2016 Crossing on the 135 Mile Route

On Dec 16th 2016 Gina and I started the first run/walk crossing of the El Camino de Lavaca Pilgrimage Route, the 135 mile version. We stayed with our host the Lampley's in Koerth. Ms. Lampley took us over to the church about 0700 so we could start. We stamped our first page in the passport book, said our goodbyes, as Ms. Lampley wished us well.

The first few hours went well. We took our time and chatted away. The weather was overcast with some drizzling rain, but thankfully it was not very cold. We made our way towards Hope from Koerth and crossed Hwy 77. There used to be a store opened where we crossed the highway but unfortunately it has been closed for probably fifteen years. We sat on the steps of the old store and had a few snacks from our pack. As we made our way to Ezzell, we saw some longhorn cows.

About the time we made our way back to FM531, we ran into an old friend Keith who was out on a job with GVEC.

From the Ezzell School, we made our way towards Hallettsville via CR12 which turns into FM2616 along the east bank of the Lavaca River. Another buddy Craig showed up and met us for a few miles of running and walking. We reached Hallettsville at about 4:30 in the afternoon and stamped our passport book.

In Hallettsville, Hank and Chelsey met us and picked us up a hamburger and fries.

We continued on into the night and made it out to St. Mary's Catholic church.

The first day ended for us at the Lutheran Church in Witting where CR277, FM340, and FM1295 intersect. Hank took us back to Koerth to sleep and the next morning we picked back up at the Lutheran church and made our way to St. Anthony's Cemetery near Breaslu.

The weather today was much more pleasant than Friday. Onward we continued to Moravia where we met up with Vincent who drove out from San Antonio to hike a bit with us. Unfortunately the store was closed, but we continued on to St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in St. John.

In 2016, the Pilgrimage route was wholly contained in Lavaca county, so once we left St. John, we made our way to County Line road towards Moulton. Another friend of ours Fawn had been following us on Facebook and met us with some Shiners and french fries from Dairy Queen.

We arrived in Moulton around dark and Hank came back out to meet us. He brought some water and took Vincent to Moravia to pick up his truck. Gina and I continued to Old Moulton where we planned to stop for the day. A big Texas cold front blew in about the time we reached Old Moulton. Real Cold! We jumped in with Hank and stopped in at the Olde Moulton Bank for a round of beers.

We started out again from Old Moulton Sunday morning, in the freezing cold. And I do mean freezing. We made our way to Shiner.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner is beautiful and provide a brief respite from the wind as we stopped in to admire it's beauty. From Shiner we made our way to Midway and stopped at the old store.

Leaving Midway, we headed to Yoakum, my hometown. We saw the memorial to the cattle drivers and also stopped at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

After Yoakum, with 20 miles left to go. We headed towards Sweet Home. Being our 3rd day out we were tired and wanted to get this route done. We passed by The Queen of Peace Catholic Church and Corinth Missionary Baptist Church. And the post office, because, how often do you get to pass through a town called "Sweet Home"?