Saturday, 05 April 2014 through Sunday, 13 July 2014

Today, as with each day I awake here in the outback, the cawing greets me, but today I awake before six am, get up and as I drive to the w-mart for coffee, watch the sunglow increase. Upon entering, Kelli greets me and says that she will get my cup of coffee as I head first to the table to set up my computer.

At seven am, I look up and notice three women impeccably dressed, very different from the normal crowd who frequent this w-mart, and wonder if they sisters. Approaching the closest one, I ask the same question that I have used for years, "Do you know any of the Great Crowd?" When the woman smiles at me, I knew then that she was a sister. We introduce ourselves and talk for a short while before they leave for the ministry.

I return to my online to research how to slow or even halt a yeast infection only to find out that some of the food to avoid are the grains I regularly eat including oats, rice, rye and spelt. Also to avoid is all sugars including molasses as well as all fruit, dairy, alcohol, peanuts, cashews, tofu, vinegar and most meats. The foods that should be eaten are most all green vegetables, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, onion, rutabaga, seaweed and turnips. Also, coconut oil, olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice and apple cider vinegar are on the eatable list. Chicory root, cloves, cinnamon, oregano and cayenne are good spices as well as pumpkin seeds. Blue green algae, chorelle and spirulina are good as well as fermented vegetables such as unpasteurized raw sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles that do not have sugar added. On the list to eat are salmon and sardines. Finally, to include with a routine of good probiotics is saccharomyces boulardii, a good yeast that overpowers the bad yeast in your body and encourages good intestinal flora.

You might call the above the short list but with this list in hand, I travel to a whole foods g-mart and purchase many green vegetables, sauerkraut, pumpkin seeds, ginger, rutabaga, apple cider vinegar and some saccharomyces boulardii capsules. My intent is to eat only foods from the above list for a week, so that I can help build up the good bacteria in my digestive system. I also take a regular probiotics and other digestive supplements and hope this helps relieve or at least lessen the digestion and gas problems that I have had for most of my life. I then return to the outback and have a bowl of sauerkraut with some pumpkin seeds and much on some of the raw vegetables.

At six pm, Richard arrives home from work and we talk for a while before he goes in to rest up from his long work week. I retire to the jammer to work on the computer and by eight-thirty pm, climb into the back of the jammer.

Awake first at four am but return to sleep until five-thirty at which time I arise and drive to the w-mart to complete my journal entry for yesterday and begin today′s. Then at nine am, I drive to the hall to get dressed and walk into the hall. Afterwards, I return to the outback and cut up some of the vegetables I purchased yesterday to go into a salad. A little of this, a little of that and voila, you have a tasty meal. There are some new and different tastes that I have not had before in a salad but if it helps me beat down this yeast overgrowth and helps me loose weight, then these too are tasty.

At two pm, it gets really warm but at four, the wind picks up and keeps the warm at bay, especially since earlier I opened the passenger side sliding door and did some work on it to correct the cause of why it has not been working. At first, I wasn′t sure how to correct the door but then Richard came out and suggested a couple of fixes and now it works well enough to begin using it again even though it needs a couple of parts to finish the fix. (It is getting harder to find parts for this vehicle.) Having this door not work for the last five months has been annoying because I have had to climb over one of the front seats to get into the back from outside. Now, I can open and close the door without too much trouble.

At eight pm, I go inside with Richard and print my tax return. Then I go back out to the jammer and search "If I am living on only social security, do I have to file a tax return?" The results show me that no, if I make less than $11,500.00 gross annual income, I do not have to file a tax return. Well, I suppose that this will be the last tax return I will have to file.

The daylight is shinning into the jammer upon awakening and I get up slowly. The temperature in the morning has been nice but is precursory to a hot afternoon. I pack out to the w-mart and spend most of the morning here. I call Richard to tell him that the car port we put near the peach tree blew over the fence during the wind storm yesterday evening.

Returning to the outback at eleven-thirty am, I set up under the car port to stay cool in the midday heat, now in the high eighties. Kim arrives just after twelve and Richard at one pm and both change into work clothes and come to the outback to work. Richard and I move the carport to the space next to the RV service and then use some rope to secure it to the fence and two buckets filled with water. Then, I drive under the carport to get out of the hot sun. At five pm, Richard and Kim leave to go to Oceanside to spend the evening at a resort and I get out the soap to take a shower. Later, I put some of the sauerkraut in a bowl to eat while pounding keys.

Awake at four but go back to sleep until six and then drive to the w-mart for coffee and WiFi. At seven, I leave Yucaipa and drive south to Hemet, California to make my appointment for the annual inspection on the transmission. From Yucaipa, I drive to interstate 5, then east to state highway 79, and then south to Hemet arriving at the a-mart before eight am. I go inside to talk to Thomas, who incidentally, was the initial service manager at the location in Bellevue, Washington where the transmission was rebuilt, all this because he recognizes me from his name on my service receipt. By nine am, I am back on the return trip through Yucaipa to Big Bear but first stop at a w-mart for a short time.

Then I continue through Lamb Canyon, a narrow passage often boulder strew taking me back up to the high desert (at 3000 feet) then through Yucaipa to the Santa Anna riverbed (which except for a small stream now is normally a dry wash) and up into the San Bernardino Mountain where I pass three thousand, then four thousand feet but as I arrive at five thousand feet, the power steering pump begins to scream at me. I pull over to put fluid in the pump and notice fluid all over the engine compartment around where the pump is located. I check the level and as expected, it is dry so I add about ten ounces of fluid to bring it back up to the correct level. Then suddenly, the fluid on the exhaust manifold ignites, not explosively but with a small flame. I first try to blow it out and almost do so but is comes back immediately. Then I run to the rear of the jammer, grab two water bottles, and as I return to the fire, unscrew the cap off of one. Then with a forward thrust of the water bottle towards the fire, I squeeze the bottle hard with both hands forcing almost all of the water out of the bottle and onto the fire. The combination of the water hitting the fire and the manifold puts the fire out. (The water hitting the manifold turns to steam and removes the air from the fire.)

My day does not begin until just before eight, when I get up to dress and drive first to buy some fluid for the power steering pump and then to the w-mart where I work on uploading some photos to the Texas State Parks, San Jacinto Battleground State Park and Seminole Canyon State Park.

Later, I head to the outback to prepare supper, take a shower and get to bed by nine.

Up during the Even and step out of the jammer and upon looking at the sky notice the planet Venus three hands above the mountains in the east. Upon checking the Solar System Scope on the internet, I find there is also Comet Encke in the sky less than a hand to the south of Venus but I do not see the comet in the sky. Further research and I find it to be the comet with shortest orbital period, which is three and a third years. The internet astronomy program has been updated to include the comets and I spend some time looking at the numerous comets which traverse our sun, so many that the inner solar system seems busy from all the traffic.

On my way to the w-mart, I stop at the post office to mail my tax return, which is probably the first time that I have made the April 15 date in more than thirty years. Then, I head to the w-mart and continue adding the connector links in the photo gallery until about three when it cools off outside. Then, I drive to Calimesa to do my laundry, finishing before six and head back to continue with the links.

The reoccurring crow caws wakens me for one more morning and I get up immediately, get dressed and drive to the w-mart. I have used up all of my regular pro-biotics and need to order more, so I go to my online supplement provider and purchase two bottles of their probiotics. ¹

Then I continue working on installing the connector links into the Photo Gallery and later begin working on revision five of Quire One. While sitting here in my regular seat, it finally hits me why I am so against my personal visits into the many Red Zones that I have set up around this countries cities. Looking up, I see a woman who walks into the w-mart to get her regular fix of self indulgence, to include sugar, salt, fat and caffeine. But what hits me is that this woman, who is anything but young and more akin to the mid seventies is dressed up like those many years her lesser. The real fix she is going for is selfish pride, yes, she is flaunting her body with the same stretch pants and blouse worn by her younger peers, the kind of pants often worn during a workout and a blouse that looks poured on. Further, in wearing these clothes, she leaves not one part of her body unseen by the public. This little outing to get coffee displays glaring disrespect for morality as it is evident that she loves the stares she imagines she is getting. This trend to wear the tightest fitting clothes is not new, but today, it has been taken to new depths of immodesty. In the several days that I have been coming to this location, I have noticed the same attitude in almost all of the women coming to this trap of self indulgence, both old and young. It even starts with the children before beginning school when they come here with their likewise dressed mothers.

All this and I am only near the edge of the Red Zone; I can only imagine how bad it is in the center of the abyss. This observation is not for the purpose of chiding women, instead this is nothing more than a observation on which I make an entry in my journal. Besides, not all the women are dressed so inappropriately as some are quite modest in their attire and most men are in no better position as they just sit and drool over what they see while gawking at every available sight.

Awake first at five but sleep for another hour before arising and then drive to the w-mart to continue with revision five on Quire One.

By one pm, it is only seventy degrees here in the high desert, the cool temperatures have returned and I really appreciate it not rising into the eighties and nineties during midday like it has for the entire past week. These lower degrees will not last for many more days so I prepare for moving soon and even though I am still concerned with the power steering leakage, I will not push the jammer like I did last week on the hottest of the days.

By six pm, I have returned to the outback and there is need to close the windows to keep warm while watching a movie from the internet.

It is quite cool when arising this morning but I take a shower and soon after begin getting dressed for the meeting that is at ten am. Richard comes out just after nine am to walk Jenny and we talk briefly before I leave to the f-mart for coffee and eggs. Then, I drive to the Hall and go in for the meeting.

After the meeting, I check the temperature to find it is seventy degrees, perfect for me and I drive to the w-mart to eat my lunch and work further on revision five. While online, I learn that there is going to be a total lunar eclipse during this month′s Passover moon which will be visible in all of North America pending a clear night sky. The penumbral eclipse begins just before ten pm and the umbral eclipse starts an hour later. All this happens tomorrow night, Monday evening after the memorial. The full moon will reach total eclipse just after midnight. This is just one more of the must see astronomic event that has been frequently occurring in recent times. I plan on having everything packed up today so that after the memorial I will be able to drive east heading into the moon rise so that I will be able to watch it all evening. ²

Therefore, to assure that I am not sleepy tomorrow evening, I stay up tonight until near midnight and do some research online to further learn what is the best foods to help lower blood pressure naturally. Richard had checked my pressure in February on Day 358 JO, when I drove through Yucaipa and he told me that was high, calling it prehypertension. He really insisted that I begin taking high blood pressure drugs to lower my blood pressure and prevent kidney disease.

After that discussion with Richard, I began to seriously watch my salt intake and began to eat only healthy foods, mostly dark green vegetables. This visit when checking it again, he said that he was glad that it had come down a little. We also checked my weight and he said that he is glad that I am continuing to loose weight, now at 245 pounds. (Total weight loss, 75 pounds)

What I found in my research is that the mostly grain diet that I have been eating is ok but to continue to loose weight, I should be eating large amounts of fresh vegetables especially green ones, fruits, nuts, seeds and even some ocean fish like salmon, sardines, and tuna.

Last night, I began compiling a list of foods that would be not only good to lower blood pressure and loose weight but also good to counter a long time problem that I have had with a yeast over-growth.

Most of this day, I spend working on my computer, both studying the the Bible to read about the last few days before Jesus was hung on the torture stake, and to continue my research on what foods are best to eat.

At six, I pack out, get dressed for the meeting and then head to the hall to share this special event with my close friends here.

Immediately after the memorial, I leave Yucaipa and head east out into the desert so as to watch the total eclipse of the moon. I drive out of California, into Arizona and shortly before midnight, I stop at a good location for me to observe the moon go dark red, at a rest stop along the highway.

As soon as it is out of the total, I put my camera away, climb into the back of the jammer. Tired from the long drive, I get into the horizontal immediately.

The warmth from the sun beating down on the jammer awakens me this morning at eight am. I had driven until just before midnight when I pulled oven, parked the jammer and then got out to espy the eclipse. The redness comes from the sunset and sunrise around the earth as that light passes to the moon. Earlier, I had watched the waning of the sun′s light on the moon as the eclipse traversed the moon beginning from the left side across to the right meaning that the moon is moving from right to left (or west to east) through the shadow. That is the opposite direction that the moon appears to travel in the sky, which is from left to right or east to west. This puzzles me because if the earth′s shadow is in a fixed location behind the earth, which it is because, no matter where the earth is in either it′s rotation or orbit, the shadow is always on the side opposite the sun, thus the shadow is fixed. Then this would mean that the moon, when looking up at it, enters the earth′s shadow from the right side and traverses toward the left, meaning that the moon is moving from right to left or as observers would see it during the eclipse, from west to east. This is opposite to the direction that the moon appears to be moving across the sky which from the perspective of an observer on the earth seems to be from the east to the west. How can this be? Has God put this perplexing phenomena in the sky as a puzzle for man to figure out? This phemonena appears to need more research and after doing so, what I find is the moon is in fact traveling in the opposite direction as one would expect. The reason it appears to travel east to west is that the rotation of the earth is moving faster in it′s rotation than the moon is moving in it′s orbit of the earth. To me, this is such an amazing realization. But wait, there is more! Ever wondered why the same side (or face) of the moon always faces the earth? The reason is not because the moon doesn′t rotate, in fact, it does rotate on it′s axis, however the rotation takes the same number of days as the number of days it takes for the moon to orbit the earth and thus it only appears not to rotate. Truly, the moon is one of God's most powerful Silent Witnesses to his amazing creative power.

I begin driving east this morning on interstate 10, and to avoid the Phoenix Red Zone, turn south on state highway 85 and pick up my easterly direction on interstate 8 only to return to interstate 10 near Casa Grande. There I continue east stopping only for gas at exit 322 because of all the signs that advertise the Thing.

Then I take the Willcox, Arizona exit and drive the forty miles to Chiricahua National Monument and check into the campground just after three pm. There are several spaces open and I choose one near the restroom and then begin preparing my Repast: rice, quinoa, onions, garlic, seaweed and coconut oil. While eating, I notice that there are several birds flying about: Acorn woodpeckers, western scrub jays, magpies and a few small brown birds.

At seven, when the sunglow begins, there is need to turn on the jammer to charge my computer battery so that I may keep typing and at the same time shut the windows to keep out the insects. Then while pounding the keyboard, I wait for the insects who did make it inside the jammer to show themselves at the light. You know what happens then? I will be getting into the back soon because I want to arrive at Fort Bowie early in the morning due to the fact there is a hike of one and a half miles to get to the fort. Also, because this is as desert area, I want to begin early while it is still cool, which means that I need to get up before six am. Since I am tired, I shouldn′t have any problem getting to sleep, in spite of the odd sleeping schedule I have had the last few days.

Awake and after visiting the restroom, I begin driving first west on state highway 186, then north on a dirt road to the trail head for the one and a half mile walk in to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site. I begin walking on the trail before seven and choose to take the Overlook Ridge trail first to get to the visitors center. It climbs steeply from Siphon Canyon up to the ridge on many switchbacks and then traverses the ridge with information displays and views down into the Apache Spring valley. At almost two miles, I arrive at the visitors center just after eight am, go directly to the restroom and then to the front of the center finding it not open yet. I sit on the bench for about a quarter hour until the ranger arrives to open the center. After purchasing my patch and stamping the park map, I ask about the junior ranger guide and he gives me a copy. Then, I begin working on the guide but need to walk through the fort ruins to find answers to what ruins are which buildings.

Returning to the visitors center to turn in my guidebook, Brandon checks it out, swears me in with the Junior Ranger Oath and then hands me the Junior Ranger Badge. At this point, I begin the return trip but this time by way of Apache Springs valley on the military road passing more ruins including the first Fort Bowie, Apache Springs, Indian agency, cemetery and Butterfield stage stop. I arrive back at the jammer at eleven am with about four miles of desert walking and I only drank one of the two liter bottles of water I was carrying. I opened the jammer and then sit down at the covered picnic table and while waiting for the inside of the jammer to cool off, I compiled a list of day pack items that I will carry the next time I do a day hike. The list so far includes: bandana, Bible and tracks, camera, first aid bag, pen, paper, phone, toilet paper, wallet and water. Also, I will either bring with me or eat an Access exercise bar before I begin.

Once I start the engine, I drive back to interstate 10, travel west to Deming, NM where I take state highway 26 north to interstate 25 and drive north to Truth of Consequences, NM where I stop at a d-mart, go in for some salad, walnuts and other staples, and then have my supper in the drivers seat. Since it is still early, I drive across the street to a f-mart to upload this journal entry and check my email. Then, I return to the d-mart for the evening. Tomorrow, I would like to visit two places here in New Mexico, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the Salinas Pueblo Mission National Monument. After that, I will continue my eastward drive until I arrive in Tennessee to see Joe so that he may see to the problem with the power steering pump that developed on Day 404 JO. I had called him to tell him that the pump has not repeated the leak anywhere since the eighth of April and he confirms my theory, saying that the overheated fluid began to boil, bypassed the cap and sprayed on the engine. He thinks that the rack and pinion could be the actual problem and tells me that he wants to replace it with the pump. I thank him and tell him that I will be there in about a week.

Awake at six am, watch the suntouch while getting ready to drive and then head north first to the Refuge but decide not to drive on the gravel roads to gain access the park, instead continue on interstate 25 to US highway 60 where I travel east to the Abó Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument where I stop and walk the red trail through the site.

Afterwards, I drive further east to Mountainair, NM and stop at the monument visitors center where I watch the video about both the ancient builder and the historic builders of more recent times. I ask the ranger where one could have a nice breakfast and she recommends the Shaffer Hotel, telling me that it built in 1923.

That is all it took, learning of the year it was built, to peak my interest. Once I arrive at the hotel, I begin taking photos, then go in for a nice breakfast and I might say at a very reasonable price.

Afterwards, I walk through the hallway towards the restroom and meet one of the owners, Mike and after greeting him, he gives me a nice tour of the building. I tell him that I will be adding the photos to my website and he asks me for my card. What I did not tell him is that I will be adding it to the New Mexico State Parks section.

I then continue east on US highway 60, turn north on state highway 41 and then east on Interstate highway 40 heading out of New Mexico towards the Texas panhandle. At about eleven pm, I am exhausted and stop at a roadside rest area in Texas for the evening.

Awake at eight am and step outside to stretch before driving. First stop, Palo Duro Canyon State Park to use my Texas Parks pass for access and shower at the Sagebrush camping area. I must say that this shower is by far the best one I have ever had. The water pressure alone makes it superb but it is also more than hot enough for me. Stopping at the visitors center, I find out that the park has a junior ranger program with an embroidered patch. Needless to say, I asked for the guide to complete and even learned several things from the guide including that a fork of the Red River carved Palo Duro canyon. Too, the Texas Horned lizard, a threatened animal here that eats primary red ants and the famous landmark of the park is the Lighthouse rock formation.

