From The Road
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Day 10
Day 10.
Father Hilton relaxes poolside on a rest day and waits for his bike part to come in.
I was getting a bit shaggy, so Jewel took care of me with a great haircut. She has three young children and is planning to homeschool them in order to give to them every blessing she can.
I stopped by the parish office to say hello and was warmly greeted Ethan who is four years old. His grandmother, Coleen Konopatzke, has served her beloved parish community for many years. Fr. John Miller is the pastor and we were fellow students together at Saint Thomas Seminary in Denver from 1974 to 1978. What a blessing to catch up with him, to see him happy in his life as a priest and filled with many blessings from God.
I had my first break down today right after saying farewell to Fr. Miller. One of the spokes that holds the rear wheel together snapped with a loud ping, making the bicycle all but unridable. Some things I can fix but a broken spoke isn't one of them. It was a blessing that I'd traveled only twenty miles from Kalispell where there's a good bike shop that can get me back on the road sometime tomorrow morning.
It was an even greater blessing to met Don and Judy Landers.
Knowing that I needed a way to get back to Kalispell, I realized that I had no choice other than to beg for a ride and hope that someone would eventually have mercy on me. I can't begin to tell you how many years it's been since I've tried hitchhiking and wasn't very happy at all about giving it a try. Don and Judy had just filled up their motor home with gas and were ready to continue their journey. Judy gave me a wave from her passenger seat which gave me the courage to wave in return. As she opened her door to see if I needed any help, I told her and her husband of my problem and they immediately offered to to give me a ride. Where were they going? To Kalispell!
They invited me to dinner and we just said goodnight after a most enjoyable evening with new friends. God really does provide, all we have to do is to learn to trust.
Dedicated in 1910 and very imposing.