Thank you.

Trial & Error are the two words that come to mind when I think of part one of this journey. There isn't a " How to Walk Across America with a Goat" for Dummies book out there. So I've had to learn the hard way on a lot of things. I've left my shoes outside the tent at night in the rain, I've gone many miles the wrong way and  had to turn around but the biggest mistake I've made is trying to make this walk happen on my own. There is no way I can do this without all of you! I am truly thankful, amazed and blessed by all who have encouraged, supported and donated not just to me but to the kids of Uzima. I feel like I have been so deep in the walk since I first started last May that I've forgotten to recognize the numerous individuals who have given to Needle2Square. So I'd like to take this time to apologize to everyone who has helped me thus far in the journey whom I haven't recognized in some way and would like to try to give "shout outs" to all who contribute in the days, weeks and months to come. 

Thank you again for all your generosity! 

High way 40

Soooooo.... the impossible was, well Impossible. I took James' advice to take the other route and boy am I happy I did! Let's go back to the story... Sunday night James and I had another bonfire, he broke out the guitars and we jammed for a while. Just me and him, the bonfire, and the night sky. It was awesome to play the guitar again. I don't remember the last time I picked up a guitar but I'm glad I did. I didn't realize how much I've missed it... you know, creating music. I gotta be honest though since I haven't played for so long I lost a lot of my skills. Use it or lose it, right? Well, I'm pretty sure I lost it but that's okay.

After jammin for a while we put down the guitars and start talking about the walk again. I had to pray right then and there for myself (to myself, not out loud). I asked the Lord to soften my heart cause I can get pretty stubborn at times and when I get something in my head I recklessly rush into it.  I told James my plan to go ahead and bury water and food every 30 miles but he was not convinced. He was still concerned about the Roosevelt tunnel and the mountain pass, Vale with all the snow. He was adamant, "go highway 40!" We went over it so many times that at some point I zoned out and wasn't thinking about the route anymore. I still had a lot of things I wanted to say to him... I wanted to bring back our conversation from the night before that we didn't get to finish. It was really important to me.

I'm going to share with you what I was thinking that first night at the bonfire... I was thinking about Luke 10:25-28 NIV

"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

I love this passage! Its talking about eternal life and what so interesting is that the God who created the universe tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus says love me and love others. Now check out this next verse Matthew 25:31-40 NIV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.    For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I am no bible scholar and I think there can be so much to be said about these verses but I'm going to try and link these 2 together and keep it as simple as possible. The point of taking care of those in need is because you love God. NOT because we are trying to score points with Him so we can get into heaven. Both these verses talk about serving others. The part I thinks that ties these together is Matthew 25:40 NIV “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 Here is an illustration I thought of. I hope it gets the point across. Let's say your best friend in the world has a kid and the kid is on the side of the road in distress. They got in a wreck so you stop to help and make sure they are safe and not alone. You might drive them home if need be. You do that cause you love your friend, not to score points or balance your wrongs some how. Now lets say that in the same story you didn't stop. You drove by and didn't help. And let's say your friend found out that you didn't stop and help their child when they were in need. How do you think your best friend would feel? My point is this, as a man that professes to love Jesus the reason I am walking across America and the reason why St is in Africa doing all the work for Uzmia is because we love Jesus! With all we are and to the best of our abilities we are going to serve those in need. Not so we can balance out our wrongs or score points to get to heaven but to serve because we love.

All In..

I have to admit this hurts! It has taken me nearly a year to really put it all on the line! But i really am doing it!  steven wescott (@stevenwescott) tweeted at 11:00 AM on Sat, Jun 01, 2013: Selling the last of my gear! Needle2square! I am all in now! Nothing left! I gave music up b4 and God always brings it back some how! (https://twitter.com/stevenwescott/status/340875520499650562) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download
Next time I would like to play the drums... or accordion...

Everything Changes....

I like to try the impossible. Not saying I succeed, I just like to give it a try. Maybe it's the idea of conquering something... whatever it is, often times when I start a project I have to add obstacles to make it more of a challenge; more difficult.  Like for example, I'm already walking across America but I decided to register for school online to do while on the road. I also wanted to run across Colorado and the route I choose would take me straight through the desert and over the Rockies.... I know what your thinking, "seriously?" Well it seems none of that is going to work out... and I'm pretty bummed out about it.

