I’m taking the liberty of combining two days into one. They were very similar, same terrain, same amount of traffic, same beautiful views. There was one major difference however, and that was my attitude. Yesterday was a long, somewhat uncomfortable day, whereas today was a breeze, and it all had do do with how I set off…
Woke up yesterday morning in the funky old historic hotel. No paranormal activity to report, and if anyone did come into my room to cuddle, they made for a great rest. I was really comfortable there, and in no big rush to leave. So I delayed, and spent too much time on the first freshly prepared americano coffee in three weeks. And I grudgingly packed my stuff, and headed down the road. But yesterday, instead of being part of the coolest thing I’ve ever imagined, it became a 22 mile ordeal between Jefferson and Linden. I left late, hadn’t taken proper care of my nutrition, and from the first 100 yards, I knew it was going to be a long one.
I didn’t prepare for yesterday. I let my guard down a bit, took something for granted, such as “I got this”, Yeah, I’ve got this, but every day is a challenge, and I need to embrace the challenge if it’s going to happen properly. Yesterday I didn’t think about it, I didn’t prepare, mentally, and it made the physical side that much harder. I was struggling with my backpack (same backpack as the previous almost three weeks), I was struggling with my feet, everything seemed a lot harder, and it was. I was simply going from Jefferson to Linden, that was it. I hadn’t placed it in the greater picture of things, and it was a drudge, instead of being yet another awesome day, like all the others.
Motel last night was just that, a roadside place, clean at least, and dinner was at Dairy Queen - chicken sandwich inedible, salad from Salinas fantastic. After 22 miles, wasn’t about to walk another two to a diner in town.
But this morning started off bright, despite losing my hat yesterday. Bought a new lid at the gas station and off I went… only fourteen miles today, but I could have walked many more, because I started off right, earlier in the day, completely embracing the opportunity to be able to walk through beautiful country, safe, healthy, free, free of pain, with everything I need on my back, and just sailed off, and kept sailing, with my music, my walking-stick drum set and a real I got this!
Tomorrow will be my last full walking day in Texas. Though I’ve been messin’ about Texas, these last almost three weeks have been unbelievable, and I appreciate the good people who waved back, who cut my hair, who served me a meal, who made sure my room was clean. And those who kept Texas incident-free. I’ll be back, but in the meantime, thank you.
Sunday will be my first day off (unless I get restless and take off again), and I plan on taking care of all the little glitches between this blog, Facebook, Instagram and all that.. should be done by noon, after which I will do whatever is next…