April 10th, 2014

In less than a week, I made it to Palm Springs. Today I sit in the public library, trying to cool off while the town finishes last minute preparations for Coachella. Since my last post, I have encountered many people along the way who taken a great deal of interest in the walk. Tuesday night, after talking with a couple members of the American Legion in Banning (Wish you guys well), I made my way to a campsite below the 10 freeway called KOA. Beautiful campground, and the first shower id taken since i started the whole trip. I had the great fortune of camping next to two ladies from Canada, who had the most Patriotic van (American patriotism) I had ever seen. We joked about it, but i sensed deep down they were jealous of my American roots, envious of how close they were to it, yet so far away. Ha ha. They were on their way to Coachella, which would have been prime opportunity to further decorate the van in order to win the Carpoolchella lifetime passes. To bad the rules state only Americans could win due to prize rules/laws. We ended the night after a pretty heavy conversation about what i was doing, and than said goodnight/goodbye. Its always interesting to get an outside perspective in terms of Americas troop welfare. 

The morning came a bit to quickly (as it has a tendency to do), and once again I was off on my path. Going off the knowledge and helpful tips from some residents of Banning I traveled below the 10 freeway, through Morongo, past Cabazon, and onto the 111 shoulder. 

Primarily due to boredom and my reluctance in having an uneven tan, this part of the hump was done in a pair of green silkies (military PT shorts that are ridiculously short), my jungle Boonie cover, and knee high black socks with my green running shoes. I'm sure i was a sight to see, due to the many varied reactions i saw on peoples faces as I was walking on the side of the road. I probably looked like a reject go go dancer who had fallen on hard times. I regret nothing. ha ha.

Once I hit Windy Point, I was beat. As fate would have it, I was approached my a couple Matt and Kim, who after a brief discussion offered me a place to stay. They happened to be very experienced hikers themselves, and also very involved in the Couch Surfing community. I knew well enough not to pass on this opportunity, so I accepted. Laundry was done, I showered, and ate some delicious cookies. Later that evening, two more couch surfers arrived who also were on their way to Coachella. We discussed a vast array of topics, but again the conversation quickly turned to the purpose behind the walk. By now you'd think I'd have some sort of go to response, primarily because of how flustered i get when this topic comes up. I cant bring myself to though. I don't mean flustered in a sense of agitation, but more so the emotion that is evoked involuntarily. I give my best response, but with each day, I come into contact with someone who has a great sense of empathy for what I'm doing. Even now I cant fully comprehend how many people are affected by the lack of Veteran aid. In that house alone, was the sibling of a marine who committed suicide in 2006 and a Son of a homeless Veteran . What are the chances? Why is this so prevalent? 

Once again the morning came to early. We ended the night after watching the first half of "The Keep" and all of "Road Warrior". Matt gave me some great parting words, and reminded me of the Pacific Coast Trail starting in 2 weeks. I will definitley be looking into that. I thanked the "trail angel" for everything, and once again departed to the road. 

The road, where I can act out to the music on my Ipod, while giving drivers something to smile about. If a video exists in cyberspace of me dancing on the side of the road I would not be surprised. Im sure something to that extent exists, because when i got to the Palm Spprings visitor center, one of the women there said she had heard about me or something similar on facebook. She took a picture of me to put online to help raise awareness. Very cool. Anything to get the word out. Even if it involves me dancing like a lunatic (Which I quite enjoy). Well, I have to sign off again. 

Thank You to Krystle from Food Not Bombs Palm Springs for giving me some info about the Veterans For Peace in Palm Springs. I'm gonna look into them today. 

For everyone else, have an awesome day. Thanks for reading.