worldinstrides

Day 159, September 9, 2012

I woke up behind the dumpster coral in a narrow walkway. I was still laying in the shade and it was somewhat peaceful there. I closed my eyes again to try and get every last bit of rest I could. I needed to catch up on sleep. I'm always behind.
I felt my body heating up and the sun was now shining on me. I sat up and felt like I had a decent night of rest. My hip and knees joints were tight, but they usually are when I sleep on concrete.
I got up and packed up my stuff. I went back across the parking lot and back into the McDonalds to sit for a bit and relax before leaving. I also wanted to top off my charge on my electronics before heading out for the day.
    I sat at a table and was eating a granola bar when a lady got up from her table and walked over to give me $4. She said it was all she had. I had a big grin and loved that. It's not a grin of "oh lucky me", but rather It makes me smile that complete strangers are going out of their way to help me. Without talking to me or knowing me. I really enjoy seeing how many good hearts are really out there in the world.
    She talked with me a while and I shared my story with her. She was blown away. It was really cool how bright she became. She was so happy and shared how she also has a similar passion for helping others. Just as we were talking, a girl on a computer got up from her table and came over to hand me $7. She was really quiet and somber. She handed it to me and smiled, then went back and sat down. It was a pretty powerful moment. When you are living with nothing, things like this are much more magnified. You feel the goodness of people and the guidance of others more than ever.
    I was so thankful to both of them. I still talked to the first lady for a while and she wanted to say a prayer for me. As many of you know, I'm not religious. But I will not deny anyone prayers. I feel I can adapt to many beliefs or systems of faith. Not that I am joining them, but I can join in in any rituals or prayers. I always make sure they know where I stand but also let them know that I have an open heart to most anyone and anything that is positive. So many people have different ways of dealing with life, and I am not a person in a position to tell anyone I am right or that they are wrong. We are only humans. The only thing I know is that I don't know anything.
    So she said a prayer over me for my protection and guidance in any way or form I can receive it. It was a very humbled prayer and I really appreciated it. I would even let an atheist send me good thoughts or hope or whatever. I am always willing to take good from any form of belief. I told her thanks and I really appreciated her help. I got up to head out and also stopped to tell the other girl thanks. When I walked outside the first lady came running back from her car and said I can stop at her house on the end of town for a meal or whatever I needed. I told her thanks but knew I was gonna just walk straight through and right out of town only on the main highway, highway 95.
I left there with my waters full and tires fixed up and ready to go. I cleaned out my cart to lessen the weight and felt good. I walked south on the 95 and through the downtown part of Havasu. It want along side of the lake and I was enjoying looking down the hill to the water with all the boats.
    I spotted a man sitting on the dirt next to the road ahead of me. He looked pretty rugged and like he could use a small boost. I approached him and got a few dollars out of my pocket. I stopped next to him and then grabbed a couple granola bars out of my pack also. When I handed them to him he looked very confused. He said thanks to me and then asked if I was sure I didn't need it. I was obviously looking rough and hungry myself. I told him I was sure and he said thanks again. He was really happy. He said he had something to trade me. He pulled out a ziplock bag from his pocket and it had some large silver coins in it. He said someone just gave them to him and he wasn't sure exactly what they were. He handed me a coin and said that was the least he could share with me. I thought that was pretty cool of the dude.
    I continued walking through town and continued on for a few miles. The town was long and narrow. Mostly off the main road that I was walking on. I walked a long ways and came to the south side of town. It was afternoon now and I decided I would take a break before leaving town. It would be about 2 days before the next town (Parker AZ) so one last sit down in air conditioning would be clutch. I stopped at a del taco and ordered 2 tacos for a dollar. I sat there for maybe 20 minutes and then was ready to roll.
     I headed south out of town and up a pretty steady incline. My knees were feeling good for most of the day, but now were starting to hurt. I walked maybe 4 miles when I wanted to take another break. I stopped at a creek underpass that went into the lake eventually down the hill. I went under the bridge part in the shade and sat down. It was pretty warm by now and I sat down to enjoy some water and to get the weight off my body.
     I left there 20 minutes later and it was pretty bare after that. I climbed uphill a little longer and then it went down from there. I was now walking along the river that ran south out of Lake Havasu. I wasn't right next to it, maybe a half mile off. But I could see it here and there. It looked like I was heading into some really beautiful country right ahead of me.
