Camp News

Rich would like to close the blog with this quote: "You cannot live sheltered forever without ever being exposed, and, at the same time, be a spiritual adventurer. Be audacious. Be crazy in your own way, with that madness in the eyes of man that is wisdom in the eyes of God. Take risks, search and search again, search everywhere, in every way, do not let a single opportunity or chance that life offers pass you by."
-Arnaud Desjardins

Rich was featured in Harrisburg's newspaper, The Patriot-News.

While walking through Corryville on Saturday, Patty Shaub welcomed Rich back to Lancaster County and gave Linda and Rich money for lunch. They had lunch at the Corryville Family Restaurant and then treated themselves to frozen bananas at Sons Italian Ice and the owner said that he was going to use this story for his advertisement- someone walked 380 miles for a frozen banana from Sons!

Rich talked with Leann Emmanuel, who had been a counselor at camp in the early 1970’s. Linda has been diabetic for 42 years-since she was 13 years old. Leann recalled that she was discouraged from having children because of her diabetes and was told that she would have to have c-sections because of her diabetes. She now has 4 grown children and never had to have one c-section! She still plays on a soccer team and like Rich, believes that exercise is absolutely essential to live a healthy life with diabetes.

Linda and Rich walked 12 miles and reached Black Rock Retreat at 3:55pm. Upon reaching Black Rock Retreat, 17 people greeted Rich and walked the last mile with him across the fields and down Bridle Path Road to Rich’s house, where there were 8 other friends. Everyone walked over to the labyrinth and walked the labyrinth together. They came back to the house, enjoyed a potluck dinner, and played some music and sang. It was a perfect ending to the walk. Bill Dantz, who walked with Luke and Rich last Monday, was there with his wife, Robin, and sons, Brandon and Devon. Bill and Robin were married at Gnome Countryside seventeen years ago to the day! Linda’s mother and father, Edith and Harold, were also there.

Luke and Kesse had the grass cut and the outside property looking really wonderful. Kourtney had the inside of the house decorated with crepe paper and "Welcome Home" signs. Kesse was wearing a t-shirt that he lettered "Welcome Home, Dad" on it.

Rich is so happy that there was not one single incident throughout the 5-week period that he walked that curtailed him in any way because of his diabetes. In fact, Rich was so excited by the walk that Linda and he are thinking of maybe walking from the northern part of Ohio to the southern part of Ohio at the end of camp next summer as a fundraiser for camp and also to make people in Ohio aware of the value of Camp Ho Mita Koda for children living with diabetes. Rich again wants to thank Linda for all of her help and support. Without her, this walk would not have been possible. Rich would like to bring to mind the gift that Camp Ho Mita Koda has been to so many thousands of people since it was established in 1929.

Rich has reached Millersville, PA and has been thinking a great deal about a book that has influenced his life, The Power of Now. Rich had hoped to visit his daughter, Kortney, who attends college in Millersville and is studying psychology, but unfortunately he was not able to see her.

Rich struggled with his blood sugar this morning. When he woke up it was 303 mg/dL. Rich took 3 units too much of Humalog and, within an hour an a half, his blood sugar had dropped to 44 mg/dL. There was a farm market with fresh apple cider donuts and Rich treated himself to 3 of those, maybe one too many, but they sure tasted good!

Rich stopped to visit his friend who he taught elementary art with, Ken Hoak, whose home is right along the walking route, south of Millersville. Ken wasn't there, but Rich walked back into his exquisite garden with many medal sculptures. He admired a larch tree that will soon be turning yellow and its needles will be falling off. It is so apparent that Ken spends a great deal of time in his garden.

Rich said that it seemed very appropriate that he should spend so much time walking along the Susquehanna River this week. The Susquehanna greatly influenced Rich’s life as a young person. Many mornings in the summer, his friends Bobby Wise, Jimmy Straw, Harold Rhone, Larry Kelly, and Rich would get up at 6am, walk over to Irwin Park, and take a swim. Rich can still see fog rising off the water and feel the warmth of the water compared to the cool air. Rich's friend Bobby and he had a kayak we spent a lot of time on the water in until some cows walked through it and completely destroyed it!

