The day before yesterday, I arrived to my motel in the early evening. I was incredibly tired so I decided to take a brief nap to refresh for a bit. Well, that nap lasted two hours! When I woke up, it was time to go to bed for the night but I couldn’t fall asleep. I tossed and turned. By 11pm, I gave up on sleeping and decided I’d rather start walking.
I had to walk 38 miles to reach Joplin, Missouri and the temperature was expected to be around 102 degrees. This would be the furthest distance I have walked since starting the Trail. I packed up my things, checked out of the motel, grabbed my flashlight, and started walking towards Joplin. Walking through the dead of night was quite wonderful. The temperature hovered around 75 degrees so it was plenty cool.
After walking nearly 15 hours straight, I arrived in Joplin in the early afternoon. I checked into my living section in the little church I will be staying at for the week. I was given a nice bunk bed to sleep on. There were about 10 people staying in the church with me. The provisions were wonderful even though the inside of the church was a little warm from the high temperatures.
Last evening one of the volunteers drove me around the devastating area. I was really moved as I surveyed the catastrophic damage left behind from this thing which came from the sky. Words can’t really describe what I witnessed.
Once again I’m just incredibly glad that something deep inside of me told me to come to Joplin. The people working in the area are great and have high spirits. It is a privilege to be a part of a group of people working together to try to restore a little bit of hope.
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