Day 213
I heard coyotes yelping all last night. Very nearby. I hear them every night but they haven’t been this close yet. I was never truly worried about it though. I heard somewhere that if you pee around your campsite that the cotoyes will stay away. It’s probably complete BS but I do it and I believe that it works. It helps me sleep at night. Plus, it’s pretty fun to try and make a complete circle around my tent and stroller in one go.
I got to walking. I am in true peace out here. The last few days have been my favorite so far. Total freedom. I have had time to think and , frankly, I am proud of myself. I had a very important epiphone. Here is the facebook post that I made about my epiphone:
One month from today I will reach the Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow marks 7 months since I started. When I was all alone with my thoughts and nothing else, I started to do some reflecting on this whole experience. There are so many amazing things to talk about but I want to focus on the one thing that started all of this. The grief of losing my sister, Brittany. It’s been 2 and a half years and I still have a hard time when I see her face on the keychain that’s hanging from Lieutenant Dan (my pushcart). Most times, I can stay in denial and just pretend like it’s not real. Sometimes I face the cold hard truth that I will never see her again. I break down every time that happens. I have realized something though. Something that I’ve learned on my walk across America. No matter what you believe in, my sister has been with me this whole time. Her memory, her love, her spirit has been inside of me all along. By telling her story and by loving people the way that she did, I keep her alive in my heart. I didn’t even need to do something so drastic to honor her. It was as simple as spreading love to others. I know she’d be happier to know that I’ve become a better person rather than to just say that I walked from coast to coast. She’d love that too though. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that love transcends life on Earth. She isn’t here to see or to hug, but I still have her love. And I’m so freaking thankful to have it. I’m so glad that she’s been here with me this whole time!!!
It was a beautiful moment in a beautiful place. I continued on and went through a portion where the road followed a canyon between many high hills. It reminded me of how small I am in relation to the Earth. It’s good to be reminded sometimes.
Later on in the day, a couple of fighter jets flew over. It let me know that I was getting close to Fallon. The next town on my route. It is where the Navy air base is and where the movie Top Gun was filmed. I still had a few days but I knew I was getting close. The jets were coming more and more frequent. They fly by and then the noise comes behind them. Fascinating. I always throw my hand up in the air and scream, “YEAH!!”
I passed my goal for the day and still had plenty of daylight left. I kept walking until I was tired and then found a spot to call home for the night and made it mine by setting up my camp. No one has stopped or pulled over in 2 days. Just me and my thoughts out here. Luckily, I am in a good place and it has been incredible. I made my “safety circle” and then went to bed…