From the state park, I drive on state highway 135 to Alibates Flint National Monument but do not arrive in time for the guided tour, so I drive to the visitors center of Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. Afterwards, I drive through Borger, Texas, location of my very first home in Texas. Next, I drive on state highway 152 to Pampa, Texas to a f-mart and upload some files to my web site. Finally, I connect to US highway 60 and head towards Oklahoma but arrive at the Canadian River during the sun sets and when I see the Canadian River Wagon Bridge I decide to stop to see what it is all about. Next to the new US highway 60 bridge, I find an older bridge, one built in 1916 and made from steel pin connected trusses supported from concrete pillar, twenty-seven trusses in all, and now a scenic hike-and-bike trail. After walking a bit on the bridge, I decide that this would be a good place to overnight and set up about a hundred feet south of the bridge in the parking area on the old highway. Then I spend the evening working on the state parks photo gallery of which two new states, New Mexico and Oklahoma will have photos soon.

Up just before eight and take another walk on the bridge deck before heading into Oklahoma to resume my drive eastbound and stop at Washita Battleground National Historic Site which I find is another one of Custer's early morning attacks on sleeping women, children and elderly Indians. This battle came after and is similar to Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site which I did not get to see because the rangers closed the visitors center early. Here at the Washita site however, I do get to go into the visitors center to view the video, buy an embroidered patch, stamp the park map and walk the half mile trail around the center. Also, I obtain a map showing all of the National Park Services locations in Oklahoma which includes the Oklahoma City National Memorial, one which I had not known about before. Actually, it is an affiliate park, not a National Park Services location but there are NPS park rangers who work at the location. So, I will include it in a new Oklahoma state photo gallery.

Upon arriving at three-thirty pm, there is need to park so I find on-street parking two blocks from the memorial which for one dollar gives me two hours. Immediately, I am impressed how this memorial is built, with two large entrance gates, called "The Gates of Time" at either end of the original street in front of where the former Murrah Federal Building stood. Between the gates where Fifth street originally crossed in front of the building is now a reflection pond. On the two gates are inscribed in a large font, "9:01" and "9:03". The bomb exploded at 9:02 am on that Wednesday morning and between the two Gates of Time is what remains from that act of terrorism. Across the street to the north, in a parking area, which is now removed, is a park where stands the Survivor tree. The location where the federal building stood is now the "Field of Chairs", 168 in all, and each chair symbolizes a life lost, with 19 smaller chairs representing the 19 children lost. Arranged in nine rows, one row for each of the nine floors, the chairs are placed according to the location on each floor where those killed were that morning. On the chairs are inscribed the names of the victims and I noticed that on the sixth floor, there is only two chairs, those of the two United States Marines, a Captain and a Sargent who were working at the Marine Corp recruiting station that day. The walk ways throughout the park are build from granite salvaged from the federal building.

Clearly, I remember the day it happened because I was concerned with the wellbeing of my brother-in-law, John who worked at Kerr McGee a few blocks from the explosion. Later on that day, I called him and he said, Thom, I will tell you what happened and continued telling me his thoughts and reflections for almost two hours non stop. I could tell that he was emotionally upset so I just let him speak his piece. Yes, that event was neither just a local event nor a state event, but affected the entire world, and for many of those affected, the change it made in their life was permanent. Just visiting this memorial has affected me, both by reflecting upon my memories of when it happened and again today from seeing firsthand how tragic this event was. The lives of so many people on that Wednesday morning were changed forever and even today when one visits this memorial, it changes your life in how you view this world. If you have not come to Oklahoma City to see this memorial, then, methinks that you should make it here not only to experience the tragedy that befell this city but to also instill a deeper appreciation for the wonderful future that is in store for all of God′s people.

Upon leaving Oklahoma City, I drive south to Ardmore, Oklahoma and stop at a w-mart and to write today′s journal entry and check meeting schedules for tomorrow. At nine-thirty pm, I upload my journal entry and drive north towards Sulphur, Oklahoma where I hope to go to a ten am meeting. Upon arriving in Sulphur, I find a d-mart where I park for the evening and work on the web site until after eleven pm.

It has become noticeably warmer and more humid here in Oklahoma, and I suppose that it will remain this way for the rest of this eastbound trip. I arrive at the Hall in town by eight-thirty am, get dressed and then begin today′s Journal entry.

The congregation here is small, about fifty in number with several students that attend regularly. The Hall is also small in size but large enough for the area, however, what matters most is the friendliness of the friends here. After the meeting, I drive to the Chickasaw visitors center only to find out that this one is not part of the National Park but belongs to the Chickasaw Nation. Upon entering the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, the first place that I stop is the Vendome Well were there is a cold water well that spouts sulfur smelling water about ten feet into the air and here fill up a water bottle. Next, I then drive to the Travertine nature center which is the actual national park visitors center and get a map with two stamps, purchase two patches, and ask for a junior ranger guide. Staying at the nature center, I finish the guide and bring it back to the ranger to look at and he awards me with the both the junior ranger badge and patch. I continue driving through the park to see more of the sights but at Lincoln Bridge, I get out to walk along the Travertine creek for better photos and someone says "Watch out for the poison ivy!" but it is too late, I have walked through some and get in on my clothes and arms. It does not seem to bad at first but I decide to go to the campground and take a shower.

It is about six when I arrive at the campground for my shower and then put on clean clothes hoping to get all of the poison ivy off of my body but my arms still itch after the shower, so I rub tea tree oil on my arms. I then drive to the w-mart in Ardmore, spotting a rainbow on the way which briefly turns to a double. However, since the itching continues, I don my shorts and rub a second round of tea tree oil on my both my arms and legs. Later, when I stop at the Ardmore d-mart, I put a third application of the oil on my body which by now seems to have squelched the itch but I will wait until the morning to know for sure. Whatever happens, the tea tree oil has come through once again as my one cure all. Too, this treatment is so much more effective than the last time I got into some poison ivy when I used calamine lotion to relieve the itch. It is now after ten pm and I just got off the phone with Richard from Yucaipa who has traveled to Washington to help his mom Patria do her taxes. It is now time for me to hit the sack.

Awake just before eight am, go into the d-mart to wash my face and brush my teeth. Too, I notice that the itch is gone except for a little on my arms to which I apply a light application of tea tree oil. Then I head east on US highway 70 through the lands of the Chickasaw and then the Choctaw nations arriving at Idabell, Oklahoma by three pm where I stop briefly at Red River Museum to pick up a pot from Acoma Pueblo Sky City. The drive take me north to Broken Bow and then across into Arkansas all on US highway 70.

Once in Arkansas, I stop in Washington, Arkansas where most of the businesses, homes and other buildings are part of the Washington Historic State Park. I walk into the 1874 courthouse which is the visitors center and ask about a good place to eat. The host tells me that Williams Tavern restaurant is the best in town so I go there for a large meal of chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, both covered in brown gravy and a side of greens, all for less than eight dollars. This is comfort food if anything else and though not part of my recent healthy diet I decide that tonight I will have a large salad. Upon resuming the drive east, I next visit the President William J. Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, his childhood home in Hope, Arkansas on US highway 278, a small park but packed with information and photos of the president throughout his life.

Just after I leave the historic site, I stop at the Hope train depot for a short visit and get a photo of the jammer in front of the station. Finally, I drive to the d-mart in town and park with the engine and air conditioning running to keep me cool because outside the rain is coming down in buckets. Directly above me are flashes of lightning but they must be very high above because I don′t hear much thunder. However, while keeping cool and out of the rain, I enjoy my large salad while working on a couple of new photo pages. At almost nine pm, I can do no more because my legs begin to ache, not from the poison ivy but from the days activities. I take this as my body′s signal telling me that I need time in the horizontal position.

At eight am, I arise, go into the d-mart to wash my face, then stop at a f-mart for a cup of coffee before driving north on interstate highway 30, then state highway 7 along a couple lakes and then into Hot Springs on a route that I have never taken. Once I arrive at Hot Springs National Park, I go first to Bathhouse Row but the one bathhouse which has a pool where I want to get into the hot water, the Quapaw is closed on Tuesdays. Then, I drive out Whittington Avenue to the cold spring, a place that I found out about on Day 192 JO that has the highest pH of all the springs here. Once I arrive, I fill all of my bottles even dumping good water to get the better alkaline water from the spring. There is a young man here whose name is Cody and we begin conversing him about the high quality of this water and he says it the best in the world. The conversation continues and then I bring up the subject of the Bible, after which we sit on the bench and discuss several topics. Meanwhile, the spring is turned off for cleaning. I remain at the location and clean up the jammer while waiting for the spring to be turned back on. The park ranger comes out to remove the closed sign and that is when I finish filling all of my bottles. After getting water, I drive up onto West Mountain, a road I have never been on and find two very nice overlooks of the Hot Springs Valley complex. I make a cup of hot to drink and sit for a long while in the shade of some large trees atop this eleven hundred foot mountain working on my journal. At sunset, there are too many trees for a good photo of the suntouch so I head down off the mountain to the w-mart and upload my journal entries. Just down the highway is the d-mart where I stay the night.

The sunglow awakens me this morning but I hesitate to arise. I prefer getting up early, really early, when it is cooler and there are less people driving on the roadway, but of late, the work of keeping up on my journal has pressed on well after the even. Still, I am keeping up with the journey writing and of creating new photo sections which involve cropping and uploading at least one, if not more photos to each web site. Along with that, I have been able to keep up with creating the blue links in the journal and the connector links in the photo gallery. What is amazing is that I am doing all of this while I am on tour, something that was impossible as recent as last year, but with the redesigned web site, now I feel that I don′t need to stop for several months nor even weeks and catch up on the journal like my routine last year.

Today, I am switching back to the morning sunglow for the time to do my keyboard pounding so as to catch up a little, I spend most of the morning at the w-mart completing all the journal features of the most recent stops on this tour. Then, since I am still in Hot Springs, I decide go to the Quapaw bathhouse to get into hot water. The cost is twenty dollars to get into the pools and after almost two hours of soaking out toxins I go to the dressing room for a shower where I scrub my body to remove a half inch of the outer layer of skin. I walk out of the Quapaw feeling really clean and now plan to make this a regular stop not just for drinking water but also for time in the hot water.

One thing that I notice while here at the Hot Springs is that almost all of the people who come to the hot water are older and most of them are obese and likely come here seeking to improve their longevity and wellness. My situation is no different, I am older and obese and desire how to best augment these facets in my life as well. While in the hot water, one woman that I converse with agrees to what I have been doing to lose weight, saying that she uses much the same method to stay slim. She says that one thing which helps her is that she takes two tablespoons of unfiltered apple cider vinegar each morning. Methinks that I will compile a list of the steps that I use to augment my life and loose weight. Follow my progress at the new Appendix 5, The Real Way.

At three pm, I drive out of Hot Springs towards Tennessee and at nine pm, I pull into a d-mart at Paris, Tennessee, buy a large salad and then eat my supper before going to sleep.

Awaking during sunglow, I first grab a cup of hot and continue my drive along US highway 79 arriving at Fort Donelson National Battlefield by seven am. I expect that this park is about the Civil War and when I arrive, find out it is about that war and U.S. Grant′s initial push into Tennessee towards Nashville. I take a few photos, some of two eagles high up in a tree but I am done with the battlefield quickly and then head up into The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, a National Forest Park which also takes me into Kentucky. What I did not know is that the entire area is national forest and there is no homes whatsoever between the lakes. Also, there are some hiking trails, one even over fifty miles long with shelters, camping areas and springs along the way. Seeing how this trail is in the mid-continent, the only time that it would be to my liking to hike is during the very late fall. Next, I drive across Kentucky to just past Bowling Green and stop at Mammoth Cave National Park, which is a park I have been to on three previous occasions but did not take photos or acquire a patch. While here I walk to the original entrance for a couple photos. After touring the park, I stop at the service center, buy a shower token for two dollars and find the water very hot. Following my shower, I drive north out of the park to the Green River ferry, a small three car free ferry some four hundred feet lower in elevation than the cave entrance, in fact, the level of the Green River through the park is at the very lowest level of Mammoth Cavern, which is also full of water. Interesting how that works!

Once out of the park, I continue on US highway 31W to Sonora where I take state highway 84 east to the national park arriving after dark, and not finding a place to overnight, I drive back to the interstate to stop for the evening at a truck stop.

The rain began last night some time after midnight and continues through to morning and is expected to persist until late afternoon today. I awake at seven am, grab a cup of coffee, and drive to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. First, I go into the visitors center to purchase a patch and listen to the ranger as he tells me about Abraham Lincoln, born in 1809 at this site but moved when his father lost a court battle for the title to the property and moved to Knob Creek. Later, when Abraham was about five years old, their landlord lost the property and the Lincoln′s had to move again, this time to Indiana.

After visiting both units of the park, I then drive southeast through Kentucky and at about three pm, arrive at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. This Park too, is on my previously visited list but the last time I came through this pass was in June of 1979 when, after a winter hiatus, I was returning to New England to resume the hike of the Appalachian Trail. It has totally changed since that first visit because at that time, the highway went through the pass. Now, the highway goes through a tunnel under the mountain and Cumberland Pass has been restored to the way it was in the early 1800′s with a walking trail. I also drive up to Pinnacle Overlook almost at the expense of overheating the power steering pump but when I arrive at the top, I open the hood, pull off the pump reservoir camp and see the fluid boiling almost to the top of the container. I let it cool off while I walk to the overlook and then drive back down very slowly. Then I drive on US highway 25E through the tunnel into Tennessee and south to Greeneville, Tennessee stoping at a d-mart for the evening. Long day of driving and get into the sack before eight pm.

The suntouch breaks the horizontal just after I do and I go directly to the w-mart for coffee. Then I drive to the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site and learn a few things about who he was. Seventeenth President, he took office after Lincoln was assassinated but was not reelected which means that he was never elected to the presidency. He did strive to keep Lincoln′s plan in actions and fought against congress to keep the constitutional rights for all Americans. He vetoed several radical reconstruction bills passed by congress because each of the bills took away constitutional rights from both the people and the states.

Just as I was about to leave from the park, I meet Lisa, and find out she is hiking the Appalachian Trail. We talk for a short time and I learn that she got off at Hot Springs to visit this park and plans to return to continue the hike north. She tells me her AT hiking name is Hobonobo which means Home bound, North bound and I tell her that my AT trail name is The Wayƒarer, give her my card and ask her to keep in contact. From Greeneville, I drive over Allen Gap at elevation 2234 feet and stop at the small store just east of the Appalachian Trail. There are three hikers outside and from the looks of them, they are only weekend warriors but talk to them for a short while to find that they are from Florida. Then I drive back to the trail and park near by to wait and see if any other hikers cross the gap. The sign at the trailhead reads "Jerry Cabin Lean to - 11.6 miles" and so much of what happened there comes back to my mind from the walk thought this area. Later two hikers from Springer come through the gap and we talk for a short while. One brings up the subject of hiking legs and says that she has not got her′s yet. My reply is that there is three different legs that a thru hiker has to acquire on the Appalachian Trail, first the physical legs which take two or three months to obtain, next the mental legs, which like the physical ones take an additional couple of months but is the mental struggle about staying on the trail. Finally, I tell her are the spiritual legs, totally different from the first two, which are those which some hikers find from walking the Appalachian Trail and these "legs" are acquired from the Solitude, Simplicity, and Solace found on the trail.

I continue into North Carolina and turn south on state highway 208, then east on US 70 which takes me to Hot Springs, North Carolina and stop where the north bound Appalachian Trail hikers first walk down off Deer Park Mountain near the hostel, enter Hot Springs to cross the French Broad Valley. There are a large group of thru-hikers in town, most starting during the period between the end of March and the first few weeks of April. I have short conversations with quite a few of the hikers at the hostel but methinks that most of today′s thru-hikers are not of the same feather as those I met and hiked with thirty-six years ago during my thru-hike in 1978. Realizing what that difference is escapes me for now but I will think hard about today′s conversations with these thru-hikers and hope to determine what it is that makes them distinctly different. I leave Hot Springs at six pm, drive to Newport, stop first at the w-mart and then the d-mart for the night still thinking about my experience today. Methinks my thoughts about the encounters today will continue for some time.

The day is but young upon arising and go into the d-mart to wash my face and brush my teeth. Then I drive to the w-mart to find online the location of the local hall while drinking a cup of hot. Having completed my Bible study yesterday while in the l-mart at Hot Springs, I now work a little on my latest photo pages. At nine am, I drive to the Newport Hall, get dressed and sit in the jammer waiting for the meeting to begin at ten am. Shortly after Ed arrive and walks up to the jammer; I get out to meet him and introduce myselƒ. We talk for a short bit and then he goes in to get the hall ready. I continue working on the last few items to finish the photo page I am working on and after grabbing my coat, walk into the hall. Several of the friends greet me and welcome me to Newport.

After the meeting, Ed goes out to his truck changes his clothes so he can load some branches and since I have put on my jeans, I offer to help. When I ask about the rope on the ground, he says that he will use it to tie the trailer load down and says he has a second rope for tying the load in the pickup. He also says that he will use a cinch knot to tie it down. I pick up the first rope and begin untangling it and he come to where I am. I say, show me what you call a cinch knot. He ties an overhand knot making loop in the rope not far from one end. I ask if he ever has trouble getting this knot untied and he says yes, that I often need to use a pliers to undo it. "Can I show you a better knot?" Yes, please! Not telling him what the know is called, I then tie a figure eight knot creating the same loop to cinch with but showing him the knot, tell him, "See, this knot has a break loose bar." He then says "That looks like a figure eight knot." "Exactly!" I say.

Our conversation then takes up the subject of backpacking and find out that he does it also. I tell him about my thoughts about the thru-hikers I met yesterday and how different I felt they were from the ones that I knew when I walked the trail in 1978, but I could not pin point what it was that made them so different. He says that he knows why today′s thru-hikers are nothing like those of old. "Tell me please, why", and he says "They are selfish!" I think about what he said and then tell him, "You are absolutely right!" Just before I pull out of the parking lot, I tell him that we should get together for some time and go backpacking to which he replies, "You can always find me here in Newport."

I then begin the long interstate drive west, finally arriving in Franklin, Tennessee and stop at the whole foods g-mart to buy rice milk and an avocado but the avocados are two dollars and fifty cents each and choose not to pay that much. After coming out of the store, I look at my phone to see that Joe has called and I call him back. He tells me that a severe weather system has moved into the area and there could be tornadoes. I then drive to the d-mart and park for the evening listening to the thunder above me and the rain pounding on the top of the jammer while eating some pumpkin seed and drinking rice milk. I am in the sack before nine pm, more that an hour after sunset. The days are lasting more than ten hours now and I find it getting easy to stay up after the even.

