Author: brettbramble

I took yesterday off. Weather was bad and I needed rest. Woke up early today feeling much better. Ate a breakfast at the hotel and was on the road by 830.

The first stretch was easy. Mostly sidewalks and a straight shot. Definitely in the burbs now. I stopped at a park to take a break and I knew that the easy part of the day was over. The next stretch was a small road with no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic. Also 2 huge hills. After that I knew that I had sidewalks but I also knew that I was coming into a bad area called East St. Louis. I have been warned about it and even encouraged to skip it.

That wasn’t an option. They shouldn’t have told me not to do it. That’s just motivation for me. Honestly, I wasn’t worried about it at all. I have lived in and around Atlanta my whole life and have seen bad neighborhoods many times. Lived in a few myself.

Right before I got onto the bad road a guy in a nice Mercedes pulls up and asks where I was headed. I told him and he bought me some Gatorade and told me he thought what I was doing was great. I shook his hand and thanked him and got his name. He also told me that the neighborhood was a little sketchy up ahead but he gave me a once over and said that I’d be alright.

I went on with confidence and up and down the hill with no shoulder. People were nice on this road and slowed down for me. It wasn’t bad at all. I made it to the end and back onto sidewalks. I breaked again and got ready for the hood. Put my phone in my pocket, took the safety off of my bear mace, and unsheathed my knife for easy access. I wasn’t worried but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be prepared…

I walk by and people are great. It’s Saturday and people were out grilling and partying. All of them were nice to me and I was nice to them. I passed by a church that had a sign that said, “stop here for prayer.” Why not!? I stopped and asked for a prayer for my walk and my cause. They were so happy that I stopped by and even donated money. They also warned me about the streets ahead but said I’d be okay because of the prayer and because it was still daylight.

Ran into a bunch of people from there until the bridge that crosses the river. No one gave me any trouble at all. Not even a bad look. I came upon a small bridge and from the top, I could see the arch in the distance for the first time. A marker that the Mississippi River was close!

I was kind of in a hurry because I had arranged a news interview to meet at the river and I was on a tight schedule. My front tire popped. Damn. Oh well. I didn’t have time to fix it. I just kept going. It was hot and I was starving. I didn’t care. I gave domino a few quick water breaks but I didnt stop long. Just kept going.

I got to the bridge and was elated. I didn’t care at all about the flat tire or the sweat pouring off me or the rumble in my stomach. Not to mention, the aches and pains in my legs and feet. All I could feel was proud and happy. I let out a few cheers of joy. I stopped on top of the bridge for pictures and to have a moment with myself, a moment with domino, and most importantly, a moment with Brittany.

As I was coming down onto the Missouri side of the bridge, I was met by the photographer from channel 5 news in St. Louis. We did the interview and after that I met up with Amy and Linda and Amy’s 2 year old granddaughter. They drove from the Philadelphia area to come see me and bring gifts for me and Domino.

You have no idea what that meant to me. They were there when I started. Amy’s son Kevin passed away about a month before I started the walk. I’m very proud of her for doing what she can for him even that he’s gone. They brought some amazing gifts for me and Domino and a large contribution. I think the Philly cheesesteaks were the best part though!!!! Yummmmmmmm!

We hung out for a while and I wished they could’ve stayed longer. It was so good to see them. When they left I sat under the arch and changed my tire and watched everybody walk by and trying to avoid eye contact with me because they must’ve thought I was homeless or something. I enjoy seeing life from that perspective. Just something different. Sociology if you would…

Anyways, I pack up my homeless self and stroll into the Hilton where I had a reservation. A friend back home helped get a discount for me and it was so nice to be in such a nice hotel. I came up to the room and immediately tore my clothes off and got ready for the shower. I was standing there in my birthday suit and a hotel staff member opened my door thinking that no one was in there. I made some weird noise and she slammed the door quickly and made an apologetic comment. I laughed. Must’ve been awkward for her. I honestly didn’t even care.

I got all clean and then went down to heat up the cheesesteaks and ate the hell out of them. I am planning on trying to walk 30 miles tomorrow so I wanted to eat and drink water.

I hit a huge milestone today and I’m so excited about it. Next big milestone will be the Rockies. It’s about to get real out here.

