Day 40 Blue Water to Grants, New Mexico 20 miles

3/21/2011

Today was even tougher than yesterday. I couldn’t believe it. It was truly impossible to move forward.

I woke up to the sound of fourty mph winds. No joke! I thought to myself, maybe when I reach my starting point the wind will be a little less violent. This was after contemplating heading out at all. I mean the winds were louder than yesterday. I sucked it up and bundled up for the day. I had a hoodie underneath my jacket. For my legs, I had compression sleeves for my calves, compression pants, shorts, and sweats. With a towl around my face and the hood over my Roadrunner baseball cap, I looked like a sports ninja.

I met no one today. I think the people were smart enough to stay inside. Walking forward was like being at war with nature. But, I had to perservere. In my mind I know there are kids waiting to recieve my books and meet an author. As the dust swirled and blinded my vision, I asked myself why didn’t I spring for the sunglasses when I had the chance. Eventually I told myself it was all a game. Like the movie “Life is Beautiful”, I turned the event into my own playgound and imagined I was climbing Mount Everest. I ended up reaching the end of Grants. It was mile seventeen and my mom was waiting with the vehicle. She was parked in front of the Canton Cafe. Chinese food in small towns on this trip has been fifty fifty but I was hungry and willing to give the buffet a try. Now I don’t know if it’s because I was downright hungry or if the food was pretty good but, I filled my plate three times and had several Dr. Pepper floats. I’m sure I ate too much because my stomach began to cramp. I asked my mom to take care of the bill because I wanted to walk off the cramps and squeeze in a couple more miles.

Canton Cafe was practically the last stop in town but route 66 countinued on. I passed a women’s correctional facility around the time the sun wanted to set. Just my luck, the winds decided to settle down. I was able to run a couple of miles and that was it. Perhaps tomorrow the elements will be in my favor.