Day 157

Woke up around 9 am and was hoping to pack up quickly enough to get a ride to the end of the road from one of the other campers. I didn’t get that lucky. Just as I was getting ready to go, three ladies on a morning stroll came and said hello. They were probably in their 50s and two of them had garden sun hats on and the other had a breast cancer awareness cap on. Never would I have guessed that one of them was the mother of an addict. 
She told me about her son and I told her about the group The Addict’s Mom who has been helping me out with support on my walk. I know she will find support with them. It was a great way to start the day. I walked the mile back to the road and I was struggling badly. I knew that I was pushing myself too hard. I told myself that I needed a break after today. I’d just try to fight through it. 
I get to the road and because I was by a river, it was all uphill. I started pushing and shortly after a man pulls over in a big van and asked if I wanted a ride. That hardly ever happens. And when it does I usually say no. But this time I said please. We loaded up and I said if he could just take me to the top of the hill I’d be happy. 
We start driving and talking and I’m watching this hill get bigger and steeper. It should’ve been a mountain pass. I would’ve had the worst day ever if I had to climb it. I just wasn’t in the game today. The next town was 8 miles farther and he said he was going there and would be happy to drop me there. We got to the top of the mountain and I decided to just go to the town. 
I figured I’d take a break and get some rest. He dropped me off in Bayfield. Not a big town at all. No motel. I ate lunch at a restaurant and looked up some campgrounds while eating. There was a KOA 12 miles ahead. KOAs are really nice campgrounds. Usually expensive but worth it. It’s basically an outdoor hotel. 
I figured I could do 12 miles. I get about 8 of them in and then the shoulder completely disappeared on this very busy highway that I am walking on. I mean I had no choice but to either walk on the road itself or to try to get a ride. This was bad. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to get in any trouble by trying to hitchhike. Risking walking on the road was absolutely not an option. I’m crazy and bold and always push the limits but I knew that walking on this highway was beyond the limit. It was flat out impossible. 
So I called the police department. I explained what happened and an officer showed up and was happy to give me a ride to a safer spot but unfortunately my stroller wouldn’t fit. I would’ve been able to make it fit but he didn’t seem to want me to try and cram it in there. He actually told me to try to hitch a ride. 

So now I’m standing on the side of the road with my thumb out. With permission from the police. What in the world have I gotten myself into haha! It took a while, but finally someone turned around to help out. It was a weird feeling to stand there with my thumb out. It wasn’t something that I liked but I did think that it was cool to be able to say that I’ve hitchhiked. 
The guy was nice and had a truck. We threw Lieutenant Dan in the bed and I told him to just take me to where the shoulder comes back. I told him I was only going a few more miles to the KOA and he offered to take me there. It was only 2 miles away from where he picked me up. So we just drove there and I checked in and started to set up camp. 

My legs are shot at this point. While I was setting up, my feet kept slipping because I was too weak to stand properly. I was risking serious injury. It was time to chill the eff out. I sat down in defeat and put my head in my arms. 
A man came over and offered a cold water and a Dr. Pepper in exchange for my story. I told him about the walk and the cause and we had a great conversation. He was very nice and it was good to have nice company at a time like this. We talked so long that his wife came over too. We all talked and then took some pictures. They are traveling in their RV all over the country. Smarter than what I’ve gotten myself into lol. 
They left and I finished setting up my tent. I went back over to the office to order a pizza that the campground gave me for free. They cooked it and brought it out to me and it was so good. I was eating and looking at my phone trying to plan out a hotel in Durango where I could take a break. Durango was only 8 miles away and I knew I could get there tomorrow. 
A woman came over with peaches and offered me some. I wanted to eat them but I’m very allergic to peaches. Yes, I am from Georgia and I’m allergic to peaches. It sucks. I’m also allergic to apples and oranges and most tropical fruits. I hate it but that’s just the way it is. She sat down with me and I ate pizza while she ate her peaches. 
She lives in Colorado and is probably just a few years older than me. She did a lot of outdoor activities and understood more than most people about what it takes to walk across a country. I really enjoyed our conversation. We talked about everything. Just talking. For no reason other than to talk. It was nice. We talked until the sun went down. 
I then got ready for bed and it didn’t take long to crash.