James’ Day
Today was an exciting day, as we would be seeing our good friend and documentary producer Tomer. As I (James) was gathering my things in the shed I slept in the night before, I glimpsed out the window and saw Sam walking by. He had a headache and stopped at the convenience store just up the road. I continued walking for 14 miles until stopping at the city park in the town of White Deer. Along the way, I did enjoy a short rest lying down on a cardboard box on the shoulder of the highway. I stayed for about an hour in the park. While I was there, two kids were ordering food and kindly asked if I wanted some, which I politely declined. I headed to the convenience store and stocked up. My hat had blown off my stroller the previous day, so I had to deal with the sun in my face all afternoon. I arrived at Subway in Panhandle, TX, around 7pm, and Tomer met me there shortly afterwards. We did some filming for the documentary, I stashed my stroller in a nearby shed that we would be sleeping in that night, and then Tomer and I hopped in the car and drove to pay Sam a visit (he still had about 8 miles left at that point). It was exciting to be about to get to him so quickly, and the drive made me both appreciate the speed of the vehicle while also seeing how much ground I had covered on foot. Tomer got some footage of Sam walking, and then we headed back to the car and drove back to the shed. I said goodbye to Tomer, who was headed back to the hotel in Amarillo. I then got tucked away in my sleeping bag and enjoyed my Subway sandwich along with some Monday Night Football. At 11:30pm, Sam opened the door to the shed. This startled me, as I had fallen asleep watching the game. We both went to bed shortly after.
9/26/22
Sam’s Day
I (Sam) woke up at around 7:30am to the sound of a man saying “Hey you in the tent, you can’t be here.” I was sleeping next to a church the night before, so it was technically private property. Time to go. I laid down for about 5 more minutes as I had a headache before packing up my things. I walked for about 15 minutes before passing some sheds for sale on the side of the road where James was sleeping. There was a cool breakfast place built into a convinience store that I stopped at to wait out my headache and grab some pancakes. I ended up spending about 3 hours there. The ambiance was actually very niche and all of the visitors seemed to be regulars who knew each other. I ate six pancakes before heading back off. The headaches have honestly become more of a problem recently, as I have begun waking up with them. It was interesting seeing the oil drills working in the fields as I reached the outskirts of Pampa, TX. Certainly not something I have ever seen in the Midwest. I arrived in the town of White Deer, TX, a small town with a gas station and a few shops. I laid out in a patch of grass and ended up taking a much needed nap for a little over an hour. This was still a tough decision as I knew that taking a nap would guarantee that I would have to walk at night which I am not a fan of. After White Deer, I continued onwards. About 5 miles later, I heard a car honking as it passed me and realized that Tomer, our good friend who is documenting parts of this journey, was in the car! His visit was planned, of course, but I was still surprised to see him. He pulled over and shot several clips of my walking as well as a few interviews before it got too dark. After he left, I had about 7 miles left until I would reach the town of Panhandle, where we would be spending the night. I was pretty motivated to get there since James found some storage sheds for us to sleep in (these are always a luxury). The night walking was not bad at all, and I was able to enjoy a nice night in the shed before Tomer would come back again in the morning.
Today’s greatest challenge was definitely the headache in the morning as well as getting woken up earlier than usual. While 7:30am really is not early, it can still feel that way given that the sun barely rises at this time. This makes me automatically feel groggy. The headaches are becoming very annoying because they are very difficult to walk with, especially in the heat, but I have been able to manage them thus far.
9/26/22
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