Shanna Bitzan discovered The Walker on the road
just as I crossed under Interstate 94 near Evansville.

She put on the brakes in the middle of the highway.
The truck behind swerved to the right onto the shoulder
to keep rolling down the lane.

Shanna drove me to Alexandria and
showed me photos of a host of family and friends en route.

Ms. Bitzan is just now getting ready to go to college,
I think in Fergus Falls. She wants to be a psychiatrist.

Shanna works in Elbow Lake and Melby.

Shanna had called in sick the day of our meeting,
something she never does. She must have known somehow
that she was about to meet a mysterious man on the Way East.

Jillian Becker, of Kimball,
was my next travel benefactor.

She saw this fellow trudging east of Saint Cloud with my flag,
was concerned for the lone traveler and offered me a ride.

I took a short ride toward Princeton, MN.

Jillian is a junior at the University of Minnesota,
studying marketing and involved in the FFA.

She will be traveling with the FFA this winter
to the Republic of Germany.

Arriving in Princeton a little early because of my ride,
I took a rest at the local Amoco gas station/convenience shop.

I met three bright young ladies working there.
Jenna and Beth are shown here. (Emily is in another photo.)

They were so taken by my walking excursion
that they had to have their picture taken
with Fannie the Flag.

Jenna is just now entering college.
Beth and Emily are finishing high school.

I took this photo as I passed near the Interstate
across from Collegeville.

It seems to speak for itself.