No pictures today. I don’t know why I didn’t take any. Just didn’t come to mind…

When I woke up I put the news on to see the weather and it looked like a huge thunderstorm was going to pass through. We decided to wait it out and it was the right decision. We could hear it pass over us. Very heavy rains and thunder. While we were waiting we planned the day out. The weather forecast said that after the storm today was going to be “warm, humid, and unstable.” That became the theme of the day…

We chose to shoot for a 23 mile day and split another hotel in O’Fallon. We had some challenges to deal with. Some roads were unsafe and the weather could change at any moment out here. We went for it anyways.

After a couple of miles of hell, we made it to a larger road with a huge shoulder. Chris and I both celebrated loudly. We walked on that road for a good 10 miles probably. We went through a couple of small towns and breaked a couple of times. Nothing too exciting…

After about 14 miles into the day, we came up to the point in the road where the big shoulder ran out. There was about a 3 mile stretch of hell again. At the end of that particular stretch was a town called Lebanon. It was a really nice town and we chose to break for a while there.

We sat at a table outside of a store that was closed. While sitting there and snacking, the owner of the store came up and checked on us to see what we were up to. He was very interested in our stories and we talked for a while. He came back out with brownies and lemonade for us. Very nice guy. He warned us about the road that we had to go on up ahead and said we were pretty much going to die if we took it. We had no choice…

We were walking through a beautiful neighborhood on sidewalks and getting close to the road that we were going to die on. A guy out in his driveway hollered from across the street and was asking about what we were doing. We waited for traffic to clear and darted across to talk to him. He offered us some water but we kindly declined as we had just breaked and had plenty to get us to where we were going.

He also warned us about the road ahead. He thought about it and then offered us a ride to the other side. Chris and I looked at each other and both kind of realized that this was probably the safest thing to do. We were only missing a mile or two at the most. We gladly accepted and felt good knowing that we weren’t going to die anymore.

I was glad to meet that guy. It’s such a great experience to witness kindness of strangers firsthand. He helped us a lot. As we passed by in his truck, we realized that it would’ve been nasty to walk on that road. When he dropped us off, the road we were on was clear of traffic and we had about 5 miles to go.

We blasted through it so that we could get settled in. The town of O’Fallon is awesome. Really nice and sidewalks everywhere. We checked into the hotel with a coupon and it was only $27 a piece.  We jumped in the pool and then got ready for dinner at IHOP which is in the same parking lot. The walker gods were with us today.

Now it’s time for hockey and basketball playoffs before bed…

Woke up early and it never even rained. My tent was a little wet from condensation as usual but nothing on the outside. The view I had of the sunrise over the lake was breath taking. It motivated me to get an early start to the day. I was packed up and walking by 7 am.

The state park I was in was beautiful. I got to walk on a bike path along the lake and to the dam. Then I followed the river for a while to a suspension bridge that led me into Carlyle. A nice town with friendly people.

I walked on sidewalks and passed by a restaurant called “Old 50 Cafe”. I went in and texted Chris to let him know that I was there because I knew he was somewhere nearby. I wasn’t sure if he would make it or not but he walked in shortly after. We had breakfast and I left sooner than he did. I move a lot slower plus I wanted to get as far as I could because thunderstorms seemed to be coming soon.

After Carlyle, the road I was on sucked. It was supposed to be a small road but it was packed with cars and no shoulder. I had no choice at that point but to keep going. About 3 miles later I stopped for a quick break in a small town. I normally would’ve kept going but I needed to decompress from dodging traffic.

I got back on the highway to hell and tried to go quickly. I noticed that Chris had passed me as I could see him ahead. About 5 miles later and 47,000 close calls I stopped on the side of the road to get off of my feet and to catch my breath.

As I was sitting there minding my own business, a police officer pulls up quickly and parks as if he was trying to block me in somewhere. About 3 other police cars were swarming around. I guess they found their big, bad criminal.

He asks what I am doing and I thought about being a dick but decided to play along with Barney Fife. I tell him nicely that I am walking across America and taking a break. I explained that I didn’t want to be on this road but there wasn’t much of an option. Supposedly, people had called the police about me and Chris. I don’t know what they said. It’s not like what I am doing is illegal. Small town minds… if they don’t understand something, it must be wrong.

I was pissed but I kept my cool. They ran my name to check me out. I really wanted to be an asshole at that point. Here I am just trying to get through town safely and now I’m being treated like a criminal. While they were running my name a HUGE tractor comes rolling by on the road. I said, “where I come from, the police would pull HIM over and leave me alone.” I also asked them to speed things up as I had places I had to go. They got the point that I was over it and not dangerous and left me alone.

