Day 184

Had to swing by the post office to pick up some new business cards and my mom put some letters from some family members in with it. That was a nice surprise. My daughter did a drawing for me of us walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll try to get that laminated and put it on my cart. 
As I was leaving Salina, a nice couple pulled over and talked to me for a while about the walk and cause. They were very nice and respectful. 
I had a pretty good shoulder for the first part of the day. I’m back on hwy 50 now. It was uphill for 12 miles but not too bad. I made it pretty easily and then stopped at the top for a long break. 
The other side of the mountain had a smaller shoulder. It became an issue but wasn’t too bad. I stayed in control of myself. 
Once I was around the 15th mile, I came to a point where I had to make a decision. There was a campground 4 miles off the road. I normally wouldn’t even consider this but I was told that this is a really beautiful place and should see it. 
About two miles into the walk towards the campground I regretted going out of my way. I should’ve just stayed on the road and kept going. The wind began to pick up and was blowing hard right at me. Just when I was about to turn around, a truck pulls up. It was the lady who checked me into the hotel in Salina and her husband. 
They offered to give me a ride. I asked if they could bring me to the campground. I was so happy. We loaded up my stuff and they talked me into just taking me another 10 miles to the town of Scipio. There were about 3 things that I easily came up with to justify taking the ride. So we went to Scipio. 
Her husband showed me the best way to get to where I needed to go tomorrow and then brought me to the gas station to get a gatorade for me. Then they dropped me off at the city park and we said our goodbyes. 
I was excited about camping in this park. I had a great view, power, and water. Everything a person needs. There was a truck stop gas station with a dairy Queen about a half a mile away. I had plenty of time left in the day so I headed over there. 
I got there and saw a freaking camel. There were other animals too but the camel definitely stood out the most. They had a petting zoo at this truck stop. Yeah. 
It was closed today though so I couldn’t go play with the camel. I opted for a blizzard instead. Inside DQ, a woman who worked there told me that she’d lost her brother 13 years ago. We had a little moment then I ate my meal. I said goodbye to her before I left. 
Outside, Lieutenant Dan was getting a lot of attention. There was a crowd of people around it looking at the pictures on the side. I walked up and told everyone what I was up to. Real nice people. I scored a couple of bananas, a doughnut, a gatorade, $5, and I think a few more things that people just handed to me as I told my story. They were nice even without that stuff but it’s always nice to get stuff that I’ll use. 
I walked back and said goodbye to Mike the camel. I headed back to the park and realized that there was a huge rodeo ring there. That’s a new one for me..
I set up my tent and then sat on the bleachers to watch the sunset. Then some high winds and dark clouds started moving in and I knew right away that rain was coming. I went over and got prepared for that. 

Shortly after, I was met by Ruth. She wanted to show me the Rossiter System. She can heal people’s pain by basically stepping on them and doing stretches. She wants to try and reach out to people who are in pain and try to heal them before they resort to opioid pain relievers. I’m all for it!
We were in a picnic pavillion at a park in a small town and she’s walking all over me. In the dark with one little light on. It must’ve looked insane to everyone but neither of us cared. We got along well I thought and the stuff really worked. 
I feel a lot better than I did before she worked on me. I was in really bad shape. Still am to be honest. But I have more freedom of motion and a lot less pain. She says she will be able to stick around for a day or 2 and can help me get to San Francisco by fixing my body. I’m very grateful. I feel really good and I am ready to crash!!!!!!