I woke up around 9:15. I got up and rolled up my bed. I went inside the store and it was the same girl from the night before. When I walked in it smelled like dead animal bad! She was spreading powder and other freshening products to get rid of the smell. They had an adult toys rep coming in later that day and didn't want the store to smell at all.
I went back to the anal section and plugged in at the outlet. I was gonna have to wait there until the lady showed up sometime that day with my stuff to fix my cart. (just realizing this journal sounds pretty perverted so far).
So I just hungout all day waiting around. At about 1pm the lady showed up. She brought me a new tire, 2 tubes, slime, and a hand pump. The products cost me $50 and I gave her $60 since she went out of her way to help and so that I wasn't taking a handout. It was only fair. I was still very thankful though.
I went right out and fixed my tire. The front tire was still low so I pumped it up but it would leak as I pumped it and stay only part way inflated. So I changed that tube as well. The back tire that I changed (tube & tire) was damaged. The sidewall was coming apart and that was why it kept slipping off the rim. It was a good thing I tested my cart now with all the water weight to be sure it can handle it.
After I fixed it all I went inside to grab my things that were still charging. I said thanks to them and goodbye. It was about 2 by the time I was on the road, and I was gonna go about 14 miles to get to Henrietta TX. I started walking and it was extremely hot! It was 103 degrees out. I was constantly having to drink water as my body was sweating it out right away. It was so hot and very tough to keep moving. My water heated up so hot that it burned my throat when I drank it. But I had to keep drinking.
I walked about 5 miles when a van pulled off and asked if I was ok? I said yes and they couldn't believe I was walking out here in the middle of a long stretch in the heat. They asked if I needed anything but I said no thanks. It was really cool to have them check on me though.
About an hour later a cop pulled over. When he got out I noticed it was the same cop from the day before. I was hoping he was going to be cool. He said he had a call that I was pushing a baby down the highway in the heat and he laughed. He said he thought it was gonna be me when he got here. He was really cool. We talked a bit about what I'm doing and then he offered me cold water. I didn't take it only because I'm trying to get used to the conditions I will be up against soon in the bare dessert with no town for over 100 miles. I told him that and he said good idea. He shook my hand and said good luck and sorry about the day before. That was cool.
All of a sudden as I started walking the wind picked up. It felt great. Then the cloud cover came in and blocked the sun. All of a sudden the brutal heat was gone. It was cool and windy. The wind picked up more and more. Then suddenly it was really heavy. It was so strong it was pushing my cart up a slope so fast I had to use the break moving uphill. Thank god it wasn't against me. I had to strap my sleeping bag in and tuck my jacket away. If anything would have been caught in the wind, it would have been gone. It was very strong!
I walked all the way up to Henrietta and got there at about 6pm. Just as I was exiting to get off the 287 a car pulled over on the frontage road and walked through the grass and out to me. They had waters and a hat. They came out and said they were the parents of the guy that drove the day before to come see me. They were heading south from Wichita Falls and tracked me down! That was great. We talked a bit and they had some great questions about the walk. They gave me cold waters and $20 to help me out. It was great to meet them and to have their help!
So after they left I got off the exit. My gps showed there was a Mexican restaurant right off the exit. I was gonna stop there and order something cheap and eat a bunch of chips and salsa. But they were closed. It looked like they recently closed for good. There was nothing else around there except a junk yard next to it. It was very dead and nothing around.
I walked behind the closed restaurant and found an outlet. And it worked! So I decided I would sleep there for the night. I made my bed up on the deck next to the back door and the outlet. I ate some crackers for dinner and that was all I had eaten all day. The bugs there were EXTREMELY thick! They were all over! I zipped up my sleeping bag to sleep that night but they still crawled in my hair all night.
I fell asleep around 11:30. I wanted an early start the next day to avoid the late day heat if I could. I didn't sleep well that night from the hard surface and the bugs constantly waking me up.
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