Day 40 & 41

I didn’t sleep well at all in the nasty hotel room in Piketon, Ohio. I had drank 2 Monster energy drinks the day before to help with my walk but the caffeine stayed in my system too long. I never drank caffeine in my pre-walk life so it affects me pretty intensely. I laid there as long as I could but I just wanted to get up and get out of there. This was supposed to be an off day for me but I was restless and wanted to keep moving. A friend of mine was on his way to come pick me up so I knew that I wouldn’t be walking all day.

I got about 5 miles into my walk and a Sherriff car pulls over to check up on me. He got out and said that people were calling in saying that I was walking with a baby on the side of the highway haha. I wasn’t really in my full hiker gear. I looked like a dad and the stroller was zipped closed. I definitely see why people thought that as they passed by. The sheriff was kind and wasn’t harassing me. We talked and I told him what I was up to and that was that. Before I started, I knew that I would have to deal with law enforcement from time to time, so I was prepared and I always make sure that I never am carrying anything illegal. I am surprised that it took this long for me to get my first call actually.

Anyways, my friend came to meet me shortly after. He picked me up and we went to a cool place from airbnb.com to spend the night and put together my new cart. I don’t have a picture yet but I am excited to have this new cart. I am going to wait until tomorrow to post the new name and a photo. My friend helped me get this cart by calling the company and seeing if they were interested in sending one to me for a promotional charity. They didn’t send it for free but they gave a great deal. My friend covered the rest of the cost and delivered it to me. We got to put it together and try it out. Domino loves it. So do I! I can’t wait to show you all.

This morning I decided to take the day off completely as my feet were killing me. I found a cheap hotel in a nearby town. I had to skip about 20 miles to make it work but it is ok. I will definitely make up the extra miles in Cincinnati. It worked out to be really good to skip that 20 miles because when I got to my room and turned the TV on, the news was covering a story about a mass shooting where 8 people died and it happened right on the road that I would have had to walk right by. The killer is still currently on the loose and that would’ve been extrememly dangerous for me to be out there. A risk that even I wouldn’t want to take. The hotel I am in right now is sold out with journalists that are covering the event. Tragic. I also learned that Prince died. Just an awful day in the news world.

I am currently in the town of Seaman and I’ve been making immature jokes about it all day. I am about 5 days from Cincinnati where I am going to take a full week off to rest, play, do publicity work and raise awareness. I am very much looking forward to it. It looks like I will be camping for the next few nights as I get closer and closer to Cincy. I am excited to put this new stroller to use and get settled into it. I really hope they catch the shooter tonight. It is so sad what happened. I can’t believe that I was so close to it. Scary!