Latest Update from Karla

Subj: Goatshed, Arkansas
Date: 2/27/2003 4:08:40 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: kbwalk@mymailstation.com

Howdy Everyone!
   The weather for the last couple days has been really icy and treacherous. On tuesday I walked a little over 10 miles from Pine Bluff to Moscow, while Judith from Washington DC followed me in a vehicle. I really enjoyed the chance to meet her and visit with her. I was especially glad she was there that day when the roads were so icy.
   We made it into Moscow, where I found Linwood Baptist Church and headed inside, and Judith drove back to Little Rock to fly out the next morning.   As I was exploring the church, I found the bathroom and the nursery right next to it. The nursery had nice, plush, padded carpeting, and I figured that'd be good enough for me. Plus the crib had 2 small mattresses in it, and I figured that'd help that padded carpeting along real well. I also spotted the rocking chair in there, and the afgahn draped over it, and soon found myself settling in. I had a half-loaf of bread with me, and dug out one of the jars of peanut butter. I fixed me 2 p-b sandwiches, and grabbed the last can of Dr. Pepper from my cart. The church was fairly cold, but I could hear the furnace running, so I knew it would warm up eventually. I was trying to be patient, but I was fairly chilled by the cold day. My jeans were wet from the tire spray, and my socks were soaked, so
the first thing I did was change into a dry pair of shorts and then dug down in the bottom of my cart to pull out the best pair of wool socks I've ever owned. They're thick and really warm, and I sure was glad to find them. But even with the dry clothes, the afgahn and rocking chair, I was still cold. So after an hour of trying to warm up, I decided I needed to find a heating vent. It then occured to me that maybe they weren't heating up the whole church for me, but just a section of it. So I wandered out to the fellowship hall and found a vent coughing out warm, wonderful heat. I then went back to the nursery and brought out the rocking chair, afghan, and crib mattresses and perched myself right in front of the vent. I also closed off all the other rooms, and before long I was toasty warm.
   In the morning, Angie called me up and demanded that I stay inside and not go out. The roads were unbelievably slick and treacherous, and she and her husband were coming to get me and haul me to their house to wait out the storm.   When Wayne and Angie got there, we pushed my cart out the door and hung on for dear life as the cart and I slid down the wheelchair ramp. Even though my cart has no steering, it was turning every which way sliding down that ramp. I was just hanging on for the ride. We didn't stop at the bottom of the ramp, either, but just kept sliding on out into the parking lot. I was never so grateful as I was then, to know that I wasn't going to be out on the road this day.
   That evening the ice storm caused power outages all over southern Arkansas, including here. At around 10:30pm everything was dark and quiet, save the sound of an ice storm outside. I told Angie that if I had been somewhere alone, like at the church, and the electricity went off, I'd've been fit to be tied. I'd've worked up a lather just pacing the floor, but being with this family made it all seem like fun. She stoked up the fire in the wood stove, and fixed ham and pancakes for breakfast. The electricity finally came back on around 5pm, almost 24 hrs. Friday is suppose to be balmy warm, and I'll hit the road once again.   I've figured all along for the last few months that by the time I got to Little Rock I could throw my jeans away and just have shorts and t-shirts. I mean I figured the farther south I got the better. So when I was in Damascus, I tossed out 2 pairs of sweats and one sweatshirt, leaving me with one pair of jeans and one
sweatshirt. I think I'll hang on to these a little bit longer. KB

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