Hello Everyone,

Well, here I am again laying in my tent sending you all an update on my trek today, Thursday, April 17. It’s been a long day and just set up camp for a second time tonight. I made it about 13.2 long miles today. The battery on my iPhone is dead, so I won’t be able to send photos tonight and I will try tomorrow once I get it hooked up to my solar charger. I started to do it tonight but the clouds rolled in and the sunshine wasn’t strong enough to charge it up.

I am camped on Holiday Road and 170th Street. I had a late day and the wind was blowing and I couldn’t find a sheltered spot. I saw some large concrete post for the power lines for the solar project out here and decided to put the tent behind one of the posts for a wind block. I was all set up and waiting for my friend to bring me food again when security asked me to move. Three trucks showed up like I was some kind of criminal. They were nice, but the nerve of them! I had to scramble to take everything down and just moved across the street in an open area behind the biggest bush I could find. Luckily the wind is nonexistent tonight.

My day started fine this morning and I actually woke to a strange sound, silence. That was after listening to the wind howl all night long. As I had mentioned, I was well protected and did not feel the wind at all. The silence didn’t last long because what I estimate were 10-15 crows decided to check me out. They sat in the trees right around and above my tent and crowed. Funny but I heard other birds too, yet I didn’t see or hear any yesterday. I finally figured out it was because the wind was blowing so hard that no bird in it’s right mind would fly in those conditions.

I don’t know how anyone living here could stand the constant wind? Now I realize why these beautiful 3,000 to 4,000 square foot house, with pools, and twenty acres, are listed for $50,000. There are no upright growing trees out here. If I were a realtor, I would make sure that I would never show a house after ten in the morning, because that’s when the wind usually starts. That way too, they would hear birds chirping and not the wind howling.

So, have I ever thought of quiting my trek? Well, this morning it crossed my mind when I started out. We had driven part of this route and it appeared to be great route since it was on desolate dirt roads, away from traffic and people. What I failed to realize was that the dirt roads are very soft and with the extra water (2 gallons of water plus two quarts of drinking stuff), the skinny wheels on the Wheelie sink anywhere from 1-3″ into the dirt. It’s like riding a road bike on the beach, where you should be on a mountain bike with fat tires. Needless to say, I again underestimated something.

I was so happy that the wind had stopped, but as they say, be careful what you wish. Because there was no wind today until after four, the temperature hit 97 degrees. It fluctuated between 92 and 95 degrees most of the day, and when the wind started it almost immediately dropped to the mid eighties.

So that was my day, hot and pulling the Wheelie through the deep sand. Most of the time I was snaking across the road trying to find the hardest spot in the sand. I’ii send photos. I thought of going back to the highway, but that would have been worse. I finally decided it like was like a tough physical job that you put off and then finally start it, and once you struggle through the beginning, you just get in the swing of doing it.

The back roads here are interesting places. Even though it parallels SR138, which has many nice homes and neighborhoods, the back roads are dotted with trailers and many run down shacks. Many are abandon. Most are miles apart. There are no power lines, so I assume people must have generators? I think many people living there are off the grid, in more ways than one.

The main trek was on Gaskill Road. About three hours on the trek I had an interesting incident. A few weeks ago when we drove the route we passed one of those interesting houses when two large brown pit bulls came flying out of the yard and chased us and really were trying to get at us. The property is entirely fenced with wrought iron and the bars are wide enough for the dogs to get out. We drove a long distance before they stopped chasing us. This had been a concern of mine when I had expected to have Mollie with me.

It was something that concerned me today as I approached the house since I could hear dogs in the distance. I stopped several hundred yards from the house and decided to call 911. I got the police dispatcher and explained the issue. I asked if they could send out a deputy. She in turn got animal control on the line and we had a three way conversation. They asked for my location. I told them my exact location, Gaskill Road, about a half mile east of 230th Street. Well, they did not know where it was and could not find it on their mapping system. The dispatcher told me that my cell phone tracking indicate that I was east of Lancaster. Wrong, I am west of Lancaster, maybe 20-30 miles at that. I waited for over fifteen minutes while they repeatedly asked me where I was. I told them to use Google, yet they still could find it! I told them I was not afraid of dogs, but would not take a chance, and would shoot them if they charged me. She said she was giving up and then transferred me to the front desk at the station thinking the actual deputy working the desk would know the location. A deputy answered and then call got disconnected. Imagine if it was life and death.

That was it, I waited almost twenty minutes, and who knows how much longer I would have to wait? I wasn’t going to backtrack five mikes in that sand, so I decided to go for it. Like a bad western, I took my gun out of my fancy pack, slipped it on my belt, and placed my hand on the grips. Just then I heard a car and turned and saw a giant cloud of dust. Like in a movie. Funny, I hadn’t seem a car all day, and here comes one just when I was ready to go. As it turns out it was my guardian angel. The car stopped next to me and a woman about fifty to sixty, with a toothless smile, and a cigarette hanging from her lip, asked if I needed help. I told her the problem and she said that she thought the pit bulls were locked up. She didn’t know the owner and said the pit bulls just chase cars, but are really not mean. Just the two Rottweilers that also live there. Oh!

She asked me if I wanted a ride, but there was my dilemma. I vowed not to travel any of my trek in a car, so I told her not thanks. I don’t know what I would have done with the Wheelie anyway? She said she would drive by slowly and I followed behind her. As we passed the house I could see several dogs in a fenced area, but a very large white pit bull mix came charging at the fence. I started to pull my gun out when my guardian angel leaned out the window and yelled at the dog to back off. The yard is fairly long and she did this the whole length of the yard and the dog never came through the fence.

I thanked her and she told me her address and said she only lived five miles away. I wanted to tell her I was married, but wasn’t sure she meant it that way, or maybe my too big of an ego took it wrong?

After that things began to look good. I turned onto a road that was partially paved, which made it much easier to pull the Wheelie, and the wind finally picked up a bit. The temp dropped almost immediately. Because the day had gone so slow I realized that I needed to find a camp spot but the area was flat with no shelter from the wind. Being late, I saw the power transmission station and the large cement post and figure it would make a good windbreak. It did, but the solar company didn’t like it. And here I am across the street next to the biggest bush I could find.

Was today tougher that the Old Ridge Route. It was a challenge, but a different challenge. I guess that’s all part of the adventure.

Hope I have all my batteries charged tomorrow and have service, so I can keep you updated. I will try and send today’s photos too.

Best to all, and keep good thoughts, prayers, and blessings, going my way,
Ted

Next Post: Day 8