Date: 2012-06-05
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: North end of Byron Foot Bridge - Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 12.8

Our day started early with packing up and checking out of Bear's Den Hostel. We drove on the number 1 rated road again to SOS's start spot and then I drove back down again...counting my blessings which is what I do when I am on iffy roads/paths! Count your blessings, name them one by one..okay...there were no vehicles coming the other way on this unpassable road...the sun was shining...SOS filled my gas tank before I got to this road...it is only a few days until we get the bald front tires replaced...the sagging rotting on the edges wooden bridge didn't collapse when I was on it...and...I MADE it down once again!! I sat at the bottom of this road deciding what to do with my day since I have no home to return to..driving to Winchester seemed like a plan so I drove the 26 miles to get there. There was a McDonald's so I stopped for an hour and a half to download lots of pictures that I couldn't do the last 2 days...check them out in PHOTOS on the left. Start at the "last" and then to previous to see the latest ones. (While you are there, sign the guest book!) Of course, I looked up knit shops and there was one!....and a very nice one! I spent a long time there...they had lots of FREE patterns and magazines so I have several new patterns to try out. When I left the knit shop, I drove to the historic section of town where there is a pedestrian mall. Lunch was German food...brat, sauerkraut, and German potato salad..yummy! I decided to return to Harper's Ferry which is where I was picking up SOS today. Parking is very difficult in this part of town but a car was leaving just as I got there so I got the only space in the one lot. It was only a little while before SOS called to say he was there so off I went to pick him up. We went to the AT Conservancy which is where hikers stop to get their picture taken for the book they keep with all thru hiker pictures. Then we started for HOME!!!!!!!!! I drove for awhile and then SOS took over. We stopped at a little UM Cemetery which had a huge gravestone dedicated to a WWI soldier....see it in PHOTOS. We stopped in Cumberland, MD for the night and got the one of the last two rooms at the Comfort Inn so we are settled in for the night and looking forward to being in Indianapolis tomorrow night and then on to Ft. Wayne on Saturday afternoon. It will be a short 48 hour stay with lots to do and people to see. Road Name of the Day: WILTSHIRE ROAD This is in honor of my Uncle Ray and Aunt Helen Wiltshire who have since passed away. They were always wonderful to me and welcomed me into the family. I loved visiting them in Decatur, GA.SOS here:We were just short of two goals that we had set before going back to Indiana UMC Annual Conference in Indianapolis. The first was to be at Harpers Ferry WV on the June 2, 2012 and the half way point on June 6, 2012 - 1,094.1 miles.We missed the first goal by three days and will make the second goal approximately 4 to 5 days after we return from annual conference.The reason, we had set the first goal to reach Harpers Ferry by June 2, 2012 is because it is/was the 13th anniversary of our accident on the way to the Annual Conference of the North Conference of the UMC. The accident was nearly fatal for both Trail Mama and I. If it had not been for a full size pickup truck hitting our Toyota Camry in the driver's front fender, I believe the accident would have been fatal to both Trail Mama and I. I believe that our vehicle would have gone into the a deep ditch backwards and would have flipped end over end several times.As it was I suffered a broken neck and was taken to St. E's in Lafayette without haste. Trail Mama believes that this was because they expected me to be DOA.Trail Mama also received multiple contusions on the left side of her body from the impact. She refused treatment because she placed me first. We both believe because of her injuries from the accident this has left her with lingering pains in the hips and knees which has kept her from hiking much of the trail with me.As I have said in the past, I had only a 3% chance of being able to walk after the accident. Of the approximately 11,340 broken necks a year 6,000 die, 5,000 become quadrepeligic and 340 are able to walk. In my case, I was able to walk and was out of the hospital in 4 days. I was in a body cast for 3 months and have had no after effects.Last summer I felt God's call to Hike for HIM and raise funds for his youth camps in the Indiana UMC Conference. I have been able to answer his call with the support of my whole family.Our son Jeffrey has probably made the biggest sacrifice of our children since he is home running the business and handling problems which arise. THANKS Jeffrey for all you do!Answering this call have been especially supported by Trail Mama (my Sarah), who has been with me every step of the way and who has gone way beyond her comfort zone such as driving on unbelieveable, swallow your car roads. She showed her willingness again today to do what I asked by crossing the bridge over the Potomac River between West Virginia and Maryland even though she fears heights and fears water with a passion. I wanted her to do this because Springer Mountain to Harpers Ferry is considered the first leg of the journey and Harpers Ferry is considered the second leg of the journey and I wanted her to be with me as we started the second leg of the journey. This is our journey and not mine and I am so blessed to have a soulmate who is willing to share this journey with me.I know that God is in this. The journey will continue June 12, 2012 after we return from annual conference and a 48 hour trip home to see all our grandchildren and our parents. We will be blessed to see our 14th grandchild being baptized at Good Shepherd UMC on Sunday the 10th of June.Keep praying for us and make a pledge per mile hiked at www/rightfuture.org to make a difference to Indiana UMC youth camps so we as a church can "Make Room for the Next Generation.