After a little while me and Rhett were both awake now and were packing up. I had an interview set up for the local news station in the afternoon and I planned on still getting a long day of hiking in around that. I knew Rhett could hang with me even if he wasn't in everyday long walking condition like I was. He's tough, he once walked 30 miles through a night in high school with a group of buddies. They walked all the way through the night to School and got there in the morning with a group of people cheering them on. Then he went home and slept for 2days. But I knew he would be able to do any long hiking with me until the finish. We were packed up now and we started down the Santa Anna bike trail.
We walked a few miles through Anaheim hills and it was a beautiful area! This was my first full day of hiking where I wasn't on roads where cars drive. It was a really nice change of pace and it should make for a quiet peaceful walk to the finish.
After another couple miles a guy in a work truck pulled over. He popped out with a bag of snacks and drinks. He said he had been following my journey on the Internet and wanted to come help out. He shook my hand and took a picture with me and said he thought that it was really amazing what I'm doing. I thanked him and then he took off. We continued and Rhett thought that was pretty cool now that he sees the support that I have been getting for months now, first hand.
We kept walking and were going a good steady pace. We came across a really nice park right off the bike path where we decided to stop for a break. We used the bathroom and then sat down on a wood fence for a few minutes to rest. He was doing pretty good and when I asked him if he was ready to go after about 10 minutes he popped up and said ya.
We made it into Aneheim after another hour and a half of walking. We were meeting Gene (my new buddy who found me in the desert when everyone thought I was dead) and the news crew there at a Carl's Jr for a news recording. We went in and sat down with Gene. The news crew came in and we met them and talked about the walk for a few minutes. Then they told us there idea for how and where to film the segment. They wanted to do it in the bike path about a mile down the path.
So me Rhett and Gene headed out of there and all walked together back out onto the bike path and headed west. They filmed us crossing the street there to get to the path and then we all 3 walked together to meet up with them up ahead. As we walked down the path it was really nice. There were shade trees we were walking under and I was appreciating the weather so much after walking through the scorching hot desert. Plus I had my best friend Rhett with me and my new buddy Gene who was pretty cool too. I was very thankful I made it out of the desert alive and now everything is good!
We came up to the spot where the news crew were getting set up. We walked up and they had more details now of the shots they wanted. So first we did an interview where I sat under a bridge that went over the bike path. It was nice and cool and it was like a normal break I would take anyways. We dude that interview for about 15 minutes and then they had me go down by my cart and they filmed me as I showed them my cart and all the things in it. Then after that they wanted to get some shots of me walking down the path under the bridge. So I did that, 3 times. After that they did another one where new news guy was reading a script as I walked up from behind him on the path. He kept fumbling his words do I ended up doing that about 6-7 times. I didn't mind much but it was a bit of extra walking when that's all I've been doing for the last 6 months.
So after that it was finally done and me and Rhett were ready to get back on track to actually make the walking count for the distance we had left, which was now about 27! I couldn't believe it! 27 miles left of walking and I have walked and only walked from the ocean in Jacksonville Florida to the ocean in Southern California. Is this even real??
We headed on our way and went another 5 miles or so. It was just me and Rhett now and we were laughing a lot as we told stories for the time we needed to catch up on. There were a couple guys I noticed were watching us during the news segment on their bikes. They ended up coming up to ask what we were doing. We told them and they were really inspired. It was pretty funny because they were on a long bike ride and the older man was right in the middle if talking to me when he turned his head a puked his brains out. It was pretty hilarious. They gave me $20 and then shook my hand and left on their ride.
We stopped for a small break on some shaded grass along side of the pathway. We relaxed there for a nice little mid day break and both took little cat naps.
When we woke up we looked up a place to go to for dinner. Now those of you who have followed this journal know that compared to most of this journey I don't usually do anything more than a dollar menu dinner 95% of the time. But now that I was so close to the finish and that my friend was here I figured it was ok to splurge and have a relaxing place to get some food. And I'm still not ordering a meal. Probably get a side of something.
So just when we were headed off the bike path, there was suddenly a big group of homeless there on some benches and around a small grass area. They were laying down or just visiting each other. I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to give a chunk of what I had left away. I went up and handed each person something of mine. I gave away about $30 cash, $15 of gift cards, and almost all of my remaining snacks. I also found a guy with my shoe size and I gave him a pair of shoes that I had been given a few days earlier. They were so thankful and I told them that it's from other generous people who helped me. It was such a cool feeling to be able to help them. It honestly makes me feel so good. I've never been a very giving person until this trip and now it feeds my spirit.
Just as me and Rhett were leaving the bike path and into the street I got a flat tire! I pulled off and fixed it with slime. I've done so many flat fixes now that is seriously took me 3 minutes to fix it. After I filled it back up we headed down the street to a Resturant where we planned to go to. When we got there I asked if we could eat outside somewhere where I could have my cart next to me to keep an eye on it. They looked a little confused why a dirty dude with a massive beard and a baby stroller with random stuff piled in it was eating there, but they were cool with it. We got a table outside next to an outdoor bar where they had Thursday night football on. I havnt seen a football game yet since I started this walk. Or any sports on tv for that matter. So as a big sports fan that was amazing! It's so cool to watch TV when you haven't for so long.
I ordered a baked potato by itself for $3. I wanted to spend the least amount of the money I had left as possible. I had an idea that day that I was finishing this trip the same way I started it. With no money and no food. So I wanted to give the rest of my money, gift cards, and food or drinks away to people in need between now and finishing this trip. I started this walk with my feet in the Atlantic with not nothing but a backpack of essentials. And that's how I was going to finish it. God took care of me through over 2600 miles without me ever asking anyone for anything. I know I can be taken care of after this walk also.
So we stayed to eat there and watch the game and then at around dark we were ready to head out. We walked back onto the path and were now half way looking out for a place to sleep. We figured we would stop if we found a really good safe spot, or we would walk a little ways longer if we didn't see anything that good. We ended up going a little longer and didn't really see any good spots. We had now gone deep into Aneheim and walked right past the stadium also. We checked a few spots for where to sleep but none of them were safe or even had a place to lay down. One spot we checked right along side the bike path had been dumped on by possibly another homeless person. Another spot we checked already had a homeless guy laying in it. We walked about another mile when we came to a golf course. We went through a path that went onto the course and found a sand patch behind some trees where it seemed safe, hidden, and actually soft. That was the spot. We laid down my tarp on the sand, laid out the sleeping bags, hid my cart in the trees, and laid down to relax. We sat there talking a bit but we were both pretty tired from the 17 miles we walked that day. We fell asleep around 11pm. I slept pretty good there and was ready to finish this walk in the next two days where my family and friends would be waiting for me at the finish.
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