Friday, November 1, 2013

Day One!

Guideline number 1: Never use the entire packet of Crystal Light.

The roads today were familiar and I blew through them without my attention catching onto much. My favorite part of today was actually walking along the freeway and exchanging first and last impressions continuously with strangers. I had a few seconds to glimpse inside each car, long enough to gauge their age, gender, how much facial hair they had, and their curiosity about me. Many passed by in sunglasses, unfazed by my ridiculous appearance. Others showed obvious interest, turning their heads to follow me, occasionally waving or smiling in surprise. Laughing at myself is my favorite pasttime, but maybe they weren't noticing me at all, instead getting their laughs from phone conversations or other passengers or their own thoughts. Whenever a trucker would give me the nod, I would return the gesture by tipping the brim of my hat and feel manly. Dozens of girls in convertibles whirled by and blew me kisses (This happened).

I stopped at a gas station to rest a couple miles outside my destination at Bob and Katie's house. When I pulled in there was a convoy of humvees refueling. A few of the guys struck up a conversation with me and I'm glad they did. It was a lot of fun shooting the shit with Bryce Brink, Sgt. Doss, (Sgt.?) Edwards and Commander Pat of Delta Company 184 based out of Oakdale, CA. Brink and Doss have both been deployed to Iraq, Brink for 15 months, and Doss for 2 years. Their belief that I will persist in walking will sustain me things look grim; it's still hard for me to know if I'll have the guts to keep moving forward.
Kicking it with Bryce Brink!
When I arrived at Bob and Katie's house, there was an awesome sign taped to their garage door waiting for me, as well as a finish line tape for me to run through. Official stats for the day according to my pedometer: 33715 steps, 20.22 miles. Tonight Katie is drawing up my Looking for America sign while Bob and I are strategizing over possible routes to get me out of California.

Videos of the Day:
Saying Goodbye
Crossing the 101 at Central Ave.
My first lunch
First Break of Day 1

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