Halfway point...

Vicksburg would be about half way to the final point of thew trek, and I managed to get about 4kms past it today, mentally this helps me a lot as now I feel as if it is all down hill from here. Speaking of hills, I officially left the "Mississippi Delta" today as I arrived to Vicksburg, and it was very obvious that I had. The "Delata" is one open, looong, flat piece of land surrounding the river, but as soon as I hit the outskirts of Vicksburg I was confronted by small cliffs jutting out from all angles, and the long, flat tracks I had been following were taken over by hilly rises. It was hard work but honestly, a welcome change. I am currently in the house of a friend of Brooks from Tunica by the name of "Sandy." She is a lovely lady who has kindly offered me a bed, a shower and a feed tonight which is more than welcome after covering around 38kms today.

I will be heading out towards Natchez tomorrow and it look as if for the next three or four nights I will be in my tent as my list of friends has quite sadly ran out. But I guess this opens doors for more adventures and new friendships hey. If I can get to Natchez in three days I will be setting a cracking pace and looking at arriving to New Orleans ahead of time, but lets not get too carried away yet...

On a personal note, I would like to thank Ray and the folk from Rolling Fork for their incredible, Southern hospitality and friendship. It really was a pleasure and a blessing to have spent time with you guys again. Ray, you are a great man, and the invitation for both Australia and Colombia is always on the table...

 8^th July, 2013 – Appreciating the small things in life…

After a great night’s sleep in Leland I was up at 8am feeling a lot better than I had the previous day, a little sore around the legs and feet as to be suspected, but overall, a lot better. I went downstairs to say good morning to Miss Charlotte to find a buffet of options waiting for me in the sun room; 10 different types of cereal, danishes, bananas, apples, coffee, orange juice, yogurt, you name it and it was there. I demolished a good breakfast in no time, thanked Miss Charlotte and Steph (who had come to help me get a phone for the rest of the trip and see me off – what a beautiful person she is, thanks for everything Steph) whole heartedly again, readied my pack and was off again heading south.

I am not sure if it was the good rest and whole atmosphere in Leland that gave me that extra strength but I felt really good heading off that morning. It was a good 5 hour trek to my next destination, Rolling Fork, where I had two more friends waiting for me. I arrived there still feeling good to be greeted by Ray and Cheryl and Rays sister Elizabeth. They were a welcome sight. We shared a coke and a good old catch up and I was on my way again. I would return there that night but since I was still feeling good I wanted to get a few more kms behind me. The sun really picked up as I pushed on, so much that I began to feel a little weak and light headed. I was knackered, the sun was zapping my energy, my mouth was dry, I was dripping in sweat, covered in dust and it had just been a bloody  long day. I remembered that I had an apple in my bag. It was a big, juicy granny smith that Miss Charlotte had given me for the road. I took it out and sank my teeth into it and this is where the title of this entry began to take shape. At the first bite I was in love with this apple, I could not get enough of it. I had apple juice shamelessly all over my face as I devoured the whole thing in record time. I have never enjoyed a piece of fruit as much as that apple I tell ya. I told myself at that moment I will never eat another apple without appreciating it. This got me through the next 5 or so kms, I then called headed back to Rays for dinner or hot dogs, rice, chilli con carne and a nice, cold beer, that was a perfect ending to a hard day.

Ray had kindly organized for me to stay at a friend of his named Lynn, who has a cabin on her property. The cabin is done in a classic style that one has to see to appreciate. It is an old eccentric, blues, Mississippi - delta style cabin with its own kitchen, bathroom, and great old stereo system with golden oldies playing out of it and to top it all of… a swimming pool!!! Can you imagine anything better after walking 40kms in stinking hot, humid conditions that a dip in a swimming pool in the middle of the Mississippi delta? Diving into that pool was magic, all the pain seemed to float away at once. From there, I showered and hopped into bed and I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

