Saved by Scarpa, Racing Heart Rate & a Dead Dog

Greetings from Santa Maria del Rio! An interesting week to say the least & my boots have played a major role a few times. This is stunning countryside Nikki & I are walking through - stark mountains, cactus everywhere, farmers on donkies - but the walk very nearly came to an end a few days ago. For the last four days in a row we've been unable to find accomodation in our destinations & have thus been shipped off to neighbouring towns for the night before returning the next morning to resume the walk. On one particular evening after completing our scheduled walk Nikki & I needed to walk an extra 6km off the main road to a rural hotel. A few kilometres down the road we managed to thumb a lift. Nikki jumped in the front but as I was trying to squeeze myself into the back seat the young driver impatiently took off with my right foot still firmly planted on the ground. The movement forward caused my foot to lift slightly such that the sole of my boot was now facing the rear tyre & in a split second the car mounted my boot with me being contorted & pulled out of the car. Thank the Lord his Dodge didn't have enough power to get all the way over my boot & onto my ankle & with Nikki & I yelling at him to stop he depressed the clutch & the car roled backwards & back to the road! Incredibly my Scarpa boot somehow managed to hold steady with a car parked on top of it & I literally walked away with nothing more than a dusty trye mark imprinted on it. My knee is still a tad sore from the twisting motion but other than that, walk on. In other news, earlier in the week I had a nasty experience after pushing too hard at the end of a long day. Nikki was suffering from massive leg pain & so caught the bus to our destination after completing 40km of the day's 53km. Me, in my stupidity, decided to take on a challenge of increasing the normal km rate to finish off the final 13km in 2hours rather than the expected 2&half hours. Especially after having already walked 40km that day it was not a moment of wisdom. I knocked off the final 13km in 1hr & 50min but my glee soon turned into 'whoops' as my body went into melt-down. I'd pushed too hard & now my heart rate was soaring (200bpm) & my temperature rising. It took nearly 2hours to get everything under control & to a point where I could stand up without feeling faint. It was dumb on my behalf, so, note to self; 13km can be covered in less than 2hrs but is seriously stupid to attempt. DO NOT ATTEMPT. My boots have also been involved in a nasty incident of a different kind that nearly saw me throttled to death by Nikki. While searching for spot to sit down & eat lunch along side the road I accidently trod smack-bang in the middle of a dead dog that had been festering for at least 6months. I laughed it off but Nikki was mortified. We eventually found a nice little spot (away from the dead dog) & Nikki placed her backpack on the ground. Unbeknownst to her, the mouth piece of her water bladder had slipped down onto the ground & then I, not looking, stepped on it, leaving a dirty great big 'dead dog' foot print all around & over it. Nikki's reaction was, well, priceless. My reaction was to rapidly apologise & then assist in washing it by providing water from my water bladder. I removed the mouth piece to increase the flow of water but I misjudged the force at which it would exit the nozzle & instead of wetting her mouth piece the water shot straight over the top & into her open backpack... ouch. Some days just go from bad to worse. I retired from humanitarian work for the day at that point. Anyone else want to walk with me? Poor Nikki. I'm currently in the market for a new pair of socks after leaving my 2nd pair on a clothes line at a priest's house but I'm not having much success - size 16 socks aren't sold here. I'm having to wash my one & only pair every evening & hope that they'll be dry by morning. Also, one of my walking poles is struggling badly. The tungsten tip fell off & the plastic it was protecting is no match for the bitumen roads & is lossing a few mm every day. I'm hoping it will stay long enough for me to reach the USA where I should be able to find a replacement. As I mentioned earlier, the scenery here is amazing - very typically Mexican. We are still, however, having trouble with the locals who refuse most often than not to return our greeting. People stare at us all day long as we walk & if we say hello or good morning they either continue to stare or quickly look away as though they've been snapped out of a trance. In a moment that was straight out of a Hollywood film this afternoon, Nikki & I walked through the towns main square while a huge Mexican ensemble played a very upbeat tune with the locals looking on. As the tune came to a thunderous end not a single clap was to be heard. Instead, every single pair of eyes (including the members of the ensemble) was wide-eyed as they followed us across the square. It was a little unnerving. I smiled at one guy & said hello but he then looked confused & turned to his mate beside him for what I think was moral support. I'm pretty sure a pigeon taking off was the only movement apart from the two Aussies. So, that's been my week. I hope yours was dead-dog free & painless. Please continue (or begin) to pray for an increase of love & truth so that all people of faith may be united in Christ. God bless & peace be with you! Sam
"May the Lord make your love increase & overflow for each other & for everyone else, just as ours does for you." 1 Thessalonians 3:12