Week One: And Now We Walk

Oh man! This week has been so amazing! Let me just say again that BC is a beautiful province! So on Monday we began the actual walking part of this adventure. The following were on day shift: myself, Becky, Pat, Alex, and Steve (for most of the week until he switched due to an injured walker). The others were on night shift: Alannah, Ben, Nellie, Lindsay, Carlos (who's joining us for two weeks), and Amy (who's with us for just this week).

Now that I've been through a full week of walking, I'd like to describe a typical day in the life of a Crossroad-walker. I really didn't know many of the details before signing up, so I thought this would help all those who may have questions. So basically we have breakfast together then go to Mass at the nearest Church. We then do morning prayers together and the day crew heads off with the van. We go to the last place we stopped and begin to walk. We usually walk in pairs, though some guys like to jog alone. The trend seems to be to walk 5km at a time, though the night shift this week preferred 8km. Anyway, the van drives 5km ahead of the walkers, so the walkers know when to stop if they so please; then they switch with the next pair. (While waiting for the pair to come back, we get to enjoy the beautiful scenery while chilling in the van and listening to music!) We continue to do this for several more hours. The goal is to reach 100km in one day and one night shift combined.

The only outlet that was working this past week was located in the back, beside the bed. 

When it reaches the late afternoon or early evening, the day shift drives the van to where the RV is parked (usually at a camp ground). We then (sometimes) have dinner all together which the night shift has prepared for us after sleeping all day. We eat together, say evening prayers and the night crew proceeds to continue walking where the day crew left off. The day crew then gets to clean up after dinner and relax a few hours before having a good night's sleep in the RV...only to be woken up eight hours later by the groggy, hyper, and somewhat scary night walkers. Let's just say that people can get pretty giddy when they have gone 24 hours with no sleep! 

This Week?

So what exactly happened this week? Well we walked through Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Mission, Hope, Princeton, and we almost reached Penticton/Kelowna. The first few days were a little difficult physically. But I was sure to stretch before and after every shift and by Thursday I was a champ! We began the walk by sticking our feet in the freezing cold Pacific. We then proceeded to walk as a whole group for about an hour. After this, me and two others began the walk. We proceeded to walk for 5km, then rotated with another three people. That whole day it was raining and we were soaked. But it was really great - praying the whole way and feeling like a team!

Tuesday was much nicer weather wise. It was still very cloudy as is Vancouver, but it only rained a little bit. It was also Ben's birthday and he was on night shift the night before. So we all made it a point to celebrate the day of his birth at 9am with a slightly frozen cake...in the rain...and a crowd of very sleepy and giddy night walkers. 

On Wednesday, me and my fellow day walkers saw a black bear while driving to our starting point of the day. It was really neat - the first time I have ever seen a bear in the wild. It was just chilling there, looking at us and eating grass. That day, I also saw an elk (while walking), seven deer, and a prairie dog. Pretty awesome!

Thursday was yet another cold and rainy day. However, God always seems to make miserable things like a cold day into something beautiful, like misty mountains! And Friday was glorious! The sun was out and I spent most of the day walking downhill which was a treat since I had spent most of Thursday walking uphill.

Today (Saturday) we prayed at the Women's Clinic in Kelowna. We had a lot of good car honks and only one cruel shouting. Of course, the reactions we get do not matter so much. It's really the fact that we are there. We are present with our PRO LIFE t-shirts. For some, all they need are those two small words. Two words that can really get people to start thinking. 

These are some pictures of Wii dancing at our current host home...

It's Begun!

 Hello all you wonderful readers! Wow, what a week. Alannah and I left early Monday morning to the Ottawa airport. From the very start of this adventure I realized that I am going to need a lot of patience this summer. Our first flight was delayed four and a half hours so the two of us were 'trapped' in the Ottawa airport. We then had a less-than-pleasant encounter with a waitress. Nonetheless, the long wait was totally worth it when the time came for us to take off. Flying over the mountains was such an amazing experience - they were so beautiful; I had never seen anything like it before.

We then spent the rest of Monday, Tuesday, and most of Wednesday at Lucy's house. It was a great time spent with her family as well as Ben's. On Wednesday, we were picked up by Martha (our supervisor) at the ferry and from there we traveled to our very first host home. We all had dinner together and spent several hours  getting to know each other.

We've gone to Mass everyday together so far and it has been such a great way to start our days. A really neat thing that we realized is that the church in Coquitlam where we have been staying is called St. Clare of Assisi, and our walk ends August 11 which is the feast day of St. Clare! We all think that she is looking over us this summer.

There are nine walkers going for the full 12 weeks. It's been really great spending time with each other. Thursday we had a training day where we were informed about what to expect day-to-day. Friday we hit up Vancouver city and spend most of the day site seeing and hiking. And let me tell you something: Vancouver is such a cool place! There are trees everywhere. And the coolest thing is seeing tall buildings downtown with snowy mountains in the background. So beautiful!  

So today (Saturday) we went to the Vancouver hospital and we prayed for a little over an hour. We got a few stares from drivers-by, but no crazy people which was good. Today was also our first time speaking at Churches. We all had a great success! The priests and parishioners were all so very supportive. Alannah and I were paired to speak at a bilingual church. The Mass today was in English but tomorrow will be French - I haven't spoken in French in front of people in two years so it should be interested. Tomorrow we will be speaking again at the parishes and hopefully relax a bit before we begin walking on Monday!

(A funny side note: there are nine walkers. There were nine members of the Fellowship. One of the walkers plans to carry his plastic Lord of the Rings ring to Ottawa and drop it in the eternal flame.)