Author: brettbramble

I woke up and went to the office to see about staying an extra night. The cabin that I was in was booked so they put me in this tiny home. It’s a new thing that they are releasing at that campground. The guy who makes them lives in La Junta and the KOA campground got 3 of them to rent. I’ll be the first person to ever stay in one here. 
I packed up all of my things quickly and rolled over to the tiny house. It was really cool. I’ve seen a few documentaries about this craze. The idea sounds appealing and it was quite comfortable. I’ve been living out of a jogging stroller so this was actually an upgrade. I went to a restaurant nearby and ate a big breakfast and ordered a big salad to go so I had lunch for later. 
I got back and did laundry. Now I was all set. I put Netflix on the TV and finally got to see this season of Orange is the New Black. I watched 7 or 8 episodes before crawling upstairs into the comfy bed. The perfect rest day…

I tried to sleep in since I was taking the day off but was awake before the sun came up. I walked over to Walmart to grab some supplies for the 80 mile stretch with zero resources that I was facing. I get back and laid back down to watch tv. At 830 am I hear a knock on the door and it was Beverly. She was basically kidnapping me. I knew that I didn’t have much choice but I was glad to go with her anyways. 
It was nice to get out. We went to a few places around town. She showed me the old sugar factory that they turned into a recycling center. From there, we went to the senior center where they had a surprise for me. They have a system that they have done for a couple of years now where the seniors all walk across America. 
They have a string around the entire length of the walls in the large ballroom and they have pictures of sights across America. For this trip they are going from San Luis Obispo to Chicago on route 66. They have miles posted up and all of the participants carry around a pedometer all day to count their steps. At the end of the week, they tally up the total steps and you can move your popsicle stuck with your face on it along the wall accordingly. It’s adorable. 
We went to breakfast after that. Beverly called the Mayor and told him to be there. He didn’t have a choice. We go into Barista, the local coffee shop where anyone who is anyone gathers at 10 am. I grab a coffee and a breakfast sandwich and sure enough, the mayor comes. 
We all talked about the walk and about ways that we can help the town with the drug problem. I told him that I was planning on meeting up with a local Colorado organization later in the day and I’d love for him to join us all and see what comes from it. By the way, the mayor was cool as hell. He shared stories of his traveling adventures in his younger days. 
After breakfast, we drove around to a few places. Around lunch time, I called Melissa with Not One More – Southern Colorado and arranged to meet her for lunch at the Copper Kitchen. I walked in and the owner recognized me from yesterday and saw me on the paper. He told me that he’d been throwing darts at my picture all day. 
Melissa brought her friend and coworker Shawna (spelling?). Two very pretty woman who work hard to try to prevent overdose deaths. Beverly and I joined them and we all had lunch. The mayor came and joined in as well and amazing things happened. I believe that because of that lunch that La Junta will prevent someone from overdosing someday. We may never know but I know that actions will be taken regarding the issue. 
Beverly wasn’t done with us. She took me, Melissa, and Shawna to the newspaper to get in the paper yet again. After speaking with Bette who took notes for her story we went to Walmart to talk to Bob. Bob is the pharmacist and the coroner in town. We gathered some information from him about overdoses in the area and it was a pleasure to meet him. 
But wait, there’s more! We all went to Southeast Health Group. A wonderful organization in town that deals with rehabilitation of all kinds. We were shown around the entire facility and then led over to the addiction treatment center known as the Peer 613 House. Oh em gee!! 
This place is amazing and the people there are even better. I was so happy to be there. They were all happy to have me there too. It was just a bunch of excitement. I wanted to stay all night. We spent a little while there but I needed to get going. I arranged to have dinner with one of the founders later that evening. 
I got a ride back to the cabin with Melissa and Shawna and we all were amazed at how the day played out. I didn’t want to say goodbye but we all had to go our separate ways. Shortly after, I was being picked up for dinner. 
Jeanie and her husband took me out to mexican and we had a ball. They took me back to their home to grab some fresh produce before dropping me back off. I only grabbed a few things because I had to worry about weight since I would be carrying 3 days worth of water and food for the next leg. 
Got back and decided then and there that I was going to take tomorrow off completely and not tell anyone. I still fell asleep early…