Just before six am, I arise with the dayspring and go immediately into the d-mart to wash my face. Then I drive a short way to the w-mart, go inside and get a cup of hot. This is the first w-mart of this brand that I have visited for several weeks. I continue here until one pm when I leave to go to the whole foods g-mart again to buy a couple other items that I did not get yesterday. Then, Joe calls to ask me where I am and I tell him that I am driving south on Interstate 65 and have ten miles until I reach the exit to his home. He says that he is heading that way also. I arrive a few minutes before Joe, drive up the driveway and park the jammer under the barn. Then, I walk back down to Lowery Creek Bridge to see how it is holding up and shortly after, Joe drives onto the bridge, stops, gets out and gives me a man′s hug. I point out a couple of things about the bridge that needs some maintenance to which he replies, "I am waiting until summer when the creek is bone dry to take care of that." I get into his truck and ride with him back up the driveway and we go into the house to see what he has done since I was here last September.

Sarah calls and asks us what we want for supper; Joe looks at me and I shrug my shoulders, then he tells her to pick up whatever she wants. She arrives and tells Joe to light the barbecue grill to cook the corn, potatoes and pork chops. We have a nice supper and then I excuse myselƒ to go to my van for the evening. About the same time, Sarah′s son, Jerr returning from an out of state trip arrives to retrieve his truck, so I don′t get to sleep for a while longer.

Up at seven am and walk to the back of the house and see that both Joe and Sarah are in the kitchen drinking coffee. I walk in and pour myselƒ a cup, listen to the weather report on the TV and join in their conversation about the tornadoes that have hit all around the state. It has been a terrible storm with a lot of destruction in several states. I then go with Joe to help pack out his stuff from his rented storage unit into his trailer and when we finish, we stop at a restaurant for lunch and I have a salad and potato.

Susan calls and tells me that dad′s sister, Betty has passed away and that the funeral is this Friday morning in New Orleans. I tell her that I want to come but that I need to check with Joe as to when he can have the repairs done on the jammer. When I talk with Joe, he calls the ar-mart to check the schedule and then tells me that they will do the work tomorrow morning while we are out in the ministry. Then Joe asks Sarah about supper and she tells him that since she is still sick that we should do what ever we decide to do. I volunteer to cook my Repast and Joe readily agrees.

I get out my cooking gear, set it up behind the jammer, begin boiling water and add the rice. Also, I open two packets of Albacore steaks and put them in the inverted lids above the boiling water to heat up. Soon the rice is just about ready and I add chopped onions, garlic and oregano. After that I add some dried seaweed and stir it for a few minutes. Then begin serving it into three portions, one each for Joe and myselƒ and a third smaller portion for Sarah and then take her serving into the house for her. She tells me that the guest bathroom has a whirlpool tub and that I should take a bath which I do and after soaking for ten minutes, I get out and go to the jammer to get ready for sleep. I run the engine with the air conditioning on for about fifteen minutes to dry out the inside and after turning the engine off, get horizontal for the evening.

Joe taps on the window to wake me up and I get up immediately, get dressed and drive the jammer to the ar-mart and leave it while Joe and I meet at the hall for early ministry at seven am. Then, we return to the hall for the nine am ministry meeting where we group for business territory. At noon, we stop for lunch and then go to the ar-mart to see how the work on the jammer is coming along. Tim, who is doing the work has found that the two front tires are starting to wear out (they are oversized and have been rubbing the upper control arm) and need to be replaced. Joe and I go to do some work around the house and then drive back to the ar-mart by five. Tim is wrapping things up but then finds a leak on the low pressure side of the pump and finds it to be a o-ring on the return fitting that is leaking. Joe calls to order the part but it will not be available until tomorrow morning.

I had wanted to leave tonight to begin driving to New Orleans but I go to the jammer and check the driving time to find that it will take eight hours to drive there. If I leave by nine am, I can arrive by five pm but that does not include getting the tires installed or any other stops. So, I will call Susan tomorrow and tell her that I will be arriving at the motel sometime around sunset. Then Joe and I go out to eat and I have soup and salad. Finally, we head for the house and I prepare to get horizontal in their guest room.

Awake at five-thirty and see that the sunglow has begun. Sarah has coffee brewing and soon, I have a cup in my hand. Joe and I drive to get the hose fitting for the jammer power steering pump and then go to the ar-mart to have Tim install it. It only takes half and hour to install and then I am on my way south stopping first in Lewisburg, Tennessee at the d-mart to purchase two tires for the front of the Jammer. I arrive before nine am and there is no one else buying tires so the mechanic goes right to work on the jammer. Then I am back on the road within thirty minutes heading south towards New Orleans.

I stop once at a rest stop to fix my Daystart, grab a quart box of rice milk and then continue driving. After drinking all the rice milk, I have need to stop at a second rest stop but return to the interstate drive south, first on I-65 to Birmingham, then on I-59 to where it connects with I-10 and west to Metairie, Louisiana just west of New Orleans where Susan, Chad and Lauren have already checked into the hotel. I call Susan when I arrive at the front entrance and she says she will come down. We go out to park the jammer and then walk back into the hotel to our rooms. Later, Susan says that Becky and David have arrived and goes to find them and bring them up while Lauren and I stay in the room. I look up and Elise walks in the door, gives me a hug and asks where Susan is. Elise and I take the elevator down and when we walk out in to the lobby, see Susan with Becky and David. We all return to the rooms and make plans for supper.

At eight pm, six of us (Chad, Susan, Lauren, David, Becky, and I) go downstairs to leave for an oyster bar in Kenner, Louisiana about a ten minute drive away. Elise stays in the room to await Caroline′s arrival. The restaurant is a hole in the wall, but the food is excellent; I have a blackened gator salad. My food arrives first and I offer a taste of the gator meat and everyone tries it, Lauren several times. My meal is filling and the gator meat is really good, not a bit like chicken, more like the taste of fish and texture of clams. When we arrive back at the hotel, Caroline has arrived and I knock on their door. Elise invites me in and tells me that Caroline is in the restroom. When she comes out, she gives me a hug and we talk for a while. She has been going to the University of Texas at Austin. It is really good to see my family, especially when many of them are in on place together but it is sad that these occasions usually only come with a death. One nice aspect is that Aunt Betty will now return in the resurrection and have the opportunity to live forever on earth in paradise. I take a shower and it is close to midnight when I get into bed.

It cooled off last night more than I had expected it to here on the Gulf Coast. Normally, at this time of the year, it is hot and humid being not one of the non-summer months of which are December, January and February but the comfortable weather is because a cold front blew in. I awake at six am, before the rest of the family, go down for a cup of coffee and come back up to check email. Susan walks through my door first to say hi and then goes down for some coffee and food. I continue working on my web site until nine am when I check out and drive to the funeral home arriving before many. As I walk through the door, there is a man greeting people and when I walk up to him, he asks "Thom?" and as I contemplate: Is this Gray, my chin drops and then he says, "It′s Gray, your cousin." I didn′t think that my chin could go down any further, but it did. I totally did not recognize him. But wait, that′s not all! In the conversation to follow, I find out that he is married and his husband′s name is Brian which totally shocks me when I find that out. I guess that I was just left out in the rain on this one. After the service, we go to the home of one of Betty′s life long friends for socializing and food where I get to talk quite a bit more with my family.

When my family leaves, I too prepare to leave by changing clothes and then Elise asks me where I am going. I tell her to the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi to camp tonight. Soon, I am driving out of New Orleans, connect to interstate 10 east and do not get off until exit 50 where I drive south to US 90 and the east to the park arriving at four-thirty. The visitors center is closed so I drive to the campground and find that it has a bathhouse with a hot shower so I pay the eleven bucks to stay the night. As I set up camp, I find that each site also has both an electric hookup and water faucet. These three amenities, hot shower, electric hookup, and water faucet just have not existed in any of the national parks that I have been to in the western areas of the U I head S. Maybe this is an indicator that the eastern parks will have more of these amenities. Finally, I take a shower and go to sleep early.

After several prolonged days with shortened periods of sleep, today, I sleep in until after sunrise, not by decision but by necessity. Arising, I go to the bathhouse and wash my face, then return to the jammer to boil water for coffee and prepare my Daystart. Then, I climb into the co-pilot seat to eat while pounding keys on the keyboard. At eight am, I drive to the visitors center to purchase a patch and get a stamped map. Afterwards, I drive to Biloxi, Mississippi and go into the Hard Rock Cafe looking for an embroidered patch, where I find one with five colors. Then I continue east on US highway 90 along the Gulf Coast towards the Florida units of the park. I drive through Pensacola to find the first one closed but I continue to Fort Pickens where the park is not only open but full of scantily clad sun seekers. I don′t stay long, just long enough to stamp the map and tour the fort.

From the island, I cross the two bridges back to the mainland, drive back through Pensacola and out the north side toward Alabama to connect to interstate 65 north. At Montgomery, I switch to interstate 85 and drive until I reach Tuskegee, Alabama where I exit the interstate and stop in town at a large shopping center for the evening.

The Day is well begun upon awaking at six-thirty and I drive to the f-mart for WiFi to locate the hall in town which is a short ways north out of town. Also, I find out that both of the national parks here are closed on Sunday and one is also closed on Monday. So, before the meeting, I decide that I will head out after the meeting ends and drive to Georgia to see some of the several park unvisited by me in that state. Today, a special talk entitled "Why a loving God permits wickedness" is being presented in Kingdom Hall world wide. After the meeting, I reconnect to interstate 85 and drive towards Georgia but before crossing the state line, I get off on US highway 280 south and follow this route all the way to the town of Plains, Georgia where President Jimmy Carter still lives. Amazingly, the town of Plains is still all about the same two things as in 1977: the thirty-ninth president and peanuts. Upon Carter′s becoming president, the small town of fewer than 700 began to open t-marts and restaurants to appease the several thousand visitors who begin arriving each day. There in Plains, I stop at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, first at the Plains High School which was a derelict building turned visitor center, restored to the way it was when Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith (valedictorian 1944) attended for both grammar and high school.

Next, I drive west to the boyhood home and arrive after the five pm closing time but walk through and take some photos of the farm. On the highway between the two units is the Carter compound where the Carters still live, in fact, the ranger at the school said that the president, soon to be ninety years old, walked into the high school this morning. I also learn that there are five presidents still living: George H.W. Bush, George H. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Finally, I do the tourist thing and walk about the town′s mercantile area and train depot to check out the souvenirs. I do find several embroidered patches from secret service and other uniforms but the prices were forty dollars and up which is way to high for this collector. At six pm, I drive further east on US 280 and stop at a d-mart for the evening in Americus, Georgia just before the suntouch. I go into the store and buy a salad, tomatoes, cucumber, chopped green onions but not the two dollar avocados. After pouring oil and vinegar on the vegetables, I enjoy two helpings.

Onward to the next park, which is Andersonville National Historic Site in the town of the same name. Arriving at the front gate to this national park I am completely without an idea of the theme of this park except that it may be civil war related. Well, civil war it is and what a shocking site this turns out to be. Andersonville is a confederate prisoner of war camp where during the fourteen months of operation more that 13,000 union soldiers died from overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate food, disease, and exposure; this number being half of the number of soldiers who died in the many southern camps. The end of the war saved hundred of soldiers but the atrocities they witnessed was the cruelest legacy of all. In the museum, I learned that the northern camps were no different and by the time I have experienced this park, I am totally disgusted from this record of the treatment of prisoners during that war. Leaving the park, I drive north on interstate 75 to the next park near Macon, Georgia, hoping to find something which is not civil war related. I arrive at Ocmulgee Mounds National Monument, drive to the visitors center and again do not know what is ahead of me at this location. Upon arriving, I pick up the map and see that this site is about the ancient mound building at this location and I am relieved it is not a civil war park. This park has several mounds with the largest mound, the Temple Mound being 55 feet in height, almost 300 foot square base with a top area of 150 feet diameter as I determined by pacing across the open flat top. ³ Also in the park is the largest Earthlodge in North America. I tour the entire site which involves walking a couple miles and even though my feet are tired, I recall that walking to Fort Bowie was so much more tiresome than here.

Driving further north on interstate 75, I stop in downtown Atlanta to visit Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site and find that this park has a huge free parking are. Too, I am glad that I did visit this park, especially after watching the video in the visitors center which helps me see why he is such a revered man. I view much of the museum and read many of his pithy sayings and find myselƒ relating to much of what he voiced during his life. He excelled in school, began college at fourteen and got his PhD very early in his life; he journeyed to India to talk with Mahatma Gandhi to learn how this man was so successful in promoting peace and then returned to the US to continue in his nonviolent struggle for justice. This visit has given me much to think about. Then, leaving Atlanta on interstate 75 north, I stop at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, drive to the parking lot on the top and walk to the summit. The view from this summit is nice with Atlanta to the southeast, Stone Mountain to the east and miles in all other directions. Later, I drive down from the summit and drive on state highway 120 to Roswell, Georgia where I stop at a d-mart for the evening. At nine-thirty pm, I climb into the back of the jammer.

Up at seven am, go into the d-mart and check my blood pressure which is still down from two months ago and then return to the jammer to drive the short distance to Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area, however, the route to the park is by way of a highway during a morning commute. Eventually, I leave the busy traffic conditions and enter the peaceful atmosphere of the river park.

This park is set along the river and provides a respite for this otherwise highly populated suburban area of Atlanta, much like the Kennesaw Mountain provides a get away for the busy city dwellers. Methinks, these two parks are not a must see destination but rather home to fresh air seeking suburbanites.

I do not intend to stay long after the visitors center opens but drive north on US 19 out of this city and then on state highways to Amicalola Falls State Park, a park first visited on the 28^th of February 1978 upon my start of the Appalachian Trail. I pay the entrance fee, drive first to the visitors center (elevation 1845 feet) get a patch and an AT sticker and find out that there are 604 steps on the trail up to the top of the falls. Methinks, I had forgot there were that many steps.

Next, I drive up to the top of the falls (elevation 2500 feet) to park in a shady area and make my daystart with coconut milk. Also, I walk to the falls, down the stairway about fifty of the steps to take some photos and then back up to the top of the falls. By noon, the shade is all but gone so I drive down from the falls on the steep roadway and stop at the West Ridge Falls access trail to walk in to see the falls, finding this a much better view.

Finally, I load the next park into the GPS and drive the rest of the way down from the falls to a valley below and leave the park heading west on state highways, first GA 136, then GA 53 to Rome, Georgia where I take highway GA 20 into Alabama. Once in Alabama, I noticed that the gas price is considerably lower so I fill up and then wash the jammer.

Leaving Cedar Bluff, Alabama, I drive a short way on state route 35 and come to Little River Canyon National Preserve and stop at Little River Falls, and since it has been so warm the last several days, I walk down to the water to acquire a clean body again. After drying off, I drive to Fort Payne and just before arriving at the d-mart, there is need to stop and wait on a train crawling south across the state highway 35.

I pull off into a parking area and start up my computer to work on this journal entry but there seems to be no end to this train when suddenly, the crossing guards raise up and the traffic begins to move. I arrive at the d-mart shortly after seven pm as the sun is setting and run the engine to charge my computer battery while the air conditioner cools the inside of the jammer. In the sack by eight pm.

The sunrise awakens me, I arise immediately and go inside to wash my face. Then I drive to the f-mart for coffee and internet to upload my latest journal entry.

At nine-thirty, I drive to the Little River Canyon visitors center and go in for a patch and stamp. I also watch the video which starts by showing the space station and then a voice says "Ready to acquire target. Coming into position, acquiring target..." then the video begins to zoom down from the space station, first to North America, then to the Mississippi River watershed, next onto the Cumberland Plateau and finally the Little River Canyon comes into focus when the camera then switches to a ground view of the canyon and goes into the park presentation.

I have always enjoyed zoom-ins and, methinks, this entry portion of the film is well done. Later, I cross highway 35 and begin the rim-drive through the top half, stoping often and taking photos at each overlook.

Leaving the canyon, I drive out state route 176, east on route 68, then south on route 9 until I cross interstate 20 and turn onto state route 281 up to Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama at 2407 feet.

Here at the top of Cheaha Mountain State Park is a CCCC built tower on the summit that takes 62 steps to get to the viewing area. At the visitors center I find a patch and talk with four hikers who are hiking the Pinhoti Trail and they tell me that it connects to the Appalachian Trail.

Further research leads me to find it to be a 335 mile pathway that travels through nearly equal measures of high rocky ridges, stream filled gorges and quiet hollows along the final southern reaches of the Appalachian Mountains from east central Alabama to northwest Georgia.

Too, it connects to the Appalachian trail by way of the Benton Mackaye trail. I had read about this years ago how there was a desire to connect the trails in the southern Appalachian Mountains to the rest of the AT. From the southern most Appalachian peak that rises over 1,000 feet, Flagg Mountain, located near Weogufka, Alabama, the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail travels north to where it joins the Benton MacKaye Trail at milepost 70 which is seventy miles west of Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. This is about 400 miles of trail that are now connected to the AT.

Wow, and this trail is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to trail systems in the eastern United States. Someday, maybe after JD, I will return to footslog some of these pathways.

Leaving the summit, I drive south on state route 49 arriving at the next park shortly after it closes for the day. I stop by the boat launch to prepare my supper and after the sun sets, drive south to a truck stop and park for the evening.

The sunrise, hidden behind the forest enables me to sleep a bit longer this morning, until six-thirty am. Then I get up and head over to the f-mart for a cup of coffee, park in the shade behind the building and work on my journal. At seven-thirty am, I drive north on state route 49 back to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park arriving before eight and find the gate open but the visitors center not open until nine.

Entering the park, I take the driving tour route stopping at each display for photos. This military park goes back to the year 1814, several months before Andrew Jackson fought the British in the town of New Orleans. He was Major General of the Tennessee Militia and had come down into Mississippi Territory to quell the Creek Indian uprising. Then after a series of battles was fought at Horseshoe bend because the Creek had built a log barricade across the narrow neck of the horseshoe peninsula. The rest of the peninsula was surrounded by the deep water of the Tallapoosa River which was in places a hundred yards wide.

The battle on 27 March 1814 was between the remaining 1000 Creek warriors who fought against 3300 volunteers, allied Indians, and regular US infantry and artillery troops. The Red Sticks, as the Creek were called suffered a disastrous defeat on that day, 800 of the warriors being killed. Comments from some of those at the war told how the Red Sticks fought valiantly, bravely, right to the last man, as if they were fighting for their homeland or something.

