheran Church, 5km out from Edmonton central, in order to walk the final section with them and I was running short on time. I turned up at the church an hour late but we were ready to get underway again right on 4:01pm so we firstly went into the church & knelt at the communion rail before the sanctuary with the minister & his assistant joining us. We prayed for the unity of all Christians, in truth & in love, & then commenced the final 5km of this section of the walk. We entered the city as the sun set behind us. My friends, the Quist family, my brother Chris & I walked up onto the Basilica steps at right on 5pm & only a few seconds after the snow began to fall. Amidst the busy city centre it felt very peaceful & still as the snow fell & my walking finished (for now). We ventured inside & spent some time in prayer before filing into their van & scooting off through the evening traffic to their little country home. By 7pm we were back on the road though with a speaking engagement at the Holy Family Church in St Albert followed by a late night "sit up & talk" with Jon Quist & Chris. The next day the Global tv interview was on the news throughout the day but I suffered the rather funny humilation of having the midday news co-host comment after the story had aired, "What did he say? I couldn't understand a single word he said. Was he speaking english?" Thankfully the woman co-hosting with him understood "Australian" & interpretted for him. Many people have commented on the midday news segment since, feeling sorry for his comment but to be honest I think it's quite funny. I understood every word I said! Speaking of strange accents, I met a fellow from the Canadian island of New Foundland the other day & I couldn't understand a single word HE said. I asked a question to which he replied, "Aghda end u ul se," which means, "Yes, they're in aisle six." It took me three goes to figure it out. Anyway, I'm now enjoying a Christmas break & heading out for a quick ski at Jasper National Park on boxing day before flying out to Vladivostok on the 2nd of January. Januray 18th - 25th is the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity so please start spreading the message & inviting people to pray, particularly during that week. 4:01 for a solid week! I hope everyone has a very merry & blessed Christmas & if you have the time there is a whole new set of Walk4one videos on youtube (Amazon to Venezuela) that will also be on the website soon (You'll get to see a lot of travelling on the back of semi-trailers, boats, motorbikes, etc in the Amazon jungle section). As I mentioned in the last blog entry it feels like I've been on the road for a lot longer than one year. From 47degC in Brazil to -33deC in Canada, from muggings to beautiful hospitality, it's been a big year. Thank you to everyone who has supported along the journey & may we all keep praying & moving forward towards complete unity. Now, because it's both Christmas & the end of a massive year on the road praying for unity I thought I'd finish off with a new rendition of a Christmas carol that summarises the past 370days! The 12 Days of Christmas as it will most likely never appear again... (to save time I think I'll only put up the final verse). Feel free to sing along!
On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 12 different countries, 11hundred phtotos, 10 pairs of socks, 9000 kilometres, 80 degrees of temperature, 7 hissing snakes, 600 blisters, Salmonela & Typhoid Fever, 4 thugs with knives, 3 room invasions, 2 men with guns and a Puma in the long grass!
God bless & peace be with you, Sam.
"The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & they will call him 'Immanuel' which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23

Cheap Motel, a Mallamute & Coyote Chorus

Hello! Sorry for the delay on this one! It's been difficult to keep to my schedule this week & I simply didn't have a chance to jump online for long enough. I'm now sitting up in a small town called Leduc, only 32km south of Edmonton. I have to be honest, the thought of being within 1day of a 2week rest is more than just exciting. I'm nearly jumping out of my skin anticipating a regular sleep pattern, regular meals, warmth & friends to chat with. This week gone has been a quiet one with my brother Chris exiting the walk back in Calgary after a 'failed' physiotherapy appointment. He was hurting badly & so checked in a for some physio but they discovered that he'd pushed his legs to the point of possibly having done nerve damage. The basic prognosis was "STOP WALKING!" So he did. He caught the bus to Edmonton & the Quist family (friends living in Edmonton) organised accomodation for him until my arrival. Thankyou! Before Chris departed though, we had the oppurtunity to attend a Ukranian Orthodox service (vespers) in the evening. The orthodox church was incredibly beautiful with the most inspiring art work & craftmanship throughout. Not long into evening prayers an elderly woman leaned over to us & asked if we could hold the candles for the priest. I leaned forward & replied that I wasn't Ukranian Orthodox & had no idea what to do. She simply smiled & told us that we'd be fine & in fact we may even enjoy it! I guess we didn't have a say in the matter. So up we went, one massive candle each, standing off to the side of the priest with two women holding candles on the other side. We had no idea what we were doing. And we were cooking! We hadn't at that stage taken our snow gear off & so fully clad it didn't take too long before we were sweating it out. With both hands firmly clasping the candle & standing right up the front there was no oppurtune moment to put it down & take off a few layers. It was the toughest candle hold either of us have ever had. We loved being there though & meeting everyone afterwards. It was such a beautiful place of prayer. The next day Chris's bus drove past me on the highway about 10km out of Calgary & I was once again by myself for the few hundred kilometres north. On the 2nd day out I stopped in a town called Carstairs & ducked into the town library to quickly send off some important emails. By the time I'd finished I'd been invited to have dinner with the Librarian, her assistant & her husbund. They picked me up from my motel later in the evening & we sat down to a fantastic meal. It was real, authentic hospitality that has typified this part of the world. Mind you, the next day I was steering away from the 'hospitality'! It's a little awkward, but the next day I walked into a small town after sunset & walked straight into a motel to grab a bed for the night. The woman at the front counter was a little over-welcoming in that she even shook my hand as she welcomed me. I thought it was a little odd but I really didn't question it. It was by far the cheapest place I'd stayed in for a long time. There was a bar & cafe attached to the motel so I shuffled into the cafe, ordered some dinner & sat in there all by myself eating dinner. The waitress offered to take my meal into the bar for me but I declined, sighting that the silence was nice. She then proceeded to flirt with me quite severly (can you flirt severly? For now you can, ok) & I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. Behind me were two pokie machines (lottery machines) that would beep every now & then. The waitress apologised for them & said, "Sorry about that. We don't want them in here but we can't have them in the bar because the government won't let us have both the machines & the strippers in the same room." I nearly choked on my meal. *long pause* I think I eventually replied with something inteligent like, "Oh, ok." I now knew why it was so dirt cheap to get a room!!! I ate, I left for my room, I locked the door well, laughed, said my prayers & went to bed. Other than dodgy accomodation I had a difficult week with issues requiring my attention back home in Australia (& Panama) that I just didn't have the time to deal with. I'm still working through the insurence claim for the mugging in Costa Rica, sorting out my income tax back home in Australia, trying to get my boots that arrived in Panama 4months after I left mailed to Edmonton, sorting out a problem with the Belarus visa I forked out $200 for last month & then trying to find the time to put a blog up. The walking & mission are time consuming enough but with the extra duties it was beginning to weigh on me. I was going to bed tired & waking up a few hours after I'd started walking again. In the end I handed it all over to Lord (as I should have done from the outset) & kept walking & doing what I could in between (phone calls at lunch time, emails at the end of the day). I've slept well the last 2nights & it's starting to sort itself out thankfully. I had a huge day on the road two days ago though that caught me by suprise. I thought I was undertaking a 35km day but it was in fact 50km. I'd organised to meet with a newspaper reporter during the middle of the day (thinking that I only had a small day) & the interview went for 2hours, which made it very difficult to even get close to the destination by sunset. The sunrises here at around 8:30am & has set by 4:15pm so they are very short, cold days. I was walking through the chilly night for the final 20km & the road twisted it's way through forests of snow covered pines & rolling snow covered farming land lit up by the half-moon. I'd been praying for a while before I decided to sing my way down along the road. I was (as is normal) belting out "Where the streets have no name" by U2 when a pack of Coyotes, deep within the forest of pines, began to chime in with a chorus of howls & yelps. I stopped singing for a moment to offer them some advice (they were badly out of tune, really) & continued singing with a smile from ear to ear. They continued howling as well. It was a great little moment. Speaking of k-9's, I had another dog follow me down the road yesterday. A few dogs have followed so far on the trip & most have ended up underneath a semi-trailer & I wasn't keen for this fellow, a mallamute, to have the same ending. I took him back to his house but I couldn't get him to stay & no manner of scolding, throwing of snow or idol threats could make him stay so in the end I simply kept myself in between him & the road. He almost ended up under a car a few times but he was at least responding to my voice & I was able to call him out of harms way just in time. In the end we made it around 10km together until I came across a highway store where the owners were kind enough to take care of him until I'd left. They let him into the store (it was a furniture & gifts store) & were very happy to take care of him for the time being. I let them know where he'd come from & then said my farewells. I was relieved to have left him behind at last & that he'd made the distance without getting toppled. The funniest moment this week happened at a level train crossing as a farmer waited for a train to pass by. The trains here sit on the horn for miles & they just keep tooting! I've heard a lot of locals complain about the 'unnecessary' noise they make but this farmer took matters into his own hands. Everytime the train tooted he tooted back & so began a ruckess of noise, back & forth between the two drivers. His american pick-up had quite a horn on it so he wasn't being outdown by much at all. It was a simple moment but it captured me! I thought it was brilliant, I wish I'd thought of it & done it... Now, on a serious note, there's a great little comment from Alistair in the comments section for this week that I'd like to invite everyone to check out if you have the time. It's in regards to uniting the dates for Easter. It's a simple step towards unity but perhaps one of the most precious for us to tend to, so please check it out! Thanks for that Alistair. Tomorrow I'll be skipping my way into Edmonton as I scrape the ice off my beard on the last day of the America's leg of this trip. It's been a long time coming! Oh, & this week just gone was also the 1yr anniversary since I started walking in Brazil. It feels like 5yrs ago. God bless & peace be with you! Sam.
"I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me." Ps 13:6

The A&W, Senior Citizens & Christmas Carols

We've made it to Calgary! And it's a lovely day, blue skies, no wind & a top of 0degC (that's good). Chris has struggled again this week with one injury piling on top of another so he's split his time up into a mixture of walking, riding in cars & sitting in coffee shops waiting for me to arrive. The week almost began on a sour note after a warm wind (called a Chinook) swept through Lethbridge the night before we left & melted the snow. No sooner had it began to melt the snow & it disappeared as the temperature droped again, now freezing the melted snow into solid slabs of ice. As Chris & I started off in the early morning freeze I slipped on a driveway & my feet shot forward sending me airborne. I crashed down backwards but thankfully landed flush on my backpack, which took the full brunt of my weight. I did sustain a sore neck from the whip-lash of my head coiling back over the back-pack but I was thankful to not be one of the 25people who were rushed to hospital that morning after similar falls (or so I read in the paper the next day). This past week was blessed with more speaking engagemnts than any preceeding it. I was invited to speak to a numebr of classes at the Catholic Central High in Lethbridge, then speak with both tv news crews in the small city as well as the local radio station. I also had an interview with the Lethbridge newspaper & incredibly the jornalist phoned ahead for me & organised for me to stay with his mother in the next town! I was very grateful. In the evening I headed off to the Youth Group that met at the High School (though they'd came from neighbouring towns & schools as well) & I had an oppurtunity to speak there. I was so impressed with how focussed this group was! They had a lot of fun & enjoyed each others company but at the same time they were so focussed on Christ & to put a finer point on it, couldn't stop talking about how good God is. They were alive to the max. the next day on the road I was blessed to have Stan & Kathy pull up alongside us with warm food & my socks & undies, which I'd left in their dryer. All day people were hitting their horns as they drove past & I thought it was starting to get to me, "Why are you tooting at us! We're not on the road!" At the end of the day we discovered that the local radio station was giving updates of our progress & inviting people to encourage us by tooting their horn. I would have prefered that they throw chocolate at me or something like that, but it was a great encouragement none-the-less (once I'd found out why they were doing it.) In our next town, while staying with the journalists mum, Jean, we were invited to speak at a Rotary Club meeting & with the Pumpkin Club at the A&W. Both Chris & I thought it was funny that I'd be speaking at a pumpkin club & assumed that the A&W stood for somthing like, "The Albertans Women's Club" or something to that effect, but we both started laughing when we pulled up to the A&W highway fast food restaraunt. In any case, it was warm & cosy with our hot breakfast in front of us as I recounted the call to pray for Christian unity. In the evening Chris & I where 'dobbed in' by Jean to be waiters at the Fort Macleod annual Senior Citizens Christmas Dinner. How could we say no to Jean? We actually worked reasonable hard that night but had some fun doing it. We didn't break anything though Chris managed to drop a knife down the industrial dishwasher's drainage outlet causing a few blank looks between the two of us. Thankfully we were able to get it out eventually & off we went again. The temperature on the daily walks has hovered between -20degC & -10degC most days though the last two have been milder & I have only needed to wear one pair of gloves. The cool temperatures have caused minor problems with our water freezing regularly & our food becoming the equivalent of flavoured cement blocks. A few weeks ago actually I was trying to eat an energy bar but couldn't break a piece off. So I clamped my teeth down on it & began to work it up & down with my right hand. After a minute or so it was only moving a few mm's but it eventually began to loosen up until, "Bang!" It snapped in half on an upward motion, sending my clenched fist flying into my eye socket. I actually staggered sideways for a few steps & then had to stop to clear my head. Oww, that hurt. A quick check up & down the road to make sure no one had seen me right hook myself & I continued on gingerly, now with two energy cement bars. In the town of High River we attended the local parish for Saturday night mass & as we were leaving were invited to stay for the youth group that was about to begin. The deal though was that before the speaking part of the youth group they would be visiting the Manor Nursing Home & then the local hospital to sign Christmas Carols! So off we went, carolling our way through the High River Senior Citizen caring facilities. We had fun, didn't get booed & arrived back at the church again without loosing anyone. After a chat with the youth group about praying for unity & the walk to-date Chris & I were invited to stay with two of the parishoners, who took great care of us. Chris drove to the next town of Okotoks & I walked in to meet him at around 1pm. From there we walked together through the streets stopping at St Peter's Anglican Church, The Uniting Church & then St James Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was brand new. It was double tiered, spacious, double data projectors with a huge sound desk. More to the point though, the people were lovely & I was invited to speak after the homily, then taken out to dinner before being dropped at another parishoners house (Frank, Louise & Kerry) to sleep for the night. Thank you for your hospitality! The next morning I met up with Fr Jack & a few more parishoners at the local coffee shop & we talked some more. Fr Jack has done some extensive work with a Lutheran Church in building a shared facility & his assitant priest was ordained an Anglican priest. The Uniting church also had an intersting background with three churches coming together to worship & study as one. On an international front, if you haven't heard, there is some extremely encouraging work taking place between the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican & Lutheran churches at this very moment. Check it out if you have the time (or are interested at all). There are so many pieces to the puzzle of unification of Christians & so for those of us not directly involved in talks & theological discussion we still have a major role to play on two fronts; prayer & in putting love into action with all around us. I hope everyone's Christmas preparations are filling you with joy & not with debt & I'll see you again next week from somewhere near Edmonton! God bless & peace be with you, Sam.
"You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did." James 2:22
ps: A huge congratulations to Dave Callaghan & Dan Strickland back home in Australia who have been 'ontilogically changed', which apparently means they have been ordained as Deacons. Congratulations fellas! I mean... Reverends.

Uncle Sam Vs I am Sam

Hello from Lethbridge, Canada! When I was all the way back in Venezuela earlier this year I began to right down a few notes here & there for possible film scripts that I'd perhaps like to develop over the coming years. I love writing & it's simply a way for me to sit back & relax. At first I only had the pieces of paper containing my travel documents to write on so I eventually bought a small notebook to keep my ideas together & off my official papers. I had no idea that 10months later I'd be paying a price for my 'doodling'. Before I leave for Russia I needed to secure a Visa, which can be very difficult. I was advised by an Australian diplomat in St Petersburg to view a certain website & secure the services of a professional Visa-acquiring company. I found a company who would secure both an invitation & visa from Russia for non-USA citizens & it simply required the filling out of a few forms, the payment of a fee & my passport to be sent to them for the Visa to be entered. The passport was supposed to be returned to Great Falls a few days before I arrived there but upon my arrival it was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately it was the thanksgiving holiday & so no one was at work & I simply presumed that because of the holiday it had been held up in the post. After a discussion with the Grove & Donisthorpe families we decided that I'd keep walking & as soon as it arrived they'd run it up to me. I'd entered the country on the 30th of August with a 90 day Visa & so needed to be across the border by the 29th of November. As the deadline approached the Passport still hadn't arrived so we began to call the company to find out what had happened. Apparently it had been accidently thrown into the 'wrong pile' & the very appologetic company was fast to send it by express delivery to Vicky Donisthorpe's office. In the mean time I continued walking north towards the border & as is expected in these areas, the border patrol pulled over to check on me. The gentleman asked for identification & I offered him my drivers license & a photocopy of my passport page, explaining that the passport was being delivered to me the next morning. The officer looked at me blankly & informed me that I was in breach of immigration laws by not having my actual passport on me. Apparently these companies who take overseas visitor's passports do so against US law & the only way I could legally obtain a Visa for Russia would be to fly to San Francisco (the nearest Russian Embassy & sleep inside the Embassy foyer while they organised the Visa (in other words, there is no legal way to obtain a visa to Russia if you're not from the USA). The officer invited me to take a seat in the back of his patrol vehicle while we sorted it out & he began to ask me questions. He asked who was bringing the passport to me & if I had a phone number so he could call them. I reached into my bag to pull out my little notebook with Greg & Karen Grove's number in it & wouldn't you know it, it wasn't there. I was at a loss as to where it could be but it wasn't starting to look good in front of the officer. At that point he happened to turn over the photocopy of my passport, which I've been carrying since the beginning of the walk, and he turned to me asked, "What's all this?" I had no idea what he was talking about at first but my heart sank when I saw what was written on the back. The 2nd script idea I'd had while walkign Venezuela was for a political version of Ocean's Eleven where instead of hyjacking a casino, the people in question would hyjack the world leaders, blah, blah. And as it turns out I'd penned my first idea for this on the back of my passport photocopy, complete with a detailed timeline of when opperatives would be placed in government poitions, van's hired, etc. I tried to explain what it was & that I had an extened version of the script idea along with a stack of other ideas in my little notebook to which the officer looked me in the eye & said, "Which you can't find." I couldn't believe this was happening. He was a kind fellow, but I understood that the odds were stacking up against me at that point. I was locked in the back of the patrol car behind a cage screen as he radioed through to Homeland Security to find out who I was. They replied back in code & the officer turned to me & informed me that my visa was in fact expiring today! Without my passport I couldn't prove anything but I insisted that I entered the country on the 30th August & that it was written in pen, by the issuing officer, that the last day was the 29th November, today was the 28th. The officer didn't even look up, "That means you have to be out of the country on the 28th. A 90 day visa is only valid for 89days." So, with nowhere to go & no way of explaing myself we drove off down the highway to Border Patrol Headquarters. It took a few hours to sort through everything & it looked to be getting worse at one point when they believed that the compnay I'd sent my passport to was not a real company but an identiy theft scam. I sat in the interigation room chatting with my armed guard & laughing about how 'in-trouble' I was. He suggested that I perhaps brun my photocopy of the passport page. I agreed. The guard was a mild-mannered young bloke who was very chatty so it made the stay a litte more comforting. Thankfully, my little notebook WAS in my bag, but I'd accidently dropped it into the wrong pocket with some clothes & not realised that it was there. When I was leaving Great Falls, Vicki Donisthorpe had given me the front page of the Great Falls Tribune containing the story about the walk to assist with my crossing of the border. I didn't honestly think that I would need it or that it would help in any way, but as I sat in the interigation room with the armed guard I could see half a dozen officers going through everything in my folder. The door was slightly open betwen the two rooms & I caught sight of one officer pulling the newspaper front page out & opening it up. He read over it for a moment & then his face dropped. He looked up over the paper & announced to the others, "He's on the front page of the Tribune!" They all gathered around & read the story & the officer who'd brought me in said, "He didn't tell me he was on the front page of the Tribune!" I thought to myself, "I wasn't aware that the media was an offical document!?" As they dispersed back to their seats I heard an out-of-sight officer laugh that they'd need to find new jobs if they threw me in jail. They eventually tracked down the company that had my passport & found that it had already been sent & was enroute to me at that very moment. All in all it took about 3hours from start to finish but we'd pretty much all become friends by the end & one of the officers even took down the web address to check it all out in their own time. I was very appologetic & rather embarrased but by the end of the day they'd granted me an extension on my visa for no charge & the head of Homeland Security gave me a lift to where I was supposed to be staying for that night. I stayed the night with Brian & Vicky Barrows & it was a great way to end the day. They had a bible study that evening so I gladly sat down with them & opened up my little bible, which they all reckoned required a telescope to read. I had a very blessed evening with them none-the-less & was very refreshed through our time together. The next morning, Greg & Karen Grove arrived with my passport & little brother Chris who'd taken a day off the previous day. Karen & Greg kindly offered to drive me across the border & have lunch with Chris & I in Milk River. After 89days, made up of 15 rest days & 74 days on the road, I'd crossed a total of 3174km across the United States to fall short of the border by a mere 25km. So in total I clocked 3174km on foot & 25km in the back of a Patrol Car. Not a bad percentage breakdown really... I gladly accepted the lift across the border & set about planning the next stage of the walk. Regardless of how I travel whether as a free man or suspected criminal, there's always an oppurtunity to pray! A big thank you to the many people who have played such a significant role in this week passed, especially Wally & Marlene, Brian & Vicky, Brendan & Wendy, Carla, Charles & Natasha, Penny & Don, Don's dog Amigo (smartest Border Collie this side of the border), Stan & Kathy & all those who stopped on the side of the road with a bite to eat or a hot drink. It has been very cold this week with temperatures between -8degC & -33degC, but that's a whole other story :-) God bless & please keep praying for unity! Sam.
"Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident." Ps27:3

