I stretched out about 10 minutes and then left. Right away my knees were sore. My shoes were all but completely worn out. The soles were so worn down my feet were crooked as opposed to the flat ground. Not a good thing for your knees.
So I walked very easy. It was mostly downhill now. But downhill seems harder on my knees and it feels like there's more pressure. I walked very slow as I winded down the mountain.
I finally popped out to an opening between mountains where I could look down the hills ahead and see Albeqeurque. It was a good feeling. I dropped down a few more miles and was on the edge of town, pretty nice area.
My knees were needing a break and possibly the rest of the day off. Again, I had no reason to push as I would have good shoes soon.
So I finished the 13 miles and stopped at a McDonald's about a half mile into town. It was the route 66 that I was on and I would take that all the way through town.
I was surprised when I got there to see so many tweaks roaming around. Mostly because the area was nice. But there were some really strung out people.
When I came to McDonald there was a lady outside with one leg on crutches. I gave here a couple coupons and she was happy. I also noticed two little kids standing outside by the door. I didn't think much of it and I went inside.
When I went in and sat down my knees were so relieved. I went up and used a coupon for a hamburger. I was real hungry. As I sat there I kept seeing the kids outside talk to each person walking in. I was wondering what they were doing? They didnt talk to me, maybe since I'm homeless. I went out and asked what they were doing out there? When I saw them close I noticed their noses peeling from burned skin. One of the boys replied "were trying to get money for lunch". Then I asked them why they don't eat food at their home or have their mom buy food for them? And he said "were low on money right now so our mom said to ask people for change and use the money to buy food". I was SHOCKED!! It upset me! I told the boys to come inside. I asked them if they like cheeseburgers? So I ended up buying them each a mcdouble and used two iced cream coupons to get them desert too. They were so nice and thankful. It was really sad that they had to beg for change and their mom couldn't support them. It really bothered me for a while even after they said thanks and left.
After they took off and while I was still dealing with the frustration, I had someone who wanted to come visit me. It was a girl who was visiting her parents in town. She came with her family and they brought me a bag of snacks and $10. I was very thankful.
I stayed there at the McDonald's for the rest of the day and rested. I kept a close watch on my stuff outside the window from where I sat. The people roaming outside we're really suspicious looking.
At about 9:30 I also had a big visit! It was the first person I have seen in 129 days that I knew before I started. A buddy from high school that I played baseball with had recently moved here and I had no clue. He contacted me and wanted to come say hi. He wanted to bring me food but I told him NO WAY! I have made it all the way here with only help from strangers and nobody I knew, so I told him to just come say hi! So him and his girlfriend did. We talked for about 45 minutes and it was cool to see a familiar face!
So I left McDonald's around 10:00pm. I walked a half mile south where there was a park I spotted on my GPS. It was next to a housing complex that seemed nice. So I walked into the park and there was nobody there. I found a tree along a fence that looked pretty hidden. So I strolled over to it and made my bed behind it. It was a good spot.
I laid down for about 10 minutes when....BANG!!!! Really loud!!! It came from the housing track!! I laid there and locked my iPod to close any light or anything to cause me to be seen. Then I heard yelling very close, and what sounded like someone jumping the chain link fence about 100 yards down from me. It was on the other side of the bushes so I couldn't see anything. But I was worried since if someone was trying to hide they might be in the dark hiding spot like I was, and possibly coming through as hidden as possible. I stayed there and didn't move. I stayed as alert as I could.
After another 5 minutes I heard a crazy cry and yell. It sounded pretty intense and I had a bad feeling. I had no clue what was going on but I wasn't moving. I laid there for the next half hour and heard some strange stuff, but it eventually went away and was dead silent. My spot was pretty hidden still and I decided to still stay there. I tucked up under the tree a little more and eventually fell asleep around 12:30am.
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