Waaaaaaaaay back in one of my first entries I talked about a second grade class I was going to be pen pals with while on trail. After that I didn't write much about them again, but I did follow through and send letters and postcards to the kids. They were wonderful and fun and writing to them gave a sense of purpose to my trip. I wasn't just out for a long walk, I was broadening the kids' horizons. I talked to them about weather, geography, pollution, diet, and exercise but the thing that most caught their attention was my bear encounter in North Carolina. In Maine I got a batch of letters from the class. Several, like Alina said things like "It was funny when the bear ate your food." I'm glad they enjoyed it. Diego and others asked about other animals I had seen. The animals were big with them. Others were taken with my shaved head. Yonna asked me if it grew back. Many of the kids, like Vivianna, were concerned about me. She congratulated me on being almost done but worried because "You have to walk back so you have a long journey ahead of you." Others, like Estefany, worried about the cold weather on the trail. Having lived their lives in Vegas, New England probably sounds terribly cold to them. Ivana was worried that snakes might get my food as well as bears. Gabriela asked if people spoke different languages on the trail and she is right, they did. I met Germans, French-Canadians, Koreans, and one Romanian. All of the kids thanked me for visiting their class and sending them letters. They have moved on to third grade now so my teacher friend is no longer their teacher. I sent her news of my finishing the trail anyway and maybe she will let them know. They are all great kids with real curiosity about the world. They were polite and attentive when I visited and they seemed really interested in what I was doing. Knowing they were paying attention motivated me. I never seriously thought about leaving the trail and one reason is that I was unwilling to tell the second graders that I quit. I wish them all the best.