Pilgrimages don't really end, I think - any more than the air we breathe ends when it enters our lungs. I'm writing these words from the gorgeous home of Mary and Dave Hale in Falls Church, Virginia - just a few blocks from the Washington & Old Dominion Trail that we'll be hiking tomorrow... as we trek our very last 13 miles to the Lincoln Memorial. So. The end of the trail is almost literally in sight. But the pilgrimage has been all those things that cannot, that should not

Not on our mailing list? Sign up here . 2774 miles from home - and only 73 miles from D.C. Holy moley! Distances have become so strange after all of these footsteps. 73 miles is the distance from my house in Eugene to the capitol building in Salem, Oregon. It's crazy to think that the nation's capital is the same distance away right now. And there's something surreal about our trek over these past few days. The land feels saturated with history - with Brigadoon-like magic -

We're now less than 150 miles from the Lincoln Memorial. My 2020 Chevy Bolt - without the upgraded battery - could get us there, and probably back - on a single charge. This is crazy, friends. How is this even possible? How did we make it this far? I've been thinking about what it means to climb the big mountain. Compared to where we crossed the Cascades (McKenzie Pass, 5325 feet) - or where we crossed the Rockies (Togwotee Pass, 9658 feet) - the summit over Chestnut Ridge i

Every morning, before we start hiking, we circle up - take three breaths - and read "The Way We Walk." Part daily affirmation, part devotion, part pep talk for the 20 or 30 miles ahead. Go, Pilgrims, Go!! The other morning, Bob paused as he read the lines about "Kindness." We earnestly wish to make connections across differences. I've been thinking about those words lately. To 'make connections across differences' is not, exactly, to overcome differences. It's not, exactly,