*FRI Jul 11* It was only a 15-mile day so we didn’t have wake-up until 5 AM. We circled up and left Holdrege by about 7:15. It was cloudy and cool. I rode HWY 34 to Axtel, NE. our campsite was the Family Center at the Mosaic Bethpage Village. The Family Center was complete with kitchen, meeting rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms. It’s been a long time since I've had the opportunity to use a bathtub. And I had an opportunity to sleep indoors on a regular mattress. Great! Logistics and Coordination had a meeting at 3 PM. Sarah Spain is in charge and is anticipating a shift (on July 20) from being our overall March coordinator, to being our Iowa March coordinator. Sarah created an agenda for the meeting, printed out copies and passed it around. This is a first! And we need to do more of this. After the Logistics meeting there was a meeting on the financing of the March. It was indicated that the issue was trust. It didn’t make sense to me. I suspect that those who haven’t raised their money for the March don’t trust themselves and are projecting their distrust to Ed, our leader. We had dinner and dispersed. It was uncomfortable outside, but so well air-conditioned that it was uncomfortable inside! Since we used their kitchen and the March tomorrow is only 15 miles we didn’t plan to get up until 5 AM. *SAT Jul 12* We left from Axtell, NE on what turned into washboard gravel road. The Marching directions didn’t indicate that it would be gravel. If I had known I could/should have found an alternative on the highway. I bicycled 7 miles before I got on RD 44 and went to Kearney, NE. Coming north I crossed over I-80. It made me feel like I’m back in my territory. The 1stUnited Methodist Church let us stay in their gym so we didn’t have to set up tents. And the kitchen was attached to the gym so we didn’t have to set up our kitchen. The hike must have been longer than the Marchers had anticipated, or the gravel slowed them down. People arrived late and had to take naps so there were no afternoon meetings. We hosted 3 Nebraskans at dinner. They gave us background info on the work they’ve been doing to monitor the progress of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. They’ve spent time and money to resist its progress. As time progresses KXL has been more deceptive in its maneuvers. They have to identify each new deception and then proceed to counteract it. Kathy was in bed all afternoon and evening. Given her symptoms she judges that she has the flu. Ed Fallon put up his tent early afternoon and slept all afternoon and evening in his tent. The next morning he chose to stay in his tent as we prepared to leave. So he may have the flu also. After the evening conversation about the KXL pipeline with our guests, people attended to their own needs and got ready for bed. A small group of Marchers chose to do a Moonlight Walk. They left about 11 PM and Marched 14 miles to our next campsite at David Park, in Gibbon, NE. -- Peace, David