Back in the 1970’s, Rich was greatly influenced by the writing of Abraham Maslow, a prominent psychologist. He wrote a lot about peak experiences. Along with riding his 10-speed bicycle across America in 1976, Rich believes that this walk has been one of those peak experiences. While walking through the village of Columbia, PA in the rain, Rich stopped to talk with an older lady who was sitting on her porch. It reminded him so much of walking in Ireland. In fact, so many times on this walk, Rich has felt as if he was walking in Israel, Spain, Japan, out West, and in many other environments. It brought home the fact that we are all globally connected with one another.

Rich's route took him about a mile and a half away from Turkey Hill, PA. Rich decided to walk to the plant located there, where Turkey Hill Ice Tea is made. They now have a line of several diet ice teas. Rich talked with Leah and Carol and they said they are now selling their products as far west as Cleveland and that there might be a possibility they would be able to donate to Camp Ho Mita Koda!

Linda joined Rich for about 4 miles of the walk and they had lunch on a bench on property owned by Joyce Funk and her family in Washington Boro, PA. Joyce was very gracious when she came and found them sitting on her bench!

Near the end of the day, Linda and Rich walked by Ann Letort Elementary School. Rich said to Linda, "I know a teacher who teaches here-he is the son of the former superintendent at Solanco when he taught there." Rich had always liked the son, Larry and wondered if he still taught at the school. There was a teacher leaving the building and Rich asked if Larry still taught there. She said he did and he was still in his room. Linda and Rich went over and knocked on the window. Larry came out and he and Rich reminisced for awhile. Rich learned that Larry hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 2002 - a total of 2200 miles! Larry had also lost about 30 lbs. since Rich had last seen him and he looked great. They had a wonderful visit.

Today, Rich visited Linda’s school in Marietta, PA off of Route 441.

He also walked by Three Mile Island, which reminded him of the summer of 1979. There was an international conference for camping in diabetes held at Camp Ho Mita Koda. The accident at Three Mile Island occurred in March of 1979 and one night at the conference at the camp, there was a big, tall campfire. Rich introduced himself and the moment he said he was from Lancaster County the campfire collapsed and sparks were shooting up.

Rich had a nice phone conversation with Jim Haas. Rich met Jim at Camp Ho Mita Koda in 1970. Jim worked at the camp for 3 years and then taught school and later became a Presbyterian minister. He is currently a minister in Eria, PA.

Rich also had a nice conversation with the clerk, Annie, at the Fallmouth Village Store. Annie told Rich that she was diabetic and her sister, Kathleen, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 5. She is now 37 and doing pretty well. She attended a camp for diabetic children when she was 8 and it completely changed her life - she began taking injections by herself and became more responsible about her control.

Today, Rich experienced one of the best parts of his walk - walking along the Susquehanna River on Front Street through Harrisburg. There is incredible landscaping and also "peace gardens" with quotes on plaques placed on large rocks. Here are three of Rich’s favorites:

Rich had lunch today at the East End Pub in Steelton. The owner's mom and dad both had type 2 diabetes. Maria, Rich’s waitress, and Tina, the owner, treated Rich to his lunch.

Rich was joined in his walk by his oldest son, Luke, 23, and his friend, Bill Danz, who has been diabetic for 31 years. Bill married his wife, Robin, seventeen years ago at Gnome Countryside.

Rich's blood sugar was 95 mg/dL when he woke up, and Bill's was 104 mg/dL. When they stopped for breakfast, both had blood sugars of 66 mg/dL. Both are experiencing the usual ups and downs of blood sugar control during the day.

Rich would like to mention a doctor who has improved his quality of life, Dr. Eugene Shippen of Shillington, PA. Dr. Shippen introduced Rich to the herb, quertcetin, to alleviate the neuropathy in Rich's legs and feet that he had suffered from for 8 years. Within 3 months of taking 500 mg of quercetin a day, the neuropathy disappeared!

Rich tented near a church pavillion in the village of Roseglen, PA. Michael Shatto and his children, Melissa & Nicholas and son-in-law, Paul, made Rich feel very welcome.