I messaged Chris to warn him that they were coming for him because I had a feeling they would. Sure enough they got him too shortly after they harassed me. We both ended up just fine though. I finally made into the town and it smelled like cow poop. The sign into town said, “Breese Welcomes You”. Yeah right. I didn’t feel very welcomed. It smells like shit and the police are assholes. The car drivers are worse. I couldn’t wait to get out of here.

The weather started to look scary. Chris messaged saying that he found a hotel that we could split and get out of this storm. I met him there and we took advantage of the hotel’s ammenties. After cleaning myself, my socks, and my underwear all in the same shower I laid down and relaxed. It never rained…

I felt bad because I could’ve gone way farther but I’m in no rush so it’s ok. I did want to get out of Breese though. I just accepted that the police were just trying to do their job and got over it. Chris and I went to the restaurant in the motel and split a pizza. It was amzing.

We talked to the bartender and some customers about our walk and I sparked a conversation about the overdose and addiction problem in our country. Everyone around the place chimed in and I met a woman who helped us get in the town paper. More awareness!

The restaurant gave us some soda that is made here in town called, “Ski”. I am going to save it for tomorrow because it is loaded with caffeine. I was happy that I ran into good people in town because I wasn’t feeling it until then.

Time for bed now! I’m going to try to take a route that isn’t as dangerous tomorrow and hopefully spare myself from going to jail for merely walking. On that note, I’m done.

I took yesterday off and so did Chris. We split the hotel for another night and took it easy all day. I went to Walmart and resupplied. I also called the newspaper in Salem and they did a story on me and Chris. The staff at the hotel were all amazing!!! They gave us donations and they called Applebee’s and got us free dinner. They helped us plan ahead and gave us a few snacks to hit the road with when we left. I was very impressed by everyone I met in Salem.

….

This morning I was moving very slowly. I knew that I had to walk 20 miles and was dreading it today. I couldn’t get motivated at all. Chris went ahead of me a little bit. I wanted to hang back and go at a slower pace. My whole body hurt.

After breakfast and goodbyes I left the hotel and had about 4 miles on the busy highway 50 with a tiny shoulder. It was hell. I finally got off of 50 and onto back roads and it helped my mood but not my body. I just couldn’t get there today. I considered popping my tent up right there and staying there forever. I decided to keep going instead. Rotting away in a tent in Odin, IL just didn’t seem to be in my cards…

Around the 10 mile mark, I was really fading and needed a break bad. I was running low on water and saw a church on my map up ahead. I was planning on going there and filling up with water from the garden hose and sitting in the shade for a break. Just before I got there, I passed by a woman in her front yard. She gave me a look that said she was interested in knowing what the heck she was looking at so I told her that I am walking across America.

She was very nice and asked a few questions. I asked her for water and she was happy to help with that. I posed for a quick picture so she could tell her friends and went on to the church. I found a picnic area that was covered. Heaven. I sat there for a good hour eating and stretching and doing phone stuff.

After that I started to feel a little better. I had to get back onto 50 for a mile before coming to the next side road. Being mentally prepared for it, it wasn’t that bad this time. I sped through it and got to the side road as quickly as I could. I took a shortcut through a field via a small overgrown 4×4 path. I loved it. I had a moment of true happiness as I was rolling through the high grass and Domino just strolling right along side me. At that point the day had totally turned around. It was beginning to look great.

I pushed ahead and rain clouds were looking pretty nasty ahead. I sped up because I saw a house ahead that I was hoping would let me stand on their porch until the storm passed. I got there and the storm never hit. Must’ve gone around me.

I kept going and was getting close to where I wanted to try to camp for the night. I was getting into a state park property and a Ranger passed by and asked about the cart. I told him about the walk and the cause and asked about camping. He gave me a few options but they were too far for my fragile feet so I asked nicely for a spot a little closer with shelter from the rain that is supposed to hit really bad tonight and tomorrow morning. He came up with a spot for me and told me I’d be ok for the night but to pack up by 8 am when the next shift comes on.