Let me back up a bit. Early Friday morning I walked into Price Utah from Helper. It's a short walk just about 7miles. As we were pullin in I was stopped by a group of people who were standing outside. We chatted it up and took pictures together for about half an hour. During that time a guy (I like to call him farmer James... but its more like inventor James) that had seen us waking the day before through the canyon stopped and brought some food for Leeroy. He mentioned that he lives in Wellington which is just past Price and that if we needed anything I could call him. So I got his number and fully planned on using it. 

Now let me tell you about James. He was born and raised in Price (from what I can tell), married, has 3 boys and owned a few businesses. He recently sold them and at the age of 32 has developed a wireless technology that is made for underground minors so they can use cell phones underground. He seems like a guy that would fit in really well in Portland. His fashion and his way of thinking or life. James was a great host and he is great with his kids. A very gentle hearted guy. I enjoy being around him.

Back to the story, so Saturday night we are all siting around a bond fire, just hanging out and getting to know each other (telling stories and what not). When (as always with me) the conversation turned to one of faith and God. The mood instantly changed and our light hearted conversation turned serious. Talking about faith usually isn't the issue, It's when you disagree that the air gets tense.

So James says "I think it all works out in the end man. It all balances out...Like what the buddhists believe...we do some good and some evil... just try and do more good." He takes a drag of his cigar as he looks up at the night sky and stares at the full moon. I respond with, "it doesn't work like that man." I take the last drag of my cigar and then flick the rest into the fire. In my head I'm thinking here we go, I know this is the turning point of the conversation. James looks at me and I can see the hint of joy in his eyes...He loves to debate! James raises his hand as if to point at me and says with a seriousness in his voice, "Steve man, look at what you're doing" (I have had this used on me a few times in past debates). I quickly respond with "Just because I am trying to help orphans in Africa doesn't erase all the bad things I've done or balance out my wrongs in some way."

He bends down and picks up a handful of rocks with his left hand while holding his right hand up and away so he doesn't burn himself with the cigar in case some ash fell. He tells me to put my hands out and as I lean towards him in my chair he pours a few rocks in my left hand and says "that's your mistakes." And then pours the rest into my right hand and says "that's the things you have done right, it will all balance out."

 I start sharing with him all the mistakes I have made in the past. How I was more or less a womanizer and everything else I've done. My point was that this project or the good I do doesn't balance that stuff out. And just as I was going to go for the "home run" and break out the bible verses I've been really going over the last week, he stood up and says he has to go pee. It seems like the last few times I've been in these debates something happens right before I get to the good part!

When he returned the conversation turned. We talked about the rest of my route to Denver. I thought that I would try and bring the convo back around when the moment was right. I was about to walk in to 150 miles of pure desert and James had a lot to say about what was ahead but I didn't really listen at first. I said I would deal with it as it came... I'll find a way. But he was persistent and got me worried. Not just about the desert but about what came after the desert. The Roosevelt tunnel was about 2 miles long and there was no where for Leeroy and I to walk  through and getting around it would add a ton of miles. I said I'll figure it out. He said once I was past that, there is about a ten mile stretch with no shoulder that's right on the side of a cliff. Not to mention making it to Vail. The highest pass I would have to cross. At 12000 feet it would still have snow on it! Again I said stubbornly, I can beat all that I'll figure it out. But all that lingered in my head. He kept mentioning high way 40 and how great it was, easy, lots of food and water for both Leeroy and I. As the night ended and we made plans to have another bond fire the next night. 

The next day I took a ride out through the desert and was trying to come up with a plan. I got worried not for me but for LeeRoy. I needed to figure out food. The landscape literally turned into just dirt. I got back to Price and thought about all the possible ways to do this. I got on the phone and talked to a few different people. The best idea was to go ahead, bury food and water for us both about every 30 miles. I was stoked! I had a plan! I want to try the impossible...

To be continued....

Am I going crazy?