A Montanan Thanksgiving

After 86days crossing the USA I now have 4days left before my visa expires with 4days of walking to go... that'll do fine. Oh, except that the Russian Embassy has my passport & was supposed to ship it to me last Wednesday but it's yet to arrive. That could be a problem, but hey, what's new? I'm not at panic stations yet & I took a photocopy of the passport in case something went wrong so I'm sure it can be sorted out eventually. C'mon the American Postal system! You can do it! Hello from Power in northern Montana, my last blog from US soil. I began my week by being snowed in at the Grove's ranch which was a fantastic place to be snowed in at. Karen & Greg were beautiful hosts as we watched 14inches of snow pile up outside. During the course of the day I had a good interview with a sports reporter from the Denver Post who was interested in doing a story on the physical demands of walking around the world. It's a bit of a side route to spreading the invitation to pray for unity, but a wide audience none-the-less. After a refreshing stop with the Grove's I was off again the next day & I headed into a week of humbling hospitality & generosity. Since leaving the Grove's Ranch I have had every single night's accomodation taken care of before I arrived. It has been incredible. One of my friends wrote me an email & commented that these days I write about bleeding feet & cold weather & it just isn't as exciting as me being held at gun point... haha, yes, I guess that's true, but at the same time, after all I've been through to get here, I'm filled with a great sense of hope because of the hospitality I've walked into here. It may not be as exciting to read, but it's far more exciting to encounter. Karen Grove rang ahead to the Sloan family in Stanford who were out driving the streets of their town looking for me as I walked in. The Sloan's invited the Gee family over in the evening to hear about what I was doing & then the next day I headed to Raynesford where the Sloan's had phoned ahead to the Hill family, who were out driving the highway looking for me as I arrived. In the mean time, before I'd arrived, the Sloan's had pulled up along side me with 2 hot chocolates, just to make sure I was ok. The next day I walked the 54km from the Hill's to Great Falls with cars stopping left, right & centre to say hello due to a front-cover Great Falls Tribune (the newspaper) thanksgiving story about the walk4one, which was organised by Karen Grove. A few hours into the walk the Sloan family pulled over again, this time on their way to taking young Steph to the airport. They'd carried with them some muslie bars (granola's) & heat packs for me due to the very cool morning air (around -10degC). As I began walking up the largest hill on the day's walk the Gee family pulled up on the otherside of the road with a warm Russian tea for me. It was well appreciated & I sat up in their car drinking my cuppa'. They were enroute to their thanksgiving dinner so I eventually jumped out of their warm van & they continued up the hill as I crossed back over. I didn't even make it to the otherside of the road before the Sloan's pulled up again on their way back home & once again they'd carried a hot chocolate for me! We said our goodbyes once more & I continued on up the hill. I still hadn't made it to the top of the stupid hill when the Grove family (two car loads worth) pulled over enroute to their thanksgiving dinner (which was also my destination for the day). They'd carried drink & food for me also but I was well supplied by that stage so it was simply a matter of enjoying their company once more & meeting a few new Groves, Heidi, Jeremy & his wife. The trip from there was slow as I tried to push hard but was stopped every 15mins by someone wanting to chat. It was well worth the 'slowness' though. I met more people in that one day than I probably had for the entire week leading up. By 6pm I was enjoying my very 1st thanksgiving dinner with the Donisthorpe & Grove families. The Donisthorpes had even gone to the trouble of driving across town & picking my brother Chris up from his hotel, so when I arrived he was sitting up in the lounge room in the middle of a full-scale game of Catch-Phrase. He must have made a good impression because Vicky Donisthorpe wanted to adopt him. Mum, is that ok? After dinner a few of us slinked into the magnificent outdoor hot tub out in the firgid air & snow. Thanksgiving was fantastic & the company second to none. I felt very blessed. The Donisthorpe's opened their home up to Chris & I & invited us to stay with them for our official rest day. We had a restful but fun day hanging out with Scott & Vicky & their 3 'kids', Noelen, Logan & Nicole. I write 'kids' because I don't think that either Logan or Nicole would classify for that age group anymore... their cars parked in the driveway would testify to that. They were great hosts & I got to meet some of Nicole's friends from university who were great faith-filled students. A bit sad sometimes that I have to keep moving on. While watching Transformers (the movie) with young Noelen (I'd give it a 7/10. A bit more of Optimus Prime would've bumped it to 8/10) Vicky came running in & announced that she'd just found some people in my next destination who would love to house both Chris & I for the next night. Incredibly, Vicky didn't even know these people! Now that's generosity on both parties behalf - & there I was watching a kids a movie, not exactly working hard for anything to happen... Vicky & Scott stocked Chris & I up with supplies & a few pieces of 'memorabilia' including a photo of the family. I didn't have much on me, but I wanted to leave something with them, so they now have my expired drivers license stuck on their fridge :-) (it's not much but it's better than my expired socks). Chris & I left Great Falls under darkness & walked a huge 51km to a small town called Power. Chris finished the day off well, which is amazing considering the distance & that it was his 1st big hit out since his 1st 'not-so-good' beginning 2weeks ago. In Power we were greeted on the side of the road by Marcus Raba, who very cheerfully guided us to his home, where we met his wife, Pam, and their 30 year old son, David. Dave's just moved home after basically having a huge conversion & I have to say, he's one of the most intersting & artistically gifted people I've met on the whole trip. He's kind of a cross between St Augustine & St Francis... Chris took today off & instead, Marcus joined me on the road. We walked & prayed to the next town where we spoke at the local church & met the townsfolk. Marcus returned from there & I pushed on down the highway until David & Chris came & did the pick-up late in the afternoon, returning me to their home for tonight's sleep. In the morning, Marcus will run me back out to my finishing point & Chris & I'll begin the new day. And yes, tomorrow's accomodation & the next night's have both been arranged by the Raba's already. God is good. And apparently the Montanan's like to carry his generosity & love. What a place. This week I had two cars slide off the road right in front of me due to the icy conditions, I walked through sub-zero temperatures for most of the week & I also saw a herd of Buffalo, which would normally be the focus of the blog entry, but the Montanan hospitality, family after family, has just left me speechless (obviously other than everything written above). Thank you to all of you. May the Lord continue to live in you & with you. Tomorrow I'm off to Conrad & the home of Fr Michael & I'll see if I can't get that missing passport back. All the best for the coming week & please keep praying for the unity of all Christians in love & in truth. Peace be with you, Sam.
"Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ." 1Peter 5:14
ps: I hope you had a great flight Steph, and to Heidi, Nicole, Oli, Jimmer & Katie, I hope you made it to your 2nd homes safely! Happy studying.

