Chillicothe, Ohio 2-30-02

Howdy Everyone!
I can't say it enough -- PEOPLE ARE SO NICE. What a neat experience it's been, meeting people on this trip. On monday as I was just getting into Hillsboro and walking past a DQ, a man asked me where I was heading for. I told him my story, and Marvin & Becky paid for 2 nights at a motel for me, arranged for a radio interview and a newspaper interview, included me in a Rotarian meeting, provided all my meals, including a family dinner with all their kids and grandkids there to meet me. They contacted a preacher in the next town, Banebridge, and hauled my cart there when they "passed the baton" on to Pastor Todd.
Todd got busy and made several contacts there in Banebridge for me. As I was walking to Bainbridge, Marvin & Nancy (bro & sis) from Hillsboro met me at Rocky Ford Truck Stop -- the halfway point for my walk that day -- for lunch. After that I toured The 7 Caves, located just west of Bainbridge.
The 7 Caves are dedicated as an Ohio Natural Landmark, and I really enjoyed seeing that. Both Paint and Rocky Fork Creeks flow through here, and there are numerous waterfalls along the trails. The park consists of 3 nature trails that take you up, over, around and into these 7 caves and also down to the river. There are over 250 species of plants and 60 types of trees along the trails, and about a hundred kinds of birds inhabit The 7 Caves. The admission fee is $10, but Pastor Todd contacted them before I got there, and they let me in for free. Even in February, the hike was spectacular, and I especially enjoyed seeing all the mossy rocks and trees, and checking out the caves. www.7caves.com (937) 365-1283
I got into Bainbridge, and found the Church of Christ where my cart had been taken to and where Scott, the youth pastor, was waiting for me. We visited for awhile, and he took me to 2 stores, one a bulk food/general store and the other a bakery run by a very conservative
mennonite group. The stores were lighted with oil lamps, and from the outside it looked like they were closed, but they weren't. They don't use electricity, and they travel by horse & buggy. I told Scott they were Amish, not Mennonite, but he stressed that no, this was a group of Mennonites -- and he was right. This group is known as Old Order Mennonites. Inside the store, you had to examine everything closely, because the lighting was so dim. I was pretty fascinated by it all.
After that Scott took me to Dale & Sally Elliotts, who let me spend the night at their house. She fixed a wonderful supper of open-faced sandwich with potatoes & gravy on top of it. It was so good!
The next morning I walked to Chillicothe, around 19 miles away. Pastor Todd again made quite a few connections for me there, too. For one thing, I must've seen 10 police cars driving by that day. I'm sure they were keeping track of me. Then when I got into Chillicothe, I walked to Susie's house -- another church member. Her son Terry, who's about my age, also has epilepsy. When I got to her house, there was a flag and a sign at the end of the driveway that said "Welcome Carla Brown!" I really enjoyed meeting Susie and her family.
Another thing that happened while I was walking to Chillicothe, was that on 3 seperate times, 2 firetrucks and 1 ambulance passed me. None of them were in a hurry -- they just casually drove by without their lights flashing or sirens blaring. Anyhow, all 3 of them honked at me when they drove by! Now we aren't talking about a little beep or toot -- we're talking the loud, deafening blare of a siren horn! Two of them came from the opposite direction, so I could see them coming & waving. But one came up from behind and nearly scared the life out of me!
Thanks to Pastor Todd, I'll be spending sat & sun night at Days Inn
for free. Call me: 740-775-7000 Rm 207.