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Afterthoughts

Ann Mclaughlin — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:57:00 GMT

I received a very sweet letter from Noah's Ark today. Telling me that they were all still amazed that I had walked over 300 miles for them and wanted to let me know that they consider me apart of their family.Which makes me double blessed as now I have two amazing families! They also said that to date I have raised $4,000 and along with the $3,000 left from the sponsorship money I mailed today brings the total to $7,000. An amazing amount considering the idea of walking 300 miles with absolutely no plan to back it was inspired mid January! Not bad for 3 months- not bad at all. Just think of the possibilities if one started a year in advance!

A week after we finished the walk my wonderful sister-in-law Kathi threw me a party at a local restaurant Legend's! It was great! Although, I really do not feel I deserved a party! It truly was my gift to have been able to have had such a special journey. The people and scenery where a true gift from God. From the inspiration in Jan.to the actual start on April 19 there was not even one problem. Without the Grace of God this truly could not have happened. I have no experience in planning anything no less a 300 mile walk. To plan it in 3 months and then to have it go so flawlessly is impossible but it did! For instance, 13 days of great weather (I think it has rained almost every day since my return), and not one near miss to talk about is truly a miracle! God definitely held my hand as I walked down those roads and my life will never ever be the same for it.

Thank you all for helping me get there! I walked, but its as if all of you carried me with your love and encouragement! And most importantly thank you for what your donations did for such a wonderful,wonderful place!

Ann

Day 13- THE FINAL WALK

Ann Mclaughlin — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:20:00 GMT

It's here the last day of an amazing 2 week journey! There is so much to reflect on and so much to be thankful for! I thank God that we all made it safely to this day in one piece and in good humor. I also thank Him for my amazing family and friends whom without I could not have gotten here. My sister Mari and brother Curt did all the work without any of the glory they deserve a bow. My brother Bruce and sister-in-law Kathi watched over me and walked with me and left me needing nothing. My good friends Pat, Dr. Pat Fry, Gloria,and Becky for giving me a chance to know and love them even more through carefree conversation. I am thankful for all the beauty and good weather that God surrounded me with as I walked.

Curt, Mari, Diego, and I started out at about 9:15 down Grove Rd to GA-42. We arrived at City Hall shortly after 10. We were greeted by the Mayor, City Manager, The Chair of Henry County, reporters , and most importantly Jama, Diane Smith and the wonderful family and staff of Noah's Ark. After many hugs and a talk with the reporters. We started out on our last 4 miles to Noah's Ark. We were also accompanied by two rescue dogs from the Ark Luna and Kaiser. It was wonderful getting to know everyone and the 4 miles just flew by. Then there IT WAS! It brought tears to my eyes. The web site can not do it justice. You have to see it to believe it! Acres of free roaming animals. At the gate I was greeted by so many children and adults. I did not know where to look first. It was such an amazing moment. Very humbling. I spoke to reporters and many wonderful people. Fran a staff member told me that just as I crossed through the gate a patient called and said they had just heard about the walk and donated 100 dollars. She then took my face in her hands and said "you are a good girl you did what God told you to do" and then she hugged and thanked me. It was worth every blister for moments like that! Meeting Jama and Papa was like meeting celebrities although they to not fit the part at all. They are very kind, quite, humble, soft spoken," salt of the earth "kind of people. Who work tirelessly to keep their dream alive! My very favorite part of the day was meeting and spending the day with Diane Smith. Jama's personal assistant and the person who organized it all from their side. She is every bit as wonderful as I imagined her to be, and I feel I now have a very good friend in Locust Grove! After a golf cart tour and lunch we headed back to Mooresville to see mom who had not been well and so unable to walk the last mile with us.

Sorry this took so long to write. A lot to be done when I got home and much needed time with mom took precedence! Will blog more on the return later.

FYI- Although the Google walk map lists 274 miles. The actual mileage with road crossings and wrong turns( only 3) clocked by Garmin was 307.5.