The defeat lead to a treaty which took 23 million acres of ancestral lands from these people and moved them to the Indian territory in Oklahoma by way of the Trail of Tears.

Leaving Horseshoe Bend, I drive south so as to return to Tuskegee and visit the two national historic sites there and after a couple hours driving on state route 49, I arrive at Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, park the jammer and walk into the air field to tour the site. There are a large number of displays in the two hangers and I spend time looking at most of them. I also acquire a patch and stamp the brochure.

After exploring the air field, I drive through Tuskegee to the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, park the jammer and walk to the George Washington Carver Museum which also had many displays from Mr Carver′s research and experiment with peanuts, sweet potatoes and soy beans. Also in the museum are many displays about Booker T. Washington.

The museum is in one building on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, a large historically black university established by Booker T. Washington who in 1896, invited Carver to head the institute′s Agriculture Department. George Washington Carver taught here for 47 years.

After my stay in Tuskegee, I drive west in the early afternoon on interstate 85 to Montgomery, Alabama, then north on interstate 65 to Franklin, Tennessee where I will stay through this weekend. Stopping at a d-mart in a secluded spot under a large tree, I run the air conditioner for a while but when I shut the jammer down, it is still too warm to sleep.

So because the wind is blowing I open the sliding windows for a cross breeze which helps to cool the jammer helping me to become sleepy.

I purposely sleep in until eight am and upon rising, go into the d-mart to wash my face and hair. After going to the whole foods g-mart for some rice milk, I then drive to the w-mart, set up my computer and purchase a cup of blond roast. The last time I was here, it was during a heavy rain and tornado watch on Day 423 JO. Well, the weather today is not much different with the wind and rain, so a hiatal refuge will be taken here during this inclementness wherein I hope to upload many new photos to the gallery.

At ten pm, a worker in the w-mart walks to the remaining customers to tell us that there is ten minutes until closing. I pack out and head for the d-mart thinking about what has been accomplished today.

Up at the crack of half past but I have no idea past what because of the overcast conditions for the last several days. However I do know the moon is waxing gibbous and I only know that because of the current current moon display on my web site, not because of any personal viewing. Soon, with coffee in hand, I resume the photo uploads and page creations. At nine pm, I leave the w-mart and head out to the d-mart for a nights rest.

I feel the strong urge to continue with my return trip back to California so that I might be able to homestead in Big Bear for the summer. I want to try that out because several have told me that because it is at seven thousand feet in elevation, that the temperatures do not get very hot all summer. I will like it if that is the case, but I still have to get there and I have a long drive ahead of me, a distance of over seventeen hundred miles, to make that happen. Well, I must get horizontal now.

Upon getting up, I go into the d-mart to wash my face and buy a cup of coffee in the f-mart inside of the d-mart. Then, I drive to the Hall in Franklin to check the schedule and find that the English meeting is a one pm, so I begin driving back to the w-mart when I notice the smell of hot radiator coolant, look at my gauges and see the water temperature rising rapidly so I pull over and then see steam coming out under the hood on the front passenger sided. Upon opening the hood, I see that the heater valve is where the leak is. Since there is steam coming out, this would mean the water is almost gone so with the engine running I begin pouring in the three gallons of drinking water that I just purchased and immediately water starts flowing fast out from the heater valve. I turn off the engine and look at the heater valve to find that one of the four plastic hose connectors has broken off, and this on a valve that is only about a year old. I get out my tools, disconnect the two feed lines and then crimp both lines with the screw clamps that held the hoses onto the valve hose fittings. While I am crimping the hoses, a police officer stop to ask if I need any help, but after I tell him what I am doing, he says that it looks like I have it under control and departs. I finish tightening the clamps, turn the engine back on and then fill the radiator with the rest of the water. After checking for leaks and finding none, I drive to the ap-mart, buy the heater valve and ask if the store has a shut off valve for the heater hose line, but he did not have one.

I don′t put the part in just yet but get back in my car, drive to the Spring Hill Hall and find that both of the English congregations have their meeting in the afternoon so I drive to the w-mart and work more on the web site photos and page creation. At two pm, I drive to the Hall, park and begin getting dressed for the four pm meeting for the Spring Hill congregation and soon, John comes out and greets me. Then, I finish getting dressed and sit for a while in the jammer when first Mark, and then Jesse arriving for the four pm meeting come over to greet me. We then go inside for the meeting and afterwards, I go with both Mark and Jesse out for Mexican food. Returning to the Hall to get the jammer, Mark and I talk for a while longer before he leaves and I head to the d-mart to buy some more drinking water. After shopping, I get into the back of the jammer for some shut eye.

Up at six am and remain horizontal for several minutes before going into the d-mart to wash my face and take my blood pressure (132 over 79) which is down quite a bit from last month. I am finding that like my weight, my blood pressure too is a work in progress. Then I drive to the w-mart for coffee and air conditioning so as to be out of the humidity.

Later, I go out to the d-mart to buy some anti-freeze and then in the parking lot, install the heater valve. It goes in fairly easy and afterwards I run the engine with the air conditioner on to keep me cool because just outside the jammer the temperature is in the eighties. This makes me think that I don′t want to stay here in Tennessee much longer, that I will be heading west in only a few days. Upon calling Joe, he invites me to come to his home to get out of the heat and I accept.

Upon arriving, Joe greets me and after the normal and customary greetings and pleasantries, Joe opens up to tell me about something that has happened in the eleven days that I was gone to test the jammer for road worthiness. He starts by reminding me that he has been helping Mark financially during the time it is taking Mark to get medical treatment from the VA and that a week ago, there was a sudden need to find him a new location to live. Joe says that he has been praying to Jehovah for help with this concern and suddenly a mobile home down the street from where he and his wife Sarah lives goes on the market for rent. Joe contact the landlord and secures the rental for not only Mark but also for Jerr who for some time now has wanted to move out from what he calls his dead beat girlfriend′s home. Joe tells me that it all came together in such a way and with such speed and precision that it could be none other than the answer to his prayers. My immediate thought is that with the huge effort he is expending in the ministry, his prayers are proving fruitful. Likewise, my efforts must needs improving and believe that only by locating a place for my summer dwelling will that come about. Too, my prayers for obtaining this desired summer home must needs increase.

Upon arising, both Joe and I have some coffee while he makes a couple of calls. Then at nine am, we drive to the truck stop and he buys my breakfast. Upon returning home, we go outside to do some yard work, raking and burning wood and debris from the fruit orchard. Actually, there are just nineteen fruit trees that he planted last fall and we are doing the construction cleanup around the trees. Soon, it is becomes very hot, and I stop to sit in the shade often before continuing. In the late afternoon, when Joe and I are exhausted and sitting in the shad, Mark drives over and wants to pull down a dead tree or something, but being so tired, we do our best to dissuade him.

Instead, we walk to the shed, sit down in the shade and talk for a while. Later, after Mark heads for home, Joe and I go inside to shower and find that Sarah has prepared a nice meal of brown rice, corn and chicken in a tasty gravy. After we eat I retire to the guest room to get horizontal. During the night, the sounds of thunder and hard rain awaken me and I sit up briefly to watch as the lighting flashes in the darkness.

Up at six am, get dressed and drive in the rain to town, stopping at the w-mart for a cup of coffee. Later in the morning, I call Joe to let him know that I left this morning while he was still sleeping and he says that he saw my tail lights going down the drive way. I then tell him that I will see him later today. About midmorning, during a call with a contact in southeast Texas, I am informed that the personal concern, that since last fall, I have been waiting to come up so that I could take care of the matter has finally been resolved. This sudden end to the matter was totally unexpected but now leaves me completely free to return to Big Bear in Southern California for the summer hiatus that I have been looking forward to.

The method and totality by which this matter has been terminated is completely unexpected and incomprehensible to me and can hardly contain myselƒ. Immediately, I begin praising God for his answer to this long held prayer of mine about this Obstacle that has impeded my Path.

At four-thirty, I call Joe and find that he is at the ar-mart. Then, I head directly to the ar-mart to pay my repair bill and greet Joe and Sarah goodbye. Sarah comments that it is sad that I am leaving gives me a hug and then she heads in her auto for home. Joe and I go into the office and sit down for a moment and he proceeds to tell me again the miraculous events of finding a location for Mark and Jerr during the past week. I realize that he has told me this story previously but when he tells it with more detail this time, I come to appreciate even more how our God is one who does answer prayers in times of need. After Joe finishes the story of having his prayer answered, I tell him the full story of how God has done the same for me today. We both express praise heavenward. ⁴

Finally, I tell Joe that I hope to see him again sometime in the fall, get into the jammer and drive north on US route 31 to state 840 which connects to interstate 40 to begin my westward drive. At nine pm, I stop at a d-mart, go in to buy some fresh fruit, an avocado for one dollar and then retire for the evening.

The storm and rain of the past day or so has brought with it a cooling effect and for this Wayfarer it is a much welcome change. However, I am still wearing my summer shorts and do not plan to change out of them today for the heat will only come back all too soon. Where I parked the jammer last night was directly across the street from a w-mart and I drive there first thing this morning, it being closer to five am than to six. After going in for a cup of hot, I then sit in the jammer and catch up on my journal entries before taking to the westward trek this morning. After going back in for a refill, I then start the jammer and begin driving and arrive in Hot Springs by eleven am. I drive to the free parking, walk down along the waterfall way to Bath house row, cross the street and walk up the short way to Quapaw bath house. I go directly in, put my twenty on the counter and go into the dressing room to put on my swim suit and wash up. It is right before noon when I get into the hot water and stay until two thirty pm doing thirty minute hot soaks and five minute cold showers. I stop briefly in the gift store to purchase two gifts for my sister Elise and niece Caroline. I called Elise yesterday to find out when she would be back in Oklahoma City and she said she would be back some time late Sunday. I told her that i would be their no later than Monday because I want to go to the meeting somewhere during Sunday.

I am back on the road by three heading west again, drive through the rest of Arkansas, then through East Texas stoping only to see Lone Star, Texas which is a small community in the Lake of the Piney Woods area. The stop does not take long and soon I am back on the westward haul on interstate 30 and exit on US 380 to continue west. I finally come to rest in McKinney, Texas at a d-mart, go inside and buy two avocados now only sixty-seven cents each. It is nice to be back in Texas where the avocados are less than a dollar and where gas is currently three dollars or less depending what area you are in.

Today is the beginning of the Trail Days weekend celebration in Damascus, Virginia which I had learned about when I was in Hot Springs, NC but I have decided not to go to this festival because like most celebrations in the world today, this one will also be all about eating and drinking and having a good time. Instead, like most of the world′s celebrations, festivals and holidays, I would rather steer clear of such partying and continue on my return to summer in California.

However, before resuming my drive to California, I have a couple of things to do. First, from my perch on the northwest corner of the Red Zone, I venture briefly and for a short way south along US route 75 into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and stop at the home office location of my online supplement supplier to acquire some more of the nutritional weight loss supplements I am using. After purchasing a month′s supply and since this is my first time here, I ask if they provide tours for first time visitors. One of the in house persons comes down and walk me through the building, showing me the several features of the facility. What impresses me the most is how clean and tidy the entire building is kept. Soon, I am driving again, cross the top of the red zone to connect to interstate 35 and drive north out of the metro area.

Soon after, I stop in Sanger, Texas to gas the jammer and near by see a l-mart with a sign "Free WiFi" so I drive to the l-mart to wash my clothes. About one pm, I leave Sanger heading for Oklahoma and stop in the Chickasaw area. Soon, I want to be in Oklahoma City to visit my sister, but that will not be until sometime after the meeting Sunday morning. At sunset, I set up for the evening at the d-mart in Sulphur, OK.

Sleeping in until almost seven am, I awake, grab a cup of coffee and connect to the internet. Then I head to the hall to meet for the ministry and go out with Mryna, Johnny and Gideon for the morning.

Afterwards, I head over to the park, find a shady spot and park the jammer to work on photos and even take a nap. At sunset, I drive to the d-mart, do my study for tomorrow and continue my stay here in Oklahoma.

I awake to an overcast sky which totally hides the sun from showing itself but that is not too bad because at least it is not hot at this time. With coffee in hand, I drive to the Hall to get dressed for the meeting and go inside twenty minutes before it begins.

Afterwards, I drive out to interstate 35 and begin driving north towards Oklahoma City when I decide to call Elise only to find that she and her husband John are in his car on the same interstate south of me about fifteen miles. We arrive at her home in the early afternoon and go inside where she shows me the condo. During the conversation, she mentions a couple of things that she has to have fixed and I tell her that I can do that while I am here. "Really?" she asks me and I look at the broken slide out cabinet and tell her that I will need some anchor screws from a hardware store. When I return from the hardware store, she and John tell me that they want to take me to the best hamburger restaurant, so we get into her car and drive into downtown for supper. The burger is really tasty, I have one with grilled jalapeno and Gouda cheese with a side of sweet potato fries. After our meal, she drives through Automobile Alley, Deuces, and Bricktown, to show me the different neighborhoods of east side Oklahoma City. We then go back to the condo and I install the anchor screws to hold the slide-out cabinet. Then, I install two new slide-out racks under the range for her pots. That done, we retire to the living room, sit on her stuffed chairs and talk until we are ready for sleep.

When the sunglow shines in through the openings in the curtain, I arise and go into the bath room to wash my face and put my hair back in place. Then I go into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and talk with Elise and John until Elise get ready to leave for her dentist appointment. We walk down to our cars together, hug goodbye and then she pulls out. I get out my computer to catch up on my journal entries and look at he map ahead for the next few days journey. I first need to gas up the jammer and then head west on interstate 40 across Oklahoma, Texas, then into New Mexico.

After an all day drive of six hundred and twenty miles, I pull off of the interstate at Grants, New Mexico at seven pm, stop at a d-mart for the evening, go inside to purchase salad fixings and then come back to the jammer for my meal. Not long after eating, I am horizontal.

Up at early sunglow and watch the eastern horizon illume; the moon, waning gibbous and approaching the third quarter is high directly south of me. I sit here for a short while as several of the overnighters pull out of the d-mart parking and resume their travel on the interstate. I then drive to the El Malpais National Monument visitors center located nearby, but it does not open until eight this morning so I spend time working on photos. When it opens, I go into to obtain a map and also find out that the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail comes right next to the visitors center so I find the trail and take some photos. Afterwards, I drive to several of the cave locations in the national monument. The last time I drove through here, it was after sunset and I did not stop but this time I find out that El Malpais means The Bad Lands. Normally, it is in reference to areas of lava flows. This lava land is known for its many caves and lava tubes. I don′t do any caving but do walk to a couple and look at the entrance. Then, I head down the highway to El Morro National Monument which is an historic landmark used for a thousand years. There is a sandstone outcropping on which many have left their mark, first the ancient puebloan Indians, then the Spanish explorers, early pioneers, army map makers, and finally more modern travelers. One thing about this park is that there is free camping although it has a limited number of sites. It has been a few years but I have camped here before.

Leaving the El" parks, I drive through the Zuni Pueblo looking for some pottery but everything that I saw was overpriced. Leaving Zuni, I cross into Arizona and reconnect to Interstate 40 until arriving at Petrified Forest National Park where I take the park exit and drive to the visitors center to get a map and patch. Also, I find the junior ranger program has a patch so I ask for the guide book to complete. It takes me until three to finish the guide booklet and obtain my patch and after I continue my drive through the park taking photos of many of the features. Fi"nally, I leave the park, reconnect again to the interstate and drive to the next city with a d-mart. At the d-mart, I purchase a salad, an avocado for sixty-eight cents and bananas, return to the jammer to eat and work on today′s journal entry.

After sleeping in until the sun′s warmth awakes me, at about eight am, I grab a cup of coffee and begin driving west on interstate 40. Looking in my map book, I see a feature marked Meteor Crater and it peaks my interest enough for me to stop. The drive is six miles off of the interstate to the site which is a privately owned operation and the fee to get into the visitors center, museum and to see the crater is eighteen dollars. Do I think it was worth it? Well, it is more than I wanted to pay but they did give me a senior discount of sixteen dollars so I buy a ticket. But was it worth it? Yes, only because it is such an amazing natural feature on this earth. The meteor impacted 50 thousand years ago. The hole is 3900 feet in diameter and 570 feet deep. The raised rim is 148 feet above the surround plains and I get a kick from the speed limit sign.

Then I return to the drive west through the smoke from a forest fire south of Flagstaff which smoke fills the sky and colors the sunlight a yellowish brown. Stopping at a w-mart in Flagstaff, there are ashes falling in the streets all around and soon leave Flagstaff and return once more to the westward march on interstate and do not pull off the roadway until arriving in Kingman, Arizona. I pull into the d-mart just as the sun is setting, find a location near the other overnighters and climb into the back of the jammer. After reading for a while, I get to sleep early.

Up just before the suntouch and drive first to the f-mart for a cup of coffee because the d-mart does not open to six am. I think this is the first one of these I have seen that is not open 24-7. After getting a refill, I drive back to the d-mart to purchase oil for the jammer engine. Then, I am off for the last leg of interstate 40 to Arizona state route 95 where I depart from the interstate to drive south along the Colorado River. I stop for a short time at a w-mart in Lake Havasu City and then drive to water to see London Bridge but this entire area is an overgrown tourist stop and all that I see here are Turkeys, so I get into the jammer and head further south to a smaller town on the river. Arriving at Parker in the early afternoon, I stop, find a shady spot under a tree and begin working on the photos and web pages. It is windy most of the day but just before six pm, the wind picks up and it becomes a sand storm with visibility at about 150 feet or less. There is need for me to roll up all the windows on the jammer to keep the sand out making it hot inside but I do not want to start the engine so as to keep the sand out of the air filter. Even the birds are having a rough time flying against this storm. It does not last too long and at six-twenty, the wind dies just a little and the visibility begins to lengthen but it is still really warm in the jammer and hard to breath with the dust in the air.

It is a south wind and doesn′t seem to affect the locals as they go about their regular activities and when I ask someone about it, I am told that this type of wind is not common to this time of the year but instead is more common to when the monsoons arrive in the fall. Odd weather to say the least. When the sand stops being lifted up by the wind, I drive to the Hall and begin getting dressed for the meeting. This is a small congregation and typical to small ones, very friendly and visit before and after the meeting. Upon leaving, I change clothes and drive first to the w-mart to check for my SS deposit but it has not arrived as yet and then drive to the d-mart for a salad and then sleep.

I awake after the dayspring, much like I have been doing for many days of late, most likely because on the evening before each dayspring, it is long after the sunset when my eyes close. Too, the days are now longer than fourteen hours long and even if I do arise before six am, it is after the sun does.

