10/25- The Eastern Walk Out

The morning was a typical one for Ang and I and our history of goodbyes. She's not one for them and niether am I, but I also don't like just leaving when I know she's up. I had woken up and packed a bit then for whatever reason missed her getting up and going into the bathroom for her readying routine. I lingered about a while straightening things up until she came out so I could give her an official see ya later. When she was ready we walked out together with Wookie and did our usual cool, calm, and collected see ya.

From there I hopped the 15 bus down Colfax and rode it to the end of the line. I started in on making my calls along the way since I'd shifted phone day to Sunday that weekend. I talked to Victor who had finally left Vegas to Oklahoma City, but his truck had broken down again there and was stuck again. His thoughts, though, were that he might be heading to Michigan next if I could catch up with him. When I got off the bus, just past I-225, I talked to Todd a while as I started into walking the reverse route down US-36 that I'd walked west on six years earlier coming into Denver.

Todd and I finished chatting just as US-36 was connecting with I-70. It was also starting to snow and the roads were looking fairly barren. I walked a good ten miles in the snow before I was picked up. That ride drove me to Bennett and dropped me off with some really good cookies. He had been a hitcher when he was younger as well.

I walked maybe half a mile before a pick up swung around pulling a U-turn to pick me up. These rides always impress me, because clearly you're going in the other direction so it always makes me wonder why you'd turn around to give a ride in the direction they just came from. This guy, apparently, was just driving around. As he drove me on to Byers asking about my trip he stopped at one point to blow into a breathalyzer to keep the car running. Apparently he'd been caught driving just barely over the limit five years ago and had to keep that installed in his car for another three years past when I met him. We had an interesting chat about that, but I agree with him that it was a bit excessive, especially since he was three years sober now.

He dropped me off in the parking lot of the last anything I knew of down that road. It was a grocery store, and I debated picking up more oatmeal, but then figured I was fine for at least a few more days. The snow was still coming down then as I walked out of the lot stepping down what I knew to be 31 miles of absolutely nothing. I was counting on my theory that I'd be more likely to get some good rides walking down a long desolate road in cold, shitty weather. About ten paces in the theory proved correct.

Almost immediately a guy in a work truck pulled over, while sipping his beer, and picked me up. The look on his face as he pulled over told me it was the snow and the audacity of walking out into it was why. He gave me a lift about ten miles in then dropped me off to turn north to his house. I was committed now, there was no going back and only forward to walk. I was actually looking forward to it quite a bit.

As I walked the next few miles or so I called my Aunt Hea to see how she was doing. We had a good long chat as the snow came down only to be interupted toward the end of the day with another quick hop ride. Lisa, Chris, and Jose pulled over to drive me another six or seven miles up to where they lived in an old hotel. Here was where another theory of mine developed learned by having not learned the lesson of the time.

When we got to their place Lisa was really concerned about me walking off down the road in the cold, emphatically warning me that there's nothing down that way. I was well aware of this having walked it before coming the other way which is why I think I didn't weigh it in as much when she asked me to stay for dinner. Knowing how things generally go dinner usually becomes a place to stay, even if its camping out on their lawn. It was a similar situation to when Russ dropped me off on the beach back in Oregon since it was about an hour to sunset and here a place was quite possibly showing up for me. I, however, was greedy for miles and figured I could probably pick up one more long ride before sun down and hopefully make it to Kansas that night. I would forever kick myself for that decision.

I turned Lisa down, thanked them for the ride, and wandered off down the road with the nagging feeling of thinking I should go back and take them up on it after all. That feeling persisted until I couldn't see the place any more. Three miles passed before the sun was low enough that it wasn't worth walking any more and I should bed down for the night. It was the coldest night of my life.

I don't actually know if I slept at all that night or not. I didn't have any bedroll supplement, like the cardboard from truck stops, and using the clothes in that way was somewhat helpful, but if I moved at all I felt the cold again. Long story short, it was a long, long night.