Day 3 - June 29 - Friday
This walk day should be called, “police day!” From the moment the walkers were ready to start marching, they were delayed by the presence of local police officers. Apparently, some individuals had reported an odd group of people gathering in their neighborhood park. The police arrived to check it out.

After a long discussion with Larry, it was determined that the police were not informed by other law enforcement agencies of the walk. Eventually, not only did the police permit us to walk and take great interest in the Tibet-China conflict, they also passed their word on to other agencies along the day’s route to watch out for us. This resulted in a police escort involving four different municipalities.

While this slowed down the walk a bit, it also increased the walk’s visibility and credibility. The walkers felt honored to be treated in such a fashion by the various police forces.

During the course of this day, the walkers interacted with many, many pedestrians giving them informational flyers and talking about Tibet.

Today marked the beginning of a couple of walkers experiencing blisters on their feet and toes and others feeling cramps and pains in their legs. No one, however, complained.

The walkers covered slightly more than 11 miles today even though they were expected to walk only 10 miles. Perhaps the cool weather had something to do with this!

Yet another Unitarian Universalist Church housed the walkers today. This time, it was the Congregation of Princeton.

At about 11:45pm, we received a call from a Tibetan in India thanking the walkers for marching to secure independence.

It should be mentioned that this is a highly responsible group of walkers including the young teenagers. Many take the initiative to perform various chores like cooking, cleaning, and managing technical equipment. Further, all the walkers have been able to contend with the rigorous, sometimes grueling daily schedule. Each day the walkers rise at 6am, pack their belongings, eat breakfast, and leave for the walk location at 7:30am. Each day typically ends around 11pm.