After bandaging my foot I packed all my stuff. As I was packing up I saw some people walking on the track. They didn't look to see me and I wondered how long they were there for. Oh well. I was all packed and ready to roll.
I got back onto the frontage road and slowly started walking as my feet and ankles were stiff. I walked to the end of the village there and then the frontage road dropped down into a little valley around mountains. It was really pretty!
I walked about 5 miles when I saw an exit off the 40 with some stuff. As I got close I saw there was a McDonald. I wanted to stop there to charge my things and write some journals. It's been challenging to write these when I don't have a good spot to do it. Even though McDonald isn't great, it's better than under a loud bridge.
I got close to the exit when I saw a chord on the road. When I got close it was the same chord I use to charge my Internet device. I picked it up and plugged it into the solar panel and it worked! So I packed it for a spare.
I got to the McDonalds and there was another surprise. There was a laundromat right next to it! So I decided to take a long break for the day. I could bathe in the laundromat bathroom, do my laundry, and write.
First thing I did was go to the laundromat. I used the bathroom and stripped naked and bathed. I put my spare shorts on and my reflective vest since I didn't have a clean spare shirt. It felt amazing and was the first time I bathed (aside from wet wipes) in 39 days!
I sat there and did my laundry while I plugged in to charge up and write. After the laundry was done I switched my clothes back. I felt so good and now my sleeping bag was clean, my jacket was clean (which is my pillow at night). It was a great feeling. I needed that.
I sat in McDonald's and ordered some dollar menu stuff and a drink that came to $4 and some change. The laundry was a bit pricy also, about $6. So spending $10 out of the $38 I had now left me with $28 total.
I stayed there for a while until about 5pm. I got there around 12, so about 5 hours. I was about 8 miles on at that point for the day and wanted to get a little further before dark. So I got on the road again after a productive break.
I headed back onto the 40 since the frontage road veered north from there a ways. I walked the 40 until about 8pm when the sun was setting. I didn't find a great spot to sleep but there was a train bridge I came to where it was clear and clean.
I made my bed under the bridge and on the shoulder of the 40 right on the outside of a barrier. It was so loud that it was a big challenge to relax. The big rigs shook the ground and were only about 6 feet from where I laid on the concrete. Also the train went by every 20 minutes and that was really loud.
I tried sleeping for a while but couldn't because of the noise. So eventually I got up and needed to make some kind of ear cover for the noise. I took some socks in my back pack and cut little pieces off with my knife. I rolled them up tight and shoved them in my ears. Then I took small squares of duct tape and tapes them over it also. It actually worked pretty good! I fell asleep around 11pm.
I woke up hearing loud yelling and cussing. There were no houses or anything around the area so it was a little out of place? I was awake and then heard cussing and what sounded like a drunk person or people arguing.. Then they got closer! Really close! And then I heard yelling again. I was wondering if they were gonna try and sleep where I was or something. It had to be travelers? Who else would be here? And what time is it? It seems late? Then again I heard yelling and it was VERY close. I popped up on my knees while drawing my knife just incase. I didn't open it but it was clinched in my hand tight. Then finally I saw two men walking down the hill side from the railroad. They walked down the hill and into the shoulder of the 40 going east. They must have walked on the train tracks a ways and then dropped down there. I was happy they passed. They sounded like it might have been an uncomfortable encounter.
I laid there a while awake thinking they might come back and decide to sleep there. I looked at my iPod and it was 3:45am. Very unexpected little surprise that got my heart going. I laid there about an hour before I felt ok to go back to sleep.
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