On Sunday evening, Rich walked for about 45 minutes in the dark with his headlamp on. It was the most uncomfortable part of the walk safety-wise for Rich thus far.

Rich was featured in The Progress, the local newspaper of Curwensville, PA, the town where Rich is originally from. Click HERE to read the story.

Roz Mason took Rich back to Icksburg, PA and Rich treated her to breakfast before he started to walk. After the day's walk, Linda picked Rich up and they scoped out the walk route through Harrisburg.

Rich's friend, Bob Cook called a Methodist minister in New Bloomfield, PA and made arrangements for Roz Mason to pick Rich up in Icksburg, PA. On the way back to Roz's house, Rich asked where she was from and Roz told him she was from Massachusetts. Rich shared with Roz that, during college, he was a counselor at an Episcopal church camp near Worcester, Mass. Roz immediately responded, "Oh, Camp Bement! I was a camper there in the early 1960's" - the same time when Rich was a counselor there! Roz and Rich talked about the traditions that they appreciated at Camp Bement, including bringing luminaries to the lake on the closing evening of the camp. Rich told Roz that he began that same tradition at Camp Ho Mita Koda in 1969 and it has been an important part of the camping experience for older campers ever since.

Today is the first day of fall. Rich's mother, Margaret, would have been 100 years old today! She went to Juniata College and, coincidentally, Rich walked 14 miles along the Juniata River today. Rich's mom is responsible for his love of the outdoors.

Rich's mom spent 3 months with Rich at Camp Ho Mita Koda 2 years ago when Rich was the Property Manager. During that time (in November), Rich took her on her first canoe ride in the lake. She wore her fur coat with a lifejacket over it! Rich's author friend, Ted Fink, is currently writing a novel and has included a segment about Rich's mother's canoe ride when she was 98!

During that time with his mother at camp, Rich got up in the middle of the night one night to heat some milk since he couldn't sleep. His mom woke up and said, "Richard, I have it all figured out!" She was 98 at the time and still pretty sharp. She looked at Rich and said, "Just plan to be happy, no matter what." Rich wrote those words down the next day and thought a lot about what she had said. His dad died when he was 6 and since then, it had just been Rich and his mom. He honestly cannot remember a time when he heard his mom complain about anything.

While walking on Route 333 today, Rich had a fairly low blood sugar (65 mg/dL) and saw two teenagers on the side of the road. He asked Vanessa and Jacob if he could sit on their lawn and have something to eat. He told them a little bit about his walk. After they talked for awhile, they brough Rich grapejuice and asked if they could drive Rich to Lancaster County! - 2 young people with so much potential!

A book that has made a great impact on Rich's life is The Four Agreements. One of the agreements is: "Make no assumptions. Our lives are sometimes dictated by assumptions." For some reason, Rich had assumed that this segment of the walk would be one of the most difficult. It actually has turned out to be one of his favorite parts of the walk so far.

Overall, Rich says that his diabetes has not been a problem at all on this walk. He's had some blood sugars over 400 mg/dL and some under 40 mg/dL, but this is nothing different then what he experiences at home!

Rich's author friend, Robin Moore, spent the last 2 days transporting Rich's 40 lb. pack in his van. Robin is an accomplished author, having published 14 books. Rich and Robin have had some great talks together and Rich is grateful to share his friendship on this adventure.

Bob Cook, a Methodist minister who Rich first met in Curwensville (his hometown) has been instrumental in arranging 2 of Rich's night stays with Methodist ministers along the walk route. Rich would like to thank Bob for everything!

At the end of Rich's 14.5 mile walk on Monday, his storytelling friend, Robin Moore of Philadelphia, drove him to the home of Robin's parents - Bob & Jeanne Moore. Bob took everyone for a walk in a nature preserve that borders their house. This was a big relief from the highway traffic for Rich!

Robin's mother, Jeanne, has had type 2 diabetes for 30 years. She exercises, eats well, is slim, and takes 2 insulin injections per day. Her A1c averages around 6.

