WALKERS 4 HAITI ALLIES
Citè Soleil Community School
#Walkers4Haiti
Take a look at our 150 mile jaunt!! #Walkers4Haiti
Most Recent Posts and Action
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This is where we will post the latest action and updates for our walk. Videos, photos, announcments, news etc.
Picture Slideshow
Here is an update!! We have been updating Facebook and Twitter daily but it is a little harder to do on this site, so here goes!
Day One- We left Colectivo Coffee at 10am on Friday and had an AMAZING turn out! We had over 40 people there to see us off and walk a few miles with us. It was so amazing to see all that support and we were/are so thankful to have you!
We walked on HWY 14 for a few miles and then the Fitchburg sheriff told us that taking the road MM would be much safer and better, so that's what we did. It was a abeautiful day. We walked until about 3:30-- Made it to Oregon, WI! We stopped in at the Oregon Observer (local newspaper) and got an article in for next week! (Thanks Julie Johnson) We found that it's better to walk on the busier roads with less people, and single file, so that's what we've been doing..about 4-6 people is prime. Then we went home and our wonderful mother Debsy prepared a spaghetti dinner for us, we laid around and warmed up.
Later we were off to Main Street Yoga to see our yogi friend Dennis Hawk and talk about Walkers for Haiti Allies at the 8pm yoga class. So that was good, always good to spread the story! After we spoke we just laid there and streched; it was fabulous. Lastly, our hosts for that night, Larry and Barb Mahr picked us up and we drove back to Oregon. We chit chatted and drank some sparkling water, and soon after that we went to bed. We were exhausted. Thank you Larry and Barb!!
Day Two- We woke up around 8am, had a bagel and shmear and set off for Evansville, WI. About a 14 mile distance. The sun was out again and it was perfect. Cows, horses, farm dogs and cats were our pals all day long. One dog followed us for a good mile, Megan named him Derek. The roads weren't busy at all, so it was an easy walk. We enjoyed the scenery and sang, talked, got on our dad's nerves etc. He taught us to pee BEHIND the tree not just near one. So that's good for future reference. It only got chilly when the clouds rolled through, otherwise it was warm walking weather. We got a little off track and a man named Dan picked the four of us up on the side of the road and took us two miles in the right direction, otherwise we would have walked well over 20--talk about whining....
We then made it to Evansville! Very beautiful, historical houses on the main street- They may or may not have looked a smidge haunted. We met our sweet host on Main Street. Susan Kruser! We loved her, we had a ball with her just talking and showing her our youtube videos. Her husband Glenn was also very nice. We shared homemade spagehetti sauce and turtle bars with them and then hit the hay with sore legs and windburned lips.
Day Three- We woke up around 8am again, had a little breakfast and went to the adult class at Susan and Glenn's church (our hosts) We talked about Walkers4Haiti and Citè Soleil Community School for about 45 minutes. The group had great questions and it was a great conversation. Then we hit the road again!!! This time on County high way 213, it was a little busier but not too bad. Again, it was sunny and warm; perfect for walking. After about five miles, we stopped and had lunch next to a barn and horses. Good stuff. Melanie's foot was/is hurting, I (Abby) have twin blisters on my pinky toes, Megan has a bloody achilles and our dad has "never seen this type of sore." And he is a hunter, so he knows stuff. This walking is no joke. We continued after lunch with the breeze behind us, so perfect. We made some videos, took some pictures, sang Beyoncè and before we knew it we were on the edge of Janesville, WI. WOOHOO!! Now we are sitting in McDonalds catching up on our social media, journals, this website etc. We will call our hosts; our friend MIKEY PIKEY'S parents soon! Can't wait to meet you guys. Thanks to everyone for the support on Facebook, texts, emails, etc! It's awesome. All the love and light to you! Thinking about Haiti and CSCS every step and mile. Please keep spreading our story to your friends and family!--We are so appreciative! Donations are so so so appreciated. Again, here is the donation link.
http://abbylw23.wix.com/walkers4haitiallies#!donate/c1ghi
Signing off for today!---We are going to enjoy the night with our hosts, and probably get more sick of eachother. KIDDING. WE LOVE EACHOTHER.
Day Three night/Day Four- Last night was so great! We got to stay at our friend Mikey Pikey's parent's house in Janesville. We watched the Packer game and had amazing pesto pasta. We talked about Haiti and CSCS and shared a bunch of pics. Then we sat next to the fire and ate peanut M&M's/chit chatted about some of our fave tv shows. DAY FOUR- Today was our roughest day so far. It was COLD, no sun all day and a 15mph wind. BRRRR. We walked with little to no break time because everytime we stopped we would get so cold. We walked 18 miles today and then some because our dad couldn't find us and our stopping point. So that sucked and we got fairly (really) crabby. NOW though we are doing fabulously, we are at our lovely hosts in Williams Bay, WI, near Darien and just ate dinner. Becky (our host) made some great and tasty dumpling soup and homemade applesauce. We also got to sit in our hosts hot tub tonight--AKA UHHHH MAZING TUB. It felt spectaular! Words cannot describe it. Alright, signing off- Oh and we're off to Harvard, IL tomorrow! CROSSING STATE LINES!!!! WHOOP!!!!
Day Five-
We started near Darien, WI--Fabulous extra walker Julie Johnson joined us today. We love her. We walked 15 miles today on curvy, hilly, country roads. Delirium got the best of us towards the end of the day. Endless corn will drive you a little crazy. Blisters got especially bad yesterday, as we pulled over multiple times to re do bandaids. The weather was warm...we spent a few pit stops changing clothes, talking about dipping things in chocolate, and yelling at cars that wouldn't move over for us. By the time we got to the Harvard, IL sign I was doggin' it and glad to see Debsy, Jodi, and Kris who came last night with some extra clothes, etc.
Day Six- All these days are beginning to blur together! We left Harvard in the morning right from where we had arrived the night before-the city's famous cow statue. Moo. We hopped on the road again and walk, walk, walked. Our bodies were really getting tired. They're saying, "Would ya stop doing this everyday??????" But no can do! Lot's of corn, horses, cows etc on this day as well. On one of our breaks we ate a whole sleeve of oreos- Thanks Jodi. Then our hosts had given us a bunch of candy so we ate that too. We walked passed Crystal Lake; which was our next stop so we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. We slept like rocks and woke up the next day to pouring rain.
Day Seven- Probably the worst day so far, we were wet and cold all day. BRRRR!!!! and SOGGY!!!! The road we were walking on had a terrible shoulder so we walked in a swampy-like area for most of the day. Then we finally made it to sidewalks! Such a great feeling; even when you're soaking wet and walking with swimming pools in your shoes. We had sidewalks the rest of the way then. We ran into some interesting people too. Nothing much else to say about this day, other than that it was raining all day! ALL DAY! And rain really sucks. Our hosts were such lovely sights to see on our tired eyes though, we spent Halloween eating oreos, again, at the Boorsma household.
Day Eight- Today was lightyears better than day 7. We woke up in the morning, had some texas toast and set off for Park Ridge, IL. We've finally arrived to city roads with sidewalks. It's much different than the corn and forests we've been walking next too. It's also a little scary. The three of us witnessed a three car, car accident today. Big yikes, everyone was OK when we left though. So needless to say, we were on high alert. It's also different beacuse we can take breaks somewhere other than a ditch! We chilled out at McDonalds for a while today, put our legs up on their chairs and streched a little. Then we ran into Target to get some IBProfen. OUR BODY'S ARE ACHIN' PEOPLE. It's dinner time at our host's house right so we gotta run!!! SEE YOU TOMORROW CHICAGO!!!!!!!! (THANK GOD!!!)
Day Nine- LAST DAY!!!! We planned on having this day be a short day because we needed to get to Zen Yoga Garage by 2pm so we walked about 9 miles. By this day 9 miles seemed like nothing, so short! Easy really. Also, by this time our bodies were aching so bad and our blisters were as raw as ever. I just kept saying, "At what point does the human body reach the "ENOUGH walking capacity?!" I think I reached it. It was so great though, we took a left ontp N. Milwaukee Ave. and saw all our friends, family and yogi friends waiting and cheering loud for us. Our mom was screaming through a mega-phone, natuarally. We walked the homestretch in our "Walkers for Haiti" T-shirts and I couldn't even believe we WALKED 150 MILES. I still can't. How crazy. Our great friend Connie filmed the whole thing and made a video of it! So awesome. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygdBUfp6NTw&feature=youtu.be
(WALK stories!!)
This experience is something I (Abby) will NEVER forget. Honest to God. I'm just so happy we could all come together and get this thing done. We could not have done any of this without you all supporting us. We all recieved so many messages from our friends and fam here in the states and our Haitian friends wishing us the best and sending their love. It's all amazing. Absolutely amazing. We made a very good portion of our goal and we will continue to spread the word about CSCS and Walkers4Haiti as well as contintue working with our Haitian partners to make a new CSCS structure a reality!