Day 105

I left Drake’s at 6 am. That was way later than I wanted to but I was glad that I even got up that early after staying up so late last night. I tried to be as quiet as possible. After I had already left, I wished I had done his dishes. It would’ve been a nice gesture but I was already gone before I thought about it.

I went to grab some breakfast from the Casey’s and was met by the morning work crowd. A few guys were interested in my walk and gave me some money to show their support. I grab a sausage biscuit and a protein shake and went on my way. Wellsville was a tiny little town but it had been a great stop for me. I hope I get a chance to make it back there.

I finally got a chance to get on some backroads today. The sun was up and was hot already and it wasn’t even 7 am yet. But the road was flat and traffic was very light. People would slow down and wave as they passed by. I passed a few people out in their yards and they were all nice to me. One house had 2 dogs who came running out at me to sniff domino. Domino was a little overwhelmed by them so I shooed them off and told Domino to get in the stroller. It’s her safe zone.

Just as I got the situation under control, a woman came running out to get a picture. She was really nice and the dogs behaved when she was out there. She told me that she had seen my story somewhere and that her daughter was struggling with substance abuse. I tried to encourage hope and strength.

A few minutes later, a truck drives by and then stops and backed up about 100 yards. He gave me and Domino some biscuits from Red Lobster. Turned out that he was the woman’s son from earlier. I love those biscuits and was looking forward to eating them later.

I turned the radio on and was jamming out while walking on the backroads. It was starting to get hot though. I took a break in some shade to cool down. I ate the biscuits and gave domino a piece of each one. I put sunscreen on before getting started back up because it looked like it was going to be a rough day from here on out. As far as heat goes, it was.

I walked on for a while and a man on a Harley passed by and pulled into his driveway up ahead. He waited for me to arrive and asked about the walk and if I needed anything. I told him that I was ok. I really had to use the bathroom but I didn’t want to ask him to do that haha. His neighbor came running out and she offered a cold water that I couldn’t refuse. She was sweet. She gave me the water and Domino took off after the guy’s cat. I had to raise my voice at her to calm her down. She doesn’t listen once cats get involved. She came back though and I had her sit for a while to calm down and reinforce my superiority.

All the while, I was talking to the lady. She said a prayer for me and then I let Domino have some of the water now that she was back to being well-behaved. I still had to use the bathroom but I didn’t want to go into a person’s house just to do that. I walked on and found a shady spot in some trees next to a railroad track. I decided to take a break there and handle business. A train came by and I held domino close to let her know that it would be ok. It was pretty loud and she was a little scared I could tell. She was fine once I held her close.

It was officially hot by this point. I still had quite a ways to go. I just kept pushing. Nothing else to do. Crying wouldn’t really help. I considered it though. Luckily, a still had a few more nice people to meet. One guy came by on a bicycle and asked about the walk. He went on with his ride and when he came back later, he stopped again to give a donation and take a picture.

Another guy came and gave me and Domino a few bottles of cool water. He said that he had seen a Facebook post from the woman by the train tracks. I drank some and gave domino some and then pushed on.

The wind was now a factor. It was blowing over 20 mph right in my face. It made pushing the stroller really hard. Domino was riding in it because the pavement was too hot for her to walk on and I was too lazy to put her shoes on. I had a tshirt rigged up as a canopy to provide domino with shade and that was acting like a parachute against the wind and made every step that much harder. I just accepted that the rest of the day would suck. I was only about an hour and a half from the town I was heading for. I told myself that this is what I deserve for starting so late this morning.

I was getting hungry, I was hot, I was pissed off, I wanted to scream. I think I did a few times actually. Nothing else to do but to keep going though. I was looking for shade and there was nothing. I figured I’d just push until I got to town or die. Whichever happened first. Times like this make me realize that things would be a little easier without Domino. I’m going to miss her but I don’t want her to have to deal with this heat.

Anyways, I finally found a sliver of shade. Literally. A sliver. There was some electrical box and I laid next to it in the shade and out of the wind. It was amazing. I laid there and I think I even dozed off for a few minutes. Domino liked the spot too and we both napped there. I regained composure and headed for town.

I get into Ottawa and I had to break again. There was a bench under a shade tree. It was perfect except that it was in plain sight and people were coming up to me and Domino wanting pictures and stories and stuff. I had just sat down and was pouring with sweat and just wanted a few minutes to cool down but it just wasn’t in the stars for me. I was definitely famous in this town.

People were honking and waving as they drove by. I heard someone say, “oh that’s the walker guy. I read about him”

Everyone was really nice of course. And I was nice back. Especially when someone had a story to show how they, or someone they know, are affected by addiction.

Ottawa was a much larger town than I thought. It was neat. Main street was lined by store-front displays and one side of the street provided more shade than the other. I crossed the street to get into the shade. I couldn’t walk 100 feet without someone saying hello. It was nice to talk to people as long as I was in the shade haha.

I was originally planning on camping but I was so hot that I opted for a hotel in town. I was so close that I didn’t care about stopping to talk to everyone. It was good. People would take pictures and post it on facebook. That’s how to word gets out! That is the main part of this whole thing. I passed by a dairy queen that was a couple of blocks from the hotel and decided that I’d go back there after checking in and putting my sail boat in the room.

The hotel owner gave me a good rate and I went to dairy queen. Best meal ever. Bacon cheeseburger, fries, butterfinger blizzard, and a whole lot of root beer. I came back to the room and let Domino out to do her business and then took a shower and went right to bed. It was about 5 pm. Tomorrow will be a big day so I figured I’d get an early start.