On Monday I spent my first night in my tent and it was… intimidating.  My day was going pretty well until about 2:30/ 3 o’clock when it came time to find somewhere to sleep.  At this point I had already walked about 11 miles and was getting pretty tired.  I was in an area where there were only about 6 houses in a 1 mile stretch of road.  I asked 3 people if I could stay on their (very large) front lawn out near the edge of the property as it is not technically legal to stay on the side of the road.  I explained what I was doing but I don’t think English was their first language and and I do really look like a homeless person.  The first two, understandably, said no so I moved on.  Finally I came to a house where I unintentionally followed an old woman down her long driveway.  She slammed her gate closed and scurried inside, ignoring my existence.  I get it, I’d be intimidated too.  Luckily, her husband came out to see why I was standing at their gate.  I explained my situation and even though he was hesitant, he allowed me to stay on the very edge of his property, a gate and probably 100 yards separating us.

I got my tent all set up and I hopped inside.  Within minutes I was starting to feel uneasy and uncomfortable.  It was a combination of a lot of little things culminating into one big bundle of worry.  I was sticky from dried sweat, I was hungry, I was cold and couldn’t get in my sleeping bag until I ate.  I was even worrying about my stuff getting wet from dew because it was getting cold and very dark.  To top it all off I was alone.  The loneliness and isolation was definitely what got to me the worst.  I was sleeping in an unfamiliar place and nothing to comfort me.  Luckily, I have the best siblings in the world.  I called my sister and told her how I was feeling and she talked with me for 45 minutes until I felt a little more reassured.  Within another 2 minutes my brother actually crawled into my tent with me. He tracked me down through my gps tracker and showed up to surprise me.  He brought some snacks and we watched an episode of The Office.  Within minutes if him leaving, I was out cold.

I woke up yesterday with a considerable amount more of confidence than I had the night before.  I started my day by rolling over to Del Taco about a 1/4 mile away.  I pushed the Hobo Cart 5000 through the double doors and ordered.  The cashier (Vince) asked me about what I was doing and he asked probably a dozen questions.  When I was ordering my food I decided against getting some additional tacos because of the price but when I went to the restroom Vince apparently made them for me anyway and dropped them on my tray.  Free tacos are the best tacos!

I got out of the restaurant and was on my way.  According to google I only made it 6.5 miles yesterday but since it was almost entirely uphill I’m ok with that.  I am lucky enough to have some family friends (Michael and Karen Maely) in the area who were willing to come pick me up and drop me off in the morning today.  Today I made it 8 more miles uphill and I’m just about to make it over the 4000 ft peak of the mountains!  Again, Michael and Karen have been gracious enough to pick me up again and let me invade their home for another night.  Thanks again you guys!

PS: If you know anyone who would be willing to host me for a night, even if its just letting me set up my tent on their lawn, I would greatly appreciate it.  You can look at my general route here and message me on Facebook or here to ask me more specifically if I’ll be passing nearby.

PPS: Sorry for not posting anything in a while, I know it got long. I’m trying to do every other day but last night I passed out at 8:30. Also, I’m trying to post pictures of everybody I meet that helps me out along the way so follow me on instagram or just look on the side bar or bottom of the page (depending on what you’re reading this on).