I was so thankful! At that point I could’ve walked to Africa. I gained a pep in my step knowing that I had a place to camp with permission. It took a while to get there but I was excited when I saw the shelter. There was a note waiting for me and the sun was starting to set over the lake from across the parking lot. This was amazing. I couldn’t have been happier. Especially after such a rough start to the day.

I made some really good tacos and the Ranger came back to check on me and make sure I settled in ok. We walked for quite a while and I enjoyed the company. He left and I ate my dinner and set up my bed for the night. I’m in great spirits before going to bed and hopefully I can keep it up because I’ll need it for the rainy day tomorrow.

Buenos noches!!!

Woke up by a train passing by very early in the morning. The sun was just rising. I stayed in the warm confinement of my sleeping bag until the sun rose a little more and then got up to stretch and move around. Domino stayed in her little nook.

I looked up and saw the top of the silo and a ladder leading up to it. It had to be at least 100 feet high easily. I had to climb it…

I went up and made it to the top. It was a very sketchy ladder and if you have even the slightest fear of heights then it was not a climb that I would recommend. I loved it though. At the top I took in the view of the early morning peeking over the horizon. I did some stretches and took my morning piss off the top. Why the hell not!? It seemed like the right thing to do haha. Total freedom.

I got back down and Chris was up and moving. We needed to let everything dry out from the dew that collected on everything overnight. We helped each other lay our gear out in the sun and then went on to eat breakfast. Once everything was dry we set off for Salem. A town that we set as our destination that was 16 miles away.

Around 5 miles into it we came across a gas station and had a break and ate lunch there. It was a store that catered to travelers and Chris and I both said how nice it would be to have stores like this across the whole country.

We walked on and took some pictures of each other and of a few sights as we passed by. We saw an old tavern from the early 1800s. Used mostly by travelers passing through on the Vincennes-St. Louis Trail. That trail eventually was turned into hwy 50 on this segment. It was cool to be walking in the footsteps of such courageous adventurers over 200 years ago.

We finally made it to Salem and walked through town to the west side where our hotel was. We checked in and it was a great rate and even better because we split the costs. We did laundry and went out to mexican for dinner. We both ordered seconds haha. Before dinner I had taken a shower with Domino and we were both happy to be clean.

After dinner I was done. I flopped into bed and that was that. As soon as I finish this sentence I will probably be asleep………..

Woke up and it had rained pretty hard last night because the outside of the tent was wet. So was everything else outside of the tent. We packed up the best we could and sat under the canopy of the front of the church until while we organized stuff, ate breakfast, and planned out our route.

We took off with a light drizzle but knowing that sunshine was to be coming soon. We had a great road to walk on for the first part of the day. A side road with little traffic. We made it about 7 miles or so into our first and only “big” town of the day. A big town means they actually have a restaurant and/or a gas station. We chose the gas station because the only restaurant opened was dairy queen and it had no lobby to sit in. Just a drive thru.

We got lunch from the gas station and found a patio table at a restaurant that was closed nearby. We ate there and took a long 2 hour break. Just relaxing and taking in the sunlight that was finally breaking through the clouds. We laid out all of our wet gear to dry while we sat there.

We packed up and right across the street was an old B&O Railroad depot turned into a museum. I walked along the old B&O railroad back in Ohio on the north bend rail trail. Before that I thought it was a fictitious Monopoly name of a railroad.

We finally set way again and this time in the pretty sunlight. After the town of Flora, we hit the country farmlands again. Wide open air with views for miles. The sky was vivid blue with puffy white clouds and the greens and yellows of the farmlands contrasted perfectly. We put the radio that I have on and all I could get was a country station. How fitting. We listened and it wasn’t that bad at all.

We turned down some small roads and went into a small town (no resources whatsoever) named Xenia. After realizing that there weren’t any stores I asked a lady who was sitting on her porch if I could top off all of my water bottles. She was nice and let me do so.

We ran into a police officer as we were leaving town and he checked in on us. We told him what was up and he seemed ok with it. Took him a minute but he finally opened up to us. He tried to get intel on where we were headed but I told him that we would be somewhere west between 5 and 15 miles from here. I knew that we were going to be stealth camping tonight and didn’t want to give too much info out. He looked like the type that would give us trouble if we let him.

We moved on and passed a nice couple who had some water bottles waiting for us. We talked and told stories for a while. When they asked what our political views were I knew it was time to go. They were obviously Trumpers and I personally have never cared and I never will care who the president is. It doesn’t really affect my lifestyle much. I just like to be nice to people. All people. Every size, shape, color, and gender.

