100.
I just reached a hundred references this weekend on Couchsurfing. Admittedly, though the idea of lining up a homestay on-line with people you’ve yet to meet in person DID sound very odd and suspicious, some of my best, most reputable friends had participated in this social network, were applauding it wildly, and heavily, heavily recommending Couchsurfing to me.
Though their good words did convince me to give it a try, heading for my first such experience (near Canby), I still felt some discomfort with the whole idea. Luckily, I trusted the recommendations of all of these great friends, and I seemed to get a good on-line vibe from the first couple who invited me into their home: Mike & Wilma Bruno, who live near Canby, Oregon.
As the Brunos lived miles from my route, they decided to give me a ride back and forth from/to a given street corner in Canby. They were awaiting me as I arrived from Lake Oswego, and as I approached the corner of 9th Avenue & Ivy Street, Mike stepped out of his car, and approached me with the look in his eye of greeting an old family member– a very warm introductory handshake followed. I was sold immediately.
Mike & Wilma took me out to eat that evening, and provided me with a very cozy place to sleep at their home in the woods (which he himself built). The following morning, they fixed me a healthy, delicious lunch– excellent road fuel for my coming day’s walk to Wilsonville.
Thousands of miles and nearly three years later, I’ve continued on to meet hundreds of people via Couchsurfing, many of them becoming great, close friends of mine. In fact, I’ve found that the personality type that is open to ideas such as Couchsurfing is the personality type I’m most attracted to in new friends.
Some people ask me about the safety of a network like CS. I understand their concerns. Though not required, Couchsurfing allows people to confirm their credibility via verification checks. I made a $25 donation to the site, which matched my name and credit card info/address with my profile info. They then sent a postcard to my house with a 16-digit code; I entered the code and achieved verification level 3 (the highest). Also, just as you’d find with Amazon or Ebay, other people are allowed to leave references on your profile page, and you have no control over the references they leave– positive, neutral, or negative. I also leave references on the pages of others, and they have no control over what I say about them. I gravitate toward profiles of well-reviewed, verified CS members.
So far, I’ve had nothing but great experiences– a trend which I’m sure will continue all the way to Washington, DC, and well into the future.
Below is the link to my page, where you can take a look at my profile, the 100 references left for me, and the 100+ references I’ve left for others.
I should clarify that though I’m writing here about CS, I’m not writing to “advertise” the CS website itself, but simply to champion the idea of a peer-reviewed hosting network. CS is simply the only such network I’ve been using; it’s the largest such network, with over 3 million people participating in countries all over the world.
I write this post today from the home of the Hardin Family, a Couchsurfing family who’s hosting me in Newnan, Georgia. They’re very nice people, and after 18 miles yesterday, I’m spending Saturday & Sunday night at their home.
I’ll be staying with many more CSers through the subsequent 750 or so miles to Washington, DC.
Admittedly, just weeks into the Walk of Inspiration Across America, I found that even if I had only walked to meet the countless wonderful people across the miles (a large part of my Facebook posts) the experience easily would have been well worth it. Not only am I walking with a mission, I’m earning the privilege to meet so many of the millions of great Americans along the way!!
LINK: www.couchsurfing.org/george_calvin

Michael & Geraldine Duke, Pastor of the adjacent Upper Room Apostolic Church, just outside LaGrange, GA. I was well into a good day’s walk to Hogansville yesterday, and stopping briefly to say hello, they warned me of the soon-go-arrive thunderstorms, inviting me to spend the night in an extra room of their church-side home.

I took them up on their offer. They introduced me to some of their 11 kids and 26 grandkids, many of whom share rooms in their double-wide. ls about his Apostolic faith. Very nice family.
After accepting a tasty filling and dinner with them last night, they treated me to breakfast this morning, at the diner across the street. More storms are predicted for today, and they’ve invited me to stay indefinitely longer; however, Hogansville awaits– and I’m confident I can outrun today’s afternoon thunderstorms…

