You may remember that our last post ended with Lindsie and her high school friend Beth screaming and jumping and hugging after seeing each other for the first time in three years. As we loaded up some of our stuff to head to Beth’s apartment in Colorado Springs, Lindsie and I got to meet Beth’s boyfriend, Matt, who was kind enough to drive and pick us up.

Colorado Springs was great. We stayed with Beth for several days and had a chance to go to a Bible study, attend a church service, meet some awesome new friends at a party hosted by members of Matt and Beth’s church, and, maybe most importantly to Lindsie, make a special visit to the Adventures in Odyssey/Whit’s End adventure area at Focus On The Family Headquarters.

We also got to enjoy some great conversations. And delicious specialty-flavor sodas from the soda shop Beth works at in Colorado Springs, Squeak Soda Shop. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the entire visit to Colorado Springs was awesome, and we’re thankful to Beth for going above and beyond to take care of us while we were there.

Eventually, however, we had to make our way back to the walk. After saying a sad goodbye to Beth and Matt, we got dropped back off at the church where we’d been storing our carts. After digging them out of the garage (and getting to see Michele again, as well as Jen’s husband Mark), we set off down the road toward Praise Assembly of God Church in Pueblo. Thanks to my former boss at Evangel University, Michael Crawford, we had a connection at the church who happened to be an EU grad.

After a warm and extremely windy day of walking, we reached Praise Assembly. There we met Brandon Montoya, who helped us shove our carts into a closet and then took us back to his house where his wife, April, was working on a fantastic dinner. We ended up spending a couple of days with Brandon and April, partially because we really enjoyed hanging out with them, and partially because they were willing on one of the days to drive out and pick us up so we wouldn’t have to push our carts down the road. We also had a chance to talk with the fantastic kids that make up the Praise Assembly youth group.

All in all, our time in Pueblo was really fun. We had more delicious food there thanks to Brandon and April, and we felt like the Lord had added yet another set of new friends to our lives, which we grow more and more thankful for every day.

After finally leaving Pueblo for good, we made our way down the road yet again. We got absolutely BLASTED by the wind and dust–it was officially a “dust storm” according to some people we met while walking–and after several miles of getting caked with dust, we made it to Fowler, which was a pretty small town that just so happened to have an RV park. We met Floyd and Sheryll Ridgway, the owners of the RV park, and they were kind enough to let us stay for free. They were both excited about our walk and they were also excited for themselves because that day marked the official transfer of ownership from the RV park’s previous owner to them. We were pumped for them as well, and more than thankful for their generosity.

As the sun came up the next day, we continued down the road, heading toward Rocky Ford, Colorado. Before that though, we met a cowboy poet named Auggie, who shared a few poems and told us about his life. All in all, Auggie was awesome, and it made for a nice start to our morning.

Anyway, we knew Rocky Ford was a decent sized town, so we started calling churches to see if any would let us stay in their building for the night. Unfortunately, most didn’t answer and the one church that did answer told us no. We were bummed. Although Rocky Ford has a campground, it was highly (highly) recommended to us that we not stay there, as it was located in the roughest part of town. Ultimately we ended up having to get a hotel room, which was a slight bummer, but sometimes that’s the way it goes. We were still thankful there was a hotel room to get, as it was much better (and safer) than sleeping in a city park or something.

The next morning we woke up and started making phone calls with the hope that we could find a place to stay at the next stop on our route, La Junta, Colorado (pronounced “la hunt-ah,” which drives the Spanish major in me crazy). Thankfully, we got an answer from the very last church we called, La Junta First Presbyterian Church. The pastor there, MJ Romano, said she had no problem with us staying there for a night. So after a 20+ mile day, we pulled up to the church. MJ came to let us in, and we were incredibly thankful for a refreshingly cool basement and a chance to rest our weary bodies.

The following morning we set out, but, unfortunately, Lindsie wasn’t feeling the greatest. We hadn’t realized how hot it was supposed to be (100+ degrees) and we definitely got a later start than we should have. After two miles of misery, we decided to ask if MJ would let us stick around for another night so we could prepare better for the heat the next day.

Although MJ was willing, it seemed the church building itself wasn’t. Thanks to some water issues, the water had to be shut off, so it wouldn’t have been any good for us to sit there all day. But MJ wasn’t giving up that easily. She called one of the congregation members, a gentleman named Leonard, who had an extra guest room and was more than willing to let us use it.

We got to Leonard’s house, and it was fantastic. Plenty of air conditioning, lots of Gatorade, and some tasty meals, plus a comfortable bed to spend the night in. And showers. Showers are always good. We felt very blessed.

As an added treat, MJ had a great group of kids from the youth group (and some of their parents) come talk with us at Leonard’s house after dinner. It was a blast getting to know them better, having a chance to talk with them about the adventure God has set us on, and answering their questions. We are always so thankful when people want to hear us ramble about our journey, as we know it’s a chance to bring glory to God for taking such good care of us on this walk.

After a great night at Leonard’s, we set out on the road much earlier than we had the day before. We were on our way toward Las Animas, where, thanks to our friends Andrew and Vicki from Penrose, Colorado, we already had a church to stay at. Few things are as reassuring as knowing we already have a safe place to spend the night. We pushed our way toward Las Animas Friends Church, and were excited to make it there in pretty good time.

Pastor West from the church actually had other obligations that night, so Lindsie and I were on our own (which can actually be nice sometimes, as it gives us a chance to catch up on things we need to get down). It was a low-key night, and the next day we hit the road again toward Hasty, Colorado.

Once again, thanks to the Evangelical Friends Church network, we had a place to stay in Hasty, and it ended up being a spectacular night. We arrived at the church on Wednesday, which is Bible study night at their church. Along with Bible study, the group always does a meal (that night it was barbecue), and we were thankful to be eating something besides Clif Bars and peanut butter.

The group in Hasty was AWESOME. We had an incredibly uplifting night spiritually, and we really enjoyed getting to know everyone who was there. We just felt blessed beyond explanation, and it seemed like they went above and beyond to make it a great night for us. Also, their church does a really fun birthday song, and, since it was my (Mike’s) birthday, they performed it for us. So we’ll include that video below. It was just a great night overall.

The next day we made our way bright and early toward Granada, Colorado (pronounced “grenade-ah,” which, once again, drives the Spanish major in me crazy), where we had yet MORE friends from the Evangelical Friends Churches ready and willing to help us out. Pastor Galan Burnett and his son, Micah, not only offered us a night in their church, but they also made us dinner that night, offered us showers, let us do laundry, fed us lunch the next day, and just fortified us with great conversation and spiritual encouragement. It just seems like the Evangelical Friends Churches are more than willing to go above and beyond to take care of us, and we couldn’t be more thankful.

Although we would normally have moved on down the road the next day, we did not. But since this post is already lengthy, I will once again have to cut it off here (even if there is more to share). Thankfully, we’ve almost caught the blog up to our current location. By the next post, I think it’ll all be in sync again.

We truly appreciate the prayers and spiritual reinforcement we’ve received from EVERYONE we’ve met along this stretch of our journey. It seems like God just continues to put people in our path who radiate His love and hospitality, and it has been a blessing in every sense of the word.

Thanks for following along with the blog, and we’re excited to post more soon. Until then, please don’t be afraid to let us know if we can be praying for you or encouraging you in any other way. As we’ve said before, we certainly have the time for it out here as we walk and we’re glad to do it.

Have a blessed day, and we’ll be back with more soon.

-Mike, Lindsie, and Jaeda