Day 146

Chris took me to the spot where he picked me up at. We left the ranch a little after 5 am. I got started and right when I got to the top I saw a cyclist. He stopped to say hey and he is from Scotland and is cycling from LA to New York to raise money for people in Haiti. Very nice guy. We swapped information and went our own ways.
The other side of the mountain was beautiful. There was a rainbow right in front of me. Things were looking good. I knew rain was coming later so I was trying to walk briskly.
A man who looked just like Harrison Ford pulled over and was like, “are you really walking across America?”
I said yep and told him why. He gave me a hug and said I love you. Harrison Ford loves me. So that happened. No but really, he was very nice and gave a donation and his information in case I needed anything. It was nice to have someone stop. It always is. They stand out from all the others who seem to be in so much of a hurry.
Another guy pulled over who works for an offroading magazine in Europe. He took my picture and information and gave me some money also. He sent that picture to me later on facebook. It’s a really good one. He was a great guy. You could see it on his face.
After a while I couldn’t beat the rain anymore. It was happening. Fast and hard. I walked through it and made it to a rest stop. I sat under a picnic pavilion and tried to dry off. There was an RV there with some snobby assholes in it. I understand that I looked pretty scary with all my rain gear on but they were very rude. I tried to say hello and start a conversation but they pretended not to hear me. I guess they thought that I was going to ask them for something. Assholes.
Anyways, a small pickup truck pulls over between me and the RV. They were very nice and said they had seen me earlier. I tried to talk very loud as I explained what I was doing so that the RV people would feel like boobs. The nice people gave me some peaches and we said our goodbyes.
I’m allergic to peaches but I took them to be nice. My first instinct was to ask the people in the RV if they wanted them but I knew they would just freak out so I kept them for some nicer people. I didn’t want to be around these people anymore so I strapped up and kept going. Even though I knew I shouldn’t have.
The bottom really fell out on me after that. I had to walk with traffic because of the way the wind was blowing. It was a nightmare. I just wanted to push the last few miles into Fort Garland. I knew there was a hotel there and I could dry off and unwind.
I finally got to the damn hotel and the lady wouldn’t even open the door. She said he had no rooms and told me to try the other hotel. I passed a weed shop on the way to the second hotel and began to understand why she didn’t want me in. She must have thought I was doing the whole homeless for weed thing. Nope.
I get to the other hotel and it’s still raining. I look like a bum. I probably smell like one too. I get that. I walk in and sure enough, they are sold out too. This woman was nice though and let me come in and wait inside while I figured out where to go. It was still pouring outside. There was a campground close by that would have to do.
The woman offered for me to stay in a horse stable that has not been used in months. It was very nice of her and would’ve worked but the campground was better. It had a shower house and WiFi.
I set up my tent and then changed clothes in the shower room. I went across the street to a restaurant to try to shake the last few hours off. I ordered a burger. It hit the spot. It came up so I told the bartender about my walk and then soon the whole staff was standing around hearing my story. They were so nice and wouldn’t let me pay for my meal or even leave a tip.
They put me back in  my normal good mood and I went over to relax in my tent. It was cozy and I played on my phone until I fell asleep.