I was walking when I bike passed by me. He stopped and turned back towards me. When he came up he asked if I was near Flagstaff about a week ago? I told him I sure was. He laughed and said he saw me along I-40 when he rode his motorcycle there. He asked if I walked the entire way. I told him I did, and before that for about 5 months too. He was pretty shocked. He said "no way!!". He shook my hand and we shared emails. He wanted to keep up with the journey. He then took off and headed past me.
        I walked another 2 hours or so when the sun was setting. I stopped for yet another epic sunset. It was so peaceful around and nothing but the desert hills. After it was set I wanted to walk another 5-6 miles. I was heading down a decline when a little black car passed me. I heard it slow down behind me and when I looked back he was turning around. He came back by me and in front of me made another u turn and pulled over next to me. When I walked up it was a big guy. Young with dark hair and pretty stout. He looked like he was almost in a panic and had a nervous look on his face. Right away I had a weird vibe. Then he said in a nervous manner "look, I don't know your situation or anything about you, but when I saw you I something hit me. I need to tell you something big is coming up. I don't know what it is but it's big. And your gonna have to just hold on tight. Just hold on. I don't know what it is but hold on buddy!". His lips were almost quivering and he seemed worried. It was really bizarre. Sounded like someone on drugs but my tweaker radar was not alarming me. He seemed like a straight up guy who wasn't tweaking. Then he said "but for now I can hook you up, here is some food" he handed me a big bowl rapped in tinfoil. Then he said he had to go and he took off abruptly. There I was standing there with a bowl of food and in complete shock. What just happened?? What the hell could have made him feel he needed to tell me that. Wow!
I was starving, so I opened the bowl up and it was pot roast left overs. It was incredible! Like great. One of those times where it's just amazing food. I was still pretty weirded out but just told myself not to take it too serious.
    I left there and now it was dark. I put my headlamp and vest on and still had a little more walking I wanted to do. I was going by the mile markers and I wanted to get half way to Parker from where I started in the morning. That way I could make Parker the next night and have a town to hangout in when I was done with tomorrows walk.
I walked in the dark up and down windy roads with nothing around. I finally reached the mile marker I was aiming for. 26 miles for the day!! I made some good ground and was happy with it. My knees felt a little warn out but not killing me bad. My feet felt a little tender and the last few miles felt like a blister may have developed.
    I spotted a railing where there was an opening big enough to get my stuff through. I walked behind the railing and out off the road on a rocky area. It was alongside a dry creek between two hills. It was actually a pretty good spot compared to what I was thinking I might end up at. It was open enough with no bushes. I like that better since I could see around me a ways with my flashlight. Basically snakes or whatever couldn't hide if the were near.
    I made my bed and laid down. I was really tired again and fell asleep pretty quickly. I ended up waking up hearing rain on my sleeping bag. It was a little windy too. I was up for a few minutes and then the rain stopped. I fell back asleep. I woke up again to a heavy wind. It was blowing my things over (my water bottle and supplements). I had to gather some of my stuff and pack it in my cart. When I was doing that the rain started falling again. I gathered my bedding stuff and tucked it close to my cart. They I pulled my tarp open and sort of bungeed it half way over my stuff where I took one half of it and covered myself too. I was staying dry but was pretty uncomfortable. I was in the fetal position because i was trying to squeeze under my little area of tarp covering me to stay dry. I barely slept that night. It never rained hard, but just enough to keep me on guard and alert where I couldn't relax. It was a rough night, but if that guys warning was legit, there's no way this was what he was talking about. He was far to nervous to warn me about a mediocre rain and wind like this. Hmmmm...?

Day 158, September 8, 2012

I heard tires rolling over rocks and I opened my eyes. I veered out and saw a black police SUV pulling right up to me. He got about 10 feet away from me and stopped. I was so tired and groggy I felt like a zombie. The cop opened his door and stepped out towards me. I sat up very slow and rubbed my eyes. I don't know why but I just had a gut feeling that wasn't good about the situation. Plus I had a pounding headache that did t help. Really bad.
       The cop then asked if I was ok. He was an older guy who looked like he was native (ethnicity). I said I was ok and just stopped to rest a little there. He smiled and said "well I'm glad your ok, some people called in and said you looked hurt". I smiled and said "no, I'm fine. Just tired".
He asked what I was doing so I told him I was walking across the country. He was pretty blown away and excited. He asked a few questions and soon I found myself in a conversation with him about life lessons. He was a cool dude and thought my trip must be very good for me.
