Dennis Kinch, who’s walking Route 66 for the National Pain Foundation, has crossed over the 1,000-mile mark and stands at 1,017 miles at Groom, Texas, according to his Web site. About another 100 miles, and he’ll be at the halfway point.

Rick and Jane McKinney, the Christian couple that is walking east on much of Route 66 in their Walk to Reclaim America project, updated their Internet site Friday, after beginning their trek New Year’s Day in Santa Monica.

They are finding out that walking the Mother Road is … ahem … no walk in the park.

We walked through hard, driving rains on Monday. Walked straight into 50 mph winds yesterday and today. Climbed from 0 - 4000 feet today and need to walk 20 more miles tomorrow to reach our goal for the week. We have blisters on top of blisters and are so tired we can hardly see straight.

And … we wouldn’t trade places with anybody in the world. Why, because we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Yesterday when the wind was blowing so hard we could hardly stand up and the sand and grit was actually stinging us like bees, we were singing hymns and choruses, clapping, raising our hands, and laughing at the enemy. At times we had to stop and I had to wrap my arms around Jane to protect her from the “sandy spray” from passing trucks and we knew that we were winning through the precious blood of Jesus.

Please lift us up. This is the hardest thing we have ever done. We thought we were prepared in every way, but the truth is nothing could have prepared us for this. The only thing that will sustain us is the strength of the Lord brought on by the prayers of His people.

So they’re keeping their chins up. At least they’ll be heading into the Mojave Desert during the cool season.

Steve Vaught of thefatmanwalking.com departed Route 66 after walking through the St. Louis area and now is strolling on U.S. 40 in central Illinois. He’s dealt with bad weather, a close shave with a concrete truck, and a gentleman who recently was released from a psychiatric hospital.

He’s at 320 pounds, which is about 80 fewer than when he started his trek, and he’s optimistic about losing more weight because his eating habits have improved and he’s sticking with it. You can read about his latest adventures here on the Jan. 5 entry.