The Trouble With Leaving Billings

Hello from the Grove family's Ranch near Moccison, Montana! I was supposed to leave Billings last Monday to continue the journey north but on Sunday night decided to not continue on but instead check myself into hospital to get my left big toe seen to. So, 1st thing Monday, our wonderful host, Bob, drove Chris & I to St Vincents hospital where I checked in. The doctor was great & after I'd payed $100 she very kindly yanked my toe nail out with pliers. Well, she did firstly inject it with anasthetic, though it did take 4 seperate injections to finally deaden the silly thing. She then patched up the wounded area, fitted me out with everything I needed & sent me on my way. Sounds simple enough but somehow it still took 5hours... Chris video taped the 'yanking of the nail' part & I watched it afterwards & it still made me cringe! I don't particularly like needles/blood/scalpels/etc. I hobbled out of St Vincents & across the road to a motel where we checked in for the night. The next morning I felt as though I could walk on so simply wrapped the toe up very neatly (as instructed) & pulled the boots on very slowly. By the time Chris & I had travelled only 25km though we had to stop & make plans to head back to Billings - not because my toe was too sore, but because Chris's new boots had pretty much taken all the skin off both heels. Chris noted that he was walking in a very similar fashion to an old guy he takes care of in a nursing home back in Australia. I could believe that. We sat on the side of the road for a while talking over our options. We decided to head back to Billings, get a motel & then the following day get him on a bus to Great Falls (9days ahead) & I'd walk on. It's illegal to hitch-hike in Montana so I was wondering how we were going to get a lift. There wasn't much traffic out there either. A classic white Mustang came thundering down the road & wooshed past us as I prayed a little prayer, "Lord, please, can you provide a lift for us?" I stood there staring down the very empty stretch of road for a moment & then, on the other side of the road, about half a minute later, the white Mustang pulled up. "You guys need a lift to Billings?" We both happily climbed aboard the old classic & where dropped off right outside our motel again. We planned our week's out, organised a meeting point & then early the next morning I headed off again, leaving Chris to sleep-in a little before his midday bus. I would've liked to have driven back to the 25km mark but with no transport opperating in that direction I had no choice but to walk it again. As I was passing by the 12km mark & the sun popped up over the mountains a classic white Mustang pulled up alongside me, "You need a lift back to where you were?" I laughed as I happily accepted the lift back out there. He was headed back out to work & had been keeping an eye out for me so I made it out to km25 a little quicker than I thought I would & then continued on up to Broadview. I've been amazed how many people I've meet since then who saw me walking on that second morning coming out of Billings & wanted to know what I was doing. It turns out that walking that 1st 9km was actually important! All in God's perfect timing. I slept in Broadview on the front bench-seat of the local fire truck, which was parked inside the firestation. It was great, I loved it! A big thank you to the gentleman who offered the truck to me. Mind you, I was a little concerned at what would happen if there was a fire that night, "Sorry mate, this truck's taken. Zzzzzz." From Broadview I had a little over 100km to cover in 2days to make it to Harlowton. I slept the 1st night in my tent outside the Rygate fire station & wouldn't you know it, there was a fire. I wasn't in the way or anything, but it was kind of noisey for quite a few hours! There was a grass fire about 60km away & it was pretty huge by all accounts but they got it under control eventually & then on their return stood outside my tent at 1am asking each other why there was someone camping in Ryegate. "Trying to sleep here..." On the walk into Harlowton two mini-buses drove past filled with youth & they gave a big wave. I waved back & we continued in our respective directions not aware that we would meet again. In Harlowton I did the rounds, stopping off at a few churches & leaving a calling card with the call to pary for unity. The only place with anyone presnt was the Catholic Church where I met the parish priest who offered to shout me dinner after I'd settled in to my motel room. It was a good meal & company after such a grueling 100km from Broadview. I think though I may have seen one of the most puzzling sights of this entire trip thus far in the grand town of Harlowton. On the outskirts of the town, next to the motel I stayed in, there's a small playground. There was a swing, a sea-saw & a gazeebo - all pretty basic. I could see something in the gazeebo but couldn't work out what it was. As I drew nearer I finally realised that what I was looking at was two antelope, hanging from the rafters. In a kids playground. It's hunting season here in Montana right now & the motel was full of hunters. And hence the gazeebo was... filled with antelope. I wondered at that point if after stringing their two kills up in the kids playground did the hunters at least spend some time enjoying the sea-saw? Somehow I don't think so. I can't believe they hung them in a kids playgound. And no, there were no children to be seen for miles. I don't think that 'Bambi' is considered a classic out in these parts :-)There was to be a mass at my next destination, Judith Gap, on the next day (Saturday) at 5pm so early Saturday morning I packed up & trekked up through the wind farms to Judith Gap, some 30km away. The mass was very small & personal. Afterwards I had the pleasure of meeting everyone there, who seemingly belonged in some way to 1 of 2 familes. I was going to put my tent up in town but Margaret, an elderly lady piped up & offered me the spare bed at her place. Not long after that the youngest couple there, Brian & Sarah Mawer, invited me to dinner at their place. Both the Mawer's & Margaret lived further on out the road from Judith Gap so with their permission, I plonked my backpack in Margaret's car & then walked & prayed the 1mile on to the Mawer's ranch, where Brian picked me up from the front gate. The meal was fantastic (particularly the pumpkin scroll for dessert) & with a very new position of not having to lug my backpack around I had the oppurtunity to then jog it off. It was a further 6km on to Margaret's place, which I jogged under a half-moon night with snow capped mountains on both sides of me. It was very quite & very still as i jogged along & apart from the possibility of running into a mountain lion, I enjoyed it. I rocked up at Margaret's place at around 9:30pm & after a good chat finally hit the sack. The next morning was today & I had another 50km walk ahead of me but at least this time with some idea of what was ahead. Back in Judith Gap a husband & wife had orgainsed for me to stay with their relatives, the Groves, near Moccasin. I was a little late leaving Margaret's place but with a very cool day I was able to push through with only one stop at 'Eddie's Corner', a highway stop-in. I grabbed a good lunch, called the Grove's to arrange a time & meeting point & then had a guy walk up to me & ask how far I'd walked. I turned around & there was two mini-buses full of youth dis-embarking for the rest rooms & take away store. We both remembered passing each other a few days earlier & it was great to hear that they were actually a youth group who had headed down to Billings for a Christian Youth Conference. It was great to get to know a few of them & chat for a brief moment before both of our journies continued, this time in same direction. I arrived safely here at the ranch despite the onset of snow in the last few kilometres & Greg & Karen have made me feel very much at home. My brother Chris is doing well, he's now in Great Falls & waiting for me to arrive, which should be in 3days time. By this time next week, God willing, I'll be writing to you from Canadian soil, where the moose are big & ice-hockey rules. Until then, please pray on. God bless, Sam.
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, & it will be yours." Mark 11:24

Opera, Ozzie Osbourne & Oh brother!

Hello from Billings, Montana! I'm well & resting along with my younger brother, Christopher, who arrived in Billings last night. I was going to get him to write something on the blog today but he's busy talking to our hosts upstairs. So it's just me for the moment. I haven't seen any family for 11months so it's been great to have him here. We stayed up until 1am last night talking & catching up before eventually falling asleep. His trip here took him from Launceston to Sydney, to Hawaii, to Vancouver, to Calgary, to Denver & then to Billings. He did note that it felt like he was descending into a spiralling hole. Well, now he's just going to have to find a way to walk out again. Funnily enough, after a year apart, I didn't recognise him at first, although I've never seen him with a beard either so that kind of threw me. He couldn't even grow one last time I saw him! :-) I forgot to mention last week that as the sun set en-route to Greybull I saw the most fantastic sight - the southern migration of Arctic Geese. There had to have been well over 1000 of the little guys, in flying v's of around 50 each, sprawling across a brilliant sunset. It was awesome. What was unexpected though was that as I watched one particuler flying 'V' I saw 2 geese break off from the formation & head back into the north. I was thinking to myself, "Wrong way guys! You've just come from there," but I soon stood in awe as I watched them fly back to a goose that had fallen behind. The 2 geese circled around & pulled up alongside the straggler & together they formed their own little 3-geese flying 'V' & powered on back to the main group. It was brilliant. Nice one guys, unity in action. From Greybull I said farewell to Fr Michael & trekked the very long journey to Lovell, where Fr Ekley was waiting for me thanks to to a call ahead from the parish prist back in Worland. Fr Ekley spoke a very cultured english & spoke of his love of the opera & how his mother had always wanted him to pursue a career there. I noted that when I sang my mum had always simply asked me to shut up... Hi mum :-) From Lovell I headed to a town called Frannie where there was nothing more than a place to park my tent. It was a very small town. There was a bar though, so I popped in a ordered a meal. Due to the small size of the place I ended up being quiet involved in the bar conversation & felt like I wasw sitting in on an old episode of 'Cheers'. The lady behind the bar attended a nearby church so she was eager to take the website address & invitation to pray for unity there this weekend. Then Terry, the fellow at the end of the bar who had just finished working at the Limstone Quarry, piped up & offered me a space at his house. He had no beds at his place so I took the floor in one room & he & his daughter took the floor in another. It was basic but a lot nicer & warmer than sleeping in the tent out here. The next day I crossed the state border into Montana & with a view of the great Yellowstone National Park mountains in the distance & two bald eagles circling above me I trekked over 50km to Bridger. I arrived late & the motel was unfortunately closed. I grabbed dinner at the local steak house & they offered me the slab of concrete out the back of the restaraunt to put my tent on. It was an uncomfortable sleep so I started walking well before dawn & arrived in Laurel by mid afternoon. My feet weren't doing too well as usual but that's pretty normal these days. I stopped in the Laurel Bible Church & met the very cheerful & youthful Pastor Chris. He was in the middle of preparing his preaching for the weekend service but we ended up chatting for a long time anyway. We kept coming back to one point in particular - what is unity? It was a very uplifting conversation & as we spoke I think we found ourselves abandonning to God more & more. He often meets with all the Church leaders in Laurel to pray & to build the bonds of unity. He said that it wasn't always easy, often challenging but very fruitful. Please keep these men & women in our prayers as they seek truth & love in what can be an uncomfortable setting. Laurel was a big town so I wasn't concerned about finding a bed in a motel. Chris had offered me a place at their Youth Centre but there were no showers (& I was needing one) so I headed off to find a motel room. There were 5 motels in town but incredibly there wasn't a single bed available anywhere. Why? Wouldn't you know it, Ozzie Ozbourne & Rob Zombie (two Heavy Metal rockers) were playing 25km away & everything was booked out for a 40km radius of the stadium. Thanks Ozzie. The girl at the last motel I stopped at was very kind though & invited me to wait in the coffee lounge in case a cacellation came through. I had to wait about 90mins but eventually one did come through & the bedroom & shower was all mine. I enjoy the simple things a lot more now-a-days. Last night I arrived in Billings, met the Harris family at St Patrick's Cathedral & they offerd me a place to stay. Bob Harris ran me up to the airport at 10:20pm last night to pick up my 20yr old brother Chris & we're now planning the pray assult from there converted basement. Hi, Chris here, I'm the handsome one & obviously the funny one as well. Haha. Anyway, at the moment I'm not sure what to expect, I'm a sprinter you see, so in other words, soft. I'm looking forward to it all though & really hoping to experience & learn from the faith on this side of the world & just to do something out of the ordinary. I'll keep in touch through Sam. Cheers, Chris. Sam back here again now... I'll be contact again next week from somehwere near Great Falls. Until then, please pray on spread the invitation - 4:01! God bless & peace be with you, Sam.
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning & patience is better than pride." Eccl 7:8

11th November - Rememberence Day - "Lest we Forget"