       He turned out to be a really good guy. He ran my license and then came back out as I was packing up. He asked if he could go get me breakfast? I said no and he didn't have to. He asked again and said its no sweat. But again, I told him I was fine but thank you very much. He shook my hand, said Goodluck, and then turned around to head out back onto the highway.
It was still pretty early. The sun was just starting to rise and I was so tired. It was a little chilly still. I got all packed up and walked back out an onto the highway.
As I started walking my knees were already uncomfortable. I was really beginning to thing a day off was needed soon. I figured I would get a few miles up to a shopping center where Lake Havasu city began and see how I felt.
       I walked down the beautiful stretch of highway 95 and then reached the town. The shopping center had a Walmart, a McDonald's, and some other pretty nice and new stores. I needed to pick up a couple things from Walmart for my body. So I went in there first.
I bought some Advil for my headache, icy hot for my knees, and a couple spare tubes since mine were getting to be torn up from a lot of holes. The items ran me down pretty low on money. But I needed them all.
       After Walmart, I went to the McDonald's in the opposite side of the parking lot. I wanted to ice my knees there and take a little break to rest. I went in and sat down to plug my electronics in. When I sat down, I suddenly had a moment where I realized I just needed to take a day to rest. I'm in no hurry and really don't want to push myself too hard.
As soon as I decided that, I was very relieved. I was excited to just rest and enjoy a day of relaxing. I went up to order some breakfast off the dollar menu. I got some bags and filled them with ice for my knees. Then I sat down and just appreciated the feeling of relaxation and rest. I can feel more than ever my body just easing to recover. My muscles relax and the pain and soreness sets in as they are not working all the time. But it's a good feeling of pain and soreness if that makes sense. I guess maybe more mentally since I know they have an entire day to take off.
I checked the weather and it was actually a good day to take off. It was going to be 106 there. And the next day was down to 98. So it justified the day off even more.
       I iced my knees for about 2 hours, rotating the ice from front to back every 20 minutes. After I took the ice off I spread icy Hott onto them and it felt great. I went outside and figured it was a good time to change my tube in my tire while I had air conditioning to relax in afterwards. When I opened the door, I was shocked how Dam hot it was. It hit me right when the door opened and it felt like I was standing by a fire. Wow! Glad I wasn't walking for the day even more now.
I sat outside of the McDonalds on the curb and took my tire off. I swapped the tube out and then put it back on and aired it up. Then I swapped the front tire with one of the back tires also. The front tire wears out less and my back tire was pretty bald. So I switched it out for hobo cart preventative maintenance. Gotta think ahead haha.
       By the time I was done about 15 minutes later, I was burning up. It was so hot and still early that it was unreal. I was so happy I could go back inside to have a cold drink and sit down and relax.
I threw more ice on my knees and then sat down to write some journals. I spent most of the day doing that or just going on the Internet. Also just watching some of the people traveling come in. It looked like a lot of them were going to or coming from the lake.
I sat there all day and then at around 7 or so I had some visitors. I couldn't believe it. It was the wife from the couple who visited my before Kingman. The husband and wife drove from Vegas over 2 hours to visit me before, and now the wife and her friend drove about 3 hours to come visit me again! Unreal. I felt so lucky to have their support!
They came in and handed me a care package. It had some candy, some sunscreen, other snacks, and a pretty sweet cooling pad. It was called a frog tog and you get it wet then it stays ice cold for a long time! I didn't even know those existed. That would be a big help and I was really excited she gave me that.
       They bought me food and we all sat down to eat dinner together. They asked me some random questions about the trip and we also talked about some motocross related stuff. They were both motocross fans and that is always really awesome To talk about. I love that sport. I have a lot of friends in the Moto world and it's just something I love in my life. So talking Moto with other fans is always refreshing. We sat there in McDonalds for a while and it was great to have the company. They kept wondering where I was going to sleep that night and couldn't believe I just go for it each night and figure something out. It's weird in my eyes because I seriously worry 0% about where I will sleep at night. I know I will always figure something out. It might not be a good spot sometimes, but I know there are plenty of places to hide out being homeless.
      So at about 8:30 or so they headed out to make the long drive back home to Vegas. I was very thankful that they came out to help me. The supplies were very helpful, but even more than the supplies, the visit itself meant the most to me. We said goodbye out in the parking lot and I have them big stinky hugs. Such cool people.
I went back in to McDonald's and wrote a little more in my journals before heading out. My knees felt much better with the rest I was able to get that day. It was a good day and my spirits had for sure been lifted.
