Last night I dropped by this church to see if they would let me stay on their property for the evening. Pastor Nathan warmly invited me in for the community dinner they were having, which included a triple-cake dessert! He also asked if I wanted to take a shower, but I said no thanks. Don't want to get spoiled! I pitched my tent beneath a crystal-clear starry firmament and contentedly dozed off.

I didn't get the best angle on it though.

Anyone?

They really wanted to help support me on my walk, but didn't have any cash. What they did have, however, was a gift certificate to Applebee's. Suffice it to say that soon I'll be eatin' good in the neighborhood.

"Located east of Interstate 79 and west of Interstate 81, Interstate 99 is the bane of many road enthusiasts who treasure an orderly and sequential numbering system for Interstate highways."

Read more!

Wendy saw me pushing my cart earlier in the day and, not knowing that I'm walking across the US, was very concerned for me. When she saw me again sitting on the curb in Pleasant Gap, she gathered up a jacket, a newspaper, and some food, and brought them over to me in the bag you see her holding (she apologized for its pinkness). She was worried about offending me, and wanted to make it clear that she didn't think I was beneath her; she just wanted to make sure I was okay.

She also said she was very touched by the sign on the front of my cart (see below). I haven't addressed the sign yet on this blog, so I think now would be a good time. I can't take credit for it; I stole the idea from my friend Bill Wetzel. It just seems like such a perfect reminder of the ephemerality of life. Make the most of each encounter; you never know if you'll see that person again. I also think it's kind of poignantly funny that the vast majority of people reading my sign are zooming past me in their cars, our one brief encounter in this world over and done in the blink of an eye. (Although there have been a surprising number of people who see me a second time and pull their cars over to talk to me.)

Pushbutton unreachable without climbing over the guardrail