Day 2

Day

After a really hard, physical day #1, I set a new rule for myself that I kept for most of the rest of the walk. I would set an alarm on my phone for 30 minutes, and then stop, pull out my folding chair, sit under a nice shade tree, and set my alarm again for a 20 minute rest. That pretty much worked for me most days. Sometimes I had to walk a little farther to find shade, or cross the highway in order to do this.

The main enemy for the next two days was a never ending headwind. And the sun.

I did have to cut through quite  a bit of countryside south of Martin until I found some more highway shoulder to walk on. Shortly after I did, I came across a few men who were literally sitting in the middle of the road. Well, the old road that is. Years ago, the state had built a short bypass around what I guess used to be a very small town. At the end of the old road, literally sitting on top of the middle stripe, someone had put up a 20'x20' portable building and started a used tire shop.

Be watching for a future interview inside the tire shop.

A few miles later I spent one of my breaks inside a Family Dollar. They had little shade, and were happy to allow me to bring my chair right inside their front door, with A/C. AAAHHHH!

A few blocks past the store, in the town of Sharon, I met two sweet ladies siting on their porches right next to each other at their duplex. They didn't want to be on video, but one of them told about her 70 something year old mother who was very sick and had now been in a coma for two solid months. She was hoping and praying for her mom's recovery so she could bring her home and care for her. 

Across from their homes, was this. 

I told them they would probably think me some ignorant city fella for asking, but that I was in fact a country boy who did grow up on a 500 acre cotton farm. I asked them if this was, in fact, wheat, and they confirmed it was. I was not sure if I had ever seen it before until three days before on the drive west.

So, since it was not a real 'interview' watch as I play with Wilson, who belonged to one of the two ladies. 

Click here for cute little Wilson. 

I walked on through the town of Sharon (pronounced 'shay-run' ) and really anticipated a good meal at the south end of town, Shelton's Restaurant. I walked through a residential part of town and got yelled at by a ten year old girl. "What are you doing sitting in our yard?" I was quietly sitting in my folding chair two feet from a public sidewalk in a vacant yard. Mom eventually came over and also asked what I was doing. She had no problem with me being there.

This had been an equally hot day and I was very tired and looking forward to Shelton's. It was at the very south end of town and when I crested a hill and saw the building, there were no cars at all in the parking lot. It had a nice porch and I walked up and made myself at home.

With Google maps, it is easy to zoom in and find every little mom and pop place along a highway, or Dollar General, etc. Not as easy with my phone. SO, I called it quits for the day, not knowing if there was a good spot to stop at farther ahead. I tried to call Judy, but I was not getting good reception and was just hoping she would be heading my way soon and see me slightly off the highway.

 A few minutes later, a truck pulled up and someone got out and it looked like they went in a side door that I couldn't see. When they got back, I approached the truck and it was the owner of Shelton's. They unfortunately had to close for the day.  I was given a bottle of water, and then the wife went inside and came back with a huge ham sandwich. I finally got Judy by phone and we ended our day.

Comments are certainly welcome. If you have ever lived in or visited one of the towns I walked through, tell everybody. If you know someone I met along the way, tell everyone. If something really touches you, well....scratch it. NO, tell everybody. Let this be interactive. Make any comments at the comments tab at the bottom of each page on the blog. But you have to go to the blog. 60Trip.blogspot.com 

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Day 2 map--Martin DQ to far south side of Sharon, Shelton's Rest.