      I went to the drink machine to refill my drink and the manager was cleaning the station with a rag. He said he overheard me talking with the girls and asked if he heard right that I was walking across the country? I told him yes and then he had some questions. He asked also where I was gonna sleep that night. I told him I would figure something out. He thought I was pretty brave.
I went back and sat down to keep journaling. I noticed outside it was getting really windy. Really windy. There was a big cloud of dust rushing past the entire shopping center outside. All the flags and banners outside we're whipping intensely in the wind. It was pretty sudden and I couldn't believe how hard it was blowing.
      The mcdonalds Manager walked over to me and said that their dumpster coral on the end of the parking lot was pretty big and enclosed if I wanted to stay in there. He said the wind usually picks up and blows hard at night there. He said it would be no problem and that there is even cardboard I could lay down in there. There was a back walkway part he said to go into and shut the door to keep the wind from blowing by me all night. That was really cool of him!
         So I packed up all my stuff around 10pmand said goodbye and thanks to the guy at the counter. I left and walked over to the coral. It was really windy and sand blew across with the wind. I got to the back of the coral and opened the door. There was a little walk way with two sides and it was surprisingly very clean. It was closed in and actually a pretty legit spot. It didn't smell to bad either. There were a few roaches crawling but that's nothing new to me. They are harmless. I'm not sure I would have stayed there if I didn't have permission. I just feel like since I'm enclosed in there and the workers could potentially come in, that I wouldn't have felt comfortable there. But with permission, and the guy telling me that they don't use that walkway, it was heaven for the night.
      My cart fit right in there and I pulled my stuff out and made my bed. I was really tired and ready for an undisturbed night of rest. I could even try and sleep in a little. It was cool laying there hearing the wind blow over me. I felt like a stealth warrior or something who found a good hideout. My knees felt better and I was happy with my decision to have taken the day off. I laid there with a good attitude and fell asleep around 11.

Day 157, Sepember 7, 2012

I woke up around 7:45am. I had slept pretty good considering how close I was to the interstate. When I got up I looked around and there wasn't much traffic or anyone around me.
         I sat up and unzipped my sleeping bag. I put some cream on my knees first thing. Then I sat there on my sleeping bag and tarp and brushed my teeth and took my vitamins and other supplements.
         I got up to pack my stuff up. I threw my backpack and other lose items in my cart, then rolled my sleeping bag up and packed it also. When I picked up my tarp to fold it, a pretty big lizard darted out from underneath it and scurried over to a rock where it disappeared underneath it. I was all packed up now and walked back towards the on ramp. I walked up to the overpass where I stopped to stretch out for a little while. While I sat there stretching my quads, I noticed a stray dog in the distance walking towards me. He came up close and then I saw he was pretty much skin and bones. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. I felt really bad for it so I grabbed a couple cliff bars I had. I untapped them and tossed them over to the dog. He moved slow but fluently ate the bars off the ground. I felt bad for the thing but I needed to head out. It was close to a town so I just hoped it would be helped before getting to the point where it might starve. As I walked away I sort of created a good story for what I could imagine the dogs life would be. I won't ever see it again or hear about what happened. So I just create something good that I wish upon it. Sounds weird, but I guess that's a way to have hope for it.
          I walked back onto interstate 40 and started my trek for the day. I walked past the very small town of Yucca. Not much more than some old run down motels and junk cars in fenced in areas of dirt.
         I made it past the small town and continued. There was a rest area about 3 miles past the town. It was a good place to take a break, but it was too early for me to stop still. I passed by it just looking at the rigs stopped and the other travelers resting on the benches. It made me think there probably wasn't much past this. It seemed like people were stopping here like it is the first place to stop for a while.
          I walked about 4-5 more miles and my knees were actually beginning to throb. They were feeling very cramped, especial my right knee. They were popping every few stepped and just felt very uncomfortable also. I don't usually have this bad of pain until I reach at least 15 or 20 miles. So I was a little worried by this.
         I saw an overpass ahead maybe a few more miles. I figured I would take a long break there to give my knees a little break. I didn't want to push them, usually after feeling this sort of pain it just gets worse.
       I was just about to the overpass when I was really feeling the heat now too. The sun was beating down and it was getting hot! I got to the overpass and sat on the side railing. My knees were really stiff and I was walking pretty slow and tender. I felt like and old man looks when they can barely walk. They were worrying me even more at this point.
        I sat there and rested for about 20 minutes. It was so hot as I sat there, even in the shade. I wanted to rest longer, but I looked up a truck stop about 5 more miles ahead and decided to try and get there so I could take a much longer break in the air conditioning. And also I could ice my knees there.