I don’t want to get into all that. The couple was very nice. I enjoyed speaking with them very much. Chris and both realized that we picked the wrong year to walk across America as we walked away from them haha.

We kept going and hit a dirt road. I had domino off the leash and that always attracts dogs. We had one dog who walked with us for a couple of miles. I kept trying to get it to go back home because it was getting so far away and it was also getting domino all riled up. After a while and a deep breath I just gave up and let them both have fun. I figured the dog would go back home at some point. It did.

Not much longer after that, we came up to our planned camping spot. It’s a place with a bunch of grain silos that we can hide behind and be out of sight from the main highway. There is a small road that can see us but no one would care much. While looking for a spot we saw some raccoons. We set up camp anyways but knowing that we had to hang our food up tonight.

We set up and then made dinner and ate. Then watched the sunset as we hung all of our food up from the raccoons. I hope they won’t be to much of an annoyance tonight. The sunset was beautiful!  We sat and enjoyed that and then took to our tents. Chris and I both are sleeping without our rain flys on so that we can see out of our tents. The sky is pretty and the weather is good. I even saw a few lightning bugs while typing this blog.

We have an easy 15 miles tomorrow and we’ll get a hotel and be able to do some laundry and get some good rest in a bed. I need it! Domino needs a bath and so do I haha.

Follow Chris’ blog also at
Www.odysseywest.us

RIGHT before I went to sleep last night I heard little noises around my campsite. I looked out and saw a raccoon messing around with Lieutenant Dan. Ugh. I had food in there and also in my tent. Sleeping with food in your tent is usually a big no-no but I am pretty good about not following rules. I have slept with food in my tent almost every night that I’ve camped. Just not when I was in the mountains with a possibility of bear sightings.

Out here in the midwest I am pretty sure that I can handle any animal that I come across. Most of them are more scared of me than I am of them. Even coyotes. Anyways, raccoons don’t scare me at all but I can’t stand them. They are persistent as hell and won’t leave you alone. I knew I’d be battling them all night.

I opened the tent and told Domino to “go get it.” She charged at the raccoon and I heard it run off. I know very well that Domino wouldn’t have caught the raccoon. I knew it would only scare the raccoon away. It did. Domino was sniffing around camp and marking her territory while I packed up all of the food in Lieutenant Dan and my tent and hung it up off of the ground by a tree branch. This is one of the most effective ways to still have food left over for breakfast in the morning when dealing with raccoons. They will claw and gnaw through anything all night just to get a snack.

After that I was able to sleep for a while. A few hours later it was back and was under the bag trying to reach up. I thought it was funny at first but then it went over to Lieutenant Dan and started sniffing. I still had some scented products in there like deodorant and sunscreen and maybe it can’t tell the difference between that and food. I wasn’t sure…. “Domino go get it.” She scared it off and came back to the tent when I called her.

That bought me another few hours of sleep and by then it was getting light out. I slept in a little and laid around a while longer. I was in no rush today and was feeling rather lazy. I only had about a 15 mile day ahead of me so I knew that I could take it easy. While I was packing up I was listening to the radio and I heard them replay a clip from my interview that I did yesterday. That was kind of cool haha.

After leaving the state park that I camped in, I was quickly got on a small road that runs parallel to hwy 50. It was amazing. No traffic whatsoever. A 2 lane paved road all to myself! From looking at my map, I knew that I was going to be able to be on this road all day.

I took it very easy because I spoke with a guy named Chris, another cross country hiker, and he was going to try to catch up with me today. He started on the same day that I started my walk. He started in North Carolina and our paths just happened to cross. Pretty amazing!

I asked a friend that I had met yesterday, Mistie, if she knew anyone that could help us find a campsite in the town of Olney for the night. She was able to get us approved to sleep in the city park. That was amazing. Knowing that I had somewhere to go and camp was such a good feeling.

I get into town and take my time strolling around because Chris said he was close. We met up at a Mexican restaurant and ordered a ton of food! We swapped stories and talked about stuff that only a select handful of people truly understand.

We cashed out and rolled over to the park to find our campsite. Supposedly, this town is known for having white squirrels. It’s like a thing. They are protected and people will cut your hands off if you try to hurt one. This park is where most of them reside. We set up our tents and talked to a couple of girls who live in the town about the squirrels and other things. Never saw one but we didn’t really look. I’m going to try and spot one in the morning.