Day 12

Ann Mclaughlin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:23:00 GMT

Curt and I started out on the last full day of walking with just 18 miles to go! The walk started with 4 miles to go on 81 S. We passed what appeared to be a home with a message for Carolina fans (see photo) At the end of 81S we stopped to use the facilities and buy some drinks. The owner, a very nice man named Salime, after hearing what Curt and I were doing gave us Smart water,Mayfield chocolate milk , and directions to Stroud Rd free of charge! Thank you Salime! On Stroud we came across a farm and two very sweet characters a donkey and a horse who let me adore them. We then narrowly escaped a scary attack chi( also in photos). Talking away to my brother Jeff who called from Budapest to tell me he was proud of me we continued down Stroud only to realize we had somehow made a wrong turn and had gone about 2 miles out of our way! Oh well. Mari finally found us for lunch after a very nice gentleman on a golf cart was able to tell us where we were! A quick peanut butter and banana sandwich and a restroom break and I was off for my final 6 Miles. This part of the walk was bitter sweet. I knew that my mom was to ill to make the final walk with me. And I knew that just as in life I would now have to do things without her by my side but always in my heart! And then as if on cue my best friend Becky and her son Jeremy drove up so that Beck could walk the last mile with me! TRUE friendship. They had driven 10 hours to spend one with me. God constantly shows me how blessed I am!
Mari met us in LOCUST GROVE- amazing. We celebrated by eating ice cream at Denny's! There Becky gave me a pretty basket filled with all types of goodies from the gang at work. THANK YOU MIMA crew I love you guys!!!! I could not have asked for a better ending to my last full day!

Tractor Family...

Ann Mclaughlin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:34:00 GMT

Day 11

Ann Mclaughlin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:14:00 GMT

Pat drove all the way from Mooresville to walk with me!! The ride was about 5 hours long! Or for some of us 11 days long! She is someone I only casually knew before this walk and now I regard her as a dear friend. It is absolutely amazing how well you can get know someone over a 14 mile walk. My brother Bruce and I realized what a blessing walking and talking for hours can be! We never seemed to run out of conversation and it strengthend our relationship more then we could ever have thought possible. When was the last time you spent even a half a day just talking and looking at the beauty God placed all around us with another person.
I started the walk this morning alone. The walk through the city of Social Circle was very sweet. I headed on a beautiful road called Alcova Dr. One of my favorite roads on the walk. A beautiful tree lined road with lovely homes and my favorite find a beautiful chestnut mare. She was lying down in the grass when I came upon her. She came right over to me and began to give me kisses and followed me as I walked the length of the fence. What a blessing to be able to experience these things in a day.
Pat and I walked about through the beautiful town of Covington and then up 81 S. What a great day and great conversation.
Only 20 to go!!!!!!

Day 10

Ann Mclaughlin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:50:00 GMT

Started off this morning walking down Epps Bridge Pkwy. Shortly after starting I received a call from my brother Curt .Who along with instructions on my next set of turns informed me that they were sitting at a Starbucks a few miles up the road. I miss sitting and drinking a grande Awake tea with milk and splenda and just relaxing with my sis, while she drinks a large vanilla latte with skim milk. The key word being sitting in that sentence! Bruce came to walk with me at about noon and we had a beautiful walk up tree lined country roads. We found a home we called Bruce and Kathi's it was lovely. I had a wonderful surprise after lunch a very nice person named Dale Fuller found us on the road on his way back to Griffin, GA. He brought gifts - water, apples, a pink spritzer fan and a donation to Noah's Ark. The world would be an amazing place if it was filled with people like Dale. I am finding the world is full of wonderful people with great hearts!!! Bruce and I ended our walk shortly after strolling down a beautiful country road called Frost Rd. Mari picked us up about a mile down GA-11. About 25 miles walked today and 41 to go!!!!!

