I (James) got going around 9:30am after a chilly morning in the tent. The wind blowing against me and the trucks roaring past on the interstate made a pretty awful combo, but all I could do was keep walking. Along the way, I came across a family on the shoulder of the interstate trying to fix a flat tire. They asked me for help twisting the bolts out of the wheel, which I was able to do. They thanked me and the father gave me $5 before I was on my way. This was a nice morale boost considering the tough walking conditions. Later in the afternoon, I met a nice couple on the side of the road who were traveling by motorcycle. I chatted with them for a bit before they wished me safe travels and got back on the road. They offered that I could also contact them if I needed anything along the way, which was very kind. A few miles later, I picked up a flat tire. This was a surprise, as I had put slime in all my tires (which plugs up holes in the inner tube) and had not picked up a flat since. When I removed the inner tube, I saw that there was a massive thorn in the tire. I fixed up the tire and continued walking with just a few miles left. I reached the gas station, and to my dismay the Laguna burger station was closed. Sam and I had a Zoom interview for the alumni association of our high school at 7pm. Afterwards, we spent some time with some stray animals at the gas station. One of them, who we named Buddy, was a very small cat. And then there was Sir Limps-a-Lot, a dog who unfortunately had a broken leg. While Buddy was not at all shy with us, Sir Limps-a-Lot was clearly treated badly by his previous owner and was cautious about getting too close to us. We bought both of them pet food and watched them eat for awhile. We then tried to get Buddy to come with us and be our new pet. While he/she followed us for a bit as we lured him/her away from the gas station with cat food, our efforts ultimately proved futile. Buddy had little interest in walking on the road and would jump off the stroller when we tried to put him/her on it. We sadly kept walking for a few miles. We reached a small neighborhood along the road and began to be harassed by dogs. This was a shame after having positive interactions with Sir Limps-a-Lot earlier in the evening. We turned around and walked backwards for 100 feet or so before finding a nice patch of grass away from the houses. Unfortunately, the dogs followed us and barked relentlessly at us in our tents. Eventually, the barking died down and we went to sleep.
10/21/22
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