This morning, Robin took Rich to the memorial for Memorial Day in Baolsburg, PA. Memorial Day originated here in 1864 when 3 women put flowers on a grave of a soldier of the Civil War. Now there is a sculpture on the grounds of three women placing flowers on a grave.

Afterwards, Robin dropped Rich at the spot in Belleville where Rich stopped walking yesterday. Robin will come back and pick him up in Lewistown. This means Rich doesn't have to carry his 40 pound pack for the rest of the day!

Andy Mandel told Rich to walk on roads with construction. Rich took his advice today. Unfortunately, when he got to a bridge being repaired, Rich was not permitted to cross. Undaunted, Rich threw his shoes to the other side and forded the stream.

The current leg of Rich's journey has been from Belleville towards Lewistown, PA.

Rich reports that he has had 2 serious nighttime reactions on the walk. Sunday night, Rich took 14U of Lantis in the evening, instead of the usual 10 - and didn't eat as much as he should have. He went to bed around 8p.m., and woke up a few hours later, trying to use the cell phone.

In Rich's words, "When having a severe reaction, it's like I'm behind a thick plate glass wall and can't get through it to do what I need to do."

After struggling to turn on the cell phone for another 5 minutes in the dark (even though his headlamp was by his side), Rich finally realized what was going on. He had 3 glucose tabs and a power bar. He was able to make a phone call to Robin Moore using the cell phone index. They had plans to meet in Belleville today. Robin told Rich that it was 11:15p.m. After babbling on for a minute or so, the glucose kicked in and they talked about where they would meet today. They visited Rich's cousin, Joe Humphreys and his wife, Gloria. Joe is one of the top fly fishermen in the world!

Rich and Linda Heywood spent the weekend at Shavers Creek Environmental Center. Doug, Josh, and all the interns were friendly and made Rich and Linda feel very at home in their enchanted forest environment. They opened their kitchen for Rich & Linda and let them tent near the raptor cages!

Rich's kids, Kesse & Kourtney and boyfriend, Jesse Phillips, drove up Friday evening and were able to do a 10 mile stretch of Routes 45 and 26.

On Sunday, Linda and Rich went to church at Upper Spruce Creek Presbyterian Church - a 200-year old church. They both appreciated this while plotting the route in April. The congregation was choosing a pastor and voted in John Diller, who lived in Lancaster County. Rich talked with John after the service and found that he turned down a pastoral position at Union Church - a Presbyterian church 3 miles from where Linda and Rich were invited to a church luncheon and had the opportunity to talk with many members of the congregation.

Rich notes the following on the church bulletin: "Before worship, speak to God; during worship, let God speak to you; following worship, speak to one another." It reminded them both of the labyrinth that they made at Gnome Countryside before beginning this walk - a 380-mile walk which will end with the labyrinth.

Rich explains a labyrinth: walking in, a time of reflection; standing in the center, a time of illumination; walking out, as a time of integration - putting back into the world what you have taken away from the experience.

Rich's final thoughts today were that the 8 hour drive to camp isn't going to seem like anything after this walk home..."Everything is relative!"

By next weekend, Rich expects to be 80 miles from home - near Harrisburg.

Rich has reached the village of Bald Eagle, PA. He was led into the town by a red-tailed hawk!

Rich logged his blood glucose values for a day and would like to share them with those campers who are interested.

Rich ran into one of his former art students from Osceola Mills, Vicki Moss, who let him fill his water bottle at the Fire Hall in Sandy Ridge, PA

Some thoughts from Rich: "Now that I am past the midpoint of this diabetic odyssey, without any pain or discomfort, I would like to take this opportunity to thank, really thank, all the supporters of this walk. I know from experience - nearly losing my eyesight in the early 1980's - the diabetes takes constant attention, but life is such a gift we must give our bodies the attention they require."

"I want to thank everyone at the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland for being behind me, especially Helen and Jan, who know what living with diabetes entails, and also Tracy, who records my daily ramblings with a great deal of patience!"