I first drive to the w-mart to check for my SS deposit and find out that it will not be deposited until next Wednesday the twenty-eight, I begin the drive south on state route 95 to Quartzsite, Arizona and connect with west bound interstate 10. Before crossing the Colorado River into California, I stop to fill up the tank with the cheaper priced Arizona gasoline. Then I continue west bound on 10, arriving at Yucaipa exit 85 and take Oak Glen Road to Yucaipa Road stopping first at my bank to deposit money into my accounts. Next, I drive to my nearby regular w-mart stop, go inside and have a cup of coffee. It is before noon when I arrive in town and wait here in the w-mart until I make contact with Richard and Kim.

Just before sunset, I drive the mile up to Bryant Street, down the alley to the gate entering the outback and wait here for Kim to return from walking Jenny. Soon, she arrives, unlocks the gate and we both drive in. Kim asks me "Was Richard going to tell me that you were arriving?" I reply to her that I have been trying for a couple of days to contact him but he has not yet answered my calls. Then I tell her that I have something for her from Hot Springs, Arkansas and give her a gallon of alkaline water and a glass bottle of bath salts. She says that she likes the bottle of salt and will display it in her bath room. We both retire to out separate quarters, Kim into her home and myselƒ to the jammer in the outback and await for Richard to arrive home. At seven, Richard calls me and we talk for a time; he is driving from Los Angeles and does not arrive here until ten-thirty at which time I am already in the back of the jammer. We do greet each other briefly before we each seek out our nightly berths.

The daylight is upon me when I awake this morning at six-thirty but the day has a mist hanging thick in the air with drops of moisture covering the outside of the jammer′s windows. Methinks that I am return to this same haunt I departed from forty days earlier, from which refuge I have traveled for over six thousand miles through fifteen states, visiting twenty-eight different national parks and numerous other locations of interest, all for the primary purpose of addressing the engine fire caused by the malfunctioning power steering pump. With that issue having been corrected and the jammer running strong, I now look forward to soon reattempting the climb up from Yucaipa into the San Bernardino Mountains so that I may spend a summer hiatus at Big Bear. Too, with my concerns in south Texas resolved and it no longer weighing heavily on my thoughts and prayers, I am now ready to look to concentrating on my spiritual pursuits and on increasing the effort I put forth in the ministry. Yes, I believe that for now, I am done with the time spent on tour and desire greatly to complete my Quest for the summer home.

At nine am, I clean up and head out for the w-mart to continue working on the Journal while waiting for the SS and VA moneys to be deposited in my bank account.

Up at six am, again to the brightness of day and get right up, wash my hair, get dressed for the meeting today and then drive to the w-mart to do my Bible study for today. Then at nine, I reply to a couple of emails and send them off. Finally, I drive to the hall for the meeting, after which I stop by the g-mart to buy some fresh salad and return to the outback to a late afternoon meal.

The afternoon heat cause me to melt and I lie down in the jammer to take a nap and do not rise from it until sunset at which time begin working on my journal, not stoping until after ten.

I haven′t noticed it before this morning when trying to sleep for a while longer, the cawing from the crows is quite loud, and annoying. Richard had come out to the jammer to tell me that he will take me out to eat breakfast at eight am and then would like me to help him paint the wrought iron fence gates in the front yard. Getting up at seven, I wet and comb my hair and then don jeans, my blue shirt and sandals. He comes out shortly after eight and we go into Redlands to the Living Root Cellar restaurant for breakfast. This is just what I have been telling Richard that I want to eat as my primary food. I had a mock egg salad wrap, with no egg, no bread, no cheese, and no processed food. However, it did contain almonds, agave, flax seed, green veggies and some other living food in a cabbage leaf wrap. I tell Richard that this is what I want to be eating from now on, living food, and like this meal prepared in a way that actually taste good.

We also stop to get a few spray cans of primer for the fence and then return home to get working on the fence. Later, after the three sections are primed, Richard and Kim goes to get the finish paint and come back with a brown paint with sand texture. I have used this type of textured paint before and really like the finished look it provides but upon spaying it on the fence find that the coverage is very poor and use up all five cans on one of the three gates sections. About this time, Kim comes out carrying our evening meal, what Richard calls falafel stuffed in pita bread. I must say that this is very tasty as well as filling. After eating, we finish the gates as much until the paint runs out again and then begin cleaning up for the evening. I take a cold shower, shampoo my hair and put on clean clothes. Then I retire to the jammer and work some on my journal. It is nine pm and notice a planet high in the western sky and check www.solarsystemscope.com to find out that it is Jupiter. Also, Mars is high overhead in the evening sky. I don′t spend much time looking at the sky because there is too much light pollution here in this city. In the sack by nine-thirty pm.

The dayspring, being an hour before I awake is earlier and warmer as the season progresses toward summer. Yes, this morning, the sun has even risen above the mountains east of me. Arising, I drive to the w-mart, walk in, set up my computer, and then go to the counter for a cup of coffee. With coffee in hand, I begin working on my journal.

In the late morning, Richard calls to ask me for help working on the front driveway and I drive there right away. He wants to dig out the two foot wide strip of gravel and pack asphalt into the hole finishing the asphalt entrance driveway all the way to the concrete parking area. Then he wants to seal the twenty foot long by fifteen foot wide entrance with asphalt sealer. Too, he still wants us to finish painting the front gates across the entrance driveway. Before we stop for the evening, he tells me that wants me to help him reseal the roof on his home and repave the front concrete walk ways inside his front fence. He sure is coming up with a lot of projects since I am here but that is alright because I enjoy working with him. We get the gravel dug out and the bottom of the drive way washed clean and at this point we need to let the water dry off of the driveway.

Just before the sun sets I take a cold shower with the hose, which has a spray head that is adjustable to several spray patterns including shower. Then I retire to the jammer to continue the work on my journal. For the past week or more, the journal work has been going through Episode One so as to convert it to an electronic version to allow me to provide that episode in a format for the digital readers. The first format that I am creating is the PDF format which most e-readers can access. Later, I may even convert Episode One to the epub format which is a better format for e-readers. Still, for now, I am spending most of my time on the computer working on the PDF version.

Also, I have been anticipating my climb on the mountain as I am on the high path having now returned to the treeline providing me with grand view and hope soon to be atop the ridgeline so that I may be taking in the majestic view there.

I awake earlier today that I have for some time, five-forty am and the sunglow is still above the mountains but just about over with. I douse my hair with the hose and comb it into submission, then I drive out of the outback heading for the w-mart where I procure my morning cup of hot and begin pounding keys. I suspect Richard will call me soon for the work planned for today and he does at about eight-thirty requesting me to arrive at ten am to help him finish the work we have begun.

Upon driving into the outback, I see that Richard is already outside and we go right to work. The driveway is dry now so we first fill in the low spots with clean gravel, next cover the gravel with the asphalt sealer and then pack asphalt mix over the gravel up to the level of the existing concrete. Once that is done, we then clean the rest of the drive way with a leaf blower and begin sealing the asphalt right up to the new asphalt mix. This finishes the job so we put some barricades up to prevent anyone from walking on the freshly sealed asphalt. Richard and I then take showers while Kim has prepared a clear broth chicken soup with cabbage, carrots and other veggies. Really good soup! By the time we finish the soup, it is time to retire for the evening and I notice just after sunglow that Jupiter is descending in the western sky a little lower each night. By nine pm, I am ready to get horizontal because my feet are aching from being on them so long today.

Up well after the sunrise and drive to Beaumont, California to the d-mart to buy groceries, bottled water, auto fluids and to get a haircut. Then, I drive to the nearby w-mart for iced coffee and to work on my journal. Much later, I drive back to Yucaipa on my way to Big Bear, gas up at probably the only gas station in southern California with gasoline still less than four dollars a gallon. Then I begin the drive up to Bib Bear, on the same route that was attempted only fifty days ago and which resulted in a engine fire. Although it was a small fire, a fire it was nevertheless and today, that same climb up from Yucaipa to Big Bear is in the works.

It is still morning when the drive begins so that the temperature will be much cooler than it is during the afternoon. I watch for the elevation signs, first 3000 feet just up from Yucaipa, then 4000 feet along the Santa Anna River and then I make the wide turn up from the river valley onto the mountains and begin climbing steeply. It was at 5000 feet where the engine fire happened last time and before that elevation comes, I begin to pray for success and at the same time, keep an eye on the water temperature gauge. The gauge goes up past the R in normal but levels out at the M and then I pass the 5000 foot sign and the climbs becomes less steep. Continuing, I next see the 6000 foot sign and notice that the air coming into the jammer from outside is becoming noticeably cooler. At the same time, the water temperature gauge drops back down to the R and I give thanks to God for allowing me to get this far. The drive continues until I see the 7000 foot sign, then the 8000 foot sign and finally the sign for Onyx Summit at 8,443 feet, this being one of the highest roads in southern California. Finally, I arrive in Big Bear and continue to thank God for allowing me to return here once again. I then pull into a parking lot and climb into the back of the jammer to rest and read for a while and in no time it is evening.

The ridgeline is within site, the treeline is far below. Now, what I need most to do is avoid all of the Obstacles that come my way, continue taking Steps upon the Way and prepare for the Views ahead. I am optimistic for the outcome but my prayer will continue to request heavenly assistance.

Awake at six am but it take a few minutes for me to arise and get moving and then drive directly to the w-mart for coffee and the restroom. I notice that the temperature is much lower here than it has been anywhere in my tour ever since I came here the first time this year on the 27^th of March when it was snowing and 25°. With the temperatures so cool thus far, I think that I am going to enjoy the summer here, only now I need to begin supplicating God for a place with four walls where I can hang my hat. At eight am, I drive to the hall and get dressed for the ministry, then wait for a short while for others to arrive. Ron and Michelle arrive and we three go out in the work of distributing the invitation to the convention. In the first territory, I offer an invitation to a man an he gratefully accepts it so I will return on him on a later day to see if he would like to learn more about the Bible. Finishing two territories we then begin to work on return visits. Finally, we head back to the hall and from there, I go to the w-mart, have a salad and a glass of water while working on my journal.

I think back to the fourteenth of May when the Obstacle to me being here was removed, how happy and elated I felt and how thankful I was toward God removing that Obstacle. I have thought about it a lot and prayed much about the matter and have concluded that there was no other way for the Obstacle to be removed the way it was without the help of God. This only reinforces my faith and increases my desire to do more in return for the wonderful things he continues to do for me. This doing more began today with my time in the ministry and will go out again tomorrow morning and as many mornings that I am able while here on this mountain top community.

I have been inside the w-mart all afternoon and notice that outside, the sun has just set. Too, tiredness has overcome me so I pack out, drive first to the g-mart and purchase two carrots, two yellow squash, two gray squash, a baby bok choy, a cucumber and a mango all for three dollars and eighteen cents. Then I drive to the parking lot to eat my supper of fresh living food and then finally prepare for my evenings rest.

Despite the cobalt blue towels hung strategically for preventing light from entering my sleeping berth, the dim gray light of morning infiltrates through the mountain forest to penetrate the several small openings and into the back of the jammer to begin it′s urge against my desire to stay asleep but these urgings don′t give up their relentless push to bring on the dayspring and finally win out in the battle against my slumber; I arise at six this morning. The cool weather being enjoyed here on the Mountain has me donning my cotton jeans once again instead of the nylon shorts that have been my regular adornment for over a month.

Upon arriving at the w-mart, I purchase my regular cup of hot and plug into the receptacle under the table and begin pounding keys once again in my desire to put words harmoniously together. I have a couple of hours available for this pursuit before I must needs go to the ministry meeting.

At nine am, I am dressed and ready before anyone shows up. In a short time, Ron arrives, then Bob and his wife Lani, then Teresa which makes five who go out into the invitation work. At noon, we stop and all have lunch at a Mexican restaurant where Trevor, Teresa's husband joins us. Afterwards, Ron takes us back to the hall for our vehicles.

After changing into my jeans, I head for the w-mart to work on my journal and stay until nine pm before stoping for the evening and heading to the parking lot, during which time I see the less than ten percent crescent moon low on the horizon.

This is the third morning awaking here upon the Mountain and the cooler temperatures do so agree with my person. Today, my first waking moments again come at six am, this after a night of dreams about my family, including my mother as well as the wife of my youth, Becky Rose; visions that remain in my dreams even after such a long time always needed prayer to get me past those moments. I have never been sure why these reoccurring dreams have been a part of my life, why I keep having them despite being so far removed from the events of their making, or why they still upset me when the dreams present themselves, but nonetheless, I know one thing, these dreams are as real as life and thus the reason for the need for prayer. Methinks that possibly the reason for the dream is that her day is fast approaching.

The days activities are complete and I am ready now to get into the back of the jammer, but first, a little about my day. After going to the w-mart to work on my Bible study for today, I make it to the Hall about twenty minutes before the meeting starts at ten. I am able to talk with Dave, the coordinator about staying in the area for the summer and he introduces me to Kevin, the secretary to who I give my contact information. Kevin tells me that he will contact Larry back in Oak Harbor to get things rolling. After the meeting, I change into my jeans and return to the w-mart to continue working on the journal until about six when Trevor walks up to me and asks if I want to go with him and his wife to a movie. Normally, I do not go to the movie theaters, but when asked by Trevor and Teresa, I just made an exception to my normal. I ride with them and we go to the village to see X-Men Days of Future Past. I have to say that I did enjoy this movie, it was exciting and filled full of action.

During the movie, Richard calls and as soon as the movie is over, I call him back and find out that he would like me to come down tomorrow to help him do some work in the outback. Now, I must get into the back of the jammer and get some sleep.

At five am, I wake to the sunglow but after checking the time go back to sleep until just after six am before getting up to drive for coffee. Then I begin the drive to Yucaipa and at seven am stop at Onyx Summit to begin my day′s journal entry. During the drive in town this morning I notice that there is a d-mart in Big Bear which I will check out when I return on Wednesday this week. I am still learning the amenities which will most likely take me some time to do so because this a good size town with a population of about fifteen thousand or more, but still small enough for me because of it′s isolation away from the red zone and enables me to see the night sky. However, most of Big Bear is covered in forest so seeing the nigh sky is broken up.

Arriving at the outback by eight am and unlock the gate to let myselƒ in. Then I walk to the front entrance gate to see how the asphalt patch is doing and see that it needs more time to dry. About this time, Richard walks outside and I ask him if he has had breakfast to which he says, "No, do you want to go get some?" My reply is "It′s my time to buy!" We then climb into his car and drive to Paradise Cafe. After breakfast, we head back to the outback to begin digging the trench for the RV sewer service. After we get the hole started, he leaves to go to the hardware store to buy the parts, returns and we start laying out the service. Then he leaves again to take Kim to an appointment with the eye doctor. I continue digging the trench and setting up the slope on the four inch pipe. When he returns, we recheck the slop and then glue the pipe in place. Finally, we cover the pipe with dirt and clean up the area. Meanwhile, Kim had been preparing supper and so I take a shower and put on cleans clothes while Richard puts burgers on the grill. Soon, we are having turkey burgers, brown rice, cabbage salad and a grilled veggie side. Kim also brings out a pitcher of water with submerged orange slices. What a grand meal and I really enjoy it.

Richard and I watch the sunset while Kim waters the plants, After it sets, I climb into the jammer exhausted and get ready to be horizontal.

Again, it is during the sunglow that my eyes open this morning and then find myselƒ coffee in hand, pounding keys before five thirty am. I will be here until Richard gets up and then we plan to do breakfast again this morning. Until we do, I will continue with my journal work, now in Passage Five, The Myselƒ, this being the digital revision of Episode One.

At eight am, Richard and I connect and go to the Paradise Cafe again. Afterwards, we pack up his pickup and head to Hemet, California where will plan to replace a switch in a cooling unit at his rental trailer. The drive takes about an hour, then a short time to get the old switch out and to determine it to be the problem. Then we spend about two hours looking for a new replacement switch before returning and installing it. Before heading back to Yucaipa, we stop at a juice-mart for a fresh juiced drink. Upon returning to Yucaipa, we stop at the g-mart and I purchase a salad and veggies that will be tonight′s supper.

Upon arriving back at the outback, I go to the jammer to try to take a nap but it is too hot for that. Instead, I work for a while on the journal and then at sunset, I take a shower, put on clean clothes and climb into the jammer for the evening.

Awake at sunglow and look out the window to see Richard starting his car in preparation for driving to work. I call out "Good morning?" He comes over to greet me and then asks me to tie down the car port that we moved yesterday. He will be making his long drive into Los Angeles for work and I will be making the one hour drive back up onto the Mountain. I drive to the w-mart for coffee and to upload my journal entry; then I begin my drive up to Big Bear.

Last Monday morning, during the drive down from the mountain upon arriving at 6800 feet on the west side of Onyx Summit, I notice a campground in the National Forest with a large restroom building and wonder if it has a shower. This drive, I stop at Barton Flats campground, drive to that same restroom, go inside and find that it not only has a free shower but the water is heated. When I get back into the jammer, I check to find that this shower is 24 miles from the Big Bear Hall. This means that there is a hot shower about a half hour′s drive from where I want to spend the summer, the closest one I have found yet. I continue to drive to Big Bear arriving at the Hall by seven am and park to get dressed for the ministry meeting. Then, I turn on my computer to update my journal. At eight fifty-five am, the friends begin to arrive at the hall and I go inside with them.

Upon completing the morning in the ministry, I drive to the w-mart and get right back into the journal work. What I want to do here in this location is show up as often as possible to the meeting for the ministry, stay out for as long as the group does and then when the ministry is complete for the day, retire to the WiFi to work on the journal. Since the town is small and everything is nearby, I will not have to drive much on any day but can spend most of my day getting the electronic Journal finished. When the Journal is complete, then I may begin to explore the area and even do some hiking on the nearby Pacific Crest Trail.

It is long after sunset when I prepare a salad topped with Parmesan cheese and then after eating, retire for the evening.

Arise at seven and put my jeans over my nylon walking shorts and then drive to the w-mart for coffee and to write my journal entry. A barrister in the w-mart, Katie has made it a point to remember me and greets me by name when I arrive, this with out my normal prompting for recognition. I go to my regular table and get to work on the journal.

Then at eight am, I pack out of the w-mart and drive to the Hall for the ministry meeting at nine am. I am assigned to work with Quincy, his wife Christina and two of their sons, Elias and Evan and we continue in the invitation work for the District Convention. After the ministry, I stop at the d-mart and pick up a couple of items, then drive back to the w-mart for the rest of the day. At seven pm, I drive to Ski park near Big Bear Lake and cook my evening meal while the sun is setting over the lake. I believe this location will make a good sunset photo when the clouds and sky are just right but since it is such a nice location with a restroom, I will be stopping here often to cook my evening meals. I finish up the evening at a f-mart to access the Internet before driving to the parking lot for sleep.

