Latest Update from Karla

Subj: Transylvania, Louisiana
Date: 3/6/2003 3:41:40 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: kbwalk@mymailstation.com

Howdy Everyone!
   Here in Transylvania I took a picture of their water tower, which has a big bat painted on it. I also met up with some friends who live there, Jim & Lovella Koehn.
   On wednesday I walked from Eudora, AR to Lake Providence, LA. I was planning on stopping in Gassoway, LA, right near the state line, but found out that there's nothing there -- so I continued on to Lake Providence. I stopped off at the Visitors Center, and asked them where a bakery was located. I knew it was located either in Lake Providence or Transylvania, but I wasn't sure which.   The lady at the Visitors Center said it was just 2 blocks down the road, so that's where I headed. When I walked into the bakery, I right away asked for the manager. The lady pointed to his office and said he was in there. So I marched on over and knocked on the door. When he opened the door, in a gruff voice I said "Are you the manager here?" and he said yes. I then asked, still in kindof a gruff voice, "Is your name Marlin?" And again he said yes. "Oh" I said, "my name's Karla Brown and I'm walking across America. Do I have to pay to eat lunch here today?"
He started laughing and said "no, go eat lunch!" He's from Kansas originally, and I recall meeting him a few times in the past, when he's been out there visiting, but I was a little bit afraid that he wouldn't remember me. Not to worry though, he welcomed me in to Louisiana and served up lunch. He then called up Jim and Lovella to tell them I was there, but lo and behold, they already knew! They had already received a couple calls that day from people who had seen me walking down the road, so when Marlin called and she saw the caller ID, she knew what it was about before she even picked up the phone.
   Their daughter Bonnie came to the bakery to get me, and she took me out to Jim and Lovellas. They live right next to the school, so Bonnie walked over there and asked if I could give a talk to the students. So on thursday morning I went to the school and talked about my walk and epilepsy. There were around 17 students, and they sure were curious about my cart and all. So I opened it up and showed them what all I have packed in it. We set up the tent, laid down the foam pad, rolled out my sleeping bag, dug out my pillow, and set up my lawn chair so they could see how I camp out. I left my tent set up there the rest of the day for them to play in. The teachers said it was well used. I then showed them my first aid kit, what kind of food I carry with me, how many clothes I have, and some of the tools I carry. They all crowded around and watched everything I did. We talked about my map, and discussed where all I've been. They seemed pretty
intrigued.
   After that I finished walking from Lake Providence to Transylvania, and later that afternoon Lovella took me to the Louisiana State Cotton Museum, located in Lake Providence. I thought that was pretty fascinting, and they gave me a couple of cotton bolls to send home. I find this quite amazing, but they said that one 500 lb bale of cotton can produce (for women,) 21,960 Handkerchiefs, 274 Dresses, 6,460 Bras, 6436 Knit Panties, 249 Jeans, 409 Skirts, 4,321 Mid-calf socks, 773 Woven blouses, 379 Sweaters, 780 Nightgowns, 415 Woven slacks, and 733 Shorts. Now for the men, this same bale can also produce 8,347 Handkerchiefs, 765 Woven dress shirts, 906 Woven sports shirts, 543 Work shirts, 2,104 Boxer shorts, 2,419 Jockey shorts, 1,943 Sleeveless undershirts, 484 Dress Trousers, 374 Work Trousers, 1,918 Work gloves, 3,557 Mid-calf socks, 215 Jeans, and 1,217 T-shirts. Wait, I'm still not done. That same bale can still produce 3,085 Diapers, 249
Sheets, 1,256 Pillow cases, and 690 Bath towels. Wow! Think about that next time you go shopping! Take care and have a great day! KB

These pages provided by: