I got up and my feet for some reason were hurting bad. I sat back down and pulled my socks off. It seemed as if the last stretch of walking yesterday did some damage and I had a couple bad blisters. One on my right heel, and the other on my left ring toe. The one on my heel was a blister inside an old blister. It was nasty.
So I took some time to put some bandages on the blisters. I packed up after that and went to fill my water jugs at a hose there. Even though my feet were bandaged they still hurt bad when I walked.
I took off down the highway around 9. It was about 17 miles to Tullulah. As I started walking my feet were in a lot of pain. So much that I was grimacing. There was nothing until Tullulah and I knew I had a tough day ahead to make it there.
After a while of walking through the pain it felt a little better but still painful. I walked about 10 miles through it. It hurt bad but I needed to get to Tullulah. So I pushed through the pain and used different methods to keep me from thinking about it. That helped a little.
At the 10 mile mark I pulled off. I needed a break from the heat and my feet needed to rest. It was about 2. So I was under a tree about 5 feet off the road. I laid my jacket down on the weeds and laid on it. I ended up falling asleep there for an hour. I would wake up here and there when a big rig would pass right behind my head. But besides that it was a good rest.
I got up at about 3:30 to keep going. When I stood up the pain of the blisters was worse than before. It hurt so bad I could barely support my weight just standing up. It sucked. So I started walking slow and it HURT! After walking about 10 minutes of 6 inch steps I finally was warming up and getting through the pain. I picked up the pace and continued.
I finally was approaching Tallulah, LA. A truck passed by me and waved. Then about 5 minutes later he came back. He brought me a HUGE plate of BBQ dinner from a family event they were having. It was a big plate. He brought me a grape soda too. Up to this point all I ate all day was a small bag of funyons that another guy pulled off and gave to me around noon or so. So I sat down and ate it all! It was chicken, corn, potato salad, and bread. It was really good. I knew my feet would have to warm up again after the break, but I was so hungry I didn't care.
So after warming up again and walking like I was 95 for a while, I arrived to the town. It was small and pretty cool. I walked to a KFC/taco bell where I wanted to stop and charge up and cool off in the AC. I sat there a while and then went across the way to a church. Again walking was brutal. I got to the church and the only good spot I found to sleep was next to some bushes. It was exposed to the street but it was dark so I was hidden still. I made my bed there around 10.
It was still very hot and very humid. I sprayed bug spray heavily on myself. But the mesquitos were very thick still. So thick I had to crawl all the way in my sleeping bag. It was so hot in there and I was dripping sweat. I was so sweaty it was literally as if a hose of sweat ran over me for a few minutes. My shirt was completely soaked along with the rest of me. I would open my sleeping bag once in a while to let cool air in, and the mesquitos would be biting right away. It was miserable. I didn't sleep at all and it was now 3am. It was basically reapeating that process over and over and never was cool enough to fall asleep.
Eventually I got a towel I was given in MS and put it over my face so at least my head wasn't over heating in my sleeping bag. I left my mouth exposed to breath in cool air, but the mesquitos would continue to bite around my mouth. I slept for maybe 30 minutes when I woke up to sprinklers blasting on me. They were on a timer and set for 4am as that's when I woke up. I grabbed my stuff quickly and went across the street to some office building. I just dropped behind a tree. My feet were KILLING me! And I was dripping sweat off my face and my shirt was stuck to me as it was still drenched. My sleeping bag was also completely wet inside now from collecting my sweat.
I spent the rest of the early morning before the sunrise tossing and turning still battling the mesquitos. I would constantly be adjusting the towel over my head too as it would keep sliding off. It was a terrible night and my body hurt all over.
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