         I left there and got about a mile up when a truck pulled over in front of me. When it came close the man I saw through the windshield looked familiar. As it pulled right up next to me, I saw it was the man from yesterday! He asked how my feet were doing today? I told him they were feeling ok, but my knees were hurting today. He had some aloe for me. The actual natural pieces of where aloe is derived from. He showed me how to peel it to get the aloe out. That was pretty cool that the guy brought that out and tracked me down. After not seeing anyone all day, he was a nice friendly face to see. And seeing someone 2 days in a row for a change is nice!
           He said he just had a little extra time and thought he would come track me down to help. He brought me some fruit too. Very cool dude. I thanked him a lot. I was thankful for his help, and at the same time my knees were killing me just standing there while we talked. I was sort of hoping he would cut the talking short so I could get to the stop ahead and ice my knees. I kept changing my stance and leaning on my cart to try and take pressure off of them. I mean, I loved the company, so much that I didn't say anything about how they were throbbing from just standing there. I waited and tried not to think about the pain. Then he finally headed out. I shook his hand and said thanks again!
           I walked west again and made my way towards the truck stop, which was still 3-4 miles up. It was really hot and I was drinking water like crazy. With the heat and the pain of my knees combined, I was pretty drained and hurting. I came close to the exit now, maybe a mile away from getting off. I was happy to see how close I was.
        All of a sudden my cart felt like it got heavier to push. I looked down and my left rear tire was flat. Dam! Almost made it but now have to stop again in the heat. There was no shade at all around in the bare desert, so I sat down on my sleeping bag directly on the asphalt of the interstate shoulder.
       I tried pumping the tire up but there was a fast leak and it wouldn't hold air. So now I put slime into the tube and pumped it back up. It was holding air now and was almost full enough. I was gonna give it about 5 more pumps when on the next one I heard a sudden release of air. It was on the opposite side of the tire now. It filled up enough to break another previous slime seal. So again, I put more slime in. At this point I was sweating like a dog and pretty frustrated. I just kept realizing, soon I will be in air conditioning. So be calm and just keep working to get the tire filled up.
        Finally after working more slime in and spinning the tire. I aired it back up just enough so that I could make it to the truck stop. I though maybe they had patches there.
        I walked again now and finally got to the exit. It was also where I was going to end walking on the 40. I had walked almost half of the country on highway 40. But now I was taking the 95 south to Lake Havasu City and Parker, then the 62 into California. It was the recommended route of the CA highway patrol when I talked to them on the phone in Williams AZ. As I got off the exit I was hot, tired, dirty, but still stopped to kind of bid farewell to the interstate 40. It had been a long crazy road. After turning around and looking back at it for 10 seconds, I was ready to get into the truck stop.
        I went in to the truck stop that had a Wendys in it also. I went in and left my cart at a window to keep an eye on it. I ordered a French fri, drink and salad off the value menu. I filled up my cup and guzzled down blue poweraid about 4 times. It was so good it was unreal. I also asked for a couple salad bags and filled them with ice so that I could ice my knees. I wrapped my knees wraps over them and let the ice relieve the soreness. That felt amazing too. Usually I don't like icing my body as it feels so cold, but the pain was enough in my knees where I could feel the instant relief. I sat down and enjoyed my food while I rested and cooled off.
         I sat there about an hour when a couple had contacted me on twitter and said they were passing through along the 40 right by me and wanted to stop to help me. They pulled up in a truck loaded down with their things and they were actually moving from Southern California to Georgia. They came in and were excited to meet me as I was to meet them. I was resting and cooled down now and definitely appreciated the visit! That wanted to buy dinner and eat with me so I got another couple value menu items that they bought for me. They were really nice and supportive. We hung out and and visited for a while sharing stories. It was really cool and they gave me some really cool insight to how my story helped them. I love to see what others take from my story. It's usually always a little different from each person, but always positive. After about 45 minutes of hanging out they were ready to hit the road and I was ready to leave too. They offered me $20 but I told them to share it with someone else that needs it. I had enough money right now for at least a few days, and many others don't. So someone else could definitely use it more than me. Plus they already bought me food and that was plenty enough to impact me greatly. I'm always thankful for the gesture of people helping. I don't need to be spoiled, just need what I need day to day.
        We parted ways and I headed south now on the 95. I wanted to get about 7 more miles before stopping. I walked away from the junction now and watched the sunset. It was another beautiful one and I stopped for a few moments to take it in.