Another great day and hopefully a good night’s rest knowing that I have permission to camp here and that raccoons shouldn’t be an issue. And the weather seems to actually be nice for a few days. I must be dreaming….

Got up early because I had a big day ahead of me. I got on the road at 9 am and walked through Vincennes. I stopped at the post office where I had a package of t-shirts waiting for me. They were made for me by TAM. Theaddictsmom.com … I was excited about it and glad to have them. I now look official with my custom made t-shirts haha!

Shortly after the post office was the river where the state line between Indiana and Illinois runs. I crossed the bridge that had some beautiful monuments on it and was in a new state! I was also in a new time zone. Gained an hour as I crossed into Central time zone.

At the welcome to Illinois sign was a monument dedicated to Abraham Lincoln traveling west with his family. It’s hard to travel by foot. I can’t even imagine doing it without all of the resources of today’s society. I gave my respect and walked on into Illinois.

Flat and corn fields everywhere. Big surprise. I turned on my radio and tuned it to the radio station that I had an interview with in a couple of hours. WAKO radio had been talking with me and we planned a time for me to do a live interview as I passed by the station.

I got there and was shocked to find out that the DJ was blind. I wasn’t shocked in the sense that I thought a blind person couldn’t do it, I was just shocked because no one had told me. I had put on my new tshirt and everything. Guess looks didn’t matter. Kind of cool. He had the most amazing voice and was very nice. So was Gil, the guy who worked there that I’d been emailing with.

We did the interview and it was fun. I’ve never done a live radio interview in the actual station. I’ve done some on the phone but it is so much cooler sitting in front of a mic. I met the station manager and headed on out as I had more people to meet in the town ahead.

I pull out of the radio station and there was a hair salon named “Hot Mess.” The ladies in there all came running out and some of them still had their aprons on. It was fun and Domino got lots of loving. We took a picture and they gave donations. I had to move on quickly to get into town.

I stopped at a little convenient store and met up with a reporter from the local paper, a police officer, and a few women who lived there who I’d been speaking with on Facebook for a while. We all walked with a police escort through the pretty town of Lawrenceville. It’s funny because there is a Lawrenceville in Georgia and I’m not a huge fan of it. It is where the county jail is that I spent over 2 years of my life in. I’m over all of that stuff but I still don’t like going to Lawrenceville, GA. For years, the only reason I ever went there was either for court or to see my probation officer. I’m so glad all of that is behind me.

Anyways, back to the good Lawrenceville. I stopped into Towne House. A tavern type restaurant that was recommended to me by a few people. I ordered the pork tenderloin sandwich that Gil told me to get. It was as big as Texas!

The bar tender and other servers had all heard about me and asked about the walk. They took care of my meal and I talked to the bartender about a loss that she had about a year and a half ago. Poor thing. I was glad to have met her.

A couple of guys came in and sat next to me and we talked about the walk as they watched me eat the whole damn sandwich. They offered to walk with me to the end of town. I loved that. They were very knowledgeable about the town and I learned a lot about it as we walked and talked. Evan and Anthony. Cool guys. I was happy to meet them and hope to stay in touch.

I had about 10 miles to go from the end of town to the state park that I was planning to camp at. I was on cloud 9 for all of it. It was easy and carefree. I gained an hour today so I had plenty of time and no need to rush. I got to the park and set up my tent and made dinner. Right when I got done eating, Dani and a good friend of hers came by to visit. Dani lost her sister close to the same time that I started my walk. I have been looking forward to meeting her for 2 months.

It’s always unfortunate to meet another person with the same hole in their heart that I have but it does feel good to know that I am not alone. We hung out for a while and watched the sunset. She was responsible for getting me in touch with all of these wonderful people I got to meet today. I will never forget little Lawrenceville, IL.

Now I get to go to bed to the Cubs game on the radio. It’s the first night since I bought my new tent in Cincinnati that I’ve been able to sleep without the rain fly on. So glad to have 2 days of good weather back to back. Today was amazing and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful as well.

I enjoyed Indiana and had a great time there but I’m glad to be in another state and blessed to have such a great welcome.

I’ll never forget today.

I checked my email when I woke up and a radio show wanted to do an interview. I told them to call me and they did and I did a live interview over the phone on the Dave and Leslie morning show on 99.5 in Indiana. It was a fun way to start the day!

