Day 162 // Natural Falls State Park to Locust Grove // 26 miles // miles in total 1,154
Day 163 // Locust Grove to Chouteau // 16 miles (took a ride 25 miles into Tulsa for comedy) // miles in total 1,170
Day 164 // hanging //
Day 165 out
Day 166 and doing
Day 167 COMEDY
Day 168 // Tulsa to Sapulpa // 14 miles // miles in total 1,184
Day 169 // Sapulpa to Depew // 25 miles // miles walked in total 1,209
Day 170 // Waited out the bad weather in a Cabin.
Day 171 // Depew to Chandler // 24 miles // miles walked in total 1,233
Day 172 // Chandler to Edmond // 20 miles (drove ten) // miles walked in total 1,253
Day 173 // Edmond to Oklahoma City // 22 miles // miles walked in total 1,275
Day 174 // Day 175 // Doing Comedy in OKC
So I made it to this farm yesterday, and [Linda], the owner, she just reached out to me on Facebook, through a friend. Don’t know who the friend was. And, uh, came here to their awesome organic farm, and they have, uh, like goats and chickens and they made me an amazing dinner last night. And they're pretty cool people. Really cool people. Uh, this morning I woke up to this crazy crow — I thought someone was knocking at the door and I kind of woke up in a panic and it was this crow that was just pecking at the window for some reason. But it was like a perfect alarm clock. Woke up — oh, the sun’s coming out. Woke up, and, uh... Went down to the farm house, where I’m headed right now, and, uh, had really great breakfast. And then there were these horses that the farmers use to graze their land, but they belong to a neighbor, so, we had to take the horses back to the neighbor’s house, so I had these four horses and a donkey. Walked ‘em on down to the farmers’ house. Pretty cool guy. And, um, I was considering not walking today because it’s supposed to rain, like, an [80] percent chance of rain. But, if you look this way, it’s like, beautiful day. If you look this way, [spins camera] could be questionable. And this farm is so awesome. I think I’m just gonna hang around for another day. And I feel like I’ve done that a lot on the trip. “I’ll just hang out for another day.” Like, Tulsa. But, uh, I’m just having so much fun, you know. Just, just being. Anyways, this farm’s awesome.
After spending a few days in OKC, I flew to Nashville, TN to be a part of my sister's wedding. The week away from the road was a much needed break before I make a run for California. The week was packed with my family, including Alejandro, my love!! The wedding was beautiful and reinstated that I do NOT see myself marrying in the traditional since of the word. Weddings are hard work!! I image maybe even as difficult as the marriage itself. I'm pretty content with the thought that forever is now, I live happily ever after every day! I'm half way across the country, I see a tiny bit of light at the end of the tunnel, lets get walking! No sleep till Cali!
Day 184 // Oklahoma City to Yukon // 15 miles // miles walked in total 1,268
Day 185 // Yukon to El Reno // 15 miles // miles walked in total 1,283
Day 186 // El Reno to Hydro // 15 miles // miles walked in total 1,298
Day 187 // Hydro to Weatherford // 16 miles // miles walked in total 1,314
Day 188 // Weatherford to Clinton // 19 miles // miles walked in total 1,333
Day 189 // Clinton to Canute // 16 miles // miles walked in total 1,349
Day 190 // Canute to Elk City // 14 miles // miles walked in total 1,363
So I’m here. I’ve got like, I think four or five days left in Oklahoma. Then Texas. It’ll take me, like, two weeks to get through there, ‘cause I’m just going through the panhandle. And, um, then New Mexico. Then Arizona. Then California. Can I do it? I don’t know. I don’t know. This whole things been a I, big “I don’t know.” And tonight I’m staying with another guy from Warm Showers, which is how I met this guy.
