Day 137

I tried to sleep in since I was taking the day off but was awake before the sun came up. I walked over to Walmart to grab some supplies for the 80 mile stretch with zero resources that I was facing. I get back and laid back down to watch tv. At 830 am I hear a knock on the door and it was Beverly. She was basically kidnapping me. I knew that I didn’t have much choice but I was glad to go with her anyways. 
It was nice to get out. We went to a few places around town. She showed me the old sugar factory that they turned into a recycling center. From there, we went to the senior center where they had a surprise for me. They have a system that they have done for a couple of years now where the seniors all walk across America. 
They have a string around the entire length of the walls in the large ballroom and they have pictures of sights across America. For this trip they are going from San Luis Obispo to Chicago on route 66. They have miles posted up and all of the participants carry around a pedometer all day to count their steps. At the end of the week, they tally up the total steps and you can move your popsicle stuck with your face on it along the wall accordingly. It’s adorable. 
We went to breakfast after that. Beverly called the Mayor and told him to be there. He didn’t have a choice. We go into Barista, the local coffee shop where anyone who is anyone gathers at 10 am. I grab a coffee and a breakfast sandwich and sure enough, the mayor comes. 
We all talked about the walk and about ways that we can help the town with the drug problem. I told him that I was planning on meeting up with a local Colorado organization later in the day and I’d love for him to join us all and see what comes from it. By the way, the mayor was cool as hell. He shared stories of his traveling adventures in his younger days. 
After breakfast, we drove around to a few places. Around lunch time, I called Melissa with Not One More – Southern Colorado and arranged to meet her for lunch at the Copper Kitchen. I walked in and the owner recognized me from yesterday and saw me on the paper. He told me that he’d been throwing darts at my picture all day. 
Melissa brought her friend and coworker Shawna (spelling?). Two very pretty woman who work hard to try to prevent overdose deaths. Beverly and I joined them and we all had lunch. The mayor came and joined in as well and amazing things happened. I believe that because of that lunch that La Junta will prevent someone from overdosing someday. We may never know but I know that actions will be taken regarding the issue. 
Beverly wasn’t done with us. She took me, Melissa, and Shawna to the newspaper to get in the paper yet again. After speaking with Bette who took notes for her story we went to Walmart to talk to Bob. Bob is the pharmacist and the coroner in town. We gathered some information from him about overdoses in the area and it was a pleasure to meet him. 
But wait, there’s more! We all went to Southeast Health Group. A wonderful organization in town that deals with rehabilitation of all kinds. We were shown around the entire facility and then led over to the addiction treatment center known as the Peer 613 House. Oh em gee!! 
This place is amazing and the people there are even better. I was so happy to be there. They were all happy to have me there too. It was just a bunch of excitement. I wanted to stay all night. We spent a little while there but I needed to get going. I arranged to have dinner with one of the founders later that evening. 
I got a ride back to the cabin with Melissa and Shawna and we all were amazed at how the day played out. I didn’t want to say goodbye but we all had to go our separate ways. Shortly after, I was being picked up for dinner. 
Jeanie and her husband took me out to mexican and we had a ball. They took me back to their home to grab some fresh produce before dropping me back off. I only grabbed a few things because I had to worry about weight since I would be carrying 3 days worth of water and food for the next leg. 
Got back and decided then and there that I was going to take tomorrow off completely and not tell anyone. I still fell asleep early…