Evanston, WY

Day 118 here at the Flying J in Evanston, WY. Truck stops are basically heaven on earth. They have everything you could want. I have walked over 200 miles since my last update in Rawlins and have traveled 2,270 miles in total. I am resting for the most part today and will head into Utah tomorrow. My 12th state.

In the midst of this journey many discoveries about myself have been made. Mostly having to do with my mental health. Only a few years ago I would have thought I would be playing baseball somewhere at the age of 25. That would have been what I wanted for myself at least. It dawned on me recently that I could never have felt as fulfilled playing baseball as I do now. In some ways the struggles I have gone through within myself have given me the strength to take on such a daunting task. I know I don’t want to go back to the state of mind where I was before. In a way I feel like I have re-lived my life in the past 4 months. I have so much time to be by myself and think. Just one of the many things that have been very beneficial to me throughout this walk. I no longer have any anger of regret about the past. I am moving forward and am excited to see what I am capable of once again.

The mileage by day since Rawlins has gone like this: 39,30,40,0,15,22,28,36. The sleeping arrangements have gone Love’s Truck Stop, rest area, Days Inn, Days Inn, Centennial Park (no sleep), bushes, rest area, Pilot Truck Stop. Tonight is still undecided. It was pretty cool about a week ago I ended my day at a Love’s Truck Stop in Wamsutter, WY. There were 2 groups of people surrounding me. 3 guys who were biking from Canada to Mexico and 2 others who were hitchhiking across the US. What are the odds that all of us end up at this small town Wyoming truck stop at 10pm. It was great to talk to other travelers. We all set up tents in the darkness that night surrounding the truck stop.

I got the chance to meet up with a man named Scott whom I have been in contact with since before I began my walk. He had attempted a walk of his own earlier this spring. He now works at Yellowstone Park and drove the 7 hours to come and see me. He had read about my recent struggles In Laramie and thought it would be a nice boost for me. He spoke of his time attempt at walking across America and some people that had really helped him out along the way. This was his way of paying it forward and I am very grateful for him. He got me a motel room for 2 nights in Rock Springs which was much needed coming off of a 40 mile day. We had a few hours to talk about our lives and get to know each other. This was exactly what I needed at a time where the mental grind of this walk has grown with each step.

Heading out of Rock Springs was a challenge. The wind was so powerful blowing against my path. There were many instances of me basically walking in place for a few steps at a time. This made moving forward tremendously difficult and frustrating. I gave up for the day in Green River, WY where I found a park to set up camp. It was like de ja vu of my experience at La Bonte Park in Laramie. The mosquitoes surrounded me in bunches, not really seeming to care at all about the entire can of bug spray I had covered myself in. Then the sprinklers came on dousing my sleeping bag. I moved out of the sprinklers reach. 20 minutes later the next wave of sprinklers began spraying me again. This process continued for over an hour until I decided there was just no way I was going to sleep that night.

At 4 am I got back on the road towards Little America which was 22 miles away. I was so exhausted and constantly itching with phantom mosquitoes crawling throughout my skin. My shoes had become so beaten up. The soles were wearing down and there was a big hole where my littlest toe sits. For the past week I had gotten used to the increasing amount of rocks and pebbles that had made their way into my shoes. Every couple hours I would just have to take them off and dump them out. This day, however, small pieces of glass had now began to find its way in. These sharp pieces began to sting my feet. After a night of no sleep I was too tired to fix it. I just had to block out the pain and get to Little America. I had decided that everything would be great again if I could just make it there. Over the past week or so I had seen over 30 billboards advertising this place. Billboard advertisements are far more effective passing them at 3mph. In my head it had become Disneyland for travelers. I finally arrived and collapsed onto the grass area outside. I met a man named James who gave me a soda. He asked me a few questions about what I was doing pushing a cart. We parted ways and I found a nice hidden area amongst the trees to camp and finally get some sleep. I woke up a couple hours later in the midafternoon. Shocked as I looked towards the road and saw James heading in my direction with several bags. He had bought me a ton of food/supplies and most importantly new shoes! I have been overwhelmed this week with the generosity of people I had never met before. It is so amazing how my view of people has changed over the past 4 months. It is so comforting to be able to trust in people again and be right. My 2nd pair of shoes are hanging in a tree in Little America.

The last 2 days have been a process of breaking in these new shoes. My feet have never hurt this badly at any other point. The end of days consist of me limping considerably. I know it is only a matter of time before I get used to them, but that is why I am taking today off. After 36 miles last night I put my feet up at a Pilot truck stop sucking down a celebratory Mountain Dew. I removed my socks much to the dismay of the employees only to discover blood covering my smaller 3 toes. I was basically Curt Schilling and it was Game 6. I won.

I am 5 miles from Utah. I haven’t quite sorted out my route yet but I should only be in Utah for roughly 200 miles. Then it’s Nevada.

Side Note (s)

With a few miles to go until Evanston my feet were throbbing and I needed to power through. I had some sort of 90s playlist going at the time. R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts” came on and if you haven’t heard it, it is the most depressing song of all time. I thought, this is not what I need right now. I decided to call one of my friends to get my mind off of the situation. He didn’t answer. Back to reality again. The worst part is once I hung up, the music continued. I hit the button and immediately “Eeeevveeeryyyybody Huuuuurrts” pierced my soul. It was almost poetic.

I have begun playing this game to keep myself entertained. Whenever I stop to get some water I sit there and look sideways at the road only to see that every driver and passenger that passes is always staring at me. Once I start walking again I wait for the cars to get close. I then quickly whip my head around towards them and lock eyes. They are already looking at me so we lock eyes and they begin to panic. I regain power this way.

The skin on my arms need help.

It sprinkled briefly about 2 days ago. I am willing to bet that is the last rain I see on this walk.

I spent a few hours the other day envisioning how cool it would be to know how to play the piano. Deep down I dream of being the lowest level of entertainment in lobby/bar room atmospheres. I am going to learn when I return.

I only got stopped by the police one time in Wyoming.

It s grown increasingly difficult to eat without consuming the lower moustache hairs that hang down over my mouth.