Latest Update from Karla

Subj: Burlington, Vermont
Date: 8/7/02 1:46:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From:    kbwalk@mailstation.com

Howdy Everyone!
  A couple months ago, when I was in Milbrook, NY, I
stopped at the post office to get my mail. Jean was
very intrigued with my story and walk, and she even
hauled my cart the next day. Jean also has a
sister-in-law in Burlington, Vermont, so Jean contacted
Theresa and told her I was heading that way.
  Theresa was also interested in what I was doing, so
between Jean contacting both of us, and me contacting
Theresa, I had a place to stay at when I got to
Burlington on Saturday evening.
  I took a couple of days off with Terry and Theresa
and their 3 kids, and we had a great time. We did
quite a bit of sight-seeing at places like Ben &
Jerry's Ice Cream Factory, the Vermont Teddy Bear Co.,
and even out to Stowe, VT where the Trapp Family Lodge
is (from the Sound of Music.)
  I really enjoyed touring Ben & Jerry's, and they
gave me plenty of ice-cream to try! You all know the
story, how their friendship started in a Junior High
gym in Merrick, Long Island. The boys, running around
the athletic field, had fornd a common bond: they both
hated running but enjoyed eating! In 1978 they decided
to invest their life savings of $8,000 and go into
business together. They took a $5.00 correspondence
course on how to make ice-cream, and EUREKA! The rest
is history.
  Their foundation is also really hip on supporting
non-profit, grasroots organizations working for
progressive social change, which goes along with their
3-part mission statement. That gives equal importance
to the quest for excellence in product quality,
economic success, and active social responsibility to
both local & global communities. A lot of people were
telling me to contact B&J's and ask for their support,
so Theresa and I went to the corporate office in S.
Burlington. They seemed interested in my story, and
said that they'd consider it when budgeting for next
year. They also gave me a t-shirt, some doodads, and
they're mailing 20 free coupons for a pint of ice-cream
to a 4th grade class back in Kansas. www.benjerry.com
  We also went to the Vermont Teddy Bear factory in
Shelburne, VT. They gave me a free tour and a t-shirt,
and are also mailing a bunch of stuff to the 4th
graders.   www.VermontTeddyBear.com
  On Tuesday I took the ferry across Lake Champlain to
Port Kent, NY. The ferry let me ride for free, fed me
some breakfast, and yes, gave me a t-shirt, too. The
weather was quite a bit cooler that day, and made the
walking VERY enjoyable.
  Four or five miles down the road, I came to Ausable
Chasm -- a REALLY BIG hole in the ground! Known as the
Grand Canyon of the East, you can take a walking tour
of this huge chasm and finish up with a rafting tour
that will wind you back around to the main office. It
all costs around $25 and takes a few hours to do. Of
course, the first thing I did was try to talk them out
of a t-shirt, and yes, they gave me one. (What can I
say? I'm on a roll!) They then offered me a free
tour, too, but I hesitated -- because I wasn't sure if
I wanted to walk 2 more miles on top of the 16 I was
doing that day, nor was I sure I had the time to do it.
But then I figured I'll probably never be here again,
so now's my chance. So I said yes. The walk through
the woods along the river was spectacular, and the
rafting trip was awesome and refreshing. It was
impressive to be rafting right along the fault line
that created this chasm zillions of years ago, and it
was easy to see where different faults crashed at
different angles and caused upheavals which created it
all. Wow I was impressed! While we were rafting,
there were a couple areas that were barely wide enough
to get a raft through. It was really a neat experience.
  After that I continued on and made it into AuSable
Forks around 6pm, where I met up with Father Allen and
was planning on staying at the Catholic Church, but he
had other plans. First of all he took me to his house
and fixed me supper. That was pretty interesting
wathching him roll up his black sleeves and start
chopping cabbage. He fixed some roast, cole slaw, and
home-grown beets. Watching him slap it all together
was somewhat scarey -- he chopped, tossed, dumped,
added a pinch here and a dab there and slapped it all
together with such zeal and carelessness that I wasn't
sure if it would be edible at all! But y'know what?
It was really good! I was especially worried about the
cole slaw, but it turned out the best! Visiting with
him was pretty interesting, too. He usually waited to
talk until he first filled his mouth with a HUGE
forkfull of food! He said that once he told a
bicyclist looking for a place to stay at to go sleep in
the cemetary, saying "you have to sleep there sometime,
why not now?" My eyes were big when I asked him if
that was where I was going to sleep tonight, and he
just laughed.
  After dinner, he informed me that he'd be taking me
out to Bill & Margarets house to spend the night. They
are in their 70's, and Bill was a real joker -- he made
everything seem funny! They were quite concerned about
whether I had eaten, and proceeded to fix dinner there.
I told them I wasn't hungry, but they still had me eat
some. In the morning we went back into town for mass,
and after that Bill hauled my cart to Wilmington and I
started walking. They were a lot of fun to be with.
  When I was walking across New Hampshire, I had the
White Mountains to cross. Then in Vermont it was the
Green Mountains. Now in New York, I'm dealing with the
Adirondacks. It really is a beautiful area out here,
very rural, hilly and mountainous. Tomorrow I'll be
walking to Lake Placid and plan on spending an extra
day there. I'm staying tonight at the Methodist Church
in Wilmington, and they're trying to make some
connections for me in Lake Placid. I hope something
works out.
  Take care and have a great day! KB

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