Today I slept in to around 8:15am as it is a tad harder to pull ones self out from such comforts to go slog it out on a hot summers day along the delta. Ray took me to the spot where I left off yesterday and I was off again. I am feeling stronger every day. I am becoming accustomed more and more to the heat and humidity. Although each day is still a real battle, I am starting to cope a little better with each step. I arrived at a little town named “Onward” which consisted of a few houses and a beautiful little store which sold Mississippi souvenirs and lunches. I sat down on one of their rocking chairs on their front deck for a little to grab a drink and snack on some nuts I had. It was nice and pleasant there but time was ticking. I little further up the road I recived a call from someone that needless to say, lifted my spirits a lot… it ws Cami!!! We chatted for around half an hour which was really great. I think that little chat was just as satisfying as that apple I had yesterday, haha! But it really was great hearing her voice, she occupies my mind constantly on the trek and I miss her a lot, this helped me immensely today… te amo mi negrita… So I moved on solidly for the rest of the day until roughly 5pm. This was it, I had covered more or less 40kms and decided to call it a day. I headed back to my cabin where myself, Ray and Lynne sat down to a great meal of beef, broccoli and cous cous. After two big plates of this and some good laughs which is the usual when one is with Ray, I was almost falling asleep at the table. I said my good nights and this is where I am now. Things are progressing well. I hope to be in Vicksburg tomorrow, from there I will aim at Natchez. If I keep this pace I should have no problem at getting to my final destination with as little time to spare.

Appreciating the little things, a bottle of water, a shower with soap, the moment you dive into a pool, clean sheets in a warm bed, beautiful music, fresh fruit, a phone call from a loved one, a bathroom WITH toilet paper, food, a conversation at dinner… these small things have given me such a satisfaction over the past few days that normally I would never have given another thought… how blessed we are these days and do not even know it…

In a happy place...

Yesterday was a long day heading into Greenville. I did not get moving until around 10am as I was pretty tired from the days before. But after a good days walk with some welcoming cool changes and showers moving through, I did finally arrive to Greenville at around 8pm, tired and sore and looking for a place to pitch my tent. I made my way through the center of town looking for a friendly looking campsite until I got to a hampton Inn on the outskirts of the small city. I noticed out the back there was a nice little patch of grass that would suit my tent perfectly. I went in and plopped my pack on the ground next to the reception and even before I could speak I had a bottle of water thrust into my hand from the receptionist. We got talking about what I was up to and she made some calls to her supervisor in regards to whether or not I could pitch my tent there. She hung up the phone with a sorry look on her face and told me the supervisor had said "no." But she was not deterred, and offered me a spot (after asking her husband if it was ok) in her backyard for the night. So we headed off there around 10pm and on arrival I met her two great sons, aged 17 and 14 and her two gorgeous twin daughters aged 12. They helped me get my tent up in their backyard then we sat around and chatted for a while. They really were a great family who if I wasn't so tired I would have stayed up all night talking to. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out to it.

The next day I was out on the road again at around 8:30am. I grabbed some breakfast at the local store and headed south. I was about 10kms into it when the sun started to heat up again and I began to think to myself "what I wouldn't give for a nice shower, some good food and a nice comfy bed." I dreamed this dream for a little longer before I noticed a red jeep coming towards me flashing its lights. It seemed like friendly flashing, if such thing exist so I was curious to see who was behind the wheel, little was i to know it was the answer to my prayers. Out of the car got Stephanie, one of the people who had helped me out last time on the trek, she had tracked me down again, god was I happy to see her face. After a hug and how do you dos , Steph offered to take my backpack with her and her friends for the day to lighten my load which I was more than grateful for. We organized that I would keep on heading south for the day until about 5pm and then Steph would come back to pick me up and take me back to Lelend, which is where she is from, as they had a bed and breakfast ready for me and dinner reservations at 6:15pm for us all. This sounded great but I had no idea of how great it was too be.

Steph picked me up at 5 as organized, this had allowed me to cover around 30kms for the day which was good. We got to Leland and went straight to the bed and breakfast which Steph and her husband (who is a great guy) are part owners, but WHAT a bed and breakfast it is... I thought we had just pulled up to the White House. This place is beautiful and nestled right along Deer Creek which runs right through the middle of town and is actually home to a local alligator. After settling in there and meeting the lovely 85 year old Charlotte (the inn keeper) who is as fit as a fiddle and I am sure could do this trek faster than I am at the moment, I hopped into that shower I had been dreaming about earlier and washed all the grime and sweat off me. The we all headed out to dinner at the local restaurant. We met up there with a bunch of Stephs friends who were a bunch of fantastic people all full of advice and questions about the walk and a bunch of great stories about the region. They really lifted my spirits after a hard week and I honestly cant thank Steph, her husband and them for that enough. Just having a good meal and a laugh does wonders for the soul.

