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)