Day 3

So when I woke up yesterday (next to freeway in concord) I was ready to get the he'll out of there! My body was uphill so me head was right at the top of the bushes. I lifted my head up just enough to see over them and it was jam packed traffic at the intersection of sun valley / willow pass where I bedded. The night before there were no cars there. I knew when I sat or stood up all the cars would easily see me. I had no free slot of time to het out. Too many cars were stopped at all times so I was screwed. The worst thing was I still had to shake out my sleeping bag and blanket and then roll them up. Mind you my sleeping bag is red, and big. After a few minutes dreading it I finally decided I had to do it. If I drug my stuff out to the sidewalk and did it there it would only be worse... I put my blanket inside my sleeping bag and need to roll it up tightly so the elastic fits over both, it is only made to fit over the bag. So I started shaking out my bag and blanket then tried rolling them up but the hill was too steep and I couldn't get a tight enough roll. I needed level ground. There was a spot more level but I had to climb higher up the hill whichaaq meant being more visible to the cars. At this point I was frustrated so I just went for it. There I was up on a hill waving a big red sleeping bag in the air with about 40 cars at stoplights looking at me. I told  myself not to look at them but did anyways and instantly regretted it. Oh ya and my jacket is also red and stands out. I finally rolled the sucker up tight enough and wrapped it and booked it off the hill and out of the bushes. I felt like I was on a stage and got boo'd off by people honking their horns at me heckling. I hurried to get out of there. I was thinking it's extremely unlikely I will ever meet or even see anyone from there, ever. But if I do I will laugh at it along with them... I walked down a busy street for about 45 minutes before a for truck made a u turn in front of me and pulled over asking if I wanted a ride north? I said very energetically "yeah!" and asked where they were headed? They were going back home up to fairfield. I was looking at a map the day before and actually thought Fairfield or Vacaville would be good places to stop for a day on my way north. Worked out well and got me over the Benicia bridge also. The two men were Paul and Paul, father and son who worked in landscaping and hauling. Their truck had plywood guards around the bed and was obviously used for their business. They were off work for the day and in concord picking up a navigation system off craigslist. As we drove towards Fairfield they played some good music and had a clean sounding system in their truck. They dropped me off at Starbucks next to the Westfield mall. When they dropped me the father mentioned he always though about doing something likeI'm doing but never did. I have been hearing that a lot lately. I got a picture of Paul jr who was driving the truck. (picture above with tan truck in background)...the rest of the day I tried to take it easy to let my blister and knee rest. I was talking to a girl in Starbucks who asked where I was going. She was a new hire there and was sitting next to me in the lobby reading through company handbooks ect. She asked all the worst possible questions about personal hygiene which made me really feel like I needed to bathe and wash my clothes  soon. She was very nice and open about the reality of my limited cleaning. We talked for a while and she said goodluck. After that I decided to look for a laundromat near the area along with a couple other things. I needed new cereal bars because all I have are fiber one bars. Those are like the easy button at circuit city for when u wantto dump and they give u gas. Bad idea to pack only those as my food supply while backpacking. Right down the street was a laundromat, grocery outlet, and goodwill all together. So I decided it's time to clean up and get a few cheap things. I went to grocery outlet and for 8.95 bought: bag of trail mix, bag of goldfish, 6 cereal bars, small body wash, small shampoo, and deoderant. They have great deals there. I went to the laundromat next and bathed in the bathroom. I scrubbed the pits bits and tits and washed myself with a clean shirt I had then just washed that too. During the time of waiting for my laundry I picked out foxtails from my blanket from the night before for at least an hour and maybe got a quarter of them out. Laundry coated me 5.75. After laundry I left feeling fresh and clean and way better. I went to goodwill and bought a plain yellow hat to write the blog page website on and a pair of sun glasses because I forgot mine at my cousins and don't want to squint in the sun so much. I spent 4.58 there. When I left there it was about 6pm and I wanted to find a place to crash earlier so I wasn't stuck being uncomfortable or embarrassed when I would wake up. I headed back to the mall to check out a park across the street. On the way back a Hispanic man on a bike stopped next to me and asked where I was going. He told me he just came from a shelter a few blocks down but it was fille for the night, but he was heading across town to a church that let's homeless people sleep inside and he could get me in to stay there if I wanted to. He was a very nice man probably around late 30's. I thought about it but it was way across town where I would have to walk there and back tomorrow. And I wanted to rest my knee and blister the rest of the day so I told him no thanks. He also said monday through Friday they feed the homeless near the mall in the mornings but knew by Monday I would be further north. I told him thanks for the offer but I would figure something out near the mall and freeway. I should have taken a picture of him but forgot. He said he will pray fir me and he left riding. I yelled to him "thank you!" I got to the park I was wanting to check out and I found the coolest spot to sleep. There was a stone wall dividing the park and houses, I found a part of the wall that had a tree draped over the wall and the branches were so thick you couldn't even see through it. It was all blocked off except for a small hole enough to crawl through at one of the ends. Inside it was clean and no weeds or branches congested the space. It was roughly the size of a 10x10 room but in the shape of a half-moon. We have all been kids and tryst me when I say this, most awesome natural fort ever! I knew that was where I was crashing that night. There was still daylight left and I wasn't ready to sleep so I went across the street back to Starbucks to use the Internet and hangout for a while. I stayed there til they closed at 11. The staff were very friendly and asking questions. They were very nice and said bye to me when I left. I got to my "fort" and made my bed ( on perfectly level ground!). I said a prayer to please not have a kid in the morning come to his favorite fort and find a homeless man in a red sleeping bag there and I went to bed. That would ruin the spot for him forever. I slept like a baby last night.


Because of popular demand anyone who wants to send donations this is the address, 2600 loguat ave. Patterson CA 95363