Day 9

Ann Mclaughlin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:41:52 GMT

I wanted to start by saying thank you to everyone for all your comments. They keep me motivated to continue hitting the road each day.
Congrats to Gloria on her third place win in the 5k Saturday! You goooooo G!!!!! I miss you too Beck!!! Thanks for loving me and missing me! Dale thanks for all your comments! Hope to get to meet you at the finish line! Diane thanks for being so great and for all the prayers! Lisa thanks for all the spiritual love and support also! Susan you are so sweet! I am truly blessed to have all of you in my life.
Thanks to all my sponsors. Tony I could never have afforded to do this without your sponsorship. I am amazed how expensive it is to walk 300 miles. Thanks for making it all possible.
Brian you have done so much for me and we have never even met! This web site you created is just fantastic!
Dr Wever the Spot is fun and a great source of security over these long miles. Although I did have to stop my brother Bruce from pushing the 911 for an injured bull frog last week. JK
Terry thank you for not hanging up on us with our endless questions about the RV!
Jeff of Thorlo. The socks have been amazing I have put 226.5 miles on my feet and only a few blisters to show for it. They are wonderful my feet stay dry and comfortable with only one change in a 10-12 hour.
Pearl the footwear is fantastic my feet are really holding up well. With minimal pain.
Rich of Image Signs the banner is still perfect and has helped to advertise the walk for me!
Thanks to Pat, Bruce, Kathi and Dr Fry for helping make the miles fly by with their wonderful conversations and advice.
And as always thanks to Curt and Mary for all their endless work keeping on the right roads and looking after my every need.

Todays walk started about 18 miles outside Athens on GA172 and ended 25.5 miles still in Athens on the Epps Bridge Parkway. My brother Curt came out to join me after lunch at Blimpies. We walked up 72 thru Colbert (Not named for Stephen)and Hull that took us right into Athens. It was a pretty day and I loved the company and conversation!

Day 8

Ann Mclaughlin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:00:00 GMT

The day started with a wonderful service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hartwell, GA. It ended late at 10:30, because ten sweet children received their first communion. Back to the RV at 11:00 to pick up Curt who walked the first 5 with me. We started out down a 2 mile gravel road that was very peaceful and continued to GA 172 toward Bowman. The walk and conversation with Curt were wonderful. That actually was the best part of my day. The heat really got to me today and so did my blisters. Try as I did I could not get the energy to go more then 15 today. After being barked at by an amazing amount of dogs and dodging cars for 6 hours I decided I needed a night to rest up. Heading off to bed early tonight after a wonderful dinner courtesy of Mari , and a hot shower at Watson Mill Bridge State Park.

Day 7

Ann Mclaughlin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:58:00 GMT

Diego and I started out walking down Main Street toward 81 South. Diggie made it about 4 miles, and I had to have Mari come pick him up because of the heat. I continued walking 412 to SC181 heading toward Georgia. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Blue skies and fields of what looked like wheat and blue and purple wildflowers. I came across an abandoned house covered with old vines, a papa, mama, and baby John Deere tractors, and beautiful horses. Further down the road was what appeared to be a controlled burn that was still smoldering. Then at 2:35pm I walked across the Savanna River and into Georgia. It was very emotional and worth every blister, muscle ache, and inch of sun poisoning. After lunch I continued down Spur 77. On that road I came upon a hawk feeding her babies in a nest on top of a utility pole. A large cross in the middle of a beautiful field and several inspirational signs along the way made me feel very close to God and very strong. I power walked at several points to a great song by Francesca Battistelli ,"Feel Like Letting Go" and ended the day with 28 miles under my belt. Mari and Curt stayed busy all day scouting my next 30, doing our laundry and buying groceries. I could never have done any of the 201 miles logged on Garmie without those two wonderful people. I love them so much!!!. The map shows 180 miles. Crossing back and forth across the road and a wrong turn or two will surely make this a 300 mile walk!! The night was spent mending sore muscle and feet overlooking a peaceful Lake Hartwell.

