Day 177

I’ll have to upload pictures later. Sorry guys. No wifi.. 
So I woke up and went to the free breakfast at the hotel and the hotel owner came over and gave me a note and a $20 bill from one of the guest who wanted to help me out. Made me very happy to see a good deed done so early in the morning.
 After packing up I was rolling out of the hotel room with my stroller and a pretty girl saw the cart and we talked about the walk and the cause. So I got to witness kindness AND talk to a pretty girl and I hadn’t even started walking yet. She also gave some money and wished for me to have a good day. So far so good…
I was feeling way better than I was a few days before. I was in a good groove. Just kept walking and taking in the stunning scenery. After a few hours, a couple of guys on touring motorcycles pulled over and we talked for a while. They gave me some snacks and took some pictures. We talked about the walk mostly but also about the drug epidemic. One of the guys has lost some friends to heroin and knew how bad it is. 
I entered Capitol Reef National Park. It just happened to be on my way. It was incredible. There were amazing sites and petroglyphs, and old houses, and everyone was extremely nice. I took a shortcut to the campground and saved 2 miles. I still ended up doing 21 total for the day.
Before the campground was a small house turned into a gift shop and store. I saw a sign that sad pies and ice cream. I popped in and the pies were a little too expensive for what I thought it was worth so I went with ice cream. As I was outside eating it, a woman came over to ask about the walk. 
She was very fit and I could tell she was into healthy and active living. She told me that she was going to all 50 states and running at least 13.1 miles in each one. Two people on quests who have crossed paths. I love this stuff. She was very nice and bought a pie for me. She insisted. We exchanged info so that we can follow each other’s journeys. 
As I was putting my pie up, a young guy came over. He had a European accent but spoke English very well. He is from Germany and he is driving across America with his friend that’s from Finland. He was cool and we mostly talked about the walk. But I made sure to throw in there my reason for it all. 
I said goodbye to my new friends and walked over to the campground. It was $20 but I figured a shower and WiFi would be worth it. Well… there were no showers and no wifi. Great. I was already there so I just set up camp and would talk to people here and there. I was the campground celebrity as most people there had driven by me that day. 
I was sitting on the picnic table just relaxing and I looked up and saw 8 deer literally 10 feet away from me. They were all over the campground and weren’t scared of the people at all. I got my $20 worth right then and there! It was a cool experience. I took a ton of pictures and videos. 
Some ladies pulled up at the site next to me and they looked like they were having a ball. They were on an adventure and it showed. I asked about it. They refurbished an old vintage camper trailer from the 60s and named it Miss Daisy. So they were on a road trip and they called it Driving Miss Daisy. So cool. I told them that I knew where that movie was filmed. I’ve walked and driven past the house many times. 
We talked about me too and had some fun getting to learn about each other and about our travels. Another guy came over later on. 
His name is Kirby and he is driving all over the country too. Went into Canada and Alaska some as well. He told me a story about how he got bitten by a possum on the toe lol. Interesting stuff I tell ya. We talked for a while. I was enjoying his stories. One crazy tale after the other. After a while I was yawning and getting sleepy so I said goodbye and headed to my tent. 
I went to the bathroom first and as I was coming back to my tent my neighbor on the other side of me came over and said he’d heard my story a few times as I told it to many people earlier. He told me that there was a show going on put on by one of the Park Rangers and asked if I’d join him. So we walked on over in the dark. 
We arrived and I was so glad that he told me about this. They had photos and told stories about the history of the place we were in. It was actually quite interesting. It was a good group of people too. Very interactive. 
As the show was winding down, Woody, the guy who invited me, shouted out “hey this guy is walking across America!”
Haha.. the Ranger came over with the microphone and asked if I would talk about it. I did. And it was beautiful. I wasn’t prepared or anything but I just let my heart do the talking. It ended up being quite fun as everyone had questions and comments for me and they all seemed interested and impressed. 
When we finally wrapped things up, a few people rushed me. The first was a mother who lost her daughter to an overdose. A small group of maybe 20 or 30 people, in the middle of Utah, and 2 of them have lost a close family member to this. Her and I. We hugged and the next couple kind of steeped in and took over the conversation before I could say the proper goodbye to the mother. I wanted to mention some support groups to her but we were cut short by the rush. 
A couple wanted to let me know that a close friend of theirs was a special interest writer for the San Francisco Cronicle. Boom. That is great. I need to start preparing for a grand arrival into San Fran. We exchanged info. I talked to a few more others until Woody, the Park Ranger, and I were all that was left. 

The Ranger thanked me and we talked for a while. I was thankful to have met her. She was good at her job and the show was very entertaining. I said good night and walked back with woody and thanked him for inviting me to that experience. I was pooped but excited at the same time because of such a good day. I didn’t want it to end but I needed to get some sleep and recover for hopefully another good day….