Leighton’s Blog

Lights! Camera! Action! Just did a show at BevCam for Walt’s North Shore Journal about my 200 day trip. We even did a Jeep walkaround outside of the studio. Should air in about a week. #missionforhope #jeeps #jeepers #givingback 

2 months, 2 weeks & 1 day before my departure on June 9th for a 200 day trip across the US that will take me to 30 cities which have highest population of people experiencing homelessness. Planning is going amazingly well and the Jeep communities in each city have some amazing things planned for the Saturdays we will be doing outreach. If you would like to see my route, volunteer, buy me a tank of gas, sponsor a day of outreach, sponsor a leg of my trip or take something off my wish list...this is the place to do it: http://www.MissionForHope.US Plese feel free to share. Thank you! 

Made it home little after 3AM. Round trip was close to 4,000 miles. 13 states. 3 weeks. Thanks for all your prayers, support, encouragement, comments & likes. You were all with every mile. Not only were you a blessing to me, but you were a blessing to over 200 hundred people that needed to feel the love of Christ. Thank you!!! I can’t wait to hit the road again! June is not going to be soon enough! Oh...came home to a couple of big surprises. People blessed me by purchasing items on  Amazon wish list for June’s trip.

Highlights of the last two days on the road. 1 ) Jeep Camp this morning in Hickory Creek Wilderness, PA  2) Last night 3) Selfie - Cooking bacon & cheese omelet 4) Breakfast this morning 5)Cooking dinner on the way to Pennsylvania from Illinois 6) Jeep Camp Wednesday night - Shawnee National Forest - Illinois 7) Horse Selfie - Abbott, Illinois 8) Horses & Hood  I’m heading home today...unfortunately. It was an incredible three weeks. God truly blessed this mission trip.  Thanks for following along, your likes & encouragement! 

Tony rolled up to my Jeep backwards in his wheel chair this morning. He was soaking wet and very distraught because of a pretty rough night in the rain.  Tony is originally from Florida. Tony was in the hospital two days ago because he had a grand mal seizure. He told me wants to get back to Florida and see his father one last time before his dad passes aways. He started to cry. I asked him if he wanted me to pray with him. He said yes. We prayed, we hugged and he wept. Tony liked my Key West decal on the door of my Jeep. I told him it is my photograph and I had the decal printed. He asked me if I had another one. I said “No...but I’ve got a decal for you”. I told him I give these decals when I pray over Jeeps. I asked him if I could pray over his wheelchair. He said yes because his wheelchair in such bad shape. After I prayed he insisted I put a decal on each side of his wheelchair. I gave him a postcard with the prayer I just said. He asked me if later I could call his aunt...

I’ve pretty much finalized my schedule for a 200 day trip in my Jeep to 30 cities in the US which have the highest population of people experiencing homelessness. I would love to do a Jeep Meetup in the cities I will be in. But I would like the meetup to be far more than just a meetup. I’d like to go into the cities with my fellow Jeepers and love on the folks that are experiencing homelessness and the poor. This could be as simple as serving coffee, water, fruit and snacks to the poor out of the back of our Jeeps. And maybe distributing personal hygiene kits. (I’m working on securing some sponsors and/or donors for the kits.) I think I want to call these meetups “Jeepers Meet, Greet & Love!”.  I will be in most cities Thursdays thru Mondays and I think Saturdays would be the best day to do this. (But I am open to other days except Sundays.)   My schedule is below. I’m looking for a group or person(s) who could take the lead on the meetup in each city. If interest...

Before I left President Lincoln’s birthplace I went into the visator center and to ask  some questions about Annual National Park Passes. I told them about my big trip across the country starting in June. They told me they didn’t sell them but they are sold at Mammoth Cave National  Park an hour away. I told them I was actually heading there to camp. They told me I’d better hurry about because they close at 5. They told me there is a fee to get into the park and they thought the campsites were closed.   Well I didn’t like hearing that so I drove down the street and pulled in grocery store parking lot to came up with a new plan. Also needed to do a bit of work on my laptop. I spent about 20 minutes looking at Mammoth Cave National Park on Gaia to see if there were any dirt roads going into park that might have a secluded spot to camp.  I found one dirt road and verified it was a good place to go after looking at the satellite image, the public land map, the pr...

On Monday I hope to be able to leave for Tennessee to volunteer at People Loving Nashville and Bridge Ministry.  Both are non-profit organizations that provide food and services for the homeless in Nashville. This trip is something I’m doing on my own. PM me if you would like to know how you can help. Yes I will be going over a few mountains there and on the way home. This is basically the route I will be taking there and back. 

Today was so warm I made it Jeep decal day. 

I'm a Gaia GPS affiliate now and I can save you a few bucks. Great app to find trails off the beaten path. https://www.gaiagps.com/leighton

So while I was in the woods of Florida, I found a great place on my Jeep to transport trash, bags from my portable toilet or smelly boots. Yes I know about the Trasharoo. I owned one for a day. Too big and covered the logo on my spare cover.  Instagram http://bit.ly/2B6CNpj

Some people have asked which route I took to Key West and which way did I come home. And why did you drive so many miles and why did it take so long? Click on the link below to see my route and the photos I took along the way. https://www.gaiagps.com/public/KM9MrqNqcNUNstspDFtEJRBZ

When I left Key West on Monday my goal was to drive on as many beaches as I could on my way home to Massachusetts. A little bit of challenge because of the shut down. I did manage to drive on the beach at Amelia Island State Park, Cape  Hatteras National Sea Shore, Corolla, NC and Barnegat Light, NJ.

Here are a few photos of some of the animals I photographed while I was overlanding the last two weeks to Key West and back home to Maasachusetts. These images were taken with a real camera so it took some time when I got back to download and edit the images. Enjoy!