When he came up to me he asked how I slept. He seemed very harmless and friendly. He looked Mexican and was tall and slender. Older man with dark hair. I told him I slept ok. He said he slept behind a truck stop down the road and was headed to Albeqeurque New Mexico. He offered me a water but I told him I had a stock of water. He was cool. He said good luck and took off. I was half asleep and looked like a zombie. I went back to sleep.
I woke up again and it was about 8:30. I got up and decided to get my life together. I brushed my teeth and then packed up. I headed out.
I went across to the dollar general where I picked up my supplies. I got all the things I needed (listed on last entry) and was good to go. I was left with about $8. But I had food and stuff for my knees. The glucosamine and dr sholes sole inserts costed me. But they were necessities.
I left Holbrook at about 9:30 after one last stop at McDonald's where I filled my water jugs. I headed onto the 40 and was off towards Winslow AZ. It was gonna be a two day trek to get there and I knew I would likely have to rough it that night.
It was nice weather, but my left knee was really hurting. I was going slow paced and didn't want to push it much for the day. I took my time and really nursed my knee stopping for short breaks and resting on railings. I also used the cream to help with the pain.
After a slow trek I made it about 12 miles to a little town called Joseph City. I stopped at a truck stop there and rested my knee a while. I got chips and a drink there while I sat and rested. It was about 3 when I got there and I rested until about 5.
When I took off at 5 I figured I would walk until dark and then get off at the next exit and rough it. I forgot that its getting dark earlier now and the sunset came on me quickly. It was about 7:30 and I was ready to pull off.
I walked another 20 minutes past dark and got to an exit. There was nothing really there. I spotted an abandoned gas station but it was fenced off with barbed wire. So I walked around a bit and my best pick was under the bridge.
I ended up making my bed right off the road next to a column under the bridge. I was only about 5 feet off the road but the exit was dead and no cars really came by. I figured I would be ok.
I made my bed and went to sleep early that night. Maybe around 9:30. I was really tired from the night before. I woke up a few hours later hearing a diesel truck. I opened my eyes and it was going backwards past me. It backed up and turned to shine its headlights on my cart. Then it paused, then took off. I was thinking they just wanted to see what they probably barely saw when they first passed. I didn't feel like they would call the police or anything, at least hoped they wouldn't. So I went back to bed.
Every once in a while a loaded down big rig would pass over the bridge and the roaring noise would wake me up, followed by the ground shaking. I can't describe how loud it is when one of those things fly by over me. But overall, I slept deep and rested well that night compared to normal.
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