100 down, 3400 to go...

Day 15
A lot has been going on since I last posted. I want to start off by saying Thank You to the many people that are following my journey and donating to Needle2Square. I want to say again that every cent goes straight to the cause of building the orphanage, not to the walk.

 So, Sunday I sent Louie home and was reunited with LeeRoy who was so anxious to get back on the road. We walked from Tenino to Bucoda and LeeRoy ran, pulling me the entire way. I was glad to see that he was in great shape and spirits. Tuesday we woke up early and walked down to Centralia where I was warmly greeted by the locals. One question I was asked numerous times was, "Are you the guy that did this last year?" From what I have gathered so far the story goes, there was a guy from Centralia that was walking with a goat down to Mexico. He only made it to Longview before giving up after his goat got sick. Don't really know any more about it but I will for sure make it past Longview.

 One of the many people that stopped me as I was walking through town was a guy that asked If I'm in the paper. I said no and he immediately called the local paper to let them know my story. Not even a few minutes later, he got off the phone and said they've been looking for me and they're on their way to do an interview. Crazy right!? Chris from The Chronicle showed up and we had a great interview (thanks Chris). Shortly after we were back on our way and walked till dusk. We broke the 80 mile mark (which felt sooooo good) and set up camp out in a field off I5.

The next morning I realized we were out of water so we got back on the road in search of a spot we can refill. We happened to pass by a golf course where a Sr.Woman's Golf tournament was taking place and let me tell you, LeeRoy stole the show! I hung out for an hour or so sharing the story and taking pictures with all the friendly tournament perticipants. I feel like there is a bit of a pattern when it comes to walking into every town. I find a spot to rest and get some food, recharge my electronics and share about Uzima and Needle2Square with a few dozen curious locals. Its pretty amazing how fast word spreads. By the time I leave town people stop me asking, "are you the man with the goat walking to New York?" Its just crazy!

 Getting back on the road we headed south towards Napavine, walking back roads in the middle of nowhere. After dogging cars the first few days of the walk, I decided I wasn't going to do it anymore so now I pretty much walk against traffic in the middle of the road and just motion the cars to go around me. It makes walking with LeeRoy a whole lot easier then moving to the non existent shoulder. Passing by a few houses, a guy comes out of his house asking me the usual list of questions I get asked. He then goes on to tell me that he saw me in Tuesdays paper, with a big picture of LeeRoy and I. I had to get my hands on a copy!

 Meanwhile, Brittnay (from The Chronicle blog) happened to be driving down the road and pulls up next to us, also asking for an interview. She was driving by and just spotted us on the side of the road. You can't plan this kind of stuff…It has to be a God thing! The craziest part of the interview was when LeeRoy decided to full on ram her right at her side for no reason. I felt really bad but she took it like a champ, shaking it off just like any good reporter would (sorry again Brittany).

http://blogs.chronline.com/news/archives/146

 That evening I came across Loves Truck stop and took THEE BEST shower of my entire life! It felt amazing to feel clean again… till I had to get back in my dirty clothes… "Que sera sera". Wednesday morning, I walked into Napavine when a school teacher flagged me down and asked me to come share my story with her Elementary class (I will do an entire post on that story later). Shortly after Napavine we broke the 100 mile mark where we took a quick rest and I reflected on the last 100 miles and 3400 left to go. With all that has happened so far, I can't imagine what's to come!