Day 83

Woke up today and it was raining. I laid there and relaxed some until it let up. My weather channel app said that it was just about over and that it would clear up after that. Once the rain stopped I got up and began the packing up routine. I took a shower at the campground shower house and felt so much better afterwards. The showers were the exact same type of showers that they have in the jail that I spent many months of my life in back when I was going through all of that drama. It was funny. I never thought that I’d be taking a jailhouse shower again haha.

When I got back I realized that Dave and his friends had left. He was the guy I wanted to go hang out with last night but was too tired. I felt bad that I didn’t get to talk to him some more. I really wanted to.

I packed up and said goodbye to the couple that let me stash my food bag in their car. I headed over to the trail and was swarmed with people. The new signs on Lieutenant Dan are drawing a lot of attention. I was able to talk about the walk and about the cause. People were so nice. It was a wonderful way to start the day. A few people offered donations as well.

Shortly into my walk, I came upon a large group of people and it looked like they were set up for a big race. I asked what was going on and they were having an 82K relay running race today. At first I was concerned about getting in their way but everyone was super nice and even gave me thumbs up as they passed by. Some people even stopping for a picture. That was really fun to have witnessed. It looked like a great race and great group of people.

I walked far without breaking today and felt great. My new shoe and insole setup is working great. I stopped for lunch in a small town with a lot of runners and got more attention there. After lunch it was really hot out. Luckily, the trail I’m on provided a lot of shade.

We came up to another stop at Marthasville and a group of cyclists told me that we could camp at the ball park across the street. I had wanted to go farther today but the idea of a legit campsite was too hard to pass up. We went over and got to meet a lot of people. Most of them were cycling the Katy Trail. It essentially goes from Kansas City to St. Louis. Everyone was awesome and it was so fun to be a part of the crowd. Domino got to play a lot and had a blast. I am sitting here now at sunset and it’s just beautiful. Looks like we’ll all be up for a while hanging out.

The Katy Trail is awesome. I highly recommend hiking or cycling it at some point in your life…