Up at six am and drive to the w-mart to begin my routine, first coffee, then keyboard. Then at nine, I am at the morning meeting for the ministry. I work again with Ron who I am beginning to get to know. Being only a few years older, he seems to be so much wiser and I believe that I can learn a lot from him. I hope that our friendship not only continues but deepens in the coming weeks and months here on the Mountain. After the ministry, I retire to the keyboard but stop early to drive to Ski park to take a nap.

Then at six pm, I return to the w-mart and continue pounding keys until nine-thirty, after which, I head to the parking lot for rest.

Up at six-fifteen and drive to the w-mart to begin my routine, first coffee, then keyboard. Then at nine-thirty, I am at the morning meeting for the ministry. There is a good size group who come to the hall and form three car groups. Two of the cars go to the same area, one of which I am in. The third heads to the lake to talk with people near the water.

For the afternoon, I return to the w-mart and come close to completing the .PDF version of Episode One.

Up at seven and drive to the w-mart to begin my routine, first coffee, then instead of keyboard prepare for the Bible study today. Then at nine-thirty, I am at the hall for the public meeting.

Shortly after the meeting, I drive south on California route 38 almost out of Big Bear to the Whispering Pines community lodge and join the friends in an afternoon gathering with hot prepared food. My first plate is almost entirely fruit and vegetables until I get to the end of the table where there is a crock pot of cheese with chips next to it and I just have to break my living food diet and indulge. When I go back for seconds, I depart entirely from my diet and try some of the other dishes. I find that this second plate is of the type that I have always known as comfort food and have always greatly enjoy this type of food.

While sitting of a stuffed chair, appropriate for the way that I feel now, and talking with David, his wife Serina comes in to ask David to get the first aid kit out of the car to tend to someone who has been burned by the oven. I volunteer to get my kit out and take care of the burn, telling Serina that I have an exceptionally good burn cream, to which she agrees and the I head out to the jammer. Just outside of the lodge, I see a young girl obviously distressed and ask her if she is the one with the burn to which she shakes her head yes. I tell her to stay here, that I am going for my first aid kit and will be right back. At the jammer, I grab my tea tree oil and the disc with the tea tree burn cream, then my two first aid tins containing gauge, tape and other essentials and then head back to the young girl. We go inside and sit on the sofa and I begin to dress the burn. When I ask for her name, I find out that this young girl is David′s daughter Isabella and then she asks mine. I tell her that this burn ointment will stop the pain for an hour or so and when it begins to hurt again, come find me and I will put more of it on the burn. I tell her that she may have to come back a couple of times but after the third or fourth time, it should no longer give her any problem. She smiles and says that the pain has already stopped and heads back out to play. I continue my conversation with David and Isabella does come back two more times.

Shortly after six pm, I depart from the lodge and head back into town and continue working on the final chapters of the PDF version of Episode One. When I complete this new version, I prepare a numbered copy and send it to David as he had previously requested one. Then, after sending it to him by email, I shut the computer down and head for a place to park.

Up at seven-fifteen and drive to the w-mart to begin my routine, first coffee, then keyboard. Then at nine, I am at the morning meeting for the ministry. There are three other here for the ministry, Michelle, Dana and Stephanie who I join for a morning in the invitation campaign. At noon, Stephanie drives us back to the Hall and then departs. I prepare my lunch and then drive to the w-mart where I have a cup of hot hibiscus tea with slices of raw sweet potato while I return to pounding keys.

At about three, I go to the park to prepare a meal and after eating, take a nap for an hour. Then, I work on creating a written list of the figurative words that I have been using in the Journal. This list should prove beneficial for me when I am writing journal entries. At nine pm, I head for the parking lot but upon arriving it is too warm in the jammer to sleep so I open it up and sit on my step seat for about half an hour until the inside of the jammer cools. It is after ten pm before I close up the jammer and climb back in to get horizontal.

At five-thirty am, I get up and think, this feels much better than last night. The last two days have been really warm, into the eighties, and I hope this is not what I can expect to come here on the mountain. Still, this morning the temperature is much lower and an indicator that the short hot spell is over. I go to the w-mart, get a cup of coffee and continue working on the figurative word list until eight-fifteen am when I get dressed and head to the Hall for the ministry meeting. There are only two sisters, Michelle and Stephanie (Stevie) who show up and I decide it best to let them go out without me. I tell the sisters that there is something I really want to continue working on, excuse myselƒ and drive back to the w-mart where I resume the work on my figurative word list.

I do not leave the w-mart until eight pm when the sun is setting and have a salad before driving to the parking lot for my night′s rest. As I drive by the Hall, I notice that the Spanish congregation is having their school and service meeting. It is cooler tonight and I am able to get right to sleep.

The sunglow at five am wakes me but I return to the realm of dream again and then arise at six am, go to the w-mart and try to resolve a problem I am having with the html editor. After the technical service representative suggests a fix, I am able to correct the problem quickly. Then I return to the keyboard pounding until I drive to the Hall for the morning ministry. There are six today, Ron, Michelle, Sarah, DJ with her two month old son, Hunter and myselƒ. We take two cars and work in the Red Ant Hill area, the same area we have been working in for a couple of days. At eleven-thirty we arrive back at the Hall from which I go for a salad at the Mexican food restaurant and then back to the w-mart to continue working on the word project.

Earlier, I tell Ron that I will be going to the convention in Bakersfield this weekend and plan to leave Big Bear tonight so at six pm, I drive off of the mountain and although the locals say "go down the hill," I will keep calling it mountain because I come here because of the ascent. My drive down takes me on state route 38 through San Bernardino National Forest and stop at Barton Flats campground. (34º 10' 17" N, 116º 52' 34" W) I hang my national parks senior pass from the rearview mirror and go inside to take a hot shower. Upon returning to the west bound route 38, I drive a couple of miles past the Yucaipa turn off and turn north on a country road which takes me into the west side of Highlands, California on Greenspot Road. I like this route because it allows me to skirt the city and stay out of the red zone even though there are Rocks and Roots and Ruts all around me.

At one river crossing, (and I say river because once long ago, there was water here,) I stop to take a photo of the old narrow trestle bridge with the canyon in the backdrop and there is a man, who is also looking at the bridge. When he walks toward me, I greet him and comment, "Looks like they are building a new bridge across this river." and he replies, "Yes, and I wonder what they are going to do with this old bridge, it is historic. Did you know that it was built when people were driving model A cars?" We talk for a bit longer and the conversation changes to how bad things are these days and then he says that the Bible said it would be like this. At this point, I tell him my name and he says his is Keith. Then I take the opportunity to offer him the convention track and he begins reading it. I tell him that he probably already knows about the world government referred to on the front, that he probably has prayed for it in the Lord′s Prayer. I then quote the first part of the prayer to the point where it says "Thy Kingdom come.". He smiles and then I offer him the June issues of our magazines. He thanks me for the magazines and I tell him that I hope he makes it to the Bible convention in San Diego. We bid each other "farewell, drive safe" and I continue my drive along the edge of the red zone while watching for a gasoline stop that does not cost more than four dollars.

As long as I have been in California and even though I have seen gasoline here for as much as $4.75 a gallon, I have yet to pay four dollars or more when filling my tank. As I kept driving, I am just as good as accepting the fact that this time, I am going to have to pay four dollars and twenty cent or more. When I get off the main road and start driving up state route 18 toward Lake Arrowhead, there are several stations with regular gasoline costing over four twenty-five and at the last road where there was a station, it was four thirty. As I drive past the last one, the side of the highway got dark and appears like there are no more stops until I arrive at the high priced mountaintop resort area. I turn around and return to Fortieth Street, turn right on the street and having not gone more than a hundred yard, find a station with regular gasoline at $3.99 a gallon. I pull in, begin filling my tank and say a prayer thanking God. I notice that there are many of both Weekend Warriors and Turkeys in this area, but I clean my windshield and then continue on my way out of the deep valley of the shadow of death up onto the Mountain and arrive at a f-mart with WiFi in Lake Arrowhead, California to locate a suitable parking lot to spend the night. I arrive at my parking spot by ten pm, get into the back and finish my journal entries for today.

Awake at six-thirty am just as the sun is peaking over the trees and I get right up, drive on route 18 to the f-mart in Crestline, California for coffee and to upload my journal entries. Upon checking, I find that it is 45°F in Big Bear right now which is the temperature I am looking to be in at this time of the year. So far, I am not impressed with the Lake Arrowhead area of the San Bernardino Mountains because it is so much more developed than Big Bear. From Crestline, I take state route 138 to the northwest towards Silverwood Lake, then north around the west side and then west out of the national forest and across the high desert where Joshua tress abound. Soon, I cross over interstate 15 and continue west on route 138 and arrive in Palmdale where I pause from my driving to stop at a d-mart to buy some fresh vegetables, fruit, and Parmesan cheese. The avocado that I buy here is seventy-eight cents, almost as cheap as in Texas.

Returning to the jammer, I open the windows, climb into the back, load my food stores and prepare a large salad for my mid-day meal. After eating, I return to the drive on state route 138, first north through the city of Lancaster and then west again across more of the high desert. It is hot during this drive today, reaching into the high nineties, but nowadays, that is what it takes to drive to a district convention on the left side of the country. Leaving route 138, I head north on interstate 5, then take state route 99 into Bakersfield where I GPS to a d-mart about three miles from the Rabobank Arena where the convention will be held this weekend. I arrive at the d-mart at five pm and spend most of the evening in the shade lying down in the back of the jammer reading magazines. I think that I even sleep for a while but having the jammer unlocked and open in a busy parking lot does not allow for me to rest comfortably. A little while ago, the sun set and the temperature is still in the low nineties, so I will not be sleeping soon tonight but upon looking to the east, I see the full moon rising above the horizon. Until the time that it is cooler, I will read and probably get caught up with the magazines. Later, I turn on the jammer to charge my computer battery and in doing so, run the air conditioner to cool down the inside of the jammer. It is long after ten pm when I get horizontal.

Since being in this state, I have cleared up my misconceptions about the people here, that they are different in ways from people in other states. What I have found is in fact, they are just like everyone else in this country, with one exception. I have noticed that it seems the people here love their tattoos more than anywhere else in this country. True, tattoos have become a common thing on the arms and bodies of many people in the world today, but here in California, the tattoos on the people are much larger and more plentiful than any other state that I have traveled too. I can remember in my youth when it was uncommon to see a person with a tattoo, now, however, it is uncommon to see a person without a tattoo because I keep looking but find very few. I wonder if any of these people, many of whom more than likely claim to be a Christian, are familiar with the verse in Leviticus 19:28 where God commands the Israelites not to print (or tattoo) any marks on their bodies. If the Mosaic Law prohibited tattoos for his people in that day, why would God allow it for his people today? Especially in lieu of the Bible admonition at Romans 12: 1: Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.

I awake long after sunglow, close my eyes for a moment or two longer and finally get up just as the sun is rising above the trees at six am. It finally cooled off last night enough for me to sleep but not cool enough for me to need cover. I brush my teeth, get dressed for the meeting and then drive to the w-mart a quarter of a mile away for coffee and to upload my journal. At seven-thirty, I leave for the arena which is only a ten minute drive away and find a parking space.

It is one pm now and I sit in the jammer eating my salad, one with new Living Food. Yes, there was a release this morning and I enjoy reading it as I have a green salad to eat. There are over four thousand here at this convention and during the Keynote Address, we were tied into the international convention in New Orleans, Louisiana where there is over 24 thousand to listen to the talk given by brother Stephen Lett from governing body, now one of seven. I have always loved the animated way brother Lett gives a talk. Besides an encouraging discourse, in his talk, he provides a new understanding on the third heaven and paradise referred to at 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, one which makes real sense to me. Well, the food is consumed so I will now go back in to the arena to receive some more.

One of the talks in the afternoon session really helped me understand the importance of not giving my recommendations to others, especially when it comes to health matters. Therefore, I have decided to no longer pursue my newest created appendix entitled The Real Way a practical approach to Living Well. This in no way means that I will stop pursuing healthy living for myselƒ. In fact, this matter is one that I am most interested in for myselƒ and hope to progressively better the condition of my health during the rest of our time in this system. However, be assured that this striving to better my health, even though I feel that it is a real Need for myselƒ in this system will never replace the Need for myselƒ to seek first the Kingdom of God. In fact, this later Need has come into focus even more in recent weeks and months and especially so at this years district convention.

After the session, I head to the w-mart and work for a while on adding some links to the electronic version of Episode One. The links will make it easier to move from one area to another area, especially from the table of contents to the associated page. At nine pm, I go outside and notice that it is not near as hot as it was yesterday at this time and decide to go to the d-mart for the evening. I think that I will even be able to get to sleep earlier tonight.

In the early morning hours, there is need to pull my down sleeping bag over me. Then at six am when the sun rises above the trees, I awake, get right up and dress for the meeting. Then I drive to a nearby f-mart for a cup of coffee and while sipping on the hot liquid, drive the three miles to the convention site. There are three brother standing at the entrance to the parking but have not begun directing the cars into parking spots so I drive to the shaded spot that I noticed yesterday. Here under the shade of a pecan tree, I partake of my Daystart while drinking the hot liquid. Also, I read more of the releases from yesterday, enjoying the Living Food that has been provided.

At seven-thirty, I walk to the entrance and wait for the doors to open so that I may obtain my seat for the day′s session. The session begins promptly at nine-twenty with music and soon after with winsome words pertaining to the Mountain, while outside the world trudges along upon it′s Tramp replete with Rocks and Roots and Ruts. Inside, the Living Food abounds and just before the noon break, twenty-seven arrive at the Trailhead and begin their Passage.

Upon returning to the afternoon session, there is twice when we are tied into the New Orleans and the final talk by brother Lett about the Kingdom rule for one hundred years culminates with the list of attendance counts from each of the nine conventions being held this weekend with a total count of all in attendance of over 107 thousand and true to each time brother Lett has given a talk, he also makes an announcement for a new release. After picking up my copy, I head out to the jammer, drive to the w-mart to use my free purchase for a salad and while I eat, upload the journal.

Then I drive to the d-mart for the evening and see a strange site, a street person with three shopping baskets piled higher that he is tall slowly moving his belongings from one part of the parking lot to another, a task that takes him three trips to pull the baskets to the new location. He has several dogs, each dog attached with a leash to a different rolling basket. I wonder what is so important in those several baskets to have caused him to be so attached to this large load of material things. Then, I turn around to look into the rear of the jammer at the large load that I am carrying and think to myselƒ that I must needs reevaluate each of my things again to separate the Mundane out from among the keep-worthy. Again, methinks, there is need for much prayer in this matter.

Up during the sunglow, it is five-ten am and take an upper body shower, get dressed for the convention, drive for coffee and then to the arena. When I arrive at the parking lot, there are only two brother who are drinking coffee and putting on their ties. I take my parking place under the pecan tree and then walk over to meet the two, coffee in hand. John and Fernando are working in the parking attendant department and we talk until their supervisor arrives. Then, I return to the jammer and pound keys until seven-thirty when I go to take my place in line at the arena entrance. Then at eight, I go inside, put my books down on a chair and then greet some of the friends who sit nearby. At nine-twenty, the music begins and shortly after the talks. Like each day before, this day has superb talks, I keep copious notes and glean so much for my personal use. Today, the public talk is tied in with New Orleans and I suspect the afternoon session will likewise be connected with New Orleans.

Richard calls me during the morning session but I do not take the call but instead call him right after the session. He would like me to stop by tomorrow and help him put the final coat on the asphalt. Upon arriving at the jammer during the midday break, I prepare a liquid meal to drink. I am truly enjoying the Living Food being provided this weekend and strongly desire to partake of this provision at another one of the upcoming conventions. There are eight convention dates remaining with seventy-six conventions still to be held. Next weekend, of the seven locations, the closest convention to me will be in Loveland, Colorado but I do not want to drive that far of a distance at this time. The following weekend, there will also be seven locations with three in west coast states, however, the Long Beach location is in the Los Angeles Red Zone. Before I choose to go to any other convention, I will have to pray about the matter first. I head back into the arena at one pm.

The afternoon session is the best of all, we are tied in to New Orleans again and brother Lett gives more superb admonition. I would love to meet this fine brother some day. This new feature of having a large screen tie-in to the international convention is such a wonderful provision. I have really enjoyed hearing the talks by the brother from the US branch and look forward to many more tie-in displays in the future. After the last song and prayer, I head out to the jammer, change my clothes and drive south out of Bakersfield, first on state route 99 south a short way to state route 58 where I head east to US route 395 and turn south towards Los Angeles. I soon take interstate 15 south, then interstate 215 east and finally interstate 10 east getting off in Redlands and stop at a d-mart as the sun is setting. I do finish updating my journal for today and upload it at a nearby f-mart before getting into the back of the jammer for the evening.

Awaking at six-thirty am, I drive back to the f-mart and go in to purchase coffee before beginning the drive to Yucaipa. Upon arriving at the outback, Richard walks out and unlocks the gate to let me in and tells me that he has to go to a doctors appointment, but that he would like me to do a few tasks. After parking the jammer and plugging in to the electric service, I sit inside and turn on the computer. Shortly thereafter, Richard leaves and then Kim comes to the outback to give me my mail, a letter that I have been waiting on for a long time. I then get busy on Richard′s tasks, first digging up an old yard faucet that is sticking up above grad so as to shortening the vertical pipe to make it fit into a underground utility box. I do get the hole dug but can not disconnect the pipe from the underground elbow so I stop on this project. The second thing that I do for him is to put a final coat of asphalt sealer, another five gallons, on the front entrance driveway. Finally, I begin working on the sewer clean-out, shortening the vertical pipe so that it also does not stick up above ground but will fit into an underground utility box.

I dig it up, cut the pipe and reset the utility box but there is not enough dirt to fill the hole so I bring dirt from the first location to bury the box and surrounding area. Then, I put the plastic sheeting back in place and cover it with the driveway rock. This project is for the purpose of finishing the RV sewer service we installed on the second of this month. I keep digging up dirt from the area where the hole still remains, making the hole shallower. This take me the rest of the morning to accomplish the tasks, but at about one pm, Richard arrives and we work together digging dirt, moving it to the area of the sewer service to raise the grad adjacent to the fence. Also, Richard helps me remover the long pipe from the elbow, then we find a shorter piece of pipe and install a under ground utility box over the lowered faucet. All of the extra dirt that Richard and I have been digging is in a high area where the faucet now has been lowered.