        I put my vest and headlamp on now to finish the last leg in the dark. I walked down the lonely road and it was tough as it was mostly uphill. The terrain around me was pretty cool. Tons of big rock mountains. I enjoyed it until it was so dark I couldn't see anymore.
        I walked the last 5 miles and was getting really tired. It was about 9 when I was ready to stop. My knees felt slightly better from the ice and rest. I walked for about 2 miles once I decided I was ready to stop until I found somewhere I could sleep. The spot I found was pretty sketchy. It was just a flat area off the road with rocks all around. There was no cover anywhere around and I couldn't get out of sight. Since it was dark it was ok until the sun was up. So I was on with that. I was maybe 50 ft off the road and laying in the open. The road was not to busy (highway 95) so the noise would be too much through the night. I made my bed up there and had a feeling it might be an early morning. I laid down and was so beat. Pulling my shoes off felt so good. And laying down was such a relief, just feeling all my muscles ease up. I climbed into my sleeping bag and covered up. I fell asleep in about 10 minutes. I didn't sleep good that night. I tossed and turned on the hard surface all night and kept hearing noises like something was crawling around next to me. There was a breeze through the night and I thing it was blowing some of the tumble weed plants that were around me together. I was thinking they were just making a scratching noise and that was what I kept hearing. But I wasn't sure and I kept waking up in full alert when I heard it over and over. Little did I know I was in for a very early wake up call from something unexpected.

Day 156, September 6, 2012

I heard a big rig lugging its motor and shifting gears as it made its way up the ramp onto I-40. I was laying off the ramp just a little ways and in some bushes behind the trees. When I looked around all I saw were some hotels just west of where the onramp was. I was pretty well out of sight. It was about 7:30am.
My knees were a little sore from the day before. I unzipped my sleeping bag and put some cream on them to relieve some of the pain. Before I stood up to pack I took all my supplements also and then stretched out a little. Stretching has never been so efficient with easing my body as it is now.
I stood up and packed my things up. Rolled up the sleeping bag, folded up my tarp, put my back pack and the rest of my stuff in my cart. I noticed a rear tire on my cart was flat.
I pushed my cart up the small hill and onto the onramp shoulder. I sat on the curb there and fixed my tire. I have had a bunch of flats and usually just put more slime into the tube, spin it, then air it up all the way. It has fixed all of them so far. Sometimes when I air it up all the way it will break an old slime seal in a hole, but more slime will move out of the puncture and create a new seal. Love that stuff.
After I fixed the tire I went down the onramp, and then back up the off ramp to get onto the interstate again. I walked a few miles to get to a more central exit in Kingman, AZ. I got off there and walked over to a Safeway to get something to eat. After Kingman it was another pretty long and lonely road of nothing. So I wanted to enjoy some hot food once more before leaving there and dropping into the desert again.
I went into a Safeway and put my cart right next to the door on the inside of the store. A lady was just putting the soup into the heating containers at the soup stand. They had a tomato and basil soup that looked really good. So I grabbed a small sized cup and filled it up. The soup was $1. I sat at a Starbucks table inside the Safeway to eat it. I was able to keep an eye out on my cart also from there.
I left there after relaxing for about 20 minutes. I walked back out to the freeway and up onto the shoulder heading west again. I walked another 2 miles or so when I came to the last exit. It was getting warm now and I don't know why, but I decided to take one last break before the town was over. Its probably because so much of my time walking is when nothing is around me, and I wanted to enjoy being able to take breaks when there is air conditioning and soft seats to enjoy. Also I needed to fill my waters before I left civilization again too.
I got off the last exit in Kingman and went to a Carls JR. I ordered a $1 chicken sandwich and sat there for another 30 minutes while writing journals. I filled my water jugs and left there and was ready to hit the road into the desert.
When I left it was pretty warm outside now. And I was told it was going to get hotter as I dropped down the grade out of Kingman. And it did. I walked a steep downhill grade on the interstate for a few miles, and when I reached the bottom it was wide open desert that was very hot.
I walked about 5 miles and was surprised with the completely changed ecosystem all of a sudden. It was all sand and the growth were all result of a very dry climate (dry air). Mostly brown shrubs and bushes. And suddenly there were lizards crawling everywhere. Just the scenery around me made me thirsty.
