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...