So I woke up at 4 am and headed over to city hall where some people were going to meet me all at 5 to kick me out of town. Jim, the mayor, put all of this together. A lot of people were there and we took pictures. I was very thankful that they all came out so early. I let them all know how bad the drug problem is and gave them some tips on how to help in their town. They walked with me to the end of the street.
After saying goodbye to my new friends I rolled along and really enjoyed the sunrise. I felt home. All morning was beautiful. I had to walk up some hills but the views were worth it. I was definitely in the west now. It looked like the desert but with grass. I even saw my first cactus. 
I reached the top of a hill and got emotional from how beautiful it was. I think it was the Brittany tears that I had to hold in while I was speaking the day before coming out. Just as I got myself together, a state trooper car pulls up with two officers in it. 
They were just checking on me and were very nice once I told them about what I was doing. They wished me well and shook my hand. 
Kept walking and a truck pulls up and two early twenties guys get out and give me a cold water. I gave them some stories about the walk. It was getting hot and I was getting close to town so I had to keep going. 
As I went into town, I stopped by a national forest service office. I saw it and figured that it wouldn’t hurt to get some advice on what to expect through the Rockies. The lady inside was really sweet and very helpful. I was starving.
I walked into town and as I was approaching all of the businesses a girl came running out of a hair salon and waving for me to come over. She had seen me on the news this morning. Which was interesting because no one told me that I was going to be on the news haha. 
I talked to all the girls and they told me about some restaurants and a hotel where I could get a discount. I left to go grab some food. There was a taco truck that looked amazing but I wanted to sit indoors to eat. I kept going thinking I’d see something that would work. I saw the newspaper building and walked in. I knew that I was in their paper already and just wanted to say hey.
Everyone was nice and we even worked on another story for the next day. They told me that I should go to the chamber of commerce and talk to Angela about places to stay while I was in town. I headed that way…
I get there and Angela was on lunch break. Good. I was starving. I went to go grab lunch myself. I stumbled into a place called the copper kitchen. It was delicious and everyone was great. The man at the cash register when I paid to leave was cracking me up. A wonderful character in a wonderful restaurant in a wonderful small town. 
I go back and meet Angela and she decided to make it her mission to find a place for me to stay. She called her friend Beverly to see if I could stay at her house. I was hoping to have some more privacy though as I just wanted to rest. I recharge better when I’m alone. Beverly came anyways to meet me. 
She was so nice. I told her that I was going to try and find somewhere to rest but would let her know if we couldn’t work anything else out. I hung out with Angela for a couple of hours. We finally came up with a KOA campground in town. She worked on getting a discount for a cabin and it worked. They even came to pick me up. 
I check in and turn the TV on and the news was on. I remembered that I was supposedly on this station this morning so I watched in case they showed me again. They did. There i was. They showed my video of me eating the rocky mountain oysters haha. I almost died laughing. 
Beverly came back and gave me a copy of the paper that I was on the front page of. That was pretty cool. I felt famous. I went to go grab dinner and then relax. It worked. I went to bed pretty early. 

I slept in and then prepared for what I was going to say when I was talking to 100 or so people at 10 am. I wasn’t ready for something like this at all but I knew that I could get through it. I’ve done enough interviews now that I have the key things to say pretty much down pat. 
Well I wasn’t prepared for what happened. I get there and I was the only person who would be speaking and there were so many people. I got up and was really nervous but I shook it off. I got through my story just fine. The crowd was very helpful when I teared up about Brittany. I received a standing ovation and lots of hand shakes and pictures when it was done. 
See everyone there is in recovery. It was the perfect place to share my story and my sister’s story. I think a lot of people were inspired. I was so happy to meet everyone that I did. 
After the talk, the mayor of Las Animas walked with me into town. Jim was cool as hell. I enjoyed the company and really enjoyed the Mexican food that his wife treated us to once we were in town. I spent the rest of the day with them and then I was put up in a hotel for free. Shortly after I checked in I received a phone call.
It was a woman who had heard me speak at Fort Lyon and wanted to see if I could go speak to the rehab group at Resada. A drug and alcohol treatment center in town. I was happy to. 
I get there and it was way more informal as I didn’t want to give the same speech twice and had nothing at all prepared for this one. I just told my story and had a sort of question and answer session for a while. It was a great group of people. I saw my sister in a few of the girls. I just wanted to save them all. I hope I helped. 
I had to get back because I had a very early start to plan for tomorrow. Big day and another big day to follow… 