Day 191 // Elk City to Sayre // 23 miles // miles walked in total 1,386
Day 192 // Rest Day
Day 193 // Sayre to Erick // 20 miles // miles walked in total 1,406
Day 194 // Too much fun, needed another rest day
Day 195 // Erick to McLean, TEXAS // 13 miles by tour bus + 22 miles by foot // miles walked in total 1,428
Day 196 // McLean to Alanreed // 9 miles // miles in total 1,437
Day 197 // Alanreed to Groom // 6 miles by scooter, 18 by foot // miles walked in total 1,455
I am officially in Texas. I’m walking in Texas. Last few days were a little crazy. Went to the music festival. Festival was awesome. It was great. It was a little weird. There were a lot of cowboys. Uh, they wore hats. They wore cowboy hats and, and they had tight pants. And they had big belt buckles. And they seemed pretty flamboyantly homosexual, but, you know. They might never know it. But they looked great. And I filmed some stuff of the band. Um, met the band afterwards. Hung out with them in the green room, drank way too many beers. Uh, smoked some pot. And, although I'd already set my tent up, was convinced to, in the, ‘bout 3:30 in the morning, just break down my tent, throw all my stuff in my cart — in the dark.And put it on the tour bus and sleep on the tour bus, because they had a hotel room, and they were not gonna let me camp out there, ‘cause no one else was camping, so it was just gonna be me alone. So I slept on the tour bus. Woke up there feeling all hung over. And, um — whew. Yesterday, just hung out with Jesse from the band.Uh, scored some pot, so that should get me a little bit for the rest of my trip. And now I’m leaving from Shamrock, Texas, headed to McLean. ‘Bout 21 miles. Piece of cake. Hopefully no one’s watching me with this camera. And they're gonna come and mug me. And murder me! No, they won’t. I’m gonna be fine. Whew! Going up a hill here.
Day 197 // Alanreed to Groom // 6 miles by scooter, 18 by foot // miles walked in total 1455
Day 198 // Groom to Conway // 17 miles // miles walked in total 1,472
Day 199 // Conway to East Amarillo // 20 miles // miles walked in total 1,492
Day 200 // East Amarillo to Amarillo // 12 miles // miles walked in total 1,504
Day 201 and 202 // Hanging out in Amarillo!
Day 203 // Had to catch a ride to New Mexico for a comedy gig, at The Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino!
In the weeks since I have left Oklahoma City, walking on route 66 has been a pleasure. For the most part, the road is not traveled on, so it has been nice to walk and feel safe at the same time! On Day 197 I left one small town, headed to another. Route 66 and interstate 40 merge together after Amarillo for large chunks so I was planning to get off before then, because walking on the freeway is no fun! But it also merges for a six mile stretch before that, six miles may not seem very long but in walking time that is 2 hours. Two hours of illegally walking on a freeway where most people are going 80 miles an hour and NOT happy you are walking on their road way. A common theme for my trip has been feeling anxious about something and then it miraculously working out, and this event was not unlike so many others.
I walked the first 5 miles of the day and then came to the stretch I would need to get on 40. There was one possibility, on my map it appeared there was maybe a dirt road, I decided to check that out, but unfortunately it looked like the road just ended. So I walked back to the freeway entrance, parked my cart and walked under the overpass to take one more final look and make sure there was no other road in the distance. I looked, there wasn’t, I turned around to walk back to my cart and out of nowhere appeared Jesse!
Jesse, had also began a walk across America, but several weeks in someone gifted him a scooter, so he went with it. And there he was pulling a small cart with a dog in it!. He too, was freaking about having to walk on the interstate and after a few minutes of getting to know one another decided to go at it together. A team! He would slowly ride the scooter in front of me, it definitely made us look a little more professional, like we were in some sort of race. People gave us lots of room on the road, eventually, he stopped the scooter and we just walked it together. The 2 hours flew by, and the experience was yet another reminder of a valuable life lesson.
We cannot control all the hurtles we encounter in our lives, but we can control how we face them. If you face them with courage and belief in the universe, you just might be able to overcome every the largest!
Jessica: —6 miles to Amarillo. Let’s say I’m going to Clinton. It’s friggin’ hot. It’s like 80 degrees. I guess that’s not really that hot. But, uh. I’m going down Route 66. Listening to the news. Democracy now. [Winks at camera] Wink, wink. I, uh... Hi, sir! Um, I miscalculated and, uh, instead of being, like, 15 miles from my destination, I was actually 20, so I got a really late start. And now I’m racing the sun. Hoping to make it Clinton before the sun goes down. Gotta walk fast. It is day 188 on the road
Day 190. Made a new friend. Name’s Peter. He’s biking around the world. Or something. We met and shared a cabin at the KOA campground, ‘cause it was cheaper. And we are on a budget. Oh, that’s what I needed. That’s what I needed. [Hums] Bye! Off into the sunset he rides. It is day 190. Feeling good, feeling great, feeling motivated. Um, today is gonna be a short day. I w-, thought I was gonna try to make it a long day, but ended up sleeping in late, and I’m just gonna go about 14 miles to Elk City. Stay in an RV park there. Uh, it’s a cloudy — little bit of clouds in the sky, which is perfect. There’s a car coming up. Think I’m crazy. Hi! [Not a car]. Huge RV. Very different. What we’re doing, sir. It’s like, what is in that? What is in that? Why do you need that?
