Day 156

I slept in and felt good before leaving. There was a small shoulder but I put my headphones in and played music so that my mind wouldn’t be focused only on the traffic. I always keep just enough awareness to be safe but I hate focusing completely on the cars. They all make me angry so I have to just let it go. Today I was able to. It was nice to be in my own little world as people flew by. 
I was walking into an area where there weren’t any resources shown on googlemaps. I knew I’d be camping somewhere tonight. I figured I’d just walk until I was tired. I had a place 20 miles away that I wanted to reach. It would be helpful to do that as the next town was another 20 miles past that. 
I could tell that I was leaving the city and getting into the wilderness. I saw a campground called Happy Camper and decided to ask if I could use the restroom. They were cool with that. I did what I had to do and then was sitting there doing stuff on my phone when a woman pulled up and asked if I needed anything. 
I didn’t need anything but I told her what I was doing and told her about the overdose problem in our country. She told me that her nephew was in jail for drugs and is struggling hard with addiction. We talked for a little while and I was able to help her with some information that may be helpful to them. 
I got back on the road and was still feeling great. Just carefree walking. Miles later and I came upon a country store that wasn’t shown on the map. A total surprise. I decided to stop in and grab lunch. A nice, older woman saw me going in and she offered to buy me a drink. I grabbed one of those Arizona teas and so did she. She paid for it and told the clerk that I am walking across America. He gave me a slice of pecan pie and a brownie. 
I sat down at a table with my new friend and we talked about the walk mostly but I tried to talk about the cause as well. She was more interested in hearing about the walk so I told stories and also talked about things that I’ve learned along the way. She warned me about mountain lions that were in the area and wished me well. She was a very wise woman. I can’t describe it but I learned something about life just from speaking with her. 
I thanked the clerk for the pie and got back on the road. Now looking over my shoulder every few minutes for mountain lions lol. It was truly beautiful. Lots of untouched land and many signs of wildlife. I entered an area where the land south of me was Indian Reservation land and the land north of me was national forest land. 
Some clouds were forming and heading my way. I passed a campground and decided to set my tent up while taking a little break just in case the rain came down. The temperature dropped and the breeze picked up. Signs of rain coming. I got in the tent and laid down. I may have nodded off a little. It never rained. I decided to pack up and keep going farther. Even though I could’ve just stayed there. I wanted to get farther. 
I went a few miles and came upon a weird place that wasn’t on the map. It was a restaurant and campground. It had a sign that said “Open” but it was clearly not. There were some RVs on the side of the restaurant and I was trying to figure out who the host was so I could see about staying there but it was like a ghost town. I had a weird vibe so I just kept going. 
The place I had in mind from the beginning was only about 5 miles ahead. I knew I’d be pushing daylight to get there but I’d be ok if I didn’t stop. So I pushed and pushed. I think I pushed too hard. My knees were starting to hurt really bad. Coming down all of the big hills has been destroying my legs. 
I finally got to the place where I planned on camping. Unfortunately, the campground was a mile off the road. I didn’t know that until I got there. I contemplated just sett8ng up on the side of the road but decided to walk the extra mile to see if there were amenities that I could use. 
It was actually a beautiful walk back there. The sun was setting and I was following a river between two mountains. Lower Piedra Campground is what it was called. They had a bathroom and a water tap that had a sign that basically said that it wasn’t potable. Great. No amenities. Whatever. I set up and ate dinner while it got dark. I had to use my headlamp while I packed up my bear bag and hung it in a tree. 
I slept great though. Nice and quiet out there with the river not too far away.