My left foot starting feeling tender as my shoe was rubbing on it funny. Since the shoe was 2 sizes too big for me the crease of where it bent at the toes was too far back. They were used and broken in to someone's size 14 foot. When my foot was a size 12 and the bend of their step was different than mine. So the bend was putting pressure about an inch in front of where my toes bent. It was not a bad pain, but it was getting worse each mile. So I stopped to look at my toes. When I pulled my foot off, my big toes skin had worn off. It was down a couple layers of skin and was oozing out a little.
I pulled my first aid ziplock pack out of my backpack and put some ointment on the worn off section. Then I put a gauze pad over the top of my toe and then taped it up real good with sports tape.
Just as I was finishing the tape job, I heard a voice behind me say "are you ok?". I turned quickly and I was surprised to see a man standing there and his truck pulled over a ways behind him. I didn't even hear him pull over. It startled me a little.
I told the man I was ok and just wrapping my toe where the skin was wearing off. He asked if I needed a ride or some money. I told him no thanks and I was all good. We talked for about 10 minutes. He was from a small town west of there and was headed to Kingman. He asked how far I would make it that day and I said maybe 15 more miles or so. He was a really kind old man and had a very easy going mentality it seemed. He offered me a place to stay at his house in his small town I would pass in about 10 miles. Although he was pretty cool dude, I just wanted to stop where I would stop that night and not walk far off the interstate, so I said thanks but passed. He shook my hand and said good luck and then took off. Very nice guy.
I put my shoes back on and hit the road. My foot felt much better that it was wrapped now. It still had a little pain each step, but much more bearable now since it wasn't directly on the skin. Also it wasn't gonna get worse now with the wrap on.
I walked another 4 miles or so when I came across a small bridge that went under the interstate. I spotted a little sliver of shade and decided to take a break. I left my cart up on the shoulder and took my sleeping bag down in the dry creek to sit on. I sat tucked up tight in the shade and against the concrete. It was pretty hot now and even though the shade was minimal, it helped me relax a lot.
About 15 minutes after resting I hiked back up to the interstate and kept going. When I got up there and looked ahead, I was surprised to see some very dark clouds in the distance. It had a dark fading drop from the sky too which looked like heavy rainfall. It is so bizarre since the skies had been clear all day and it was hot.
I kept an eye in the clouds as I walked and they seemed to be moving my way. I wasn't too worried because it was still calm where I was at, I just though "how bad can it be?".
The more I walked the worse it looked. It suddenly looked like the entire sky headed my way was black. That's when I started to think this may be a little nasty when it hits me. Even though the sun was still beaming down on me and I was sweating, I stopped to get my gear and myself prepared for rainfall. I mean I was literally getting sunburned, but in a matter of minutes, these clouds would dominate the sky above me.
I was all covered now and ready to go. I walked towards the oncoming black clouds and just wondered what it was going to be once it reached me. I looked ahead and also saw that there was an overpass about a mile up.
When the edge of the clouds were almost overhead a cool wind was picking up. The sudden shift of temperatures were enough to alarm me that this thing is coming on fast! Next was a light sprinkle. The sprinkle was not bad, but I knew it wouldn't last. The wind picked up and then a light roar of thunder sounded off abruptly. That's when the wind started to howl. Then as I expected, the rain picked up. And now here I am. In the heart of this.
The rain crashed down! It went from the spitting sprinkle in the heavy wind, to dumping drops! They were almost so heavy that the wind were not able to push them much more than a vertical drop. It absolutely came crashing down. Looking ahead it was black as far as I could see. And the sunny clear day from 10 minutes ago was now a gloomy dark beast spitting his anger out.
The winds picked up now and it was so heavy I was getting pelted hard with drops. They were hitting so hard i honestly though it might tear my pancho apart! The wind was blowing my pancho where it felt like it was stretching against my skin. Unreal.
I was getting hit so hard and with the winds I couldn't keep myself dry. I was fighting the wind to keep my cover down. Finally I stopped and pulled out my umbrella. Bad mistake. As soon as the umbrella opened it snapped the support Rods, blowing the material back all the way where it was inside out. It was all the way up where it looked like it closed up but up instead of down. It jerked the thing back so hard that I nearly lost my footing. I crunched the umbrella together and stuffed it into my cart under some bungees.
The overpass was about 1/4 mile up now so I picked up the pace almost to a jog. I pushed through the crazy storm and made it the the overpass! How lucky am I to have another overpass near me when a storm hits! It seems like every time I'm in this situation there is randomly cover. There literally were no overpasses for 8 miles, and now there's one here to help me weather the storm. There was really nothing else at all for miles.
