DAY 13 - Prairie City - 263 miles from home

Writing this a day late... last night I collapsed after one-too-many mouthfuls of mashed potatoes...

Yesterday was a hybrid day - most neatly captured by my experience walking through the drive-through at the Timbers Bistro in John Day, when I was picking up a peach smoothie for Bob. This was Day 1 for us of No Driver. Bob and I divided the day: he walked the morning, while I drove support. I walked the afternoon while he returned the favor. Actually - that's not quite accurate, because we were joined in our shenanigans by the indomitable Elijah Reed.

Elijah and his buddy Ely Cannella designed our new website (check out their design company, Arago) - and Elijah is also a filmmaker, documenting this journey - parachuting in periodically to ferry us around in a vehicle that's slightly less unwieldy than Libby, and to stalk us on the trail.

Elijah also managed to coax us into the Prairie Saloon in Prairie City, for a little bit of daytime drinking. A pint of Dead Guy after a sweet stretch of roadway never hurt anyone. At the Saloon we meet Tammy and Terry Jones, and their alliteratively named painter pal Paul. Tammy and Terry moved here from Astoria about 3 years ago - looking for more community connection, and more space. Fewer cars. Fewer people. Tighter friendships. More time with daughter and granddaughter. They don't regret the move in the slightest. But they're selling the bar - next week in fact. It's too much work, Tammy tells us. Bob asks her the question he's been asking everyone we encounter on the Walk: Do you have a message you want us to share with folks we meet further down the trail? People have been sharing things like "Listen with your heart" (Jalet in Mitchell), and "Progress not perfection" (Katharine in Sisters).

Without missing a beat Tammy tells us: "Don't buy a bar."

Day 13 was also a day of Scary Things for Esther - all of which I think I met 100%, if not always gracefully (progress not perfection to be sure). Driving an RV ninety minutes down a twisty highway, heading due east, with morning sun blinding me through a bug-smeared windshield. Successfully hooking up the RV, mastering a seriously leaking water hose (thank you, Pete at Ace Hardware for teaching me the way of the gasket). Taping over a broken tailight. Replacing the missing connector for the Rhino sewer hose. Realizing the trailer light hookup had come loose, busted open the casing, scraped through the cable... and finding help from David at Napa Auto. David not only sold us the parts - he also offered to come out to the rig after work, strip the wires and retape and reconnect the cable to the brand-new mounting. He actually made a house call. "It's not a problem, Esther," he told me. "I live just five minutes from there."

When I first met David and his coworkers in the store, I gave a quick explanation of Liberty Walks' mission. The country's so contentious these days. We can't talk to each other any more. So I'm just wanting to get out there, meet my neighbors. Be a part of making more connection. One of David's coworkers said - Yeah, like that old song, 'Come Together.' And David chimed in: It would help if the media didn't keep telling us not to trust our president. That's why Rome only lasted 200 years. Democracy is a failed experiment.

I smiled and shared what's becoming a catch-phrase for me: "More space and more grace. That's what we all need."

American Flag outside Prairie City, Oregon

Terry and Tammy Jones, The Prairie Saloon

Getting Libby in line!

David from Napa Auto Parts