Right now I am in one of the comfiest beds I have been in for a long time and trying my best to soak up every last bit of these luxuries because I really do not know when I will get anything close to like this next on the trek. I tell you it is going to be hard to leave this place and people tomorrow...

http://www.thompsonhousebb.com/

Hot and hard work...

The last few days have been hard work. The sun has been ripping into me and relentless.  I am currently in Greenville and it is getting dark so I need to keep on the move so I can find a campsite. Here are a few more diary entries below...

3^rd of July, 2013 – Bobby and Carrie, true southern hospitality…My feet are absolutely covered in bites from my camp site last night. I was only outside of my tent for maybe 25 mins, setting up the tent and chatting to Jonathan and his family, and the mosquitos had a feast. I will have to stay away from campsites where there are water and trees, seems kind of hard hey when I am following the Mississippi river!Anyway, I headed off from Jonathans around 9am and it was obvious it was going to be another warm day, the skies were cloudless and the sun was nice and bright. By 11am I was tired and hot, the sun just sucks your energy dry, especially with a pack of 18kgs on my back. But here is the good news, and the good news name is Bobby. Bobby is a 50 something year old guy who is a police officer who patrols the levee of the Mississippi, and a southern character if I have ever met one. He stopped to offer me a lift. I asked him if there was a place in the next town where I could leave my backpack so I could try to complete the leg with just my water bottles and food. Bobby began to make some calls. Within a minute or two we were on our way to meet the mayor of Rosedale, a town about 50 kms from where Bobby picked me up. After grabbing a bite to eat with Bobby where we shared a laugh and some good stories, mostly coming from Bobby, we headed off to meet Carrie, the mayor of Rosedale. We arrived and were greeted by Carrie who after a few questions about what we were up to, offered me the use of the town hall, which has a shower, tv, air conditioning and a kitchen, you better believe I accepted, I could have hugged both of them. So with stowing my bag there, me and Bobby jumped back in the car and made our way back to the point where he had picked me up. Bidding Bobby farewell, I pointed myself south and I was off again.Walking along the Mississippi delta in summer is hard work, no doubt about it, but there is so much going on along here to keep one occupied that I would almost go as far as to say, I am really enjoying it, apart from the mosquito bitten feet and aching body. Every little river crossing I come to is littered with hundreds of frogs, all shapes and sizes, not to mention the heap of turtles sunning themselves on the banks, they have beautiful long necks and an amazing bright orange color to their necks. At one stage I stopped due to the call of nature, as I was standing there letting nature take its course, I heard something in the bushes next to me. Waiting as quietly as I could I eventually saw two little armadillos come scurrying out. They must be almost blind and have very poor hearing as they almost ran into me and it was not until I bent down and touched one that they took off towards the levee again. They are very cute, but smelly little animals.
So tomorrow is the famous 4^th of July here in the USA. I will be spending it here in Rosedale with Carrie and his friends who have promised a good time and good food. Now I am off to bed and maybe even watch a bit of tv which is definitely a luxury on this trek. Let’s hope for a bit cooler of a day tomorrow