If you haven't driven on highway 6 from Soldier Summit to Price Utah, its something you have to experience! Personally I love the city, that's no secret. I love the business of it all... people everywhere, apartment buildings, sky raises that seem to touch the sky....But something happened yesterday… I found a new joy. I don't even think joy is the right word. I found a new love! There was this moment... I was walking around 4 miles past the Summit when I hit a stretch of flat road. At about the middle I could see several miles in every direction. The sky was perfect blue with out a cloud to be seen. The sun hung high in the air but the air was crisp and cold. Felt like a tug-of-war between the heat of the sun and the cold of the air on my skin. There were no cars in sight and I had a moment when I felt like I was the only person on earth; absolutely alone but not afraid. It was totally quite and peaceful. It had a majestic feeling to it. All I could hear was the sound of my shoes shuffling acrossed the rocks that coverd the edge of the road. Along with the pitter patter of Leeroy's hoofs hitting the asphalt. I stopped and just took in the moment. Something has changed in me…. this is the first time I have ever truly enjoyed the outdoors.

The next few miles I thought about how I used to love being at a spot in the city, drinking coffee, people watching and just feeling the energy around me. I truly love the city life and honestly hated spending time in the "Great Outdoors". But I found this new affection for being out in the middle of nowhere. There's no flashing lights, no people, no business... It was perfect!

One of the things that I enjoy doing while walking this time around is listening to audio books. I'm currently listening to "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It is awesome! I put my body on auto pilot and drift into the story. Speaking of stories, here's one for you….

Often times as I'm walking I spend time praying for my friends, my family, the Uzima staff and kids, for Leeroy and for this entire project in general. Here's where it gets funny. As I'm walking yesterday I started praying for a couple who are going through a difficult time. She's condescending and belittles her husband while he looks for reasons to stay longer at work and not come home. I was praying that their relationship would be restored and that they would develop an understanding for each other when I realized…. that this couple are actually two characters from the book I'm listening to. THEY'RE NOT REAL!!! I was confused and in shock that I started praying for people that technically don't exist.  I promptly ended the prayer with an "Amen" while laughing to myself. Am I going crazy?

Back at it, round 2....

Part 2 of the walk and its been a rough start. As always things didn't go as I had planned. I was suppose to leave May 2nd as I did last year but its May 22nd and I just finished my second day of walking. I'm currently on top of Soldier Summit in Utah sitting at a gas station feeling physically drained. I had no idea the altitude here would affect me as it has. I'm having a hard time breathing, massive headache, nausea, slight dizziness and just feeling weak. I had a hard time sleeping last night cause I kept waking up feeling like I was suffocating. Combine that with a really bad sunburn and it just hasn't been a good start. Yet with all that physical stuff I  have a new sense of confidence in the remainder of the walk. I feel like I own this road… like I've built it myself. Its so odd but I feel home again. No longer feeling like I'm racing against the clock or like there's pressure for me to get to the end. More or less I feel like I have the freedom to enjoy the journey this time around.

Some really cool things have happened getting from Seattle to Utah. One of the more memorable was when I stood on the corner of a freeway on ramp with Leeroy and a sign asking to hitch a ride to Utah. Within 20minutes the Portland news crew showed up wanting to know what I was up to. Its been a while since my last interview and I definitely wasn't expecting them to show up when they did. I felt a little rusty and don't think I did a good job. After the interview people started taking pictures with their phones ( as usual) and donating to the cause. To me that's when it officially started again.

I found out later that day that a man who was walking from Seattle to Brazil while dribbling a soccer ball was struck by a car and killed along the Oregon coast. He'd been walking for two weeks and just made it to Lincoln City when his journey ended. It was a really hard thing to find out about having had walked over 1500 miles myself. We walked almost the same route through Washington and it was a sobering reminder of how dangerous the roads are. I couldn't stop thinking about his story…  I went on his website wanting to know more. It was an eerie feeling seeing that he had just posted a YouTube video an hour before the accident had happened. I had so many people calling/ texting telling me that they were worried about my safety. 

I ended up hitching a ride with my old youth pastor who happened to be driving through Portland back to Bend and then on to Ontario. I spoke at his church last year while walking through Oregon and ended up speaking again at the youth service that Wednesday evening. I love to share, inspire, and encourage the young people to step outside of themselves and get involved in the world around them. Friday we drove to Ontario and I got picked up by my friend Mary whom I met last year in Redmond. She moved to Boise for college and volunteered to pick us up and take us to my friend Noah's house. Noah used to be my roommate back in the day when we lived in Spokane. After a few days hanging out with him and his family, Mary drove me on to Utah where I left off on my journey last winter.

