Day 26

        I heard Tom coming down the stairs and I woke up. It was around 10am. I slept like a champ and the couch was really comfortable. When I woke up I brushed my teeth in the bathroom. I asked Tom if he watched the whole movie. He said it was boring so he went to bed too. 
       He went and grabbed me a bottle of gold bon he had and told me to take it with me. I told him thanks but it was big and my pack was full. I told him I would use some though. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth then put some of it on. That stuff is amazing! It's like icy hot and baby powder mixed and has a tingly feeling to it that feels relieving. I decided to stuff it in my bag and made room.
        He asked where I wanted him to take me and I said back downtown to the gas station would be fine. So we jumped in his car to head over there. We came to a stoplight where you can go north or south and we were in the lane to head south back to the downtown area. This stoplight didn't seem like anything special but later I realized it actually changed the day. We sat there in the lane for about 2 or 3 minutes. No green light. We waited and waited and Tom was confused. I told him to try and back up a little, but still no green. So he said he would just turn right (north) and make a u-turn to go back the other way (south). So he went right. He said he had never even gone that way since he moved there. We drive north but there was no place to make a u-turn. Then we came up to the overpass of the 5. All of a sudden he said "you wanna just take a road trip?!?" I paused for a second then looked over and said "if your down I'm down!". He said "screw it! Let's head north!". I was pretty pumped. 
       He had never been north of redding and actually was wanting to check it out. He had a Tom Tom navigation system and I looked up the towns north. He said he wanted to drive a loop and hit the California coast on the way home. So I looked up a route where he would go as far north as Medford Oregon. He said he could drop me there. I was really exited and couldn't believe my luck.
        So we road tripped. It was really fun. We talked more about our hometowns and growing up. He loved his home state of Minnesota and the small town he grew up in. He said he always wanted to get out of there his whole life and now he can't wait to get back. Tom also said he was happy he was doing something for the weekend and really needed it after working so much lately. 
         We stopped in the town of "weed" CA. It was a small town but had a souvenir shop that was packed! It was pretty funny. All kinds of "weed" stuff. Everything you could think of. Tom bought a couple shirts there.
         We drove about 2 hours and into Oregon. We finally came to Medford. There was a Starbucks right off the freeway where we stopped. We went in and Tom got a coffee. We took a picture then tom was gonna hit the road. He said it was cool to meet me and good luck. I told him thanks for everything and that I was real exited to be up in Oregon. We shook hands and he left towards the coast and back down south to California.
        I went into Starbucks and did my thing and wrote. I couldn't believe I got so far north. I stayed in Starbucks a few hours. A group of church teens came in and sat next me. They were having a worship meeting of some sort. They were right there so I heard pretty much all of their discussion. To be honest it was kind of weird and the things they talked about were almost colt like. The way the leaders answered questions that the kids had didn't make sense and were very close minded. I was really annoyed and a few times almost wanted to butt in. But it wasn't my place. I honestly felt like it was more of a brainwash type teaching rather than being real. Even the kids at times seemed confused with what the leaders would tell them. I felt bad for them. They would more less tell the kids how to live and what was wrong with things they did rather than listen and really support them through it. Or in other words seemed to almost power trip rather than encourage them to walk their own walk. Like they were micro managing their lives. I just think being more open minded about things is a better approach. I have learned how god works just as hard in places you wouldn't expect, like the streets where I have been experiencing it and learning through others out here too. But I had to check myself and just mind my own business. Maybe people disagree with me, those are just my honest thoughts. I just had a bad vibe from them. 
        I left Starbucks a little later and walked towards a park nearby. The park was really nice and I felt good about staying there that night. I scoped it out and found where I would sleep. 
      I headed back to a shopping center where there was a little Caesars. I was going to see if I could get some food there. I hadn't eaten all day and was really hungry. I talked to a little Caesars worker that was outside on his break and he said he would make sure to bring a pizza out for me. So I was going to wait there til they close. 
       I was sitting there a while when a Safeway worker came out and was taking his lunch. He was in his car next to me with his window down. I saw some people throwing glass bottles into a box shaped and was wondering what they were doing. I kept looking and trying to figure it out but I couldn't. I asked the Safeway employee if he knew what they were doing. He said it was a recycling box that prints a receipt to get a cash redemption in Safeway. He then said "you must not be from around here huh?". And I told him no. He asked where I was from and I told him. Then he asked where I was headed and why. And I told him the story. He told me he really appreciates what I'm doing. He said when he was growing up he supported his family by working and buying food. At 15 he had a stroke and lost movement of the left side of his body. He had to fight through that and it was a humbling experience. He learned a lot of lessons then. He fought threw it and now is at 100%. His name was KC. He was a real nice guy. He gave me half a bag of beef jerky and went back to work.
         At about 10:15 the guy from little Caesars brought me a pizza. And another employee came out with him and gave me a few bucks. I told them they were awesome and thanks! They said no problem and good luck. I got a picture of them.
        As I started to eat some pizza KC came back out for his break. I offered him pizza but he didn't want any. He sat next to me on the curb and we talked a bit more. He was mid 30's and had a couple kids. He said if he didn't he would fir sure go on a journey like mine. I told him a couple stories of miracles I have experienced and he loved them. He told me I will be happy I did this. He said he would pray for me and to keep my eye on the prize. And not to let anyone bring me down. He told me he sensed that I have a great spirit and to keep doing it. I was thankful and he went back to work.
       I left to the park and packed 4 slices of pizza in a grocery bag and into my backpack. I got to the park and made my bed. There were a few fireworks going off through the night. I listened to some George strait and went to bed next to a tree at around 11:30pm.