A Canyon, a Racoon, Lavender & Coyote Ugly

From the rural city of Greybull in northern Wyoming, g'day! How was your week? I'm sore. Since posting the last blog 9days ago I've managed 3 unscheduled rest days & yet I'm still on schedule. This of crouse has been made possible through walking long distances every day that I was on the road (smallest day for the this past week was 51km!). I left Casper in the early morning under the watchful lens of a newspaper reporter keen to get a snap of me 'in action' but by around midday I was feeling the effects of the lingering chest infection & was looking for a rest spot every hour. An hour after sunset I arrived at the one house town I was supposed to stay at but with sickness & soreness taking a grip I decided to push on an extra 15km to a town that apparently had a motel. Halfway there, at 9pm, a couple pulled over to offer me a lift. They gave me the unpleasant news that the motel had closed down for the winter season, but after much delineration I still declined the lift & walked on knowing that I'd have to pitch my tent anyway. I arrived at Powder River late in the evening & sure enough, the Motel was closed. The town wasn't very large & the few dogs that also called it home took a disliking to me being there & began barking uncontrolably. A minute later a young man by the name of Theo emerged with his dog to see what the comotion was all about. By this stage I was beginning to unpack my tent but he soon put a stop to that by offering his help & he called the owner of the motel who came down, unlocked it for me & let me stay free of charge! It was such a sweet sleep. I woke the next day just in time to jump next door to the only church in town & had a great time meeting the beautiful folk of the Powder River Church. At the end of the service the Pastor & his wife invited me to stay with them for the night & despite me 'needing' to keep pushing on down the road, Pastor Chris pressed on me that I wasn't well & more importantly, it was the Sabbath - so rest. So I did. The next day I headed off at dawn for the 2day, 100km walk to Shoshoni, still not 100% but at least feeling a lot better. The following day I happened to catch sight of my very 1st Coyote & I had enough time to pull my camera out & film it while it slinked away through the sage brush. What really suprised me was how beautiful this animal is. It's a small version of a wolf - 'Wolf-Lite' looks the same, half the calories! It had a stunning silver a grey coat & looked nothing like the Wiley Coyote I'd grown up with. I'd naturally presumed (because of the cartoon) that coyotes were slobbering, gangly, long-eared mutts, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Mind you, I should've known better than to trust those cartoons for my environmental studies. I'm yet to see a rabbit that looks like Bugs nor Tasmanian Devil that looks like Taz. And if I ever had a yellow canary that looked like tweetie... I'd be taking it to the vet for an MRI to search for a tumour in that oversized head. Not long after this I was able to confirm the animals identity with a local who had pulled over to chat. To my amazement, the guy had a a pet racoon clambering all over his pick-up. Its name was Roxie & it she was only 1yr old. She was so inquisitive & playful that it reminded me of some of the monkeies I'd met in Venezuela. It was great! She lent out the window & grabbed the camera while I was filming her & so I have 60sec of footage where the only thing you can see is a mass of racoon fur while hearing my voice, "Let go! No. Get off... no, let it go. Don't touch that! Let... let go." I'm sure it'll win an oscar one day :-) As I entered the town of Shoshoni another car pulled over & it was the couple from the 1st night when I was walking out of Casper. The lady in the car jumped out & ran to the back of the car where she retrieved a paper bag. Thinking that she might see me again on the road she had prepared a 'Comfort Pack' for me. Now, I've always associated comfort packs with stuff like, moisturiser, a face washer & lavendar scented soap, so i wasn't exactly jumping for joy, in fact, I was a little bemused. I quickly learnt that my definition of 'comfort pack' was limited & I opened up to find a bottle of water, some fruit & oven baked pumpkin seeds! For that I was truely thankful! The lavendar scented soap would've been ok too actually. From Shoshoni I headed north up through the most spectaculr piece of land I've seen in a very long time. It was called the Wind River Canyon & it was simply breathe-taking. I had 50km of fast flowing Wind River to follow through a 900m rock-walled monster of a canyon. The peaks were covered in snow & the river disappeared behind mountain after mountain. It belonged in the 'Lord of the Rings' movies. It was amazing. I actually had trouble praying that day, not because I didn't feel like praying, but because I was so distracted the whole way through. I ended the day with a stiff neck from looking up the whole time but I was smiling the whole way - especially when I finally broke my silence to bounce a few U2 songs off the canyon walls. I arrived in Thermopolis after sunset & was able to visit the Baptist Church just before their Wednesday service. I then walked on & found the Catholic Church & their bible study group. Fr Hugo offered me the churches guest rooms & so I unpacked for night & settled in. Fr Hugo finished up with the class & walked in as I was sitting on the floor trying to remove my sock from my bleeding by toe. They had become one. In the end I gave up, left it dangling & we simply sat there & chatted for a couple of hours about life, faith & everything in between. I ended up not walking again the next day because of some problems I was having in organising my Russian visa so instead I spent a frustrating day at the computer. It was an unproductive day & in the end, at the advice of Fr Hugo, I stayed a 2nd day in Thermopolis to sort out the problems. I got there in the end & I was very happy to have spent 2days physically resting. Thermopolis has the world's largest mineral hot springs but I didn't get a chance to go for a dip. As I was leaving on the Saturday morning I walked past the enormous springs nestled between 2 mountains & couldn't help but notice the rather strong sulphur smell eminating from the ponds. It smelt bad. Very bad. And with the temperature hovering around 2degC I watched a few couples slip into the warm, stinking water. I'd rather run a warm bath in my own home thanks. I hope they had lavendar scented soap on hand for the aftermath. I walked on up to a place called Worland where I went to Mass the next morning & then proceeded further afield to a town called Basin. There as nothing in Basin when I arrived last night so I pushed on to todays destination, walking 2days worth in one, to arive at Greybull around 1am. The last 10km were incredibly painful last night & my feet were burning up. I thought the pain was because of simple overworking. Every step I took was accompanied by either a groan, a moan or something resembling an aggrivated Grizzly Bear. When I did finally arrive at a small motel at 1am last night I surgically removed my socks to a grusome sight. My left foot was covered in blood. "Oh, that's why it hurt so much." So, today, once more, I'm resting & allowing my body to recover. I think pretty soon I won't just be praying for the unity of the church but also for the unity of my body! I'm doing fine though & still enjoying everyday. The Wyoming folk are beautiful people & the land is extraordinary. Many here are joining in the prayer for Christian unity & this in itself is more than enough motivation to just buy another pack of band-aids & walk on. God bless & please pray4one! Sam
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." Psalm 27:4
NEXT WEEK: Meet the Clear's. My younger brother, Christopher, will be joining me from Billings to Edmonton. I'll let him to the writing...