It was extremely odd getting dropped off at the same spot again. I left there feeling defeated and a little disappointed in myself. It was not how I thought this would go, but I'm back for more. I would like to add "and this time I'm ready" but I don't think you can ever be fully ready for what happens when you walk across America with a goat.

On tour with Spoken

I’m back in the 509! That’s Spokane for those that don’t know. Flew in a few days ago. It's been hard to adjust back to “real life” now that tour is over. I'm preparing for the road again with LeeRoy and can’t wait to get out there! I’ve been buying supplies and yeah, spending way too much money. New shoes, new cell phone and I'm thinking about getting a newer smaller tent.

For the last 6 weeks I have been on tour selling merch for the band “Spoken” and telling as many people about my project (needle2square.com) as I can. We started in Dallas and have driven everywhere from San Antonio to Denver to Vegas to Reno, Missoula, Seattle, and Calgary just to name a few. EVERY SINGLE DAY has been a new adventure. So many great things happened while I was on tour and I'll share some of those stories later but for now, you’ve got to hear this one. It happened about a month ago in a little town way up North in Canada…..

We had the night off so we hit up a bar called Fynnagan’s and asked if we could come and play some acoustic songs. They agreed. Fynnagan’s is a small spot on the edge of town. It’s one of those places that seems packed even if only ten people show up that night. You know… small towns are like that. Matt Baird, the singer, Matt Roberts, the guitar player and I were the only ones that went out. The rest of the boys stayed at the hotel. We took it over that night! We had so much fun. Matt Baird was only planning on playing for an hour and it quickly turned in to 2 1/2 hours. He ended up playing a few songs multiple times because the people couldn’t get enough of his sweet jams. I love to get the good times rolling and hype it up wherever I go. I was talking to everyone who walked in the door, learning everyone’s names, making sure everyone was having a good time! We played some pool and darts and just had a killer time. Matt Baird started playing and after a few songs I yelled at everyone in the bar, "We are all in this together so y'all better sing along!"

Matt started doing cover songs and one of them was Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer”. If you can imagine 20 strangers in this little bar with their hands in the air singing at the top of their lungs. “WWOOOAAAHH, WE’RE HALFWAY THERE. WOAH, LIVIN ON A PRAYER. TAKE MY HAND. WE’LL MAKE IT I SWEAR….LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER” It was like a scene out of a movie.

By now the ice was broken and the conversations began. Matt mentioned that I was walking across America with a goat. People always look at me like I’m crazy and ask why. I tell them about Uzima which leads to talking about my faith. You get the picture.

Most amazing moment of the night... Matt finished his set with a worship song that he wrote. Oh man, it was perfect. No one was talked. Everyone sat in silence as Matt poured out his heart in worship to the Lord in front of perfect strangers that I'm convinced had never seen or heard a worship song before…let alone in a bar. Their bar. You could feel things happening in the room. I wish you could have seen the people soaking up every word he sung. As soon as he put down the guitar people start asking him questions and it was just a perfect…beautiful moment. Those interactions are what this trip is about as well as saving babies in Africa.

I’ve got to say, I miss those guys. That tour was good times.

Alright, back to the walk… I feel like I’m starting to run out of time to get back out there. I'll be back on the road before you know it...and I'm cool with that. I’m ready for more! More blisters…more backpacks….more goat horns and rap tracks. My mom has been talking about coming out to join me for a part of this leg of the trip. We’re thinking this is how it would work best. I'm going to give LeeRoy a break and have him trailored through Colorado and I will run (yes, run) across the complete state. Stop laughing. Sounds crazy, I know, but you just wait. I have a whole list of things I want to do on this walk! Things like run a state, swim a lake, bounce a ball across a state just to name a few. Anyone have any other crazy suggestions for me? Colorado is about 500 miles across so if I run 15 miles in the morning and 15 miles at night I should make it in about 17 days. My current training program of energy drinks and Youtube is really gonna pay off! I can feel it! But for real, having my mom following me in her car carrying my gear will be great.

Oh, one other thing, I signed up for online school and it starts this summer. I know what you’re thinking…why add something like that? The thing is, I need to finish my AA and I figured there is no time like the present! I may fail completely but if I was able to finish my credits and get my AA on this walk that would be a huge accomplishment for me and will probably a story in itself. Haha… pray for me. I’m gonna need it!