Half Way There!

Praise the Lord Jesus this marks the half way point for our walk- 6 more weeks till Washington D.C.
Central Walk is rocking it out! We are currently in Lincoln, Nebraska. Being a Floridian, this is a complete culture shock for me... corn, corn, corn, corn. I saw feed farms, silos, wheat, beans, etc... When we were in North Platte, Nebraska it felt like I was in the middle of the movie Twister. It was this small quaint town where great grandma, grandma, ma, pa, uncle Jim, and his 10 kids all live right down the street from each other. Then when we would go into town our host would know everyone and their grandmother- literally! I am being cultured in the ways of the Midwest.
Walking with a Franciscan priest is one of the best experiences of this trip. One day I spent time teaching him some slang like, "Father, you are my brotha from anotha motha" (With a NY accent) And I am his "Sista from anotha mista" He loves saying it and he says he will use it in one of his homilies. Haha- let's see if that happens!
The night walk had one great pro-life encounter this past week. Father Dan and I were in the SUV at 3a.m. waiting for the walkers- well I was sleeping. All of a sudden Alzbeta and Will came up with another woman and 3 boys. This woman stopped on the side of the road because they saw our two walkers. Oh, at night we wear vests over our shirts for the traffic but on one of the vests is written Pro-Life, so this woman saw this and stopped. Well She decided that she wanted to walk with Alzbeta and Will for one mile. She then asked Father and I to drive back to her car and tell her little eight year old boy and 10 year old girl who were sitting on the side of the road in this big van at 3 in the morning that her mom and her brothers were going to walk. Hahahaha- poor little kids, they were probably so confused and frightened. After their mile was up Will and Alzbeta kept walking and we drove she and her 3 boys to their car. She ended up staying in the SUV with us and talking for like 30 minutes about pro-life. Father and I kept looking at each other, and I would randomly laugh because I felt so confused & helpless. It was 3:30 in the morning and this woman was just sitting in our car on the side of the road while her little kids sat in their car... what in the heck was she doing out this late, walking with us, and letting her kids just sit on the side of the road? I mean at least we had at purpose out there. It was crazy, but a funny story, and praise God she did walk with us. We need crazy and great encounters like that especially in the middle of the night- it's a great encouragement!:)
Well, off to take a much needed nap!
We are praying for the Northern, Southern, and Canada walks and I can't wait to meet you all in D.C.!!!

Peace,
Cassandra
Central Walker

Notes from the South

Hi there! Southern walk here.
We've been making our way across Texas in sopping socks as we enjoy our first real rainstorm. Wet shoes aren't the most fun thing in the world, but there's a certain adventuresome pleasure to facing the warm wind and rain. It's also been a healthy reminder of our aim- that were are presenting each mile as a sacrificial offering and not just walking to get 35 miles east before dawn.

On a lighter note, some of us have been practicin our Texan grammer in the hopes of bein made honorary Texans this weekend. Here's a local version of grace before meals we've come up with recently:
D'you think you might could bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts, which we're fixin to eat, if that's alright with you? Amen.

Yesterday after noontime Mass, we met a kind lady who took us all out for lunch and then invited us to park the RV, shower, and eat at her house! (She also offered us her computer, and thus this post.) Today a few of her little granddaughters were visiting, so we showed some future walkers around the RV. They were pretty impressed. (And it was good and clean- thanks Alexandra!)

Ode to Duct Tape

Duct tape: the #1 material force against the culture of death.

Use it to...

...fix your bags
...hold your RV together
...hold your feet together (the serious version of moleskin)
...fix your shoes
...hold up your shorts (folded over, it makes a fine belt)

Hello from the Central Walk (Yes, We Are Alive!!)

(Left to Right Standing: Will, Jason Gregory, Beth Ann, Tina, Fr Dan, Jason Michael; Kneeling: Clara, Cassandra, Alzbeta)

(Scene from Beautiful Lake Tahoe)

Hello. This is Fr Dan on the Central Walk of Crossroads! Currently I am writing this from North Platte, Nebraska where we will be for this coming weekend. Next weekend we will be in the Lincoln/Omaha areas which marks the HALF-WAY point of our journey, and what a journey it has been!!! We began our walk in San Francisco on May 20 without an RV. Martha and her brother drove the RV out toward San Francisco, but it only made it to Sacramento. Thanks to the hospitality of the Foley family (as in Miles Foley of Crossroads fame!) we were able to conduct our day and night walks through Sacramento, CA until we received an RV while serving the weekend in Sacramento. What a blessing! We went on from there to beautiful south Lake Tahoe where the Catholic Priest of St Therese Parish processed down the isle for Mass with his huge Alaskan Huskie in tow! His dog simply followed us down the isle and laid down inside of the Sanctuary until Mass was over. No one got hurt! After Mass we actually, finally, and definitively walked out of California and into the (as yet) luscious state of Nevada where we soon discovered why native Nevada residents refer to highway 50 as the loneliest road in America. There was nothing out there in the desert except salt flats and mountains (with yelping coyotes) and sand and freezing cold nights (including a blizzard of snow on June 6th in the Butte Mountain Range). By the time we exited the state of Nevada into the state of Utah, we were grateful not to have encountered a single Mormon Cricket and the only mountain lion we saw was a dead one on the side of the road. I could go on, but there is just one other thing to note before closing this already long blog. This last week, while on the night walk with Cassandra, Will, and Amanda (who joined us for two weeks), we discovered what can only be named "the beast," better known as the Rabbit Ear Pass at the outskirts of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Anyone who has walked the central walk knows what I am talking about, long upward curves in the road leading to more curves still ascending to more curves in the road still ascending to more curves . . . I think you get the idea. By the time we reached the summit, the sun had rose, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary had been prayed, and it was time to break for Mass, breakfast and, of course, bed. All I can say is that "we have made it this far. . . by the grace of God!" To all of the other 2007 walkers in the south, north, and Canada, we are praying for you!! God bless all of our efforts favoring life in the great lands we are serving! Peace to one and all. Fr Dan Pattee, TOR (Central Walker)

That's what I love about the South...

