Coolville, Ohio 3-6-02

Howdy Everyone!
Today I'm in Coolville, Ohio, talking to the middle school students. Yesterday I walked 18 miles to get here from Athens, and the weather was beautiful. Pastor Jim from Albany contacted the Methodist Church here in Coolville, and they were planning on letting me stay at the church. As I was out walking, about 5 miles or so from Coolville, a dog started following me. The house sat up on a hill, and the dog started barking at me from a long ways off. It looked like he was fenced in, but before I k new it, the dog was down by the road beside me. He was just a pup, and looked about half grown. He was mighty friendly, too, and when I tried to shoo him back up the hill, he only thought I was playing with him and was enjoying every bit of it. I kept walking and the dog kept following me. Hwy 50 out here is a big 4-lane hiway, and the pup kept dodging in and out of traffic. Cars were slowing down and honking, and glaring at me for having a dog on the loose. I finally found some rope and put the pup on a leash. I made note of where the dog came running out at, and the pup and I walked in to town together. I figured I'd either find a police station or a dog pound, or something. Buddy and I did finally get into town, and when I found the church, I'm sure they were quite apprehensive when they saw I had a dog, too. I told him the story, and he called someone up to come get the pup. Someone came and got the pup and will see to it that it gets returned home. What a relief. I was happy to get to the church, and was just anticipating on rolling my sleeping bag out on the floor. Instead, they already had one of those nice, heavy-duty air mattresses made up complete with bedding, and the church even had a shower to boot! What a treat!! I called Mary up and she said she'd pick me up around 7pm and take me out for supper. We then met up with several others and all headed out for the truck stop to eat. They were a hillarious group and we had a fun evening. Today (wed) I'm giving talks at the middle school here in Coolville. Tomorrow I'll walk to Belpre where I'll stay at a church, then on fri I'll walk to Parkersburg WV. At that point someone from here will pick me up and I'll spend the wkend back here in Coolville. This really is a cool town with some pretty cool people! Do you realize I've now been out on the road for a whole year? Yep, I started this trip on March 4th, 2001. I am happily homeless, unemployed and hungry, and having the time of my life! Have a great day, and I'll talk to you later! KB