I (James) got going around 9am and was excited to restock my food and water at the gas station 7 miles up the road. It was a pleasant walk along the road and nice and far from the interstate. However, I soon came head to head with a gate attached to a barbed wire fence. I realized that we must be inside of someone’s property, which would explain the cow right next to the road that I saw last night. Fortunately, I was able to unlatch the gate and move through. However, I soon came across a second gate and surrounding barbed wire fence. This gate was nailed in, and I realized I would have to get myself and my stroller over it. I first lifted the stroller over the fence and carefully placed it down on the other side. This was a big ordeal and put quite a strain on my wrists. I then climbed over and continued walking. I got to the Newkirk gas station about 5 miles later. I stocked up on enough food and water to get to Santa Rosa, which was around 25 miles away. As I was taking a rest outside the gas station, a young tall man riding a bike showed up. It turned out he was from France and had begun a bike ride from New York to Los Angeles in September. He was the fourth person we had met on the trip who was biking our same route. We chatted for a bit and then he headed back on the road. He plans to be in L.A. until the end of November, so we hope to see him there if we make it in time! I kept walking until reaching another gas station 8 miles down the road. This one was run out of someone’s home, which is something I’ve never seen before. It appeared to be closed, but the man who’s home/gas station it was saw me looking around and came out. I asked him if I could charge my phone (and power blocks), as Sam and I had been walking separately for a day and a half and he had the solar charger. He let me sit in his garage for a bit and charge up by an outlet, which was desperately needed. Sam let me know that he had an interview the following morning and planned on doing a bit of extra walking to make it to a motel in Santa Rosa that he had booked for the night. This would be a 33 mile day for me (and a 34 mile one for him), but the promise of a hot shower and a cozy bed was more than enough motivation. I left some AAA batteries by a basketball hoop for Sam to pick up for his headlamp (which he forgot to do) and continued marching on into the darkness. Along the way, I saw a cow standing in the middle of the road. I wasn’t sure if it would charge at me or anything, but I kept walking and it was nice enough to get out of my way. I imagine this was a rogue cow that had somehow escaped someone’s property. Unfortunately, around this time Sam’s fantasy football team suffered a devastating loss when Davante Adams caught a long touchdown in the 4th quarter of the Raiders-Chiefs Monday Night Football game. After this, he was in no mood for walking and pitched his tent for the night. He told me that he would wake up at 4:30am to make it to the motel in time for the interview. Determined to still make use of the hotel room for the night, I kept walking. I was struggling physically, and my low phone battery meant I didn’t have my typical access to distractions. For the last 4 miles, I turned on some Cobra Kai episodes that I had previously downloaded. I also enjoyed the view as I walked downhill towards Santa Rosa around 1am. With about a mile left, I was on the brink of a bathroom emergency. However, I was already too far into civilization to do my business outside. Fortunately, I spotted a truck stop and ran inside, making it to the bathroom just in time. Finally, I reached the motel around 2am. I told the manager I was Sam Rezaei to avoid any confusion. Of course, my room was in the second floor. I had to carry my stroller up some stairs to get there, nearly wiping out along the way. Finally, I made it to the motel. It was a nice victory, but my feet were very sore from the back to back 30 mile days. I showered, ate some SpaghettiOs, and went to bed around 3:00am, shortly before Sam would be waking up.
10/10/22
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