The Unforgetable Crossing of Shirley Basin

Hello to everyone from Casper in central Wyoming! I don't suspect that I'll forget much of the year that has passed but I doubt that this week, from Rock River to Casper, will ever fail to make me smile. I ended up staying a day in Rock River after the snow fall during my last blog entry pretty much closed me in. Forrest, Susane and Josh were impecable hosts & I had one of the most relaxing days in a long time. With the town covered in a blanket of white I attended the only church in town for the Sunday service, a small Baptist church of around 15 faithful. It was a quiet, slow day but what a welcomed change! On Monday morning I continued on with young Josh joining me until the town boundry. At the town boundry we turned around & returned to their house to retrieve my food that I'd left in the fridge & then once again walked to the town boundry... A big hand shake & thanks to Josh & I was on my way into the snowy wilderness. As I left Rock River for Medicine Bow the wind picked up & began to whip up snow drifts. I later found out that the temperature was around negative 14degC, so when you add on to that the wind-chill factor we're probably looking at something relative to -20degC. IT WAS SO COLD! Not far from the town a sudden gust of wind blew small particles of snow up through my balaclava & straight onto my face. I acted like any big tough Aussie would & unintentionally let out a high-pitched shrill. My very manly squeal scared me as much as the freezing conditions & I couldn't help but laugh as I stumbled on down the road. I couldn't walk on at one point & sort shelter in a road culvert for 15min until I'd warmed back up a bit. It wasn't a long walk to Medicine Bow but it felt like 100km! I walked on past the famed dinosaur graveyard at Como Bluff & eventually made it one piece (one solid ice block!). I checked-in to the famed Virginian Hotel; an antique hotel still in all it's old charm & in the middle of nowhere. It was made famous through a novel called 'the Virginian', which was set in the very place I now stood. And it was only $27 a night. Turns out the prices haven't changed in 100yrs either. The afternoon & evening in Medicine Bow was a tense time for me. Not because of Medicine Bow, it was a beautiful little town, but because of what I knew laid ahead - a 148km crossing of the Shirley Basin to the city of Casper, with nothing but wilderness for at least 130km. It would take 3days at a testing pace with no back-up & no way of resupplying food or water. Internally I was feeling uneasy about the intensly cold weather & 148km walk ahead. I got to a quiet point where there was pretty much nothing left but me & God. I wasn't praying with words so-to-speak, but I think I'd just saddled up alongside Him as I mentally looked out at my next 3days. In the quiet I felt the Lord say one thing, "Trust", and that was it, but it was said with conviction. I got a good night's sleep, packed up early & headed off before sunrise into a freezing darkness. As I crossed the Medicine Bow River & across the town boundry the 1st sign of morning began to appear on the horizon. It was the most spectacular glow of red & orange & in a way promised a hope of warmth. The rising sun would eventually show up a winter wonderland of snow & mountains under a clear blue sky. The wind picked up throughout the day but the cold dissipated & I was able to, for the 1st time in 2weeks, walk without my jacket. I entered the Shirley Basin in the mid morning & was gob-smacked at the vastness of this mountain guarded basin that extended for probably 80km. I passed by herds of antelope grazing & felt like a small dot plodding along out in the middle of nowhere. Probably because I was. I walked to a point 51km from Medicine Bow & as the sun began to set, found a great little spot on the side of the road to pitch my tent. As I sat down to eat my dinner the wind stopped & it was dead quiet. I could see two herds of anteploe grazing in the distance & then I faintly herd the cry of Coyote's on the far-off foothills. It was, to a point, beautifully peaceful. I half expected to look out into the distance & see Kevin Costner riding along with a group of Indians as they hunted down a herd of Buffalo... "Tatonka!" As the sun set I snuggled into my sleeping bag & drifted off to sleep. By 2am though I was beginning to struggle with the rapidly dropping temperature. The threat was very real & it was due to the geography of the place. I was out in the middle of a massive basin with snow capped peaks surrounding me. With no breeze what-so-ever & clear skies above, the cold air began to flow downwards & the world around me began to freeze. By 4am I discovered that there are few better scientific tests to show how cold it is than breathing out & watching your breathe ascend to the tent roof... & freeze to it! My tent became an ice cave! I had stalactites! I ended up wearing full thermals plus balaclava in my sleeping bag to try & combat the cold but with one final thought, "This sucks", I packed up, shook the ice from my tent & began walking again at 5am. It was still very cold but with no breeze it wasn't too difficult to cover up. I walked & prayed through until sunrise & waited patiently for my water supply to thaw... By mid morning I was still sucking on ice chunks when a fellow called Gary pulled over to offer me a lift. I explained what I was doing & he responded with an emphatic, "Hallelujah Jesus!" He asked me if I needed a drink. I said yes. He pulled out a huge bottle of gatorade, which he'd been carrying but hadn't yet opened. He also threw me some snickers bars & after a great little chat I was left to continue walking, praying & sculling gatorade. With a large variety of wildlife around I was wide-eyed for most of the trip & as I walked up & out of the basin & through the surrounding mountains I caught sight of something move on the hillside a km from me. I grabbed my camera & started filming as I zoomed in. It was a mountain lion. It ran on up the hill & then stopped & starred straight back at me. I thought, "I can see you too mate" & watched in awe as it powered on up over the hill. I was on top of the world after that & as I passed by more antelope, hawks, eagles & beavers I felt very blessed. Very Forrest Gump, but very blessed. In the late afternoon a funny thing happened - I had a craving for peanut butter. Odder things have happened. An hour later, Gary pulled over again (on his way home) & guess what? While in town he'd bought me 3 peanut butter filled choclate cup-cakes! Haha, brilliant!! Thankyou Gary, thankyou Lord. By the end of the 2nd day I had made it to km 104. The best place I could find for my tent was outside a horse ranch. I wandered on into their indoor rodeo arena to see if it was ok for to me occupy their front gate grass. As I walked in, I was greeted by 3 cowboys resting against the bull-fence. Suddenly the lights went out in a power failure & so I reached for my torch & flicked it on. One of the cowboys noted, "I got no idea who you are but I'm glad you're here!" The guys were very welcoming & offered a safer piece of ground to me just on the edge of their arena. One of the cowboys, Jet, did a very kind food run for me & returned from his house with fruit, jerky & home cooked cake. It took the pressure off my dwindling supplies massively & after a good dinner I managed to get a good night's sleep. Day 3 of the crossing to Casper began before sunrise again & I headed up along a dirt track (road 401) through beatiful rolling hills & along stark, steep ridges that droped away massively on both sides. I was beginning to hurt physically from the pace & I could feel a chest infection coming on so the quiet wilderness walking was just the thing to keep me 'not caring' about the pain. By mid afternoon, slightly ahead of schedule I limped into Casper with a few bleeding toes & only one piece of chewing gum left :-) I wanted to find a hotel straight away, shower & curl up in bed but I felt the Lord ask for that one extra effort - "Go to the Church". The 1st Church was the Paradise Christian Centre where I stopped & extended an invitation to pray for unity & i then passed a few churches with no one present before I walked up to the Catholic Church. It was 5pm & apparently the priest had just sat down to eat his dinner before watching the World Series Baseball 2nd final. His reaction at my untimely entry? He left everything & gave me his full attention. Meet Fr Fox. With his dinner waiting, the baseball about to start & a meeting scheduled for an hour from then he responded to my parting question, "Do you know of somewhere cheap to stay?" with his time & his car. He drove me around town in an attempt to find me a place to stay but with a huge tournamnet in town pretty much everything was booked up. His solution? He put me up at the Hotel Marriott. Oh-my-goodness. I walked into my room & just stood there, wide-eyed, starring at the size of the room & the amount of stuff in it. I feel out of place here. My boots aren't shiney!!! Fr Fox didn't leave it there though, he picked me up this morning & took me to mass & then did all he could to help me prepare for the next 15days (today was a rest day). In order to help spread the invitation to pray for unity he even called the newspapers & tv news crew who turned up for interviews at lunch time while we ate ordered pizza. It was supposed to be his day off today. This afternoon 'Foxy' finished off my busy day by driving me up to the mountain overlooking Casper & we chatted about anything & everything. What ever it was, we seemed to always end in laughter. I've felt so blessed this past week. It was incredibly tough & from high-pitched shrills, to ice, to bleeding toes the only thing that fills my mind now is gratitude. God is good. Please join us in prayer, particularly at 4:01pm each day as we continue to pray 4 1. May we be one. God bless & peace be with you, Sam.
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10

Buffalo Wings, Wilderness & Wild Walking (-2days)

I'm in Wyoming! Hi folks & welcome back to the walk. I feel like Survivor Man after this week on the road. The week began easily enough with a short walk to Fort Collins where I met the pastor at the Presbyterian Church & then bumped into the assistant priest at the Catholic Church. Fr Peter was a young man from Poland & after I'd extended an invitation to pray for unity he extended an invitation to join him for a quick dinner at the 'Outback Steakhouse', an Australian themed restaraunt. On the menu apparently Tasmania is famous for its Buffalo Wings?? So I ordered them. They were great. Still bemused though that I grew up in Tasmania & yet had never heard of buffalo wings as a local dish :-) I eat very slowly & Fr Peter had to return to the church before I was finished so he left me to eat as much as I wanted until he returned 2hrs later. By the time he returned I'd managed to finish my dinner. As I said, I eat slowly. The great thing though was that in that time Fr Peter had organised for me to stay with a young couple, Robert & Melanie. They had a beautiful home & an inspiring faith. They also had two overly energetic cats that took a liking to my bed, my bag, my boots, my socks, my gloves, my feet, my hands, etc. I enjoyed my stay there! I originally thought that the highway I was following traced around the base of the Rockies but I soon discovered that from Fort Collins it headed straight up & over. Ten miles out of Fort Collins I discovered that I was walking without my wallet. I kept walking & tried to trace back over the previous day & came to the conclusion that it was in Fr Peter's car. I stopped at a service station & called the church office & after a quick search they found it. Thankfully, Melanie was heading out along the highway to her work place, a Benedictine Abbey in the middle of nowhere, later in the day. The Abbey was to be my destination as well with nothing around for 30km either side. Melanie pulled over with my wallet in the early afternoon & I continued on up into the mountains. The landscape was unbelievable & the air very cool. I could see snow falling on the distant peaks & as the sun set I had wide open wilderness, herds of dear grazing at regualr intervals, no traffic & all the time in the world to pray. It was... complete :-) I arrived at the Benedictine Abbey at 8pm to a retreat centre full of very motherly women very willing to take care of a guy who'd just walked & prayed 55km! I was mothered to death. I didn't even get to met the Benedictine sisters until mass the next morning. The women on retreat fed me, set me up for the night & topped up my supplies for the next days walk. I felt very loved! After sleeping the night on a make-shift bed made of cushioned dining chairs & early morning mass I headed further through the mountains to the Wyoming border. The wind was incredibly strong & soooo cold. I was stopped dead in my tracks a number of times by the powerful winds & despite wearing a balaclava I had to stop & turn away from the fridgid wind a number of times. At 2:30pm I stopped into a roadside store & found that the temperature at that time was negative 2deg & the wind speed around 90km/hr. I grabbed my camera out & did a quick dialouge on the 'current conditions' but it's a little diffcult to watch because I'm shivering so much that the shots a little shakey! Realistic effect though. I entered the town of Laramie at around 8:30pm & was met by the local Marshall, Brian Fritzen who did the usual line of questioning & request for i.d. but then did the unusual thing of paying for me to stay the night in a motel. He simply paid for my night & wished me all the best. As simple as that. There had been weather warnings for the past week about a large cold front & low pressure system moving through so I had thought about staying in Laramie for a few days until it passed. The next morning though I worked out that I had just enough time up my sleve to make it to Rock River, a day & a halfs walk away. I had a quick stop in at the Laramie Christian Centre with the beautiful Pastor Allen, Joyce & Joanne & then hit the road again. As I left Laramie a friendly dog run up to me for a pat & belly rub but then wouldn't leave me! I tried evrything to get him to go home but he simply looked at me with puppy dog eyes & continued to follow me. Out on the highway he had no road-sense & almost caused a few accidents so it was getting a little serious. I ended up stopping a passing truck & asking the guy to take him back before something happened but he was reluctant to take him onboard. I scolded him (the dog, that is) & tried other means to get him to go but he kept on following. After 5 miles the somewhat inevitable happened when he ran out across the road in front of a speeding truck who ploughed him down withbrutl force. It was deflatting to witness & I was then left with the grim task of removing his body from the road. Somewhat of a senseless waste. I walked pretty quietly from then on. I found a place to pitch my tent for the night & after some reading & dinner I drifted off to sleep. And dreamed about walking around the world - funny that. Today I hastily completed the rest of the trip into Rock River with the approaching cold front looming. Once in town I found that there were no churches & the motel had closed for the off-season. No sooner had I thought, "I wasn't particularly looking forward to sleeping in my tent again tonight" and a voice called out form across the road. Actually, it was from the pub to be exact. Meet Forest, new resident of Rock River, bar tender & a very hospitable bloke who has lent me his caravan until the storm passes over! And the storm has now hit. There's around 10cm of snow already & could be up to 30cm by tomorrow morning. Pending conditions I may stay here for an extra day until it's a tad safer to continue. Oh, & Forest's caravan, it's not a caravan, it's a house on wheels - it's enormous!! Beats my tent hands down. So here I am, now only a couple of days away from reigning in those extra 15days in order to cross the Canadian border on time & enjoying watching my 1st snow fall in 14months. The Lord continues to provide at every step & after a great talk with Fr Peter back in Fort Collins I'm all inspired again (actually, I hadn't realised how much more inspired I could be). Please continue (or begin) to pray for unity! Love & truth. I hope you have a great week, God bless & may his peace be with ya! Sam.
"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer." Ps 18:2

Sprinklers, Tumbleweed & The Mighty Rockies (-3days)