Just a few short blocks from the Georgia border on a soon-to-be-stormy Saturday afternoon, two families pulled off the side of the road to say hello.
First, Kenneth & Heather Hoats. The Hoats both work in education, Ken as a counselor and Heather as a P.E. teacher. They knew I wasn’t the everyday, average passerby headed for the Georgia border.
Jerry & Tammy Ledbetter had added me as Facebook friends over two years ago, while colleague Garth Poorman, who walked from New York to New Orleans, stayed with them as he walked through the area. Had Facebook not alerted me that it was Jerry’s birthday on the very day in which I was to walk through his small town, I would have otherwise not known to contact him with hopes of meeting him while passing through.
After Kenneth & Heather stopped near the closed-down textile mill to introduce themselves, Jerry & Tammy and Family pulled off some five minutes later to say hello. To my delight, they all already knew one another!
The Ledbetter Family had just eaten by the time I caught up with them. The Hoats, however, were ready to invite me to lunch with them. They had a couple of suggestions for the small town, and we ended up settling on the classy local pizza parlor– a fun, locally-owned venue which was their top choice.
After stopping by their house to collect their teenage son, they all met me at the Georgia state line, where they took some pics as I walked across…
I may end up staying with a friend of the Hoats family as I pass through the Atlanta area…

Heather & Kenneth Hoats say hello, just blocks shy of the Georgia border

Jerry & Tammy Ledbetter & Family stop to say hello as well!

The Hoats Family meets me at the border!

Adios, Alabama-- Thank You for all the wonderful experiences!!!

I’m often asked if, out on the open road, I fear the unfamiliar people.
People I’ve met have been fantastic– I’ve never once been attacked, robbed, run over, etc.
If I’m to “fear” anything, it’s stuff like this: a spike sticking up unnoticeably in my pedestrian path.
As I narrowly missed that mondo, dirt-road rattlesnake near Deming, New Mexico,  this spike gave me my most painful (and scary) step of the entire Walk. I don’t even keep any sort of running tally on pains and challenges across the miles. Speaking solely of foot fumbles, I’ll always have a broad selection of stories to share, including:

• debilitating blisters have pulled me off the road on several occasions;
• plantar fasciitis was VERY challenging for over a thousand miles, all across California, Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas;
• I’ve painfully twisted my feet on invisibly uneven surfaces, rocks, curbs, etc.;
• I’ve felt the fire of hot blacktop through my soles while walking on scorching summer days;
• I’ve walked for hours at a time with wet feet; my feet are the first to freeze on cold nights outdoors; and,
• they overheat in socks & shoes on warm days.

None of these experiences shocked my reality with the magnitude that this spike did today, however. As state routes in Alabama often have neither shoulder nor sidewalk, I’ve been relegated to the grass for hundreds of highway miles. I can’t move nearly as quickly or efficiently in the grass, but complaining is counterproductive, and the gratitude attitude is a most valuable asset anywhere; so, I simply continue forward with the best of what I have. And today, walking in the grass drilled this steel surprise right through the thick sole of my sandal into the bare skin of my foot.
At first, feeling the powerful spike strongly pierce my thick sandal sole and punch my foot, I honestly thought the spike poked a hole in my foot as well. A reactionary scream of devastation escaped from me on contact. Such a serious foot injury could pull me off the road for months. Looking down to my sandal, I wasn’t seeing any quick rush of blood. This was my first major relief. I still felt the pain though. Pulling the sandal off and examining my foot, I fortunately found nothing more than a serious blood blister on the joint near my big toe. The spike had perforated the sandal in one of the most advantageous spots, to my good fortune. The spot was tender and sore, but I could continue to walk.
I couldn’t see the spike from the grass around me, but new about where I stepped, and as there was no sidewalk aside this stretch of busy road, not only was I curious as to what I stepped on, more importantly, I knew I needed to find the spike or eventually, someone else would step on it to. I had to gently feel my way through the grass till I finally came into contact with the spike. Pulling it from the ground, the pictured spike is what I found. It must have held up some sign at some point, I suppose. I couldn’t figure any other reason for it’s being there.
As “preventive health” is at the core of my Walk, I of course wondered to myself: “How can I prevent a similar such incident from occurring in the future?”
The answer? I can’t, sadly. This spike was hidden like a land mine, and if I’m to slowly inch my way across the country, meticulously examining each square centimeter of soil for dangerous debris, I’ll never make any progress. (I already spend a great part of my day spotting and avoiding road hazards.) So, I simply have to accept that such risks exists, continue forward, and do what I must to make the best of any scenario that awaits me. Stuff like this may be a threat, but fortunately, the wonderful people across the miles await me like angels .

After completely puncturing my sandal, this metal spike almost impaled my foot as well...

Stepping into a spike buried within the grass proves walking in the grass is dangerous, but is there any easy option B? Unfortunately, in many places, there is not.