I was confused as I was staring at him about 5 feet away from me as he just caught his stumble and avoided almost falling down. I said a little aggressively "hey what's up man!". He looked back and it was so dark I couldn't really see much more than his outline with slight color variations on the surface of his face from the little moonlight. He said "sorry buddy, I nearly stepped on you!"... I asked "you alright?" trying to find out why he was tripping over me in the middle of a field where I was behind the only bush around. He said "ya I'm ok, sorry about that" and kept walking. I could also see he had a pack on and seemed to be homeless.
I sat up as he disappeared into the trees in the dark at the end of the field. I looked around and really couldn't figure out what direction he came from and from the way he walked off it didn't make sense to why he was near me. There was nothing from that angle where he would be coming from. The truck stop was at the south end of the field. And aside from that nothing else was around. I was pretty confused. I decided to stay up a little while just to make sure he wasn't coming back towards me. It was a very odd occurrence...
Eventually I woke up in the morning after going back to sleep after 30 minutes following the encounter with that guy. When I woke up it was about 8. I sat up and looked around and it was a gloomy and windy morning. I took my time getting up and was exited to take a shower and do laundry.
I headed over to the truck stop and spotted a man sitting out front who looked to be homeless. It was the first person in Amarillo that I had a chance to help.
The day before as I approached Amarillo something came to my mind. I felt something in me that said to help everyone who looks like they need help, even if that meant sharing all I had. So I went up and gave the man $5 and a meal card for chik-filet. What I gave him was shared with me by others at some point. He was very grateful and I felt really good.
I went inside and left my cart in a breezeway right outside the window. I grabbed anything valuable and took it with me. I went in and paid $8 for a shower! That was expensive to me since I usually won't spend that much even for days. But I needed a shower. So I went in and cleaned up. I took my sweet time and stood under the hot running water for as long as I wanted. When I was done I felt I got my $8 worth.
I also paid for laundry which was $1.75. That wasn't bad. I loaded all the clothes I was wearing before the shower, my sleeping bag, my towel I use on my head, and my jacket that is always on the dirt as I use it for a pillow.
I sat in the truck stop all day and was just relaxing. It was great. I had a lot of people in the area that wanted to visit but I was so tired and wanting to just be alone and rest my brain too, so I was pretty discrete about my location this time.
I bought a breakfast burrito and a fountain drink and sat on a booth as my laundry ran. I noticed a guy and girl that came in and right away I had a weird vibe from them. The girl sat at a booth next to me. She was roughly 40ish and the guy looked maybe 20 years older. The chick was pretty beat up looking and the guy was even worse. I could hear the guy around the corner paying for a shower. Then he came and sat next to the girl. I was right next to them and it was quiet so I overheard them. I noticed the way the conversation went that they had just met. They were asking very basic questions about each other and it was obvious they didn't know each other until just then. It was a conversation of two people just meeting.
Then he said to her "you ready?" and then they got up and went into the same shower as I could see down the hall just past the laundry machines. I then realized it was most likely a prostitute or "lot lizard" as the truckers know them by. It was pretty disturbing And the entire demeanor of the girl from the time she walked in just put off a sad energy. It was pretty awkward when they came out and walked past me.
A little later I saw another man come in and he didn't look homeless but there was something about him that seemed unusual. He would walk in and out a lot and was tinkering with his backpack a lot when he would sit down. Throwing things away, cleaning it out. The objects he had in there were interesting. Maps he threw away, snack wrappers, water bottles, business cards, and small souvenirs. I couldn't really get an idea of what he was doing? He didn't seem to be a truck driver, and didn't really fit a homeless persona. As he walked in and out I would keep my eye on him as he passed by my cart each time.
I sat in the truck stop pretty much all day. Finished my laundry, went through my stuff to shed weight. I gave the lady at the counter some random things I cut out of what I was carrying. I gave a toiletry travel pack to them and said to give it to someone of they needed it. I already had all the things in it but was given that from someone a few days before. I also gave her the mosquito repeller I was given to by a cop in Mississippi. There really weren't anymore mosquitos now, thank god, so i got rid of that. I figured a trucker or traveler passing through might enjoy it at some point.
At around 10 I was pretty tired so I headed out back to the same bush I slept behind the night before. I laid down and it was cool and a bit windy. I figured the guy from the last night who tripped over me was long gone by now and it was still a pretty good spot. I passed out at about 11pm.
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