Good morning. Well, I’m here. It is the hundred [yawns] and 99th day on the road. [Polishes camera lens] That’s crazy. Super crazy. Uh, making my way into Amarillo today. Kind of, I think I’m on the outskirts. Uh, I feel good. I feel pumped. Um, I didn’t shower in this p-, space ‘cause I feel like I'd feel dirtier if I did, so. I dunno. Maybe I will. I haven’t decided. I have to leave here in about 30 minutes. There was a big problem with the hot water last night, and people were right outside my window talking very loudly, um. At first I didn’t know what was happening, so it took me a little off guard, but once I started listening, I realized what was going on. Um, I’ve stayed at a series of little hotels on, on 66 and, um, it’s been interesting. This has been the, probably the most question mark one. Um... Kind of like I’m in jail. Uh, and I think they're cooking meth, but, you know, whatever. They're probably watching me. Hi, hello, how are you. Um... But, uh, I feel pretty good. This coffee’s kind of making my stomach hurt. But, you know, just gonna keep it, drinking it for whatever reason. Um, the band that I hung out with last night, or the other night, Chad Sullins, um, the Last Call Coalition, I, I put their sticker on my... [Turns camera towards cart] Put their sticker on my cart. That other sticker is a [Buzz Bin], which is, uh, I stayed with that guy in Ohio. I don’t remember — pry-, I think I filmed that set. I filmed some music there. I think I meant to film my set, and I never hit record. ‘Cause I’m an idiot. But, uh, I’ve just been here, catching up on the news, seeing what’s going on. Um... You know, doing a little Twittering. Um, working on my, my route, uh, the whole route is, um...
01:41:34.07 It’s weird, 'cause I kind of see, like, a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, like I think [and] there’s an ending in sight. So that’s weird. Very weird. Um, yeah, I mean, if, if I go by the route that I have here, then November, which, it’ll be November today, oh, ‘cause today’s Halloween. It’s Halloween! I’m gonna dress up as a woman walking across America. I’ve got a really good costume. Um... Yeah, so today’s Halloween. Um, I’m gonna dress up as a woman walking across America, 'cause I have a really good costume for it. Um, [yawns] um... So if all goes according to plan, November would be my last full month on the road. I mean, I wouldn’t be back to New York ‘til January, so that’s not true. Really two more months. [Stretches] I can’t believe I’ve been on the road for seven months. That’s crazy. [Yawns] Really crazy. I thought so many times I couldn’t do it, but now I kind of think I can. I think I can! That’s what’s up. You just gotta think you can. Fake it to make it. Fake it ‘til you make it. All right. Let’s get this day started.
Day 204 // Did 45 minutes of standup!
Day 205 // Made it to new departure point
Day 206 // Socorro to middle of nowhere // 20 miles // miles walked in total 1,524
Day 207 // middle of nowhere to Magdalena // 8 miles // miles in total 1,532
Day 208 // watched my boo compete in a big trumpet competition!
Day 209 // Magdalena to middle of nowhere // 15 miles // miles in total 1,547
Day 210 // middle of nowhere to Datil // 21 miles // miles walked in total 1,568
New Mexico: The towns are getting further apart and the days are getting shorter. I am having to "stealth" camp more. When one stealth camps you basically throw up your tent wherever you think people won’t murder you in the night. You want to stay clear of cacti, rattle snakes, large fire ant compounds and awaking surrounded by cattle in the morning. You throw up the tent after sunset as not to be seen, and you must rise with the sun for the same reason. This lucky morning I awoke to the most beautiful scenery, the sun rising to the east, the moon setting to the west, the walker settling in for a long days walk.
Had a paid gig at this casino and because I quickly running out of money, and I jump at the chance to do 45 minutes on stage, I said yes to the gig. I knew this meant I would have to stray from my route a bit. As the walk has evolved I have become less concerned about covering every mile by foot, and more enthralled with the chance in the journey. this was my first time getting a hotel room out of a gig, very exciting! The show went well, and I won $70 on a slot machine!! (then preceded to lose it on roulette)