I wanted to leave Kyle’s house around 430 am but didn’t until around 630. It was one of the best night’s sleep that I had on my entire trip. I needed the rest but I regretted not starting sooner because the sun was already up. 
I walked through town and really liked the main street. Lamar was pretty cool. The only restaurant opened was McDonald’s so I went in for breakfast. I talked to a truck driver the whole time. His brother is currently incarcerated because of his addiction to heroin. He got emotional when he heard about my cause. Great way to start the day! 
I was pretty sluggish in the morning but wanted to get as far as possible before the heat hit. I had a 20 mile goal today and really wanted to make it. I was enjoying the scenery and the traffic was being kind to me. I was still a little upset that I had heard the feelings of a woman two nights ago but was starting to get over it. I kept trying to figure out where things went wrong. But it was all just a misunderstanding and there was nothing else that I could do about it. 
I passed a rattlesnake. Yeah. I think it was dead but I wasn’t sure. I just waited for a break in traffic and then went way around it. I didn’t get bitten so I guess that was the right thing to do. When I was about 30 feet past it, I just had to know so I threw a rock at it to see if it moved. It didn’t. It must’ve been dead. That’s what you’re not supposed to do to rattlesnakes. In case you didn’t know. 
I passed mile marker 421 and was curious to see if the 420 one would be there. I assumed that it wouldn’t. I was right. It had been stolen. Welcome to Colorado. 
Shortly after, I was met by some wonderful people. Carol has been following my walk for a long time and always comments and shares my posts on facebook. Her, her husband, their daughter Chelsea, and son Jay came to walk with me. Jay was present only in spirit. He left the world 6 months ago and I was so honored to walk with him and his family. Oh!!! And the 2 dogs!!! Can’t forget them!!!!! They were all troopers as they picked the worst possible time of the day to walk with me as it was around 100 degrees. 
We walked into the huge town of Hasty. Just kidding, it’s not huge. It had a post office and a “convenience” store. That’s all. We grabbed cold drinks from the store and sat outside and talked for a while. Just as everyone was thinking of saying “are you ready to go” but not wanting to be the first one to say it, Chelsea locked the keys in their truck haha. 
I wasn’t very worried about it. There was a cowboy on the case and he looked like he was the man for the job. When it started to look like he wasn’t going to get it, I remembered that I had AAA. I called them and they said it would be 90 minutes. 
That’s when I called the mayor of Las Animas, Jim, who had arranged a place for me to stay for the night. I wanted to let him know that I’d be delayed. He said that he had the tool for getting into a car and that he’d be right over. Sure enough, he got it. I called AAA off and we all went on to Fort Lyon. 
Fort Lyon is a really cool place. It has been many things. A mental hospital, a prison, a VA hospital, and many other things. It is currently a rehab transitional housing program for homeless people with substance abuse disorder. The perfect place for me to stumble upon. 
We arrive and I say bye to Carol and family. I can’t wait to see them again. I know I will one day. We became friends in just a few hours. I get into the facility and was so tired that I didn’t feel much like socializing. I took a shower and ate a dinner that Chris, the guy who works there that showed me my room, gave me. 
I was down before the sun was. I noticed a thunderstorm brewing outside and I was very thankful to be indoors, falling asleep to it. 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

