Kansas City, MO

I am in Kansas City, MO. Laying down on a very comfortable bed. Laying on a bed at all is nice. Exactly two months ago I touched my feet down in the Atlantic Ocean.I haven’t walked for two days. Enjoying all that this big city has to offer. It has been amazing to see this city both walking and driving, yet there is an emptiness in me. I get homesick for the road. The comfort I feel in pushing a cart down a road doesn’t even seem strange to me. It is such a different dynamic to not be able to measure the progress of my day by the miles I have walked and everything else that comes along with it. I walk. I walk a lot, but it’s not the walking that has opened my eyes. Learning to thrive in an uncomfortable lifestyle has been a challenge. I compare it to seeing something beautiful that you have never seen before. The sight of it takes hold of you and slaps you awake. I had a thought today. Looking down at my feet, thinking about the places they have been. I thought to myself, I started in South Carolina walking. I am now walking into a Kansas City Royals game. A sense of power came over me. I thought, everything is within my reach. I can go anywhere. I love how my thoughts have opened up. I challenge myself daily and I see the only barriers that could stand in my way would be ones I create for myself. Those insurmountable barriers I used to see are gone. My appetite for adventure has grown. Things that used to scare me now intrigue me. I have walked 1250 miles so far.

I’ve seen that the seasons in the south and the Midwest are real. There are colors. I have really enjoyed seeing these places along the way. If I am walking I will generally average around 25 miles per day. I have learned that I do need to drink more water. There are spans of 4 or 5 days sometimes where I don’t even change my clothes. The heat has started to set in a bit. Feeling fatigued in the afternoon sun I pulled up my pant legs over my knee. I discovered that my calves were swollen, and darkened like bruises all along the back of my leg. It could have been like this for days without me realizing it. I found out that this is a sign of dehydration. I have been fine since forcing myself to chug water throughout the day. The downside is having to jog off into the woods every 10 minutes to go to the bathroom.

My stay in Kansas City has been fun filled thanks to my cousin Andrew and his family Tasha, Emaerson and Ruby.Sampling the various BBQ spots throughout town, ranking the sauces, going to the World War 1 museum and taking in a Royals game. I was also able to fix up my cart a little. It should be ready to roll down the road into Kansas smoothly on Tuesday. I knew from the beginning I would stop in Kansas City. Although I did anticipate being here in June. That is over a month ahead of schedule. This goes to show how little I knew. I read everything I could in preparation, but nothing could prepare me for this. I just had to experience it. That is the only way to know. I don’t feel victorious now that I have reached this destination. I always pictured being here, but it was just a thought. It wasn’t real yet, and would it ever be? Well as you can see it is.

Heading west from here will be a whole new adjustment. The heat beginning to become a factor as well as entering the wide open west. It is a challenge I am looking forward to. I have learned so much in the past two months. I can handle anything, and if I can’t, keep walking and things will get better. Just keep walking.

Side Note (s)

Whenever I have a place to stay indoors I enter a pure state of relaxation mode. It is like part of me has been turned off so I can now rest. I will walk down the street in search of food, but I will only go to the closest place. During these times I’ll see a place is 0.5 miles away and I think, there is no way I am going to walk that far. The next day I’ll look on google maps to see the next town is 18 miles away and I’ll think nothing of it.

Quik Trip is the greatest gas station of all time. Being a frequent gas station customer I feel I am qualified to hand out this award.

The other morning I saw a deer that had been hit by a car. Fresh, the bright red blood painted the shoulder. The car was sideways, up on a hill next to the road. A cop had pulled up, got out and began walking toward this scene. As I passed him, no words were said but we high fived and carried on in opposite directions. I’m not really sure why that happened or why it is interesting. I guess everyone needs a perfectly timed high five from time to time? Cops have been very nice to me throughout my walk. I have been asked by them about 20 different times if I have a baby in my cart. I pretty much expect it by now. One time I want to say, yeah I’ve got a few in here, you want one?... Probably not the greatest idea though.

My side neck hair has begun to join forces with my beard creating a scarf like structure around my neck.

Weather permitting, I will head west once again on Tuesday May 5th. It seems that I will turn 25 in Kansas. A year ago I never would have thought I would ever even be in Kansas, let alone spend my birthday there. So much ahead of me, so much to look forward to.