I applied my brakes on my cart and pushed it up against a barrier so that the wind wouldnt push it. That's how windy it was. I had to climb up all the way to the bottom of the bridge. It was the only dry spot there. The wind was flushing water right under the entire bridge except for the small circle I found that was dry. I was right under the bottom side of the bridge up on the cement incline. I tucked away there and watched the monster monsoon roar by.
Lighting was striking very close and all around! It was wild! I was so lucky to have found this cover and just in time. The lighting shot down over and over and fast! I was plugging my ears when it struck close. It sounded like a gun firing off about 3 feet from my ears. Very intense!
I waited the storm out and was in shock. I just really couldn't believe how fast the storm came in. I mean in 10 minutes it went from sunburn to soaked and lightning striking probably within 100 yards. It was absolutely bananas.
It finally stopped raining and I made my way back down to where my cart was sitting under the bridge. I stood there for 5 minutes just looking around. It had passed now and the sun had just peeked through. In disbelief I took off walking again. About 1/4 miles in I was sweating and had to remove all the rain gear. 10 minutes later I had to put more sunblock on. So crazy.
I walked a while longer and then it was about sunset time. I had about 5 miles to go still before I was ready to stop. I stopped for a while to watch a really pretty sunset. It was a really cool 20 minutes or so. Just experiencing the power of what weather I had been through in the last 3 hours was blowing my mind. I watched the beauty of the sun dipping down behind the desert mountains and was just blown away by what beauty we are able to witness. Especially after how ugly it can get in the same day. What a wild world this is. Being out here is such a powerful way to experience it. It just blows me away how a car or a wall of a house can shelter us from knowing what is out here. There are some very strong elements that I've never been able to mentally consume until going through it first hand with little protection I have. And it's right here in my home land. I never knew what forces of nature are all around us. Being in a house, I would never catch the full effect of what we have evolved past. It really makes me appreciate what we have moved beyond. That seems to be sort of a catch 22. We evolve past the dangers of what is around us, but it's the very dangers we need to face to realize how much we can appreciate the evolution. I've never realized this is what some of the things in my life are there for. Protection and health. I've never seen things this way.
So I headed down the interstate again now in the darkness. I threw on my reflective vest and a headlamp so that traffic would see me. My knees were in a good amount of pain as I went past the 20 miles mark for the day. I had about 4 more miles to go.
I got into yucca finally. I was about 2 miles from the last exit where I planned to find a place to stay. Just as I was passing the "exit 1 mile sign", a cop pulled over right behind me. He came up and asked if I was ok. He approached me in a very friendly way and really just seemed to want to know if I was alright. I said yes and that was was walking cross country. I usually will say that up front to any authorities just so they know I'm not just a crazy dude wandering down the interstate. Well, I might be crazy, but at least I'm on a journey where they might see it as something respectable. I don't hardly ever tell people what I'm doing unless they pry. Il even just tell most people I'm headed west and leave it at that. I don't want to seem too proud of what I'm doing so I won't ever go around bragging or anything like that.
The cop was very cool and asked where I was staying that night. I said I would just get off on the exit and hideout somewhere. He told me he had a call saying i was in a fireman suit pushing babies down the interstate in the dark. Pretty funny. I get that a lot actually. He said Goodluck and shook my hand before leaving.
I got to the exit and there wasn't much around. I needed to find a place to sleep now and so I switched into hideout mode. When I do this I need to be aware of who and what is around. I keep a sharp eye out for people as I don't want anyone to see me duck into a hideout. That could bring danger if the wrong person saw me. So I looked all around, and it seemed clear to me. I spotted a fenced area around a pump of some sort between the onramp I was walking off of and the freeway. It was gonna be my spot. I walked out into the sand and got behind the fence. It was hidden enough for night. Daylight I would be more noticeable, but daylight is much safer anyways since more people are around. I feel it's much safer and I don't mind being seen then.
The spot was actually pretty good since the overpass, onramp, and freeway created a triangle around the ground I slept on. That means less wildlife (snakes ect.). I made my bed there and sat down. I used some baby wipes to clean the dust of my legs and arms from the day. After that I put some more cream on my knees and called it a night.
I walked 24 miles that day. Had some physical issues with my toe, had a guy stop and offer to help me, experienced some crazy weather, had some damaged equipment, but made it ok. Another day closer to the pacific ocean. Not an easy day by any means, but I had all I needed to keep moving another day. Even learned some lessons and felt personal growth. It was a day that brought more insight tithe way I view life and this world. I fell asleep on my tarp around 10:30pm.