I woke up and got an early start. So early that the gas station wasn’t opened yet. I grabbed some pop tarts out of my stroller and had my own breakfast while I walked. I was feeling pretty good. I had made a lot of people laugh when I posted the testicle spectacle video. A lot of my followers are people who have lost a loved one to drug-related deaths. It felt great to be able to bring laughter into their lives for a breif moment. 
At my first break, a few hours into the day, I check my Facebook comments and notice that I must’ve offended the woman who gave me the rocky mountain oysters. That was never my intention and I felt terrible. I think it was just a big misunderstanding. I kind of thought the whole thing was a joke and that she would laugh at that video also. I didn’t know people take balls so seriously out here. 
It really put me down that I offended someone who was just being nice to me. I was very grateful and that was one of the most memorable and fun experiences of my trip. Her friends were sending very very rude comments and messages to me which pissed me off. All day, I was livid that people were being so outraged over something so silly. 
At first, I was thinking of being apologetic and try to explain the whole misunderstanding. But after more and more rude messages I realized that these people just need drama in their lives so much that they create it themselves. If something so petty can turn your world upside down then you need to go out and get some real problems. Because I have them. I’m working very hard to make myself a better person and to try to make the world a better place in honor of my sister who I will never see again. I don’t have time for silly, melodramatic bullshit (or bull balls).
Ok next….
I saw a vehicle pull over up ahead and a guy hopped out and was fiddling around in his trunk. He popped up and had a nice camera in his hand. I had to clean the sweat and anger off my face and when I got there, he explained that he is writing a book and would love to hear my story. Well good. Because I’d love to tell it!
I talked about the walk and the cause and he has also lost a sibling to a drug-related death. We exchanged information and I hope that he includes me in his book. That would be cool!
A long day later, I finally make it to Lamar. The town where I was staying for the night. The Wal-Mart was the first building in town. I went in for some supplies and A/C. As I was walking out of there a car pulls up and it was a young couple about my age with a baby. The woman was crying. She had lost a brother to an overdose. Poor thing. We had a moment right there in the middle of the street and it reminded me of why I’m doing this. 
Less than a mile later, I get to Kyle’s house. Kyle did a radio interview for me and offered to put me up for the night. I met his wife and adorable 1 year old daughter. Also I met their two dogs one and cat. I immediately went for my allergy medicine because I’m very allergic to cats. The medicine worked and I didn’t have any symptoms all night.
We talked and then went to grab lunch. I enjoyed sharing a few stories and then hearing stories of theirs as well. Later in the evening, Kyle had to go to a Farmers Appreciation Barbecue. He invited me and I wasn’t going to miss it for the world. I have learned so much about farming on my walk because I walk past everything at 3 mph. I was still way out of my element though. 
Kyle headed there early and his wife and I waited for the baby to nap before heading there ourselves. She drove and we drove through a crazy storm. Dust was everywhere and I thought we were going to be sucked into the land of Oz at any given second. She never even slowed down. We drove through it and survived. Obviously. I’m here to talk about it. Thankfully. 
The farmers event was at a grain elevator. Of course. They had vendors with farm equipment set out and a huge grill that they welded themselves. The burgers were amazing but the corn on the cob was to die for. I mean wow. Some people were pretty nice but something was in the air and I sensed it. 
I realized that most of the women were being weird about me. I finally got it out of one of them that the lady from yesterday was friends with them and everyone thought I was a huge asshole. I tried to explain my case and it seemed to help a little. I still wanted to just leave though. This was not my crowd and this area of the country hates me. I’m fine with that. I’ll never be back. They won’t have to worry about me anymore. 
We go back to Kyle’s house and I was out like a light. I’ve never gone to sleep so quickly in my entire life. It was great!