.2^nd of July, 2013 – Farewell Dick and Brooke…Picture this, it is 5am, I am fast asleep, and I mean FAST asleep, dreaming of something beautiful and relaxing when BOOM, open flies my bedroom door and Dick comes running into my room yelling at me to “get up” and “get changed” “we were going to get breakfast.” I did not know what was happening at first, I was so tired and out of it and thought we must have been under attack or something. As we jumped into the car, Dick informed me that he had been up since 2am fighting a fire in the county and all the local boys were headed to the local diner for breakfast, and this bunch were not to be missed. So I was formally invited by the Tunica fire brigade for breakfast. We settled in and ordered our food and got to chattin, they were a good bunch of guys, a real good laugh and a great example of good country boys. From there Dick and I went back home to ready my gear and bid our farewells. I said goodbye to Brooke, and Dick and I hopped in the car so he could take me to the point where I finished yesterday. We arrived and at my point and as Dick put my pack on my back for me I thanked him and Brooke for being so kind to me and for being such blessings in my life. He said to me very simply “The pleasure has been all mine, and do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples when he was leaving them? It wasn’t make a lot of money, or start a successful business, no, it was feed my sheep, or in other words, guide people and help them whenever you can.” Imagine the difference in the world if we all practiced this simple advice!  So I thank you both Dick and Brooke, I can tell you both, the pleasure really was all mine.
From there I headed off, feeling strong and looking forward to what the day would bring.  I arrived in a small town named “Lula.” There was not a lot there, so I filled my water bottles and kept on slogging it out. From the outskirts of Lula I made my way towards “Moon bay lake” which was a good 15km stroll. As I was making my way around this beautiful lake, the midday sun started to show his strength, it really heated up, but fortunately a fella took pity on me and invited me into his house for some cool water, I must have looked like I was struggling. This refreshed me and I picked up my pace again, but  the sun was still taking its toll. I had knocked back 7 bottles of water by the time I had passed the lake. I was now right near the river and heading dead south. Right here was about the time I nearly stood on a big bloody black snake, probably a cotton mouth the locals told me which is quite dangerous, so I have been a lot more aware from then on that’s for sure.
At this point I was really tired, I had already walked 32kms (20miles) and needed a rest. I found a nice little shady tree to take a nap under. I took a quick nap for about 20 mins and was as good as new, well almost. I lumbered on towards the town, or more so, a group of houses, that goes by the name of Farrell. When I was about 5 kms out of it a guy name Jonathan drove by and stopped to see if I was ok and if I wanted a lift. I told him I would absolutely love a lift, there is nothing I want more, but… I can’t accept for obvious reasons. After explaining what I was up to Jonathan offered his front yard in the town of Farrell for my campsite and also a nice cold bottle of water, considering I was exhausted and out of water, this was music to my ears. So this is where I am now, bunkered down in my tent in Jonathans front yard.
It has been a huge day, covering around 45kms and getting a real taste of the suns power at this time of year. Hopefully I will have a good night’s sleep and not wake up too tired and sore for tomorrows challenge. We’ll have to wait and see…

Back into it...

Honestly, could not have asked for a better day. After a good lunch with Murph, we headed off to the airport to see if the bag had arrived on the flight as promised, and wouldn't ya know it, as soon as I got to the bag area, the first bag that came out of the little flaps was which one... you got it, my missing bag! You better believe I was a happy man. I ran at it as fast as I could like I had found my long, lost lover and gave it a big bear hug and promised him I wouldn't lose him again. After the emotional reunion,  we were off to Tunica.

Murph dropped me off at the Museum at around 2:30pm. We said our goodbyes, and I said my thanks, and I was finally on my two feet again and heading south with my home on my back. I had about 7kms to pass until I was going to reach the town of Tunica. After a couple of quick showers had come through and got me a little wet, I arrived to the Tunica Press and went and said gday to Brooke. It was nice to see her again, she is a lovely lady. Seeing as though I still had around about 4 more hours of light I decided to push on southbound and Brooke kindly offered to come down and find me and bring me back to the house for the night. I made it another 20kms down the river before Dick and Brooke finally found me and picked me up. So after covering 27kms on the first day we went out to grab some food and catch up. It has been a good day. I am now in bed and honestly quite ready to turn this computer off and get some sleep. It has been a hectic start to the trek but honestly I can not complain. I could go on a bit more about today as the walk was really quite nice and I also was attacked by two old dogs amongst other tories but I am really too tired to get into it, I promise I will get into more detail next entry.

The friends I have here have gone above and beyond to help me out and it has been nice to be able to spend some time with them, but for now I am getting into bed so I can rest up for the big day tomorrow. I am around 45 kms from the next big town of Clarksville. I would like to get there tomorrow but it is a long way. We will see... for now, goodnight....

A piece of good news...

Well last night just as I finished talking to Cami, after an hour and a half on hold with American Airlines, I finally got through to a girl named Lisa. It was the first time I got through to someone who I felt was going to really try to help me out, she had that kind of voice of someone who cares. After a long chat and many phone calls to Miami and New Orleans on her behalf, she finally told me she had found my bag. It was in the hand of someone in New Orleans who was just about to send it to a hotel, and if that had of happened it would have been stuck in New Orleans and out of the hands of the airline. So Lisa got it redirected BACK to Miami as American Airlines do not have direct flights from N.O to Memphis. So hopefully the bag will be arriving in Memphis from Miami today at midday. Myself and Murph will be waiting anxiously.