Kim returns home and because the front driveway is blocked due to the sealant still needing to dry, drives into the outback where Richard and I are working, Richard opens a section of the fence so she can drive into the parking canopy we built earlier. She then disappears into the house only to later come out to tell us that supper is ready in ten minutes. I take a quick shower while Richard finishes raking the dirt smooth and we are both at the pagoda when Kim brings out the meal. It is a type of sandwich that looks to good to eat. It has an olive loaf sliced long with cream cheese spread on each side and then slices of avocado and tomatoes on top of the cheese. Then she sprinkled olive oil, lemon zest and sesame seed on top of that. Richard and I both got two slices and the taste was as good as it looked. It has been a long day and it is now after sunset, so I return to the jammer to get into the horizontal.

I awake at six-thirty am and work on my computer until Richards comes out at seven am. Then we both go out to breakfast, after which we return to the outback, set up the RV canopy and prepare the sewer service area for spreading crushed rock. By two pm, we have all the dirt and brick edging level, then we begin spreading thick black plastic. While I finish the plastic, he goes and order a truckload of rock to be delivered. It arrives, dumps the rock in three locations and then Richard and I begin spreading the rock.

By six pm, Richard goes in to get ready for his meeting and I take a shower and pack up the jammer. Then I drive to a l-mart in Calimesa to do my laundry, then I drive to Beaumont to the d-mart to buy some vegetables and then return back to the outback arriving a little before nine pm. I let myselƒ in and then get ready to become prone for the evening because my feet are aching and I am tired.

The sun well above the horizon when I awake at six-thirty and drive to the w-mart for coffee. Then, I point the jammer toward the mountain to drive to Big Bear and see that the road crew has reached Camp Cedar Falls. I stop at Barton Flats to shower at the campground before heading on to continue my summer respite. Upon resuming my drive I arrive at Big Bear after nine am and go to the w-mart to work on my computer.

At eleven, I notice Evan, Quinsy, Robert and a forth brother sitting outside at a table and go out to greet them. Robert tells me of the Discovery Center which is part of the national forest service where there is information about the camping in the area. He says that I can get a map at the center which shows the amenities that are in the national forest near to the Big Bear area. They are taking a break from the ministry but soon head out back to it while I return to the table inside to pack up my computer so as to go to the center.

Upon arriving at the center, I find that it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I go to a thrift store I saw earlier in search of a dress jacket my size but do not find one. Then I drive to the Big Bear Summit Park to check out the area and find it extremely dry like the rest of southern California due to the drought. I park in the shade of several large evergreens and prepare my lunch salad. I chop up about a half cup each of carrots, cucumber, green onions, radishes, add a little lettuce from a packaged green salad bag and then I pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. I stir well and then begin eating my veggie salad but I forget to add some of my spice blend which tastes good on salad. As I am enjoying my meal, Jack, originally from Connecticut, says hello as he rides his bike toward the chair lift and when I say hello back, he stops to talk. When he notices my PCT patch on my backpack, he asks if I am hiking the trail, to which I tell him "Not at this time," and continue, "but I have hiked several sections of it. The conversation continues and we talk about several topics while I continue eating my lunch. Then he bides me good-bye and heads off to the chair lift to take him to the top so he can ride his bike down.

I then clean up, pack the rest of the veggies into the cooler and drive back to the w-mart for the rest of the afternoon. At five pm, I drive to the Hall to take a short nap until six-fifteen pm when I get up and begin getting dressed for the meeting at seven. Then, Lee arrives for the meeting, goes inside the Hall but comes back outside and walks to where I am putting my tie on to tell me that the meeting was last night because of the visit of the circuit overseer. He has just found this out also and we talk for a while during which time another person drives in for the meeting. I tell Lee, "We better say here for a bit longer in case others show up" and true to my statement, two other persons arrive. Then Lee departs and I drive to the f-mart for a chocolate milk shake, thinking, this is not on my diet because of the sugar and fat but it is hot and it will cool me off. Then I drive to the parking lot and read the first two chapters of the new book released at the convention and after two chapters, I am ready to sleep.

I awake during sunglow but go back to sleep until six-ten am and then drive to the w-mart for coffee. At eight-fifteen am, I go out to the jammer, don my dress clothes and drive to the Hall for the meeting. There are almost thirty who meet for the ministry meeting and the circuit overseer discusses features in the new Bible revision. One feature is the end of the Bible words indexed where after the "Z" is an additional section. I was surprised also to see what is there. We all get out assignments and I work with Dave, Conrad and Ron for the morning. At the noon break, I head to the jammer and have my Daystart.

Then, at one pm, I go back into the Hall for the meeting for the ministry and the circuit overseer discusses multiple words in the Bible words indexed, and interesting topic. I do not go out in the ministry though, and instead go to the Discovery Center and get a map of the surrounding area campground but after driving to the closest campground, the dust was so bad that in less than two miles it covered both the outside and inside of the jammer so much that I have decided not to go that route. I stop at a picnic area near the water and make a salad and while there replace both of the front turn signal lights. Then, I drive back to the Hall for the book study and the circuit overseer′s talk. I am really tired this evening and go to bed right after the meeting.

The day begins just like yesterday up to the point when I begin working in the ministry and today work with Ron and Dan. I try the presentation using the questions in the front of the Bible but do not get to fully develop it with a householder. We stop at eleven-thirty and I go to the g-mart to by a package of salad and sit in my car at the Hall waiting for the afternoon meeting for the ministry. When it begins, the circuit gives us more suggestions on using the Bible questions in the front and tying in the appendixes in the back. I will try some of his suggestions in upcoming times in the ministry.

Then, I head for the w-mart and work on my journal, staying here until almost seven when I go to the city beach ⁵ to cook my Repast and then eat my meal during the sunglow. Afterwards, I drive the jammer to a parking lot and get horizontal so as to rest my legs and feet which have been aching of late.

This is probably the latest that I have slept for a long time, yes, seven-thirty is late by my standard. Still, at four-fifty this morning, I did awake, climb out of the jammer to check out the start of the dayspring and see the waning crescent moon three hands above the eastern horizon with Venus just below, making the new moon just less than a week away. Furthermore, in the evening sky, Jupiter sets earlier each night and now reaches only two hands high in the sky just after sunset. I drive to the w-mart and update my journal before heading to the hall for the ministry meeting and work with two couples, Milt and Marie, Roger and Sue. We return to the Hall by noon because Sue is going to the pioneer meeting with the circuit overseer. I have noticed during the ministry and even last night that there has been a large number of weekend warriors who come up on the mountain during the weekends, so much so that while at the w-mart this morning, it was too crowded for me to get a second cup of coffee before leaving. Several here have told me that the population in this valley can almost double during the peak tourist season and now I can see how that is so true.

Then at one-thirty pm, I drive west on the boulevard to the Marina Resort, park in the parking lot and walk through the lobby to the back deck which overlooks a jazz concert that is being held on the property. The manager of the resort is a brother as has invited the friends to enjoy the concert from the deck. I am not here very long before it strikes me that this is a wonderful venue for friends to share a meal and music, especially with the backdrop of the deep blue water of Big Bear Lake directly behind the stage. Too, green tree covered mountains rise up from the north side of the lake as clear blue skies rise above. The sun shines bright in this valley with the temperature is in the high sixties.

Time passes quickly by this afternoon and ever so soon the concert ends, the musicians begin the task of pack out, some of the audience climb back into their boats to head home, but the majority walk to their vehicles. Too, I return to the jammer and drive to the w-mart arriving at sunset, just after eight pm and I am totally exhausted from this very long day. I upload my day′s journal and then head for the parking lot to get horizontal.

At six-thirty, I arise and go to the w-mart for a cup of hot during which time, I prepare for the study today and then work on my journal for a couple of hours. Then at nine-thirty, I walk out to the jammer to get dressed for the meeting and after driving there, go inside to hear the circuit overseer′s talk. Afterwards. I go out for lunch with Trevor and Teresa and I have a salad. Next, we go to the boat launch to do some street witnessing but upon driving into the parking lot, the jammer has steam coming out of the front right. Upon opening the hood, I find that it is another plastic connector that has broken, one which connects the rubber hose to the heater core. I tell Trevor that it will only take a few minutes to bend the rubber hoses and clamp them shut and then I will continue with him in the public witnessing there. After, I wash up and begin to change out of my work clothes, Trevor returns to tell me that it is too windy to be able to talk to people. So we decide to stop for the day and make plans to do it again next time. I leave for the g-mart to buy some rolls and a desert to take with me to the dinner that I have been invited to.

Just before five pm, I arrive at the home of Dave, Serina and their children Isaiah and Isabelle, park the jammer in the shade as Dave comes out to greet me. We then go inside sit and visit for a time before the meal is served. Then Dave takes me out to see his man cave and their camping trailer, after which I show him my man cave. Then, Serina lets us know that the food is ready and we return inside for prayer and a hot meal. John, DJ, Madison, Brooklyn, and Hunter are here as well as Matthew and Cathy. This shared home cooked meal is quite nice and then we all sit in the living room and get to know one another by sharing stories of our Wanderlusts and of knowing God. After taking a hot shower, I retreat to the jammer, leaving it parked in front of their home and climb into the back for the evening. As I lie here awake, looking up at the big dipper through the rear window of the jammer and seeing two meteors fall earthward, methinks this has been a most enjoyable evening with Dave and all those of his extended family. Too, this entire day has been impressed deep within my memory as one replete with Jouissance.

Long after the dayspring, I awake at five-thirty moments before the suntouch, put on my jeans, start the engine and drive into Big Bear to the w-mart for my first cup of coffee. By seven am, I am drinking my second cup and just now take notice that the weekend warriors have all left Big Bear and the w-mart is back to the local customer traffic. Still, even with all the weekend warriors, the past few days have been quite an enjoyable time for me, especially during the hours spent with my fellow wayfarers. Then, at eight-thirty am, I resume my new routine here in Big Bear and head for the meeting for the ministry only when I arrive no one else shows up.

At nine-ten, I change back into my shorts and work a little at cleaning up the jammer. I also check both tail lights and find one bulb that has a black spot on the inside of the glass and change it even though it still works. Then I prepare have my Daystart while working on the computer. At eleven am, a car drives into the Hall parking lot and stops briefly at the front door. As they begin to leave, the brother riding in the front passenger seat rolls his window down and I ask him "Where are you from?" When he says Tanzania, Africa, I walk to their car as ask "Are you serious?" to which he says "Yes!" In the shore time we converse, we discuss many things and I learn that Rick and his wife are on vacation here, were at the San Diego district convention, will be here for a total of six weeks and are here in Big Bear just touring to see the sights with the couple in the car.

We also talk about the convention and mention that I really enjoyed the demonstration of the five young brother playing the game where you tell one thing you want to do in paradise. I mention the one brother who says that he wants to backpack for twenty-five years and then say "That is me!" "In the new system, I want to do the very same thing" and Rick says "I will go with you." Then I tell him "Let me give you my email so that we can keep in touch." and retrieve for him my card. We then say our good-byes and while they head out, I return to pounding on the keyboard. I have returned to working on Episode Two and this time intend to have it completed so I may publish it some time before the end of this year; well, that is my plan. It has been some time since I last did work on this Journey, most of my time in the past many years has been wrapped up with the web site. Sunset comes and there is a beautiful display, the first one since being in Big Bear, but I am in the trees and do not bother to take a photo. I continue to pound keys into the evening and do not go to sleep until after ten pm.

Up at six-thirty and drive to the w-mart to purchase a tall blonde which is coffee store talk for a small cup of light roast coffee. I know that drinking coffee should not be included as part of my effort to lower blood pressure but doing is so ingrained in my routine that I have yet to change this wont. When I return for a refill, I talk to the barista about their available teas and mention that for health reasons, I may change my regular drink from a blonde roast to tea. With that thought in mind, I begin working on my computer.

Methinks that since first arriving here on the 27^th of March to find this Mountain to be a respite from the desert heat, it has been amazing how fast the stay here has been going. Already, the summer solstice has come and gone, with the days now decreasing in length. Already the time to go to the Hall for the ministry meeting is fast approaching and I head for the Hall and there are twenty-two out this morning. I work with Kevin and his wife Lee and Lee′s sister Annette and we do house to house just above where the Hall is located in the Fox Farm area. We find several home but not too many seem to have a desire for spiritual matters. I do get to try out the presentation suggested by the circuit overseer using only the Bible but the presentation still needs some work, or at least some practice. Kevin stops at eleven and Stevie joins Lee, Annette and myselƒ as we continue until twelve-thirty.

Right after the ministry, I drive to the east side of Big Bear and stop at the farmers market, something that I learned about only today, where I purchase a bag of dried jujube fruit and some green onions which I will use tonight in my supper. Today, I notice that Big Bear is much quieter now that the weekend has past. Methinks that I enjoy the midweek much better than the weekends, despite all the fun things that happen because of all the weekend warriors coming up on the mountain then. Then I return to the w-mart, order a cup of hibiscus tea and resume the key pounding until seven at which time I head for the city beach to have something to eat. Tonight, while the sun goes into the last inning, I cut up my fresh green onion, cucumber, carrot, beets, parsnip, sweet potato, and add the last of the lettuce from the salad bag. Then, I top it off with oil, vinegar and my spice blend. I had recently purchased a sharp knife allowing me to cut the veggies very small. As the sun reaches the end of the home stretch I watch the suntouch while eating my meal.

My eyes first open at suntouch, about five-thirty but close my eyes until six-thirty when I head for the w-mart for my cup of hot. Engrossed in the work on Episode Two, eight-thirty comes quickly this morning and the need to pack out for the meeting at the Hall. Matthew conducts and we work together near the top of Moonridge road not far from Big Bear ski resort and find that most houses are empty, still we do talk with a few people. After the ministry, we go to a local cafe near Division Avenue on the Boulevard for lunch and enjoy a prolonged conversation before he has to leave for work.

After being dropped off at the jammer, I head for the w-mart to work on Episode Two for a while. Later, I drive to city beach to have my evening meal and to get dressed for the meeting at seven pm. After the meeting, I return to the parking lot at city beach for the evening and climb into the back of the jammer.

When my eyes first open at six am, I get up right but it is long after dayspring and do not see the crescent moon that is currently in the night sky about two hands before suntouch. This time of the year, one must get up quite early to see the moon before the suntouch and that is much to early for me. At the w-mart, I first update and upload my journal before working on Episode Two until the time to head for the Hall for the ministry meeting. I work with Milt and Marie for the morning and upon returning to the Hall, I sit in the jammer and have my Daystart. Then I head off the Mountain to Yucaipa for the weekend first stopping in Loma Linda at the whole foods g-mart for flax seed meal, rice milk, rolled oats and wintergreen oil. Then I go to the d-mart for raisins, balsamic vinegar, water and antifreeze for the radiator but when checking the shoe department, find a comfortable pair or black sneakers for twenty dollars to use in the ministry. I have been wearing my dress shoes but they cause my feet to hurt too much after a morning in the ministry, especially with all of the hills and stairs in the Big Bear surrounds.

After leaving the d-mart, I stop at a f-mart and purchase three bean burritos (without their sauce) and park the jammer in the shade next door at the w-mart to eat them. When I finish eating, I go inside, order a chocolate chip cookie and a large glass of water, sit down and plug in to work on Episode Two. As I sit here pounding key, I keep looking out the window at the surrounding desert. Even though the lower hills have green shrubs, the mountains higher up are barren with just rocks protruding and although there are many who live in the location, it is very hot and dry all day, every day. Too, there has not been any rain in many months, even years.

Methinks that I do not like socal much. (Socal is the word the locals use to mean southern California.) It is just too hot and dry for me here especially when I leave the mountain elevations to go shopping in the city. The elevation where I am currently at is about 2500 feet and at this time of the year in the nineties or above for much of the day. I would avoid coming off of the mountain if I could but many of the items I keep in my pantry can not be found on the mountain so it necessitates my descending to the low desert in socal. Still, I am going to stick it out in Big Bear so that I can increase my spirituality before taking on another tour.

I continue in the w-mart until ten pm and then transfer to the w-mart to park for the evening. It is still quite warm even this late, but I am in the low desert and what else can you expect?

I awake at six am and drive back to the w-mart for coffee before driving to Yucaipa and the landscaping work that awaits me there. Richard knows that I am good at landscaping but I have also told him that I no longer want to do dirt work because I am retired. Still, he makes plans for me to work at his home when I arrive.

Upon arriving in Yucaipa, I head to the w-mart, go inside and plug in. First on the agenda today is to update the website to show that the new digital PDF version of Episode One is now available in the Burden Passage.

I awake at six-thirty, get up and notice that Kim has not left yet, but it does not take long before she walks out all dresses for the convention. She brings me Jenny and I carry her to the outback. Then Kim drives to the front car gate opens it and I tell her not to bother locking it because I will take care of it. Then she heads to Long Beach and I walk over to close and lock the gate. Then, I return to the outback and get to work by seven. What I do today is to extend the fence line raised bed, cover it with black plastic and then gravel with a line of red brick winding through it. The brick, gravel and plastic were the easy parts but the raising part is what takes most of the day, first digging dirt from the hole in the outback, loading the wheel barrow and moving it to the fence line. I also use sand and compost digging it into the dirt and keeping the mixture wet all day. At three pm, I stop and go inside for Jenny′s lunch and she eats while I have an orange from the tree in the front yard. Also, I drink a whole gallon of water today because it is so hot, the high being ninety at three pm, but then by seven it cools down to seventy-five degrees and that is when I stop and take a shower. Methinks, isn′t twelve hours enough, especially since I finish the job that I am doing today, that of creating a raised bed along the south side of the fence line, the north section I did a couple of weeks back when I did the sewer service install.

Now it is after eight pm and the sun has set without a display. My feet are aching terribly. I thinks that soon, Richard and Kim should arrive and I look up and see Richard driving into the entrance. I walk over to greet him and then Kim arrives in her car. Jenny goes ballistic wagging her tail and when Richard opens the gate, she runs right to him, really happy to see both of them. Then Richard comes over to the outback to see my progress and is happy with what I have done. Then we sit on the outside chairs and talk unto nine pm when I head back to the jammer to get vertical. Both of my feet have intermittent cramps as well and some of my fingers. I am just not used to doing such physical work, but I am glad when I can so that it helps to loose weight. Richard got his scale out and now I am at 239 pounds. The weight loss has slowed down quite a bit but I still can loose a pound or two each month. I just need to stick closely to my diet and stay away from the treats I find myselƒ often indulging in. It is nine-thirty, seventy-one degrees and I must get horizontal to rest my body.

