Dear All, It felt good to be walking again. I walked to the Fortuna Foothills. It is still officially part of Yuma but close to the base of Telegraph Pass.
Being Sunday the side roads I took were pretty quiet. I had previewed the route and saw lots of businesses along the way but as I said this was Sunday and it was an industrial section of Yuma so every one of the businesses was closed. It doesn’t take long to run out of water in the desert. And I knew I needed water soon. I spotted a few cars parked in front of one of the industrial buildings as I crossed the street a security guard drove over to me. After explaining my walk and the fact that I needed water she quickly obliged. As we talked Chastity, the security guard, said that she also works at the Crossroads Mission. Funny how small things can connect strangers. We were instant old pals. It felt good.
Towards the end of the day’s walk I started to ask RV Parks if I could pitch my tent in a corner of their property somewhere. What I found out is that managers of RV Parks take Sundays off.
On the forth try I was walking through an RV Park headed toward the office when I heard a voice inquire, “What are you doing?” I walked over to find Mary Ellen sitting in a lawn chair in the shade of her motor home. After introductions she invited me to sit. Upon hearing my story she went and got her purse and gave me a $10.00 donation for the Jada Bascom Foundation.
Mary Ellen was one step ahead of me all night. Her son-in-law is a professional hiker and he told her about trail angels. Mary Ellen became my trail angel and met my needs without me having to even ask for help. First she fed me a late lunch/early dinner, then she took me to the Comfort Inn and paid for a suite for me to stay in overnight and finally she took me to Fry’s Market for Clif Bars and dried mangoes. Wow! Dear Mary Ellen I don’t know if you will see this but I hope you know how much your generosity and caring meant and continues to mean to me!
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StepsToMarrow 