G'day folks! I'm sitting up in the main auditorium of the Loveland Church of Christ at their sound desk using the internet... Thanks Kirsten! I've passed through Denver & I'm now tracking north along the mighty Rocky Mountains, which I might point out, are looking rather white today! The temperature has dropped significantly over the past week & it's a rarity for the thermometer to top 10deg Celcius. I'm enjoying the cooler conditions though & I'm happy to have left the Colorado Plain's wind behind. It was getting a tad demorolising - I'm used to being overtaken by trucks, cars, motorbikes & bicycles but when I started to be overtaken by scores of tumble-weed, I knew I'd fallen a few notches down the highway food chain. The walk into Denver was taxing with two of the days stretching well over 70km. Both were not intended to be that far but due to the circumstances I found myself in I had few other choices. The 1st day, 79km, happened because I arrived in a town at 12am & there was no where to sleep for the night. I laid my sleeping bag out behind the community centre on a lovely lush green section of grass & began to drift off to sleep... until the pop-up sprinklers came on at 2:10am. I was sent scrambling & tumbling but not before all my gear had been thouroughly drenched. It was 2degC & with a cool breeze blowing I didn't feel like sitting around trying to shiver my self dry. So I packed up & continued walking on through the night, eventually arriving at 9:30am at a place called Hugo (which is at mile 401!). I slept the rest of that day in a dry & warm hotel after the local Catholic Church kindly served me up a hot breakfast. The second long day, 74km, came about because I arrived in a town that scared me & so I kept walking! It was around 55km from Limon to Dear Trail but there was no church there & no hotel. The lady serving at the gas station suggested I put my hammock up at the local park but on my way down there I spotted a big old couch sitting out the front of a run down house. It was stupid of me to do so, but not looking forward to spending a cold night in the hammock I very abscent mindedly walked up to the house, knocked & inquired of the young man living there if I could 'rent his couch for the night'? His reponse was to ask me to wait while he checked with his wife. I stood on the front step & waited for at least 10mins until finally the man's wife opened the front door & demanded that I get off the property. At that same moment the couple's skin-head friend arrived at speed, sliding his car up into the drive way. He jumped out with a mean scowl on his face & walked straight up to me. I quickly apologised & left the property promptly. As I did I over-heared the man's wife say to the skin-head friend that the police & sheriff were on the way! I turned & asked why & she simply yelled back, "Because you wouldn't leave!" So apparently in Dear Trail "Wait here" means "No, go away." Anyway, I didn't feel like putting my hammock up anywhere in the town & so after finishing my dinner under a street light I continued on into the night to finally arrive at the next town around 1am (& the hotel was open). After that little episode I've ditched the hammock I bought a one-man tent & more winter clothing to get me through the next few months. Denver was very beautiful though the 1st little strip was far from pleasent with many homeless people & even more intoxicated (it was around 3pm on a Friday). I had a couple of good chats with some of the homeless guys but it was so sad to see the incredible difference between that section of Denver & the rest. The next day I met the very personable Archbishop Charles for a brief 5mins but spent most of my time in Denver simply shopping for the winter gear I needed for the trip ahead. The last few days have been exceptionally cold & thus I was able to test my new gear out & I'm happy to say that even though it was hovering near 3degC for two days straight & I was plumetted by a frigid north wind & rain I pulled through without a shiver nor wet socks. The sky cleared today & revealed a very white Rocky Mountain range with snow blanketing the slopes. The leaves are changing colour & it's providing a spectacular back drop to the days of prayer on the road. The hospitality since Denver has been fantastic & I've been able to drop in on many churches & extend an invitation to pray for unity. I've received a few invitations myself, such as to the Broomfield Parish Oktoberfest Community Event. I drank soft drink all night but had a wonderful time meeting the many people who'd turned out. And then last night I happened to knock on a Church door just as the youth group was gathering & I was invited to stay, participate, eat & then sleep in the lounge room of the youth group leaders house! Brilliant. I'll see you next week from somewhere near the not-so-tropical Wyoming border. Until then, God bless & please pray for unity! Sam.
"The Lord is my shephard, I shall not be in want." Ps 23:1
ps: Cheers for the comments guys! I hope I answered your in depth question Tanner? :-)

A Wedding, Tornado & 2 Pistols (-5days)

Hello from Kit Carson in Colorado! Sorry for missing last weeks entry; it was simply a matter of not being able to find internet. In the past 2 weeks I've crossed out of Texas into Oklahoma & then into Colorado. I'm now 7days into the Colorado plains & on target to arrive in Denver before the end of next week. A very big thank you to all the people of Texas who made my 1month crossing such a memorable one. It has to be one of the friendliest places on the planet! A big hello to the Sunray youth group who walked with me fora afew miles - I hope you found your car again. I crossed the Pan Handle of Oklahoma in around 24hrs but it was a 24hr stint that knocked me around somewhat. At the end of a 60km day I was walking into Boise City under the cover of night & watching an electrical storm roll past the northern side of the town. In the darkness I hadn't noticed a second front curling in behind me & with very little warning the wind picked up to around 80km/hr, the rain came thundering down (actually it was more 'across' than down) & the most spectacular lightning I've ever seen lit the sky up about every 1 to 2 seconds. Some lighting went down, some went up, & some sparked its way across the under belly of the clouds in a mesmorising stream of purple. And no matter how much I tried not to, I always instinctivly ducked every time it flashed above my head (apparently I'm taller in my mind than in real life). The wind was so strong at times that my back pack would act like a rudder & force me into a sudden rotation. My water proof cover was ripped off the bag at one point but because of the intense noise of the storm I had no idea that it was gone until I happened to spot a fluro yellow water proof cover clinging to a bush on the other side of the freeway... "Hey! It's just like mine!" The show stopping moment though was when a flash of lightning flashed in just the right spot to show up a tornado, spiriling down out of the clouds. It was a long way off but I still stopped where I was & peered into the darkness waiting for another flash in just the right place. A few seconds later it was lit up once more & I started hatching a plan for if it struck the ground & came in my direction. The only thing around was a storm water drain every 200m under the nearby railway line so I walked on with one eye on the tornado & one on the distance to the next storm water drain. The tornado headed in a different direction though & as far as I could tell, didn't hit the ground. At 11pm, with a hair style to rival Albert Einstein's, I arrived in Boise City. And smiled. It was a big week to be away from home as well. My youngest sister, Alexandra, was married on last Saturday to the fabulous Chris Hardinge & I was the only family member for about 7 generations not to attend. It was a somber night as I headed off to bed in a small country town in the USA knowing that the wedding was just about to get underway. I'm told it was a great day & evening. Congratulations Alex & Chris!That day was also the Australian Football League grand final & my team, the Geelong Cats, won their first premiership since 1963! I was born in 1979, so that means that I still haven't ever seen them win... Anyone tape it? I've met many fantastic people in the past week & have been shown some super hospitality, which has made the frantic pace I'm rolling along at a little more bearable. In a town called Springfield in south eastern Colorado I was walking to a hotel when I spotted a small church with a matching house next door. I stopped & had a moment of, "I should go & say hello & invite them to pray for unity but... I'm tired & want that hotel room." I felt the Lord gently encourage me to just do my job so I plodded over & met the pastor from the Quaker Church. We had a long chat & then as I was leaving a gentleman from across the road waved for me to come over. He & his wife were Pentecostal Preachers & wanted me to have dinner with them & to stay in their spare appartment. The meal was great & the conversation went far too long into the night, but was well worth the lethargy. Thank you Lord! My most unexpected evening however came when I walked from Springfield to Lamar over 2days. I was planning to camp out in my hammock for the night during the crossing but I had a small problem - no trees anywhere! I spotted a farm house in the distance with trees surrounding it so I made tracks for it & knocked on the door. Big Greg, the owner of a 30,000 acre ranch, answered the door in his shorts & had no problem with me tying my hammock up in his front yard. In fact, he had so little problem that he then fixed me a hot dinner & kept my glass full. His wife arrived home soon after & we spent a few hours talking at the kitchen table with a world globe in front of us as we exchanged stories. Now, the normal thing would be to then say goodnight & go to bed, however, that isn't how the night ended. At around 10:30pm, in the freezing cold of the Colorado evening, Greg & I made our way outside... & had target practise with his two pistols. I think I'm half deaf now in my left ear from all the shooting. The funny thing was that he set up a tin can in front of some logs & I sat a maple leaf a foot above it on the log. I had first shot & lined up his tin can... BANG! And the leaf went flying... It was a good thing it was dark & Greg couldn't see my confused expression. He had know idea that I was shooting for the tin can & so was mightily impressed that I'd just nailed a leaf from 20m. The pressure was on though for the second shot. This time there was no faking it. If I missed I couldn't claim to have been aiming for the log. I aimed a foot in front of the can & bam! Over it went. I felt like twirling the thing 'round & blowing across the barrell but felt that under the circumstances it was perhaps best just to hand it back to him & stay quiet. Last night I met a lapsed Christian called John who invited me back to his girlfriends place for dinner. We didn't 'have a shot' after the meal but we did talk about unity for a short while & then about the love of God. His father was once an Evangelical preacher & John had socked it up in his youth but had drifted from the church in his adult years. Once he got started though, it all came flooding back & it was as though he was falling in love with Christ all over again. At the end of the night I asked him to pray for me as I continued on & he replied, "I already have." Winter is on the way here in Colorado. The 1st snow fall is expected tomorrow night so it's time to sell the hammock I think. God bless & please keep praying! Sam
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1John4:16
ps: I've had more x-rays done on my hip & it has shown up very clearly as a badly rotated pelvis. In the process of having it put back in place. She'll be right mate :-)

Snake Attack & Meals with the locals (-8days)

Hello from Amarillo in north west Texas! I'm enjoying a rest day today for the 1st time in a long time & have met some great folks here already. My last blog entry was from a town called Snyder where I almost had a heart attack upon leaving. As I left the town I was walking along the edge of a quite little road & very diligently peeling back the lid of my blueberry yogurt... so diligently infact that I didn't see the 5ft bull snake curled up in front of me! The first I saw of it was a flash of brown & the flip top, 180degree open, fangs protruding mouth as it launched itself through the air at my left knee. With a reflex jump into the air I sort of hurdled the rocketing snake, spun in the air & landed facing it as it smacked down on the road beneath me. I quickly backed away & it recoiled & began to puff itself up & hiss loudly. It missed me by about 1 inch & I think that Jackie Chan would have been proud of my 'jump & spin', not necessarily because I avoided being bitten, but simply because I didn't spill any yogurt! Now that would have been a bad start to my morning :-) As you can see from the photo, they are pretty well comouflaged against the roads here so it can be difficult to spot them as they warm up on the edge of the road. I've seen a lot more since then but well before they were flying through the air. I even spotted a young rattle snake which didn't seem too bothered with me being there so I spent a some time watching it. I placed my walking pole in close to its head & it quickly recoiled into a striking position & began to rattle its tail. That was all I wanted to see - 1st time I've seen the rattle in action! I left it alone from there (btw, any children reading this, do not place a walking pole in front of snake to make it do something - very dumb). I've now reduced my 15days behind schedule in order to cross the border on time to just 8days. My body is very sore though due to the extra distances. I had the sniffles for a little while as well. I slept in my hammock outside a highway bar (Jesse Jane's) enroute between two towns a large distance apart & just as I set my hammock up & jumped in it began to rain. Everything was soaked (including me) & so I didn't sleep particularly well. Consequently I've sniffled a little since. I think it's almost passed now though. This is beautiful country up here (minus snakes) & I've seen some enormous 3km trains pushing across the northern Texas plains & it's quite a sight. I've been very blessed to share some meals with many different locals along the path & I must extend a very big thankyou to the Spanish community in Plainview who took up a collection for me while I was eating elsewhere at someone's house. They payed for my accomodation & the next day's meals. Thanks guys! I also shared a meal with Rick, a Church of Christ preacher, & his beautiful family in a town called Happy - the town without a frown! That's for real... that's its slogan :-) A few hours after leaving Happy a fellow called Max Stevenson pulled up beside me with an array of angora socks. He'd been talking with Rick & figured I'd need some new socks! They're very comfy & bright red!! Theyr'e great, so thanks to Max from 'Bar S'. Everyday as I walk I pray as I trundle along but I set aside 1hr specifially to simply pray & 'be' with the Lord. On the 44km walk from Floydada to Plainview I was about 30minutes into my 'Me & God' time when an army vetran pulled over to see if I needed a lift. He was a faith-filled man & after hearing of what I was doing he offered to not only pray for unity but to pray for the next half an hour with me as he continued in his car. It was great to know that for the next 30mins someone else was interceeding with me. It really lifted me. And then, just to top it off, an hour later he pulled up beside me again, opened his car door & invited me to take a small rest & enjoy a meal with him that he'd bought at the next town. So we ate & chatted for more than just a small rest & then eventually headed our seperate ways again. All up though, I've been very blessed with the company of so many hospitable Texans. On the down side, 2 nights ago I stayed in a small hotel & channel-surfed the cable tv through all the various Christian stations. I was amazed at the array of teachings & preachings of the different stations & it unfortunately drove home even further the division amongst Christians. Over 30mins, this is just a sample of what I heared; "The Baptist Church is run by a board & that is not in the bible!" Interdenominational Preacher. "Hell does not exist & the bible is not the exact word of God." Pentecostal Preacher. "Hell is very real & the bible, the word of God, desribes it vividly!" Pentecostal Preacher. "The Holy Spirit whispered to me, 'I can get you money anywhere in the world'." & "The Lord wants to bless you with financial security, so if you send a $1000 deposit right now to the address on your screen you too can allow the Lord to bless you." Preacher Wisdom Centre Church. "We need to make attonment for our sins! Send a minimum of $60 to the address below & begin to make your attonement with God." Unknown Preacher. "The Catholic Church seeks to control your life." Pentecostal Preacher. "The Pentecostal Chruch is so legalistic." Evangelical Preacher. And so on, and so on... It was incredibly sad to watch the 'Public Face' of Christianity to the oustside world. The truth is not relative & we sure aren't making much of Christ's prayer in John 17 - "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me & have loved them even as you have loved me." If you are not already praying for unity, please join with the many thousands who are, particularly at 4:01pm each day. God bless & a big hello to everyone in Evelyn's history class! year 9.. That'd be all about the Middle Ages wouldn't it? I'll pray for you :-) See you next week! Sam.

No Food + No Water + No Room = No Worries (-11days)

This past week I've headed further north to the 'Pan Handle' of northern Texas where the land is flat & the roads are long & straight. There are cotton fields everywhere & they stretch for miles in every direction. This is also home to the world's largest rattle snake population though to date I'm yet to see one! Mind you, I did step within a foot of a 5ft bull snake... close enough. I left Junction City last Monday morning & walked up to Menard & then further afield to a town called Eden. In Eden I stopped at the town library & met a lovely elderly woman called Ivy who was very welcoming & invited me to stay with her & her husband on their small farm just out of town. It was just like staying with my grandparents! It was great. They fussed over me & didn't stop talking the whole time. I just wish they'd waited until the other had stopped talking before beginning a new conversation. I had to keep on my toes! After dinner we stepped outside & Ivy walked me through the northern hemisphere astronomy, star by star, & so now I actually know what I'm looking at as I trundle along in the twilight hours. They sent me on my way the next morning with freshly washed clothes, a bag full of food & a request for notification upon completing the walk. I headed on towards the town of Paint Rock & was filled with anticipation as a close friend from Australia was flying into Housten & driving up to visit me on the road for a couple of days. He was also bringing with him new socks (see the old pair in the photos to the right) & a new book to chew through. I spent the entire day looking over my shoulder wondering how much longer it would be until he pulled up alongside me but as it was, I arrived at Paint Rock well ahead of him. There was only one store so I bought a lot of food & waited... & waited. By night fall I was concerned as to where he was but with no phone in this small country town I had no way to contact him. A kind local allowed me to use their internet & at 9:30pm we finally made contact - after 6months of planning we'd stuffed up big time with our communication (where I was exactly) & he wasn't going to be able to make it. It was very disappointing. I trudged down through the darkness to the Paint Rock picnic ground to set up my hammock. The picnic area was spider infested & dark & because of my not-so-good mood I packed my bag up & hit the road to walk through to the next hotel some 30km away. I marched the whole way there without taking a single stop & roled into the hotel at 2am. Time to sleep. The next day I was still 'not pleased' with not having seen Damian but I at least had the rest of the day to slow down as I was already at 'todays' destination. Later that day I met Fr Wade & Fr Bob, two ex-servicemen who had given their lives to the church & their hospitality was extremely 'blokey' & relaxed but always Christ-centred. I loved it. Holy has never looked so real :-) I made my way further north from there to a town called Wingate. I'd only walked a kilometre though when a Sheriff's car pulled up behind me & I was asked to explain myself. Apparently someone had seen me (a stranger) walking down to the road & so... rang the police. I was free to continue but it wasn't the last I'd see of the sheriff's department for the day. 7miles out from Wingate I ran out of water & so stopped at a farm house alongside the road & rang the door bell. There was no answer so I continued on but 15min later another Sheriff's car was behind wanting to know why I was ringing someone's doorbell. I explained & the sheriff laughed. He then threw me a bottle of water. Thankyou! Wingate was a lot quieter than I had hoped for. In fact the grocery store, cafe, bank & post office had all closed down leaving only... a cotton storage shed. As it was already the evening twilight I decided to hitch a lift to a town some 20km away to get food & water & then return to put my hammock up, but after standing on the edge of the road for a minute I decided to swallow my pride & just knock on someone's door. I walked right to the edge of town until I saw the very last house, which looked 'welcoming'. I knocked & enquired of the elderly gentleman if it would be ok if I strung my hammock up in his front yard for the night. He was more than happy for me to do so & even helped me put it up. I was then invited inside the house of Mr & Mrs Poehls who shouted me a Dr Pepper & some smoked venison. I still had few muslie bars in my bag as well so they made up the rest of dinner. After a lengthy & animated chat with the Poehls I nestled into my hammock underneath the Texas stars. Their guard dog came over for a visit so I threw him some smoked venison that I still had & all of a sudden I was his new best friend. So much so that he slept beside me for the night & snored the whole way. Ocaisionally he'd wake up & poke his head up over my hammock, resting his head on my belly, & moan, presumably wanting more venison? Then he'd rest back on the ground & continue snoring. By 5:30am I was ready to hit the road again. The guard dog trotted down the road with me for a good distance but we finally parted company & I was going solo once more. With a full container of water but only a tiny amount of food it was an intersting walk to Sweetwater. I trusted God that he wouldn't leave me hanging & simply walked on. As the sun rose I found myself walking & praying through the largest wind generation tower array I've ever seen. Wind turbines filled the landscape from east to west & up to the north. I was in complete awe of these massive turbines & most likely walked for 20km with my mouth open. Apparently it's the world's largest array. I ran out of food & water at around 12pm & I was in the middle of nowhere. I stopped at an intersection & looked down the roads wondering where they led to. A fellow drove up beside me & asked me if I needed help. I explained my situation & he offered to drive me to a remote restaraunt set up for the wind turbine workers & then to return me to the intersection to continue walking. Mr Dale Finch drove me 4miles to an outpost town called Nolan where he bought me lunch, organised for someone to take me back to the intersection & then headed on his way. Lunch was great & then the owner came & gave me the money Dale had used to pay for the meal. I got to chat with all the locals there about what I was doing & Mary (the towns 'grandmother') was very passionate about praying for unity. A farmer drove me back to the road & I continued on into Sweetwater feeling very blessed from my unplanned trip to Nolan. Yesterday I moved on to a town called Hermleigh, where there was nowhere to sleep once again & so I perched myself up in the football stadium & slept there. It was uncomfortable. Oh, and I couldn't find the stadium in the dark to begin with so I asked a fellow who was sitting up on the back of his truck if he knew where it was. He just sat there & didn't reply. Turns out 'he' was a gas cylinder - no wonder he was tight lipped... Oh well, can't win them all. Today I am in Snyder & after arriving just in time for mass, I've been invited to spend the afternoon & evening with parishoners Scotty, Wendy & family. I am exceptinonally sore from pushing to make up for the extra 15 days (now at 11) but the hospitality of the Texans & constant prayer are keeping me motivated. The weather has been cooler than normal (high 20's) & with autumn setting in it's finally becoming a tadmore comfortable day in day out. Plese pray for me & particularly for Christian unity. 4:01. God bless, Sam.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1