Day 6

Ann Mclaughlin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:53:00 GMT

My sister in law Kathi came on Thursday night and we had a slumber party in the RV, so that she could start out with me early on Friday. We got a good start at 8:07am. The sky was a beautiful Carolina blue. And we must have been distracted by it because we missed a road and asked someone how to get to Main St. and we ended up adding an extra 7 miles to the trip!! Oh well we had some great talks and Kathi passed along invaluable advice on how to hydrate and what to eat in the heat. She is well educated as she is a personal trainer. We did over 30 miles that day. And Austin met us at the end of our 30 ( see picture). We hit 30 at exactly 8:07pm.

Day 5

Ann Mclaughlin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:40:00 GMT

The morning started out veryyyy slowly and as I sat with Diego in the car I started to get annoyed. Which of course I had no right to do. I am going to use the excuse that we were all exhausted. Sleep does not come easy in an RV! My anger quickly turned to laughter as I looked over at the RV to find my sister crawling back and forth on all fours looking franticly for what I later learned were keys.
Pat came buy to drop off tee shirts with Walk to Noah's Ark on the back. She then walked with me thru Simpsonville were we met and walked with her son Shaun. Pat found so many coins along the road, she should now be able to retire comfortably. It was 93 degrees that day and my poor exhausted sister asked me to stop at 18 miles!

Day 4

Ann Mclaughlin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:13:00 GMT

Surprised again! Dr Fry came to join me ! We started out at 8:53 am from Gaffney,SC. Our walk took us up beautiful country roads lined with flowering trees and bushes. We than headed upppppppppppp the road to Spartanburg. Main Street was filled with wonderful old buildings. It was a very pretty city. As we continued our up hill walk we came upon The Beacon Drive-In. A 1947 hamburger joint. Highly recommended by Dr. Calhoun. Some of the best greasy fries ever and a bobble head were purchased here. Lunch was from Denny's. And then on for another 15.The last miles although painful were wonderful. We ended at SC 417 in Reidsville, SC . Thanks for a great day Dr. Fry!

Day one thru three

Ann Mclaughlin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:30:00 GMT

It has been an amazing four days!!!! The weather has really cooperated. Gloria and I ran into a small amount of rain on Sunday, but we still managed to put in a full 30 miles! Go G! The send off was great. Father Joe gave a very nice blessing and after photos we started walking. My team consisted of Becky, Gloria, Julie, Kim, Pat, Cathy, and Kathi. It was so great for them to start me off. They all gave it their all and it was great fun.
Day 2- Diego and I started out with a beautiful stroll through downtown Lincolnton. Dieggie gave me a good 4 miles and then became the Mari's riding buddy. Mari and Curt scouted the territory and found a Walmart in Shelby. Pat was amazing and after giving me 15 on Sunday gave me another 13 on Monday. She was so sweet and I had such a great time talking and getting to know her better. She also dropped off two pair of shoes from Cool Breeze. Thanks Kath and Bruce! We met two people two who were kind enough to hand us money for the walk. The amount of time and effort Mari and Curt have spent pointing me in the right direction Is truly impressive. Brian works tirelessly on my website and set up this blog for me on Tuesday. .
Day 3- Brucie came!! Yeah we had the best time. Laughing and talking and pushing a car a up a hill after they ran out of gas! We lunched at Krystal Burger. Yes, Beck I said Krystal Burger! The day was so full of great memories. We saw G.O.D and walked to the
Giant Peach!!!! Curt is becoming an expert RV driver. He parked us perfectly at the Pine Cone RV park and Mari is just amazing at making sure there is nothing that we want for.

Welcome

Ann Mclaughlin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:52:18 GMT

Welcome to my blog. We are now up and running. Sorry for the delay. I will try to update you on a regular basis of this amazing journey.