Lamar is the next big town over. It is 28 miles from Holly. I decided that I would only walk 11 miles today to Granada, a very small town between Holly and Lamar. I started around 6 am which was very late for a day that is forecasted at 104 degrees. 
I turned the radio on to the station that I did the interview with and every hour when they did the news segment, they mentioned me and my cause. Awareness being raised! 
The trucks and cars were ridiculous today. Maybe because it’s Friday. I was pretty irritated with traffic but was trying to stay calm since I didn’t have very far to walk. When I was about 3 miles from town, I decided to take the dirt roads. It would add a mile but I didn’t care. I really wanted to get off of hwy 50. It was ruining my mood.
Right before I got to the turn to take the dirt roads, a woman pulled over to say hey. Her name was Leigh Ann. My sister’s middle name is Leigh and my daughter’s middle name is Ann. She had met Angela a few days ago and Angela, the girl walking across America also, told her about me. She was excited and offered to spoil me while I was passing through her area. It probably won’t work out for me to stay with her but she offered to walk with me and I hope we can make that happen. 
Before she left, she gave me a bag full of testicles. That’s right. Fried bull testicles. Also known as, rocky mountain oysters. They looked like they were really good bull balls, if one were into that kind of thing. I took them and was cracking up on the inside at the transaction that just took place on the side of hwy 50. Welcome to Colorado!
I get into town and scope out possible  places to camp. After coming up with a few options, I decided to start asking permission. The best possible scenario would’ve been at a baseball field at their high school. It was close to the gas station, had plenty of shade, had power for my cell phone, and had privacy in the dugout. 
I went inside the school to try to find someone. The door was opened. I walked in and felt like a guy that shouldn’t be walking around inside of a school so I turned around and headed out back. I saw some guys working back there earlier. I found someone and he was the maintenance man. He said it would be just fine if i stayed there. 
I went to go settle in for a while. As I was taking stuff out of my stroller, I saw the rocky mountain oysters. I HAD to try them. I mean, how many times in my life will someone just hand me a bag of testicles!? I sat down and tried to work up the courage. I realized that this had to be hilarious so I turned my phone camera on and recorded the whole scenario. 
I bit into one but couldn’t keep it in my mouth. Forget that! I just couldn’t get past the mental block of eating cow nuts. Especially after smelling the cow farms that I’ve been passing by lately. I gave the rest of the bag to the maintenance guy and he was happy about it and laughed at me. 
I went to the Mexican restaurant up the road and was completely content with the way all of that turned out. I’m just not okay with eating bull balls and I’m totally cool with that. Lesson learned. 
Later in the evening, a dog came wondering around. He looked lost and definitely needed water. I gave him some and got him to calm down to rest. After i have him some food he has been around and won’t leave now lol. I named him Rocky. If he’s still here in the morning I’ll walk him around and try to find his home. In the meantime, it’s been fun to have a friend for the evening…

I woke up early as hell. Like 2:30 am or something. I was moving slowly while packing up. I was walking just before 4 am. It was dark but I still had the moonlight which was bright enough to see. It was also bright enough for this one dog to see me.
It was like Scrappy from Scooby-Doo. He was getting close and growling like he wanted to bite. I grabbed my walking stick and slammed it on the ground while growling louder than he was. He got the point. 
Out of nowhere there were 5000 gnats flying around me. It was bad. I had to rig up some bandanas around my face and neck. It worked a little but it was still annoying. I was waiting for the sun to come up so they would go away. I’ve noticed that most of the bugs are only out for sunrise and sunset. 
The sun came up and I went on. I was within 15 miles of the state line. I was trying to go fast. I came upon a construction zone. There was a lot of chaos going on for miles but the guys were all nice. They kept giving me water and telling me to keep going. Meanwhile, I was trying not to be killed by the huge trucks filled with 50000 pounds of asphalt. 
The state line was still in the construction zone. This worked out because I asked one of them to take a picture of me with the welcome to Colorado sign. My mind was blown that I had made it to Colorado. This should be an interesting state to walk through. 
5 miles later I come to Holly, CO. A very small town but they had a restaurant and a motel. I stopped at the restaurant for a burger and then went to the hotel for a room. They were full but she told me there was another hotel up the street. I asked her if I could hang out in the lobby for a while. It was nice and cool in there and I had a guy wanting to meet me for a radio interview. 
He came and we recorded the interview from the hotel lobby that I wasn’t even staying at. He offered to host me when I go through his town in a couple of days. I’m probably going to take him up on that. 
I walked over to the other hotel and checked in. It was different but what isn’t anymore..? I was so tired that I laid in bed and didn’t really do much until the next morning. 