I had a 22 mile walk ahead of me so that I could get to the next town with a hotel to get out of the rain that is coming. I looked on googlemaps and it showed that hwy 50 had a large shoulder from Washington to Vincennes. The town I started in and the town that I was going to. I decided to take that road.

A little while into the day a woman pulled over and gave me some food. She was nice and I gave her son a high five through the window. A few hours after that another car pulled over. A male and female couple and they both got out to say hey and to see domino. They asked what I was doing and I told them and she started crying. She said that she had drove by me at least 4 times today and every time something was telling her to stop. She finally did. Her brother died 6 weeks ago. I gave her a hug that she needed and that was that.

Whether or not you believe in things happening for a reason, this felt like one of those situations. A few hours after that, a man pulled over and said he heard me on the radio haha. He handed me some money and wished me luck. That one didn’t feel divine but it was still pretty cool!

All day was along a busy highway. A pretty good day. I had music playing and people were being nice and moving over for me most of the time. I must’ve waved to at least 200 people today. Domino rode most of the day because the hills weren’t all that bad.

When I started to get close to Vincennes I was on my phone looking for hotels. None of the ones that I saw would take pets. Most of the hotels were sold out also. I already tried couchsurfing.com and couldn’t find anyone. I decided to call the one hotel left and just not tell them about domino haha. She doesn’t bark and is totally trained. She won’t mess anything up so I don’t feel bad about sneaking her in.

They didn’t have any guest laundry so I had to wash my stuff in the bathtub. I also noticed that I have poison ivy. It’s ok though. It doesn’t really bother me that much. It’s rare that I get it anyways. But when I do, it usually goes away quickly without spreading much. And it doesn’t itch as bad as it does for other people. My sister used to have horrible reactions to poison ivy. I’ve always been lucky that it didn’t affect me the same. I’ll keep an eye on it to be safe but I’m not worried about it.

Tomorrow is an off day for me. I am in the last town in Indiana and am only a mile or so from Illinois!  I’m going to do some media and planning tomorrow while I rest my legs and stay out of the rain. I probably won’t post tomorrow night. My first day in Illinois should be a good one though! Stay tuned…

Slept well and ate a good breakfast and then got ready. I put domino’s shoes on her. It’s the first time she has had to wear them in quite a while. She totally hates them. I put them on her and she wouldn’t move. I couldn’t help but laugh at her all day. I gave her lots of treats to make up for it. She did really well today. Once we start walking, she can move just fine in the shoes.

Anyways, we went through Loogootee and through a small town called Montgomery. There is a huge amish presence here. A lot of beautiful farms. The weather was nice as far as temperature and sunshine, but the wind was 15+ mph all day. That gets annoying but I was ok. I’ve had worse.

I did much better today. I stopped twice to rest and eat and wasn’t rushing at all. I went over a small mountain and into the town of Washington. I really like this town. It has a very nice park with a lake. A carful of college age girls drove by and were yelling out “you’re hot!” Haha. Not sure why they thought that. If they could smell my clothes they would probably think otherwise.

I saw about a million and a half places that I could set up my tent. I looked at the weather and it’s supposed to drop into the low 40s again. MAYvember. After sleeping in temperatures like this before, I made a commitment to not sleep outside if it’s going to be less than 45 degrees if I have the opportunity. There are a few hotels in the town I’m in. I picked the cheapest. Ended up being nice and right next to a grocery store.

I booked the room and went to get some comfort food. I have to go about 24 miles tomorrow. I’ll get a day off after that though so I’m looking forward to it. So tonight I’m trying to rest and recover as much as possible so that I can have a good long day tomorrow. I have plans to talk to a couple of newspapers tomorrow. The small town papers are off on the weekends so I’ve been waiting for Monday to come around.

Just wanted to throw this in here…
I really appreciate all of the donations that I’ve received. It makes this trip so much easier to be able to book a hotel room if I have one accessible and to get comfort foods that help me recover. Domino appreciates it too. She loves to sleep in the tent but not when it’s cold. Some hikers may make fun of me for staying in hotels but that’s ok. I’m not trying to be a hiker anyways. I’m just trying to walk across America. You guys are helping so much. I really don’t think I could do it without all of the support I’ve gotten. Not just financially but in all aspects.

Thank you