When you pitch a tent anywhere other then a camp ground, its a BOLD MOVE. I pitched my tent on the side of the interurban trail with no shame. Instead of hiding in my tent, I sat out front with LeeRoy and greeted every single person that went by (jogger, Biker, walker)... I admit I look crazy yelling out things like "I like you bicycle" however once they see the goat, we get to talkin, everything seems to be "a Ok". To my surprise , I had a lot of visitors that night, friends that came out to see me ( Sarah and Joe Carter). There are few men that I respect in my life or even look up to, but I have to say Joe C is one of those guys. He came out to see me, brought his family, brought me food/coffee at like 10pm at night out on the trail. With that said, people we're knocking on my tent till late at night, wanting to pet my goat and to find out what I was up to. A very sweet lady named Kim crossed me a couple times on the trail and ended up coming back late at night to give me a donation for Needle2Square and to check up on me to make sure I was safe. Its people like her whom I've never met before this walk that show me so much kindness and support. Its extremely humbling and inspiring at the same time.
Day 5
I'm currently in Summit, WA around 38.5 miles from the Space Needle. Yesterday, I was flagged down by some people in front of the Meeker Fellowship building in downtown Puyallup. They said they wanted to see my goat! Through a series of interesting events, I ended up staying the night at a hotel instead of camping out. This hotel allowed pets (dogs) but not goats however I managed to sneak him in anyway. BOLD MOVE #2! It felt so good to sleep in a bed, freshen up, charge my gear and be ready to get back on the road. I checked out out late, and headed to a laundry mat to wash my clothes. I brought LeeRoy in with me, BOLD MOVE #3, and got to washin all my clothes including the ones I was wearing (don't ask). You should have seen the look on people's faces when the saw a goat in the laundry mat... it was awesome. I'm now back on the road headed south towards Spanaway. - Side Note- LeeRoy is struggling a bit today and not wanting to walk. It might be because of the heat but I'm not sure. Please keep us in your prayers.
When you write your book on this journey, I will be very excited for the chapter on 'how to sneak your goat into your hotel room'
ReplyDeleteWe were the bewildered couple in the laundromat that day...the couple from Texas. Your spirit and sense of adventure is an example of what drew us to Washington in the first place. Although you didn't complete the journey, you are a monumental success in our eyes, because you, my friend, inspired people, including us. We will return to Washington for good soon. Lets get together some evening and share stories.
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