I got some great rest at the hotel last night. I took a long day nap, then watched Goodfellas on TV, then went back to sleep. I wanted to be on the road around 2 am. I started at 430 instead. A good start but I had 28 miles to do today and wanted to do it before 2 pm. After that it’s just too hot. 
The sun wasn’t up when I started but the full moon was bright enough to see just fine. I felt really cool walking through Kansas at night. I could hear coyotes in the distance. Before long, the sun began to rise. The colors made me stop to see the show. Stunning. 
I made great time for the first 20 miles. I surprised myself actually. I entered the mountain time zone. I didn’t even know that I was close to that. I had forgotten all about it. So that was a cool moment. 
I started to get pretty tired. I had a lot of hills today actually. I checked my map and was about 8 miles from the hotel in Syracuse. I blasted through as quickly as I could. I had to stop often to cool down but was trying to keep pace before the real heat kicked in. I made it to town and the hotel was closed for renovations. Fuck.
I go next door to a diner called Ramble-N-Restaurant. I got a Ramble-N burger. It was great. I asked the waitress if sh3 had any idea if there were other hotels in town.  She didn’t know but offered for me to sleep in her dollhouse. As interesting as that sounded, I was too exhausted to sleep in a room full of creepy dolls trying to kill me. 
I went to City Hall and talked to them. They told me I could camp at the park. Yay. (Sarcasm) …

I get there and find a shady spot. I have a water spigot, power for my cell phone, and a shady spot for my tent. That’s all I need. I was happy about it once I got all set up. It’ll be easier for me to get up in the morning. It’s harder to get motivated when you’re in a comfortable hotel room with air conditioning and a bed. 
Hopefully an early start will put me into Colorado tomorrow!!! 

5 am alarm clock again. It wasn’t enough sleep but I had to get started early. I had another 24 mile day ahead of me. I walk out of the bedroom and smelled bacon. Mitch woke up early and made me eggs, bacon, and cinnamon rolls. It was so good. We had breakfast together and then he wanted to take me up to the highway to help me have an easier start. It didn’t take much convincing when he asked if I wanted to go a few miles ahead to be dropped off. It turned my 24 mile day into an 18 mile day. I needed that little push. 
I was walking by 630 again and got to see the beautiful sunrise. There were some god awful smells from all of the cattle fields and a Tyson plant. I had to wear a bandana around my face like a bank robbery. The cool morning air felt nice though. I was exhausted but thankful that I had the head start today. I can blast through 18 miles like it’s nothing. 
I got through the smelly part and lowered my bandana so that I didn’t scare anyone lol. It’s a good thing that I did because a woman pulled over and came to ask what I was walking for. I told her and she had a sibling that struggled with addiction. She took a picture and told me she’d help spread the word for me. 
I went on and about 30 minutes later she came back to give me some money. She was so sweet. I could tell that she was excited that she saw me and stopped to talk. I was very excited that she did too. About 30 minutes later she came back again! We were old friends at this point haha. She gave me her ‘trust your journey’ bracelet. I really liked it and what it represents. Thank you Renee 🙂
I passed by some more wagon ruts from the Sante Fe Trail. There was a farm with sheep. I thought that southwestern Kansas was a weird place to have sheep. They were all fighting over shade. A couple of them had that dumb face on them that reminded me of Domino lol. I still think I made the right choice to send her home. 

At one point I looked down and there must’ve been 3 billion grasshoppers per square inch. I was trying to dodge them and not run over them or step on them. No need to kill them if I don’t have to. Sometimes they would jump out of the way. Some of them would jump up and the wind would blow them away. It was pretty funny. This reminded me of my second day when the worms of the wet morning in Delaware were out on the road. 
I walked into town and was starving and had a headache from dehydration. I checked into the hotel and found out that Robin had called ahead and paid for it. She’s amazing. The hotel was recently renovated and the rooms were nice. I set my stuff inside and then walked next door to a diner.
It was some of the best food I’ve had on this whole trip. Just a little roadside diner next to a motel. I considered moving to Lakin, KS and marrying the cook just so I could have that meal everyday. Maybe I’ll do just that.
Went back to the hotel and it was about 1 pm. I fell asleep until 8 pm. I’m hoping that I can nap a little more and get started around 2 am this morning. I have to go 27 miles to the next town and the high is going to be over 100 degrees tomorrow. An early start is mandatory. There is nothing between here and there so I have to do it. So goodnight again!!!