"Most of all, thank you to Linda Heywood, Assistant Camp Director, who has made this walk possible for me. In April, we plotted the route together and left letters where I hoped to stay at night. The responses have been wonderful. Every weekend, Linda brings me all the supplies I'll need for the next week. She laminates my route for the week along with including inspirational quotes such as 'There is no individual happiness totally independent of others,' (14th Dalai Lama). She makes numerous calls to me to boost my morale. Thank you, Linda!"

Rich has reached Osceola Mills, PA, where he taught middle school art in 1968 after teaching school in Alaska for a year. He thinks of the following Helen Keller quote often: "Life isn't worth living if it isn't an adventure."

Yesterday, Rich had a very low blood sugar (37 mg/dL), so he sat on a front lawn and drank a soda. While he was recovering, the family whose lawn he was sitting on invited him inside for dinner. Thanks to Tammy and Sheddy Grahmn and their children, Porscha and Kristy, for their hospitality.

Rich met Walter Wood, who informed Rich that he was walking on the Old Erie Pike, an old stagecoach run, and that Rich had, in fact, just passed a house that used to be a stagecoach stop!

Rich set up camp at the home of Melanie and Mark Davis of Karthus, PA. It turns out that Rich used to buy shoes from Melanie's father, Art Diehl!

Rich saw his mother's foot doctor, Dr. Tom Hoffman, because he had some pain in his feet. Thanks to Dr. Hoffman for shaving down the calluses on Rich's feet!

Rich had lunch with his former master art teacher, Willard Dominick. Willard is 85 years old and still paints every day. He is a great philosopher and after serving in World War II, Willard believes that war is the greatest failure of civilization.

Rich spoke with Andy Mandell (aka "Mr. Diabetes"), who visited the Banting family in Toronto. The family is starting a camp for children with diabetes and modeling it after Camp Ho Mita Koda!

Rich has reached his hometown of Curwensville, PA. He is staying with good friends John and Deb Wright (he served as Best Man at their wedding!).

Rich has been thinking a lot about the lyrics to "America the Beautiful," particularly the words: "And crown thy good with brotherhood." This journey has been an illustration of the brotherhood of all Americans.

Rich also ran into an old friend, Tat Ranck, who reminded him of environmentalist's Rachel Carson's words: "Whenever you observe nature, look at it as if it's the last time you're ever going to look at it." Rich has been taking those words to heart.

Rich was featured in the weekend edition of the Butler Eagle by outdoor writer Jay Hewitt who met Rich on his trek (see blog entry for September 6). Click HERE to read the story.

Rich was also featured in the Solanco Sun Ledger. Click HERE to read the story.

Thanks to Jack and Doreen Beard for letting Rich stay at their camp outside of Curwensville, PA (Rich's hometown).

As Rich was walking between Clarion, PA and Brookville, PA, a car pulled over. As it turns out, the people in the car were Rich's old friends - Norma and Max - from his hometown (where he grew up, Curwensville, PA. Norma and Max knew about his walk because his hometown church, United Methodist, has two shoes in which they are collecting money to contribute to his walk! Thanks to Norma and Max for the money they gave Rich for an evening meal. Linda and Rich are joining his old friends at United Methodist Church for worship service on Sunday.

Rich was featured on the front page of Allied News, the local newspaper of the Grove City, PA area. Click HERE to read the story.

Thanks to Reverend Jay Montgomery and Reverend Susan Montgomery of Knox, PA, for treating Rich to dinner and breakfast and letting him set up his tent on their property.

Thanks to Cathy Nealy for bringing Rich water. Cathy's husband, Mike, who is 42 years old, has had diabetes for 5 years and has been on the pump for 2 years. His A1c level is at 6% on average.

Rich was featured in The Derrick, the local newspaper of Oil City, PA.

Rich would like to thank Jay and Renee Hewitt of Murrysville, PA, for taking him in, feeding him breakfast, and buying him groceries. Rich would also like to extend a special thanks to Jack and Joy Chambers and their son, Matt, of Parker, PA, for the delicious Labor Day dinner.

Rich logged his blood glucose levels for 2 days and is making it available on this website to show people how he is working to control his blood glucose levels on this journey, although it is difficult at times. His A1c levels have consistently been under 7%.

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