Hi there! This is Elizabeth from the southern walk. Yes, we do exist... Since I met up with the group a week and a bit ago, there have been some major changes- our walk leader migrated north in a somewhat ironic turn of events, and a whole slew of generous short-term walkers went home... leaving only 6 Southies. We've tried to look on the bright side: we all fit at one table, comfortably in one pew, and into the RV without squishage; there's also much more opportunity to get to know the others and more personal responsibility for...well, just about everything! We will be very glad when God sends more walkers our way, though, and we're sure praying for that! As different as this walk may be right now, its mission is still the same, and I'm sure God will provide everything necessary to carry on according to His will! "We strive for excellence, but we'll settle for perfection" Anecdotes will have to wait... it sounds like we're headed back to Arizona right now! God bless

More blogs...

This summer our walkers are also posting personal blogs that contain more informaiton regarding their experiences on the walk.

Annette Corbett and Seth Wright are posting updates on the website for their parish - St. Patirck's in Denison, TX (an amazing parish that has hosted Crossroads for many years!). To view their blog please go to http://www.saintpats.net/home.html

Etienne O'Toole from Vancouver, B.C. is walking on our first ever Canada walk this summer. He is posting updates on his blog at http://prolifewalk.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Crossroads Canada, eh!

In the picture above, from left to right - Etienne O'Toole, Greg Roth, Sarah Gallaher, Jeremy Fraser, Marlon, Cyril Doll and Ben Broussard.

Comings and Goings

Hello Everyone!! This is Wendy and Anne from the Nifty Northern Walk. We are here to tell some interesting stories from the road.
For example, last night after getting back from the airport, we arrived at the RV to find Tim, Tom, and a random baby hater (who we tried to convert) named Bobby, with their shirts over their heads, holding lit candles, and chanting. It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. There are all the times of walking down the highway singing random songs at the top of our lungs, which is always a lot of fun. Also, I (Wendy) have invented something called Water Bottle Aerobics (Registered Trademark). I realized that we were working out our legs so much, that our arms were just becoming flabby messes. So, we do random arm exercises (50 of each set) to work out our arms. Even though the bottles only weigh about a pound, we really feel the burn...... oh, yeah!! In Spokane, Washington while walking down the street... Katie, Kevin, and Erin met a very well dressed guy with an insane mo-hawk, who insisted that they "give him some skin" and then proceeded to say "Right on!!". While Christian, Erin, and I (Wendy) were walking down the highway one day, just singing along, a bear ran across the road in front of us. Erin was almost frozen in fear, and Christian and I were just kind of laughing in amazement. There are many more crazy stories, but to write them all down would take up several pages, so we figure that this is enough for now.
Speaking of wild creatures, we have found a very lovely, very large spider which we are saving as a present for our dear departed Christian. We miss you guys!!!
We were blessed with a new guy yesterday. Charles (heaven help you if you call him "Charlie"!) came from the Southern Walk to help us out. He has already brought a lot to our team, but has a few things to learn yet (for example, "Funk" is clearly the BEST last name ever!).
While so far this post has been in a jovial tone, our walk has been far from a pleasant saunter down the highway. It has been a blessed experience so far, but it definitely has included many difficult moments. Walking at night is very difficult, because it is like being in the dark night of the soul. We half-joke that while during the day, we are crazy PRO-LIFE people walking along the highways, during the night we are merely crazy people. No one can see our pro-life t-shirts, and the only people who stop to talk to us are cops. We are learning that these lonely and dark night hours are the times of complete prayer and sacrifice, since there are absolutely no tangible rewards. Sometimes, all we can say is "Jesus, we trust in You" that these blisters and unseen limpings actually help to save babies. The beautiful thing is that truly, it is when we are weak that He is strong! He uses our fraility and does so much more with it than we could ever do! Blessed be His Name!
May God Bless all of you and all the walks this summer. Stay Strong!! Peace and Love Always!!

The Northern Walk the Road less traveled

Hello everyone! This is Katie from the Northern walk and I would love to share how the experience has been so far. We all came to Seattle, uncertain but very excited about what was going to happen this summer. We have received numerous encouragements and support from people. The generosity given to us such as meals and donations have been very humbling. Even with some negative responses from people the positives are what keep us going.
In the beginning two girls, Stephanie and Anette had to go to the southern walk. We were very sad to see them go but are happy for the southern walk because they are getting two awesome girls. Friday two of our guys had to leave for summer classes. We were very upset to see them go because they were such amazing people but are thankful for the awesome times we had with them.
The physical sacrifices we have had to endure are hard but we just continue to pray and realize the pain we are in is all for the mission of the walk to bring the culture of life to the byways and highways of America. We all hope and know that the people that see us their hearts are changed for the better.
The parishes we go to every weekend have been wonderful and open to us. I would like to thank all the parishes for their generosity and the opportunity for us to talk to their parishioners. I am going to go now Please pray for us as we continue on this journey of a lifetime. God Bless!