Since my last update from Koxville I have traveled in a variety of different ways. I have walked, hitched and am currently sitting on a bus somewhere in southern Illinois. The shirt I purchased at the last stop reads "I love Illinois." The truth is, i'm not sure if I love this state or not. The employee at the Flying J seemed nice enough and the nacho cheese machine had a nice flow to it but I just desperately needed to feel what it would be like to wear a clean shirt once again. This bus that I am on is traveling all the way to Portland, OR. I got it in my head the other night that I would hike the coastline of the state, yet sitting here in tight quarters I realize that there is also a possibility that I exit the bus somewhere before then.
I have become fascinated with the people that offer me rides. I almost feel like I am doing them a favor as opposed to the other way around. These people seem like they just need somebody to talk to. I sit down and off they go with their life stories, typically highlighting their struggles. I walked across the hot pavement through the humidity towards Chattanooga. I was looking forward to reaching a substancial city once again. I was on track to make it by dark when a dark green worn down SUV pulled off the road in front of me. After a short chat it was decided that he would take me into downtown Chattanooga about 10 miles away. His name was Ben. His entire body shook for the duration of the ride. He had one regular eye and one that resembled a plastic "googly" eye that belonged on a sock puppet. Strangely this eye was the one that found eye contact with me, still not sure if it was voluntary though. So off we went, me closer to town and he off with wis life story. He talked about living under the Veterans Memorial Bridge which was located just a few blocks from where he was taking me. His past consisted of meth and kickboxing, quite a deadly duo, and it did in fact lead to death but not Ben's death. He explained that he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison. This definitely peaked my interest and I asked what for. Murder he said plainly as his googly eye seemed to catch mine once more. Apparently he used to have quite the collection of muscle cars back in the day and naturally this made him quite the ladies man. He said one day a girl he knew from school went up to him and stuck her tongue so far down his throat, "It was like she was trying to suffocate me." Her boyfriend didn't like this too much. He charged Ben and immediately greeted with one of Ben's trained fists, breaking his jaw. The next day the boyfriend brought his dad to school seeking revenge. The father, described as a "big ole country boy" didn't fare any better. Ben, saw the father son duo approaching him in the school parking lot. He managed to hop up onto the hood of his most recent muscle car. He jumped off and performed what he later described as a flying backspin kick to the throat, killing the father. Trying to ease my nerves "I ain't braggin or nothin." He said. Ben was sentenced to 20 years but only served a little over a year. His explanation "I got some mental problems, I'm a little off, Not like psychotic off, well.... not all of the time." We approached downtown before he could tell me any more other than a warning about the people of Chattanooga which included multiple racial slurs. Just like that, I had made it to Chattanooga.
I spent 4 nights in Chattanooga. I took in some of the typical tourist attractions including the incline railway. It is a passenger rail car that climbs Lookout Mountain at a 72% grade and is known as the "most magnificent mile" in the US. At the top I walked over to Rock City. If you have ever been in the south you have probably heard of this place. Their marketing includes over 900 barns that have been painted reading "See Rock City" across 19 states. Among the screaming children, slow walking elders, souvenir magnets and masses of selfie taking humans was a beautiful waterfall flowing down the rock face of Lover's Leap. Atop Lover's Leap one can see over 100 miles in the distance and into 7 different states. It was truly a beautiful scene, yet I still felt the need to escape the tourists. I walked sown the mountain and into a local bar where I met a guy named Travis who had recently quit his job in Pittsburgh to drive around the country. The people of Chattanooga could not be more welcoming to us as we spent a couple days going to most all of the breweries throughout downtown. It was pretty much known throughout town that he was the one driving and I was the one walking.
