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CAD Walk 2012: Colorado to Kansas: Transitioning

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We’ve been publishing a series of posts from the DREAMers of the Campaign for an American DREAM.  Last month, they set off from San Francisco to begin a 3,000-mile, 8-month+ walk to Washington, DC to call attention to the DREAM Act and the need for immigration reform.

Today’s post is from Nicolas Gonzalez, a DREAMer from Chicago, Illinois. 

Learn more about the Campaign for an American DREAM here, and follow them on Twitter at @CADWalk2012.


The days are getting longer with the summer solstice right around the corner.  We’re here in Burlington Colorado,  waiting at the “Welcoming Center” only 17 miles from the border of our 5th state. We’re excited to be back on the road as we bring the blessings of all those who have been supporting Campaign for the American Dream (CAD) and all those whom we talked to outside the Obama for America office as the hunger strike was happening. The unity that was felt there was strong, as many different people gathered every night holding a candle or praying in the circle. The DREAMers who participated in the action, Veronica and Javier, sat on the other side of the glass listening in through a phone speaker with an American flag hanging right above them. They listened to people who supported them from before the action and all the new people that came day after day to drop off donations and tap on the window.

The experience is still in my mind as we continue to move on East.

There is a lot of excitement as we reach the Central time zone — not only because we are getting closer to Chicago but because its been a very transformative experience.  It feels like we have been walking for a year now, but we are only a little over our three month mark. With Veronica now healthy, we are ready to take off and see what is next.  She learned a lot through this experience and we’re just hoping that she’ll begin eating her vegetables.

One week later

These past few days have been incredibly hot, with temperatures over 100 degrees.  The expansive fields of corn and wheat begin to look like an M.C. Escher drawn in all directions during the day and like a Vincent Van Gogh “Starry Night” painting at night.  Raymi and I laid down on top of the RV last night and it was beautiful; I mentioned how before the walk began, I would daydream about how it would be. I dreamt of that precise moment: just laying there watching all the stars and moon with the dark shadows of trees in the horizon.

The days are now going to begin getting shorter and we can’t believe we are halfway through this amazing journey across the country.