Greetings from Franklin… no, not Franklin Tennessee or Pennsylvania! Still in Texas… have a long way to go, but a happy arrival in Franklin at about 2:30. Let myself sleep this morning until I woke up., nice little luxury when there’s only 13 miles ahead. Day was uneventful save for a really nice surprise I’ll tell you about below. There were no problems, no issues whatsoever today, as expected.
I have been thinking quite about safety since yesterday’s incident and conversations, and I have already learned a lot in week one. Spent the first couple of hours of this morning’s walk worrying, and my conclusion is, I am not going to let fear take away from this journey. It already took two of this morning’s hours, and a few yesterday, and those are now gone. I am however going to make some little changes, in the name of safety, time and logistics.
As of last Sunday morning, I was adamant about walking every step, every mile. My plan was to carry a little can with biodegradable spray paint and mark the spot with an X, then the next day go back to the X and go on from there. Already, I was unable to do this, twice; once, with Pedro from the picnic area, and yesterday, the ride from the sheriff. In both cases, I was unable to get back to the spot without losing a lot of time finding a ride. So here’s the deal… I’m going to let go of my every obsession, but I AM going to create a mile bank… I will log every mile that I did not walk (and advanced) and put it in the mile bank. And the only time I use help is when my safety is at risk. Full disclosure, I’m putting my safety ahead of my obsession. And whatever is accumulated I will complete, but perhaps we can all do something together… I’ve got some time to think about it! Deal?
And I will not stop on bridges anymore, try to keep moving and walk with purpose, oh, and wave!
About an hour or so into the day, I spotted a couple of horses in a paddock near the road, so I walked to the fence. They both started walking up to me (I am kind of a horse-magnet!) and we had a little chat. Really nice. It was hot, and for those of you non-horsey people, we put those things on their face to keep flies away from their eyes. Horses filled me with energy. Posted a pic on Instagram and off I went.
Was on the phone chatting, of course walking against traffic, which for the last two days has been the sunny side - lots more shade on the eastbound lane! So there across the highway, on the shady side, was a guy sitting in a chair behind his Subaru, hanging in the shade. And just when I thought “that could so be Bob” I realized, it IS Bob!! Rewind to last Sunday, Bob, drone, farewell party! I was shocked, convinced that the sun had fried whatever was left inside my head!!
But it was Bob, and Bob got his work out of the way, drove the 70 plus miles to northeast of Hearne, followed me with his drone for a long time, passed, and waved at me three times! I din’t have a clue. So I drank the best Topo Chico in history, a Gatorade, we chatted.. it was totally surreal, last thing I expected, and am so looking forward to the drone footage, including, yes, my meeting with my new horse friend. Unbelievable, and so cool! Thank you Bob, you made my day!
And off I went towards Franklin, about three hours more. Temperature was bearable, lots of fluids and really nice walk, just loving the views, and waving… didn’t talk to a lot of people today, except Bob!
Nice little hotel in Franklin, little store, and Franklin happens to be the seat of Robertson County, and a block away is headquarters, so what better than to go over and say thank you.. so I did. As I approached, and officer came out of the building and asked if she could help… I kinda chuckled, and told her I was the man with the walking sticks!! She more than chuckled… we had a good laugh, said that the guy that stopped me was inside if I wanted to say hi, which we did… the three of us had a good laugh, everyone is kind of embarrassed by the whole thing, but I was able to thank them in person, and did get to tell them they scared the crap out of me! They apologized.
And remember my concern regarding finding good food? Well Mr. Whole Foods tofu man had a huge chicken fried steak & baked potato for dinner… listen to your body right? Believe me, I was! Peace.