UPDATE FROM DENVER MAY 12
Well, I didn't make it all the way to Portland. I boarded the bus at 6am in Chattanooga traveling through Nashville, TN, Evansville,IN, St. Louis, MO, Kansas City,MO, Topeka, KS and eventually Denver, CO where I decided to get off. As I have stated before and will continue to do so, Greyhound bus rides are rougher and provide much more adventure than any walk across America ever could. This bus was sold out the entire way. I know I cannot reach comfort with a stranger sitting that close to me. It wasn't just your average seat neighbor either. I would guess he was in the ballpark of 350 lbs. His sleeveless blue shirt exposed his flabby arms. He constantly burped up a smell that seemed to escape the depths of hell. His hips covered a little more than his seat was made for. Then there was the drooping flesh that portruded over his hips taking up half of my seat. There was even a stretch where the bus was over sold and several passengers were forced to stand in the middle walkway. I sat with one cheek on the seat twisting my back towards the aisle in order to fit into my seat. I looked up to see one of these standing passengers. I was wearing down due to discomfort. I was about 20 hours into this situation and I made eye contact with the standing man. His eyes wide open with a smirk, holding eye contact for far too long, like it wasn't uncomfortable for him at all. He smirked. No words. I felt like I wasn't living in a real life moment any longer. I looked ahead towards the road only to see we had come to a complete stop on the Interstate. The bus had shut off. The driver became frantic not knowing what the problem was. Our original driver's shift had ended about an hour prior somewhere in Kansas. He had gotten off just after an elderly woman had involuntarily shit all over the bathroom. She screamed to the front of the bus saying she needed to go to the hospital. We pulled into the Kansas City station and people exited offering help to the woman who then exploded with anger. fiercely screaming "fuck you" to anybody that even looked in her direction. An ambulance picked her up shortly after. The new bus we switched to sat broken down for an hour on the Kansas interstate. The heavy man fell in and out of sleep leaning his body on to mine. It wasn't subtle because of the amount of weight that was shifted on to me. I almost fell asleep once during the 30 hour ride. The heavy man woke me. "Im just trying to get some room here, you're like way on to my side." I assessed the situation. Half of my body leaned into the aisle. It wasn't enough for him. I leaned half of my forehead onto the aisle-side corner of the seat in front of me. Looking straight down. Eyes wide open, for the next 10 hours. I started to miss walking in this moment. I even missed moving slow enough to see the various plastic bottles filled with urine that seem to line the highway.
Ill be in Denver until Monday. I will board yet another bus and head to Portland. It reminds me of the quote from the movie "Rounders", I felt like Buckner walking back into Shea."
I abandoned my cart about 70 miles north of Chattanooga, TN. I felt like it was beginning to feel like a burden to my freedom. Although freedom is tough to grasp when struggling in the heat with a very heavy pack. So I threw away a lot of my stuff to make it a little more managable, yet will still probably rid myself of a few more things. This is cart number 3 that I have left stranded across America. It has done it's job for me this time. I'm hoping to switch out some of my gear in order to lighten my pack going forward. My plan for now is to eventually walk the Oregon coastline, but as you can probably tell by now my plan is constantly changing.
I know the bus ride seemed like a nightmare but I was able to meet some cool people in the process. I'm very pleased with the connections to others I have made out on the road. I have no idea how long I will be out here still. In the last 46 days I have taken a train about 3,000 miles. Bussed over 1,000 miles, hitched a few hundred miles and walked over 600 miles. I have met many new friends and experienced some great times. Seen tons of cities across 20 states. There are so many stories to tell, I wish I could tell them all. Plenty more to come I'm sure.
Side Note (s)
- At one point my large neighbor on the bus drifted to sleep slowly leaning on me as he had done throughout the trip. Only this time his nipple had escaped the underarm of his sleeveless shirt and touched my arm. Skin to skin. It seemed as though his body had stopped falling towards me and had settled into a still position yet his nipple kept sliding closer. Truly a low point in my life.
- I seem to be just permanently covered in mosquito bites now.
- I received an email from Greyhound 10 minutes ago. The subject line, "How'd we do?"
- I bought a pair of shorts today for 5$. I hadn't done laundry in a few weeks since I was back in Greensboro. I only had one pair and realized I couldn't wash them unless I was doing it naked.
- A guy in a striped seersucker suit offered to drive me and Travis to the next bar called The Pickle Barrel in Chattanooga. He seemed to carry himself like he was some kind of big shot around these parts. He drove us a mile or so and joined us at the rooftop bar. He asked what we wanted to drink. After a few minutes he returned with no drinks, and a little panicked. He was followed up the stairs by the bartender. "I promise I wont get any more drinks" he pleaded with the bartender. The bartender wasn't having any of it "You need to leave" he said. The one time big shot begged to stay insisting he didn't want any trouble. They would not let him stay so he left saying " It's okay i've got a big party to go to anyways." He had been cut off. The next day we found out he had been cut off at the original bar we met him at. Probably would have been safer getting in a car with a lazy eyed killer. His reign at the top as a big wig in Chattanooga was short lived.