Awake at seven am and get up to drive to the w-mart for a cup of hot and to do my study for today′s meeting finishing by nine am. Then, I update my journal, upload it to the web and go outside to the jammer to get dressed and drive to the Hall. After the meeting, I buy some vegetables and go to the outback to make a salad to eat. Then because it is too hot, I park in the shade and take a nap.

In the evening, I work on my computer, mostly on the new Episodes that I have begun working on. At ten pm, I climb into the back of the jammer for the evening.

At seven, I hear Richard walking on the gravel and look out the window to see that he is taking Jenny out to do her thing. I get up immediately, get dressed and then Richard and I go for breakfast where we both have omelets, biscuits with gravy and coffee. I also get home fries where he get a side of fruit. The one good thing is that both of out omelets are loaded with vegetables and I tell Richard that the only reason that I am eating this breakfast is because we will leave here to begin working in the outback moving dirt to raise the RV parking space up about eight inches, then put down plastic and finally crushed rock. We sit at the restaurant for nearly an hour drinking coffee and talking and finally we head for the outback, getting to work at almost nine-thirty.

I begin by breaking dirt with a pick in a area of the outback which is about a foot higher in elevation than almost all of the rest of the yard and Richard shovels it into the wheel barrow to move to the RV parking area. Also, I rake into piles the debris under the olive tree, more of Kim′s compost pile and the debris from the branches that I ran through the chipper back on Day 400 JO, (the forth of April) and then tell Richard to mix in a couple shovels of each pile into every load of dirt. All the extra debris helps to fill in the eight inches needed to raise the RV parking space, plus this is a good place to get rid of all the outback debris. We move over thirty loads of the dirt-debris combination to the RV area making a huge dent in the work load and then Richard needs to leave for a couple of hours to work with Kim in the ministry and Jenny stays in the outback with me. During the entire process working with Richard, I have been raking the RV area to level and rake out unwanted rocks and pot shards. Also, I have been spraying water on the dirt to help compact it. Right after he leaves, I do one final raking and determine that I need eight to ten full wheel barrows of clean dirt to top off the area and then get right to work, however at a much slower pace than when working with Richard, because I have been trying to keep up with him on those first thirty loads and now have two blisters on my left hand. However, since I am by myselƒ now, I can work at my own pace and most likely will move those final ten loads before Richard and Kim return.

Shortly after four pm, Richard and Kim arrive while Jenny goes ballistic again. Richard changes into his work clothes and we begin the easy part of this job, cutting plastic and spreading gravel. Meanwhile, Kim disappears into the house to begin preparing supper for all of us. As the sun goes into the seventh inning stretch, Richard and I keep pushing to complete this job. When we run out of plastic, he runs to the hardware store to buy another roll and we are able to push on until almost finishing and Kim calls us to come and eat. She has prepared turkey burgers, coleslaw, a side dish of quinoa with mushroom, garlic, tomatoes and spices. Also, she has made a pitcher of tea and both Richard and I really enjoy her cooking. When she comes out to ask us if we want seconds, I tell her that since I have been trying to loose weight, I don′t do seconds any more and just wait twenty minutes for the food to fill me up which usually works. After we finish eating, Richard and I talk until the sun sets and then I retire to the jammer, now parked on gravel in the RV parking area. Richard and Kim leave to go for a walk and to pick up one more roll of edging so tomorrow we can complete the walkway leading to the RV area. I write my journal entry for today, upload it and climb into the horizontal to get some shuteye. My feet are at the aching terribly level again even though I have been wearing my orthotics.

Up at six-thirty and wash my hair and the jammer while waiting for Richard to arise; there was a light on in his office after midnight last evening so I did not expect him to get up early this morning as he had said. Now, it is eight-thirty am and seventy-five degrees. While I have been waiting, I work on my journal and then Richard comes out ready to go to breakfast. We go to Paradise Cafe and have our regular fat, salt and sugar food that we always have before long hard day of work while Jenny waits in the car. Next, we go back to the outback and resume the work on the RV parking area, spreading the final plastic, edging and gravel and while we are working Kim brings out some iced tea for us. She says that the RV area looks really nice and I tell her that I have already moved in to the space. Once all the edging has been backfilled with dirt we begin with the installation of a new 10 by 20 tarp over the metal carport frame and a 6 by 20 wind break on the sunset side.

Following that we determine what materials we need to wire the water fountain, go to the hardware store to purchase them after which we stop for a burger and fries. Then, we drive to our appointment with a mechanic who is going to look at the jammer engine and determine what is causing the clattering when it starts. Both Richard and I believe it is the water pump because of the location and type of noise we hear but we are not positive and decide that it would be best if a mechanic gives it a look. Mike is a brother and it only takes him a couple of minutes to determine that it is not the pump but instead the fan clutch that is making the noise. We then return to the outback after six pm and Richard has to go in to shower and dress for their meeting tonight. I return to the jammer to clean up the area and pack my burden. Richard and Kim then leaves for the meeting and shortly after, I drive out the side gate and go first to the a-mart and return the water pump purchased yesterday in preparation for fixing the problem. Now, I will need to find a fan clutch because this a-mart does not have one.

Upon leaving the a-mart, I drive up the mountain to Big Bear arriving after sunset and go the city beach for the evening. I notice that the road crew has reached the South Fork campground. It is much cooler here!

Up at the crack of dawn, five-thirty and drive directly to the w-mart for coffee, an egg sandwich and to search for a fan clutch online. It does&prine;t take long to go through three cups of hot to find several suppliers for the clutch. At eight, I go to the local a-mart and find that they can have one here by two, so I purchase it. Next, I head to the Hall, meet for the ministry and go out with Matthew, Ron, Stevie and Michelle. By noon, we are done and I return to the w-mart until time to return to the a-mart and pick up my part. However, I still need to get a pipe wrench to be able to remove the only part and have not found one yet. So, I park in the shade at the Hal and let the engine run with the air conditioner on to keep cool during the hot of the day which today is not much cooler than in Yucaipa. Methinks that I must needs take a nap.

Upon awaking I notice that the blue bird is back in the hole in the tree and I drive close to the tree and use the jammer as a blind to start taking photos. It takes nearly two hours before I get a good photo of the bird and then get ready for the meeting tonight. Afterwards, I retire to the city beach for the evening.

Up at six am, coffee by six-thirty and plan to work this morning on my journal, Episode Two before going to the Hall for the ministry meeting at nine am. It turns out to be a hot day and the small group of four stops before noon. After changing into my regular clothes, I drive east on Big Bear Blvd to check out a tool shed that I espied while riding in the car with the group. I want to see if they have pipe wrenches, which they do for eight dollars each so I get two for the job of replacing the fan clutch. Then, because it is so hot today, I head to the w-mart and spend the rest of the day working on my new Episodes.

At seven pm, I head to the city beach to cook my Repast and to make the new sauce for it that I have been wanting to make. The sauce came out pretty good and included a little water, olive oil, lemon juice, finely chopped garlic, avocado and some of my spice mix. I had wanted to thin the sauce by adding the liquids to make an almost pour-able consistency but it had to spoon it on my Repast. Still, the lemon gave it a tangy taste which I really enjoyed. I will add the ingredients to my recipe page soon. It is nine pm and I am fighting with the bug so I will turn of the computer and get some sleep.

I sleep in until eight this morning, most likely eliminating any sleep debt developed when in Yucaipa and had a hard time sleeping due to the heat; I had planned to take today off, sleep in and work on the jammer. First, however, I drive to the w-mart and find that the holiday crowds have inundated the store, that the line is wrapped around inside the store all the way to the front door and has begun to go down the outside walkway; I go back out to sit in my car and connect to the internet. Lately, when these holidays arrive, I wonder how many more must we go through before the new system begins. Still, I have learn from long ago to be patient and wait on Him to decide when His day will come. At eleven, I drive to the Hall and start cleaning up the inside of the jammer.

By noon, clouds have covered the sky keeping the temperature in the low seventies so I decide to work on the jammer engine to determine how to replace the fan clutch. I begin by reading my repair manual but it has me start with taking off the fan shroud and detaching the fan but this actually get me nowhere. Then, I examine it closer and see that turning the shaft of the clutch trying to untighten it only turns the pulley on the water pump. I need to stop the water pump from turning to be able to remove the clutch. I can remove the bolts that hold the pulley on but I need to remove the two belts first. At this point, it is three pm and to go through the entire repair may take me longer than the amount of daylight I have remaining so I begin putting everything back together. Then Trevor and Teresa drive into the parking lot and ask me if I want to go with them tonight to watch the fireworks display. I tell them yes but that I need to finish with the jammer. They tell me where they will be and that I can come by there.

Tonight, I find myselƒ sitting in the jammer at the airport next to a hanger which belongs to Trevor and Teresa. Earlier, I drive here and Trevor shows me the hanger with the three airplanes inside. He also shows me the shower that he had told me about and I get to take a hot shower. Teresa, who had been running some errands arrives and asks up what we want for supper and I offer to cook instead. She readily agrees and I get out the cooking gear and food to begin preparing my Repast with the new avocado-lemon sauce. While I am getting supper ready, Trevor pushes the single passenger plane out and warms up the engine to take it on a short flight. Teresa gets out her electric violin and begins to play some Irish jigs and reals. Meanwhile, I continue to cut up vegetables while the water for the rice begins to boil and soon, the rice goes into the boiling water to cook. By the time the vegetables are put into the boiling water, Trevor lands and returns to the hanger. We also put some burgers into a pan to cook that Teresa brigs out, but then we hear an explosion so we go outside of the hanger to sit on the tail gate of their pickup to watch the fireworks display which lasts about fifteen minutes. When we return to the hanger, the burgers are done so we all enjoy a nice healthy meal. Earlier, my host climbed up into their motor home and now, I am ready to get horizontal myselƒ. What an enjoyable day hanging out! Shortly after getting into the back of the jammer, it begins to rain and the pounding drops of rain on the roof of the jammer puts me right to sleep.

I awake at six am, open the tailgate of the jammer and begin boiling water for coffee. I have the water ready for the first cup when Trevor walks to the back of the jammer and sits down. I tell him that I am making coffee and ask if he has a cup to which he grabs one from the table. I begin to make myselƒ a cup when Teresa walks back and I offer her some hot water for her tea but it doesn′ fill her cup so I put on some more water to boil. In a short time, we have each had two cups of hot when Teresa goes into their motor home to prepare breakfast. Meanwhile, I pull the jammer into the hanger to try again to replace the fan clutch while Trevor continues with his work of cleaning up the hanger.

Then we hear thunder coming from the dark clouds in the southeast and shortly after that it begins to rain hard. Soon, Teresa brings out the breakfast; an omelet, oatmeal and bacon and we all sit at the table to eat while a short distance away the rain continues coming down. Methinks that this rain is a good thing since it has been so dry here this year in southern California.

The work continues the rest of the morning and into the afternoon until Teresa brings out some cake and strawberries. The rain continues on and off too. A little later, I decide that I can not get the fan clutch off of the water pump, even after calling Joe in Tennessee and trying what he suggests with no success. After putting the jammer back together, I resume the job that Trevor had given me in cleaning the hanger until shortly after six pm when Teresa begin bringing food out to the table for supper; tomato soup, several types of veggies, burgers and cake. After we finish eating, everyone retires to their rooms at which time I take a shower and lie down in the back of the jammer to write today′s journal entry.

Up first at five am and see Venus two hands high above the eastern horizon with the sunglow just beginning. Since I was awake until late last evening, I go back to sleep until awaken by Trevor walking outside at six-thirty am and I open my sliding window to greet him good morning to which he smiles huge and greets me back. They invite me into their motor home for breakfast and I bring my coffee and drip filter funnel. After eating, I return to the jammer to get dressed and since I showered last evening, I am ready first. Then I drive to the exit gate and wait for someone to use their key card to open it. As soon as someone drives up, I get in line and follow him out of the compound and then drive to the Hall for the meeting. After the meeting, I go the local Mexican restaurant for a taco salad and then begin my drive off of the mountain.

At three pm, I stop at Busted Flats campground for a shower but first park in a shady spot for a nap because I could barely stay awake during the drive here. Then, after my hot shower, I drive the rest of the way down to Yucaipa and pull in to the outback at Richard and Kim′s home. They are both working on the yard and I make a comment to Richard that I am so glad that I have retired from home ownership. I clean up the jammer a little and then begin chopping veggies for a salad. I have been chopping the veggies very fine, mixing them together in a bowl and then adding olive oil and vinegar. This evening, my meal includes beet, carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, and re-hydrated kelp leaves. I was out of onion and garlic or they would have been added. Also, when I have them, cucumber, green onion and radishes go into the mix.

At eight pm, I am in the jammer and Richard comes over to taste my meal. He tells me that he could eat that and I ask him if he could eat it as the only course. He tells me "I am not there yet." During my meal, I have some Janis Joplin playing. Soon, it is too late to stay up any longer and I close up the jammer and get horizontal.

Up after seven am this morning and see Richard outside starting the car and opening the gate so I hop right up and get dressed. We drive first to the park to walk Jenny for a bit, then we drive to a f-mart for breakfast before returning to get the jammer and dropping it off at Mike′s home, a brother who is a mechanic.

Later, we need to go to the home-mart to get a few more parts for the fountain water pump installation that we have been working on and while at the store, Mike calls to tell me that the fan clutch repair is complete so we stop by there on the way back. Then we return to the work on installing the electrical for the fountain. After we glue the conduit, pull the wire and connect the ends, we then bury the conduit and pour a small concrete pad for the fountain. We will have to wait until tomorrow until we set up the fountain on the concrete. Still, this has been a long day of work and don′t finish until seven pm at the same time Kim brings out our evening meal, another nice one. After eating, we clean up the area and I go to the jammer, shower and climb in to relax. it is after ten before I get horizontal but I lay here for a couple more hours before being able to sleep.

After sleeping through most of the morning, I awake at eight am and see Kim out walking the dog, Richard is sleeping in also. Later, Richard and I go to the Greek restaurant for a breakfast burrito but it is too hot to drink coffee. Then we go to the home store for a fence gate section, hose and Upon returning, we put the water fountain together, turn on the water and then watch and listen as the water pours out of the top bowl into the bottom bowl. However, we do have to take it apart once mort so as to tweak the level of the base plate but will do that next trip off the mountain. Lastly, we take Jenny′s kennel apart and rebuilt it so that not only does it keep Jenny in but keeps other animals, especially raccoons out.

That being the last task of the day, Richard goes inside to prepare for a meeting part and I return to the jammer for a nap. Earlier, Richard gets out the small fan which makes it comfortable enough for me to sleep, which I do until seven-thirty, just before sunset. Then I get up and have something to eat before working on the computer until late.

Up at six am to a cool morning, pack out and drive to the d-mart in Beaumont to resupply my pantry. Then I head back to Yucaipa, stop briefly before heading up the mountain. Upon arriving at Busted Flat, I stop for a hot shower and then continue to Big Bear. The road construction has made it to Onyx Summit and it is only a short wait to get past the asphalt laying operation. From the summit it is only a few mile to Big Bear and I arrive at the w-mart by ten am, walk inside, get a cup of hot passion and a cup of ice and begin pounding the keyboard. Later, the barista brings out a large drink and says "Would anybody like a frappuccino?" and I smile at her and shake my head yes and now, I am sugar buzzed, but at least that keeps me from falling asleep.

At three pm, I go to the g-mart to get a package of salad lettuce and drive to a shady spot to begin preparing my evening meal. This evening, I have a chopped salad including beet, carrot, collard greens, green onion, parsnip, sweet potato, radish and three types of lettuce, all of which I pour on olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle on my spice blend. Afterwards, I begin getting dressed for the meeting tonight. Then at six-thirty the friends begin to arrive and soon after, I go in also. At nine pm, I walk outside in conversation with several friends and Trevor sticks something in my shirt pocket and I suspect it is money in payment for my help cleaning the hanger. I tell him that it is not necessary and Teresa tells me, "Yes it is!" and how can I argue with a sister. I do so love this brotherhood and never want to leave it for any reason. I drive to the parking lot to rest for the evening.

Awake just before five am to a wonderfully cool day and get right up to drive to the w-mart for a cup of hot. Later, I have a breakfast sandwich and keep working through the afternoon.

After many hours of working on the four remaining episode books of The Wayƒarer′s Journal, I walk out to the jammer at six pm to begin working on supper.

Awake at six am after a very comfortable evening and drive to the w-mart to resume my work on the episode books. I am able to make a lot of progress in the work on the Episodes today, but in Episode Two, I am limited with some passages because I do not have all of the original quires for the chapters, which will necessitate me picking them up the next time my journey takes me to my chattel cache.

Just before the sun sets, I return to the jammer to retiring for the evening. Tomorrow morning close to sunrise is the time for the full moon, when it will be directly opposite the sun in it′s orbit but it is also at it′s perigee, which is the closest position to the earth in it′s elliptical orbit. While eating, the moon rises and illumes the night sky.

Did you see the moon last night? Wow, was is bright or what? There was need to put up all the curtains in the jammer to allow me to sleep, even under cover of the forest where the jammer was parked. Again, sleep did not come early last evening which cause me to sleep late this morning until six-thirty. Upon arising, I drive to the w-mart for my cup of hot and work on the computer. At eight-thirty am, I return to the jammer to dress for the ministry today and them head to the Hall arriving at nine am but there is no one here yet. The meeting for the ministry must be later this morning so I park the jammer under the large trees, which are mostly cedars and wait. In just a few more minutes, the friends begin to arrive. I work with Terry and Mark today and after several calls we go on a study which lasts until noon. I then return to the w-mart to continue working on the new Episodes.

At seven pm, I return to the jammer, drive to the parking lot, have something to eat and then get horizontal for the evening.

This morning, I sleep in until seven and upon arising drive to Busted Flat campground to take a shower and notice that the asphalt crew has made it almost a mile north of Onyx summit. After a long soak in the almost hot water, I dry, get dressed and then drive back to Big Bear still having over an hour until the meeting begins so I prepare for the Bible study. After the meeting, I return to the w-mart and continue with the work on my new Episodes until three when hunger overwhelms me. I go out to the jammer to eat my daystart and notice that the temperature has risen into the nineties. Then, knowing that I wore my last clean dress shirt today, head for the laundry to clean my shirts and a few other items. Afterwards, I return to the w-mart and resume where I had stopped earlier.

While watching the sunset display from the w-mart window, a barista, walking through the w-mart tells everyone that the w-mart will close in ten minute so I pack out and drive to the parking lot to have a can of fish for supper. Since just after this month began, there has been regular cloud cover coming in during the afternoons and which stick around until evening and portends the advancing monsoon season of thundershowers even though most days the rain never develops. However, the sunset displays have been much nicer with the incoming cloud cover.