Cedar Rapids, IA.  Needing a place to stay on my way to Waterloo, IA (further north) Deveri graciously allowed me to spend a couple days in her home located in Cedar Rapids though "couchsurfing.com".  Deveri's home was very comforting and took my mind off the freezing weather outside.  I enjoyed my long talks with her and she answered all my city slicker questions about Midwest living and about wildlife.  

She prepared some great meals for me during my stay and I even got to enjoy cooking prepared by her son, who was a former restaurant cook, and his girlfriend.

Deveri also owned a stable of horses that lived on her large property which I thought was awesome!  I didn't get to spend much time with them, due to being too tired, however I did enjoy watching them out the window and seeing them when I was coming or going.

Wanting to upgrade my military sleeping pad, Deveri was nice enough to swap her comfortable Therm-A-Rest self-inflatable sleeping pad for my Army-issued one.  After recently finishing my journey I sent her a brand new sleeping pad along with bungee ties from Amazon.com, the her borrowed air mattress was punctured by thorns from a dry desert plant.

During my stay I was given a great building/historic tour of Cedar Rapids where I learned about several important building and bridges throughout the city.  In addition, I found out about the Flood of 2008 which left the town flooded for long 2-week and caused at least $64 billion in damages to the state of Iowa. 

Thanks a million to Deveri for your warm spirit, taking me to church service, & the terrific hospitality -- you made my journey through eastern Iowa ever more enjoyable!


SoilTrek.com

[ NOTE: I apologize for the delay in writing this entry.  A busy schedule after finishing my walk coupled with the lack of sleep over the months catching up with me made it difficult to get my thoughts together.  I’m now relaxed and in good state of mind. ]

Los Angeles, CA.  On July 20th, 2013 at 11:00 am I finally made it to my destination of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of California located in South Los Angeles.  From my start in New York it took exactly 7 long months and 22 days to reach Los Angeles, but I finally made it!

For the last 2-miles several people joined me for the final leg.  Including WM Dorian Glover of New York, Malcolm Douglas, PM Walter Davis, and several other great individuals.  During that time-frame there were several people honking and expressing signs of support for my efforts.

Mixed feelings of joy, appreciation, peace, accomplishment, along with exhaustion (both mentally and physically) all overwhelmed me simultaneously.  I’m glad I didn’t get teary eyed towards the end as I had a probably over couple dozen times over the course of the trek.  My continuous smile shown throughout the last day was result of accomplishing my mission, the huge love & support shown, and the fact I was finally going back home!  

My journey would not have been accomplished without the hundreds of people who supported me along the way.  Even with its flaws we live in such as great nation, to experience the amount of generosity I have received during these almost 8-months has been astounding.  Now with my super busy life back here in New York I will still continue writing entries and posting photos  thanking as many across the country as I can who assisted in some way (I have a long list but didn’t have time while walking).  

I want to the thank the following people & organizations who helped me out tremendously the last couple of days of the walk and immediately after:

MW Lovell Morgan, Grand Lodge Officers, Brothers & Sisters of Most Worshipful Prince Hall Jurisdiction of California, PM Walter Davis, MW Dorian R. Glover, Jody Lepore, Malcolm Douglas, Ron Gamble & Anissa Brathwaite, Brother Headley, PM Kevin Malone,WM Donny Jones & the Brothers of High Desert Lodge #107 (Victorville, CA), Pastor Birdgette and the entire Belmont Baptist Church congregation, The Hugyiks, The Bacons, American Diabetes Association of California (Sunnyvale, CA area), JetBlue, and everyone else who graciously donated, or supported my worthy cause in the L.A./San Francisco area.  

Until next entry PEACE!