As I mentioned above I will be heading to the airport with a friend to pick up the bag. I honestly would have gone crazy without the good people around me. From the beginning of my arrival in the states I have been surrounded and supported by amazing people. Matt and Batina drove all the way from St Louis to come and see me and take me back to Memphis. It was really a pleasure to see them and spend just a few days with them. Now in the house with Joshy, Murph and Cameron. These guys are three of the most relaxed, good people I have come across on the entire trek. They have kept me from becoming frustrated and helped me out more than they know.

So myself and Murph are about to grab some breakfast, then we will head over to the airport to (hopefully) grab the bag and then we will start making our way down to Tunica, to the place where I left the trek to go back to my wife in Colombia. It will be a funny feeling to start heading down the river again, it had not really hit me that I will be on my own walking by a river again for almost a month and a half. NOw I am starting to get that nervous but really excited feeling in the bottom of my guts. I really love this moment of being alone with my thoughts, with God and with the only important things in my days being where will I eat, drink, sleep and where I need to walk to. It is a real blessing to be away from the distractions the world provides relentlessly.

I am a happy man, lets hope and pray that this continues with the arrival of my bag - which is my life for the next month and a half...

Arrived, but not without its complications...

Yes I have arrived, but not without its hassles. Let me go back to this morning and walk ya through it. Firstly I woke up with a good dose of the flu, a headache, runny blocked nose and sore throat. The I get to the bathroom and realised that because of my flu, my sinuses have flared up and I had a swollen right eye that made me look worse than normal. So we (that being Cami, her parents and myself) arrived all good and well to the airport in Bogota, said our farewells and despite of my flu I headed off with the enthusiasm I remember from the first time I headed off to begin the trek. Arriving a little late to Miami due to lots of traffic on the runway I hit the pavement running to get to my next flight. I got my bag and checked it through to New Orleans and arrived to my gate with 5 mins to spare. Arriving in New Orleans I was greeted by my old mate Matt Johnson and his lovely wife Batina. It was great to see them after all this time, was really good. We headed over to pick up my bag and after about 10 mins of waiting, laughing and catching up, we both realized that my bag had not come out. We focused our attention on the arriving luggage and after another 15 mins realized that there were no more bags at all coming out... my bag had not arrived, and to this minute, still has not arrived! We needed to wait another hour to speak to the head of the department who told us that hopefully, my bag will be here at 11pm tonight. So we are now waiting anxiously at the hotel for news of the missing bag, and considering that in my bag I have my life for the next one and a half months and that it is very important that we head off north tomorrow morning, I must say, I am little nervous about the safe arrival of it.

Well I am off to bed now. Hopefully I will get the call we are waiting for in the next hour or two so I can at least have a wash and brush my teeth. I will keep you guys in the loop...

5 days and counting...

Time has flown really when I look back at when I booked my flights back to the States to finish the last part of my trek. It seems like I only did it yesterday. But I have to tell you, I am really keen and looking forward to getting back and getting into it. This time is definitely going to be a different experience altogether. I will be walking through the deep south. I will be walking in the middle of summer. I only have 5 weeks to cover the 1000km or so that I have left. It is going to be more of a race against time and a battle against the harsh elements of the brutal summer of the south this time around. A different experience that's for sure, maybe one that will be more difficult too, but one I eagerly await.

Life has been so busy back here in Bogota that honestly I have had no time to really train. I have managed to get in 3 walks in the last two weeks, and they were only 16kms each. Considering I will need to on average cover 30 to 40 kms each day, it has not been the best preparation. But I will get a few more walks in this week and I am sure God will do the rest!

So I arrive on Saturday morning to Miami. From there I need to take another flight to N.O where good old Matt the legend will be there with his lovely wife Bat (Batina) to pick me up. We will grab some dinner and catch up and then head off  north the next morning towards Tunica, my final point from the last part of the trek. It is going to be great to see them again!

Well it looks as though everything is ready except for a few final touches back here and then getting all my gear together and packing the backpack. All the gear from the last stint is still in really good condition which is a big help.

A big thanks to my sponsors again for being so patient with the time it has taken me to get back onto the river again, you guys have been a great support, thanks.

Looking forward to seeing that river again....