Solo and Unsupported Run across America blog rerun. Posted every weekday at 8am. Buy the now complete book and full story at www.abrahamlouis.com/runningwater

I awoke at sunrise and found that the wind had died down to a calm breeze. I later found out that the wind yesterday was gusting up to 45 mph. I slept a lot better compared to my evening at the wildlife refuge. I still get pretty cold at night, and wish I would have brought an extra layer. I had five t-shirts and wore every last one. My hammock location had worked well. Since there were no trees around I tied one end to a telephone pole and the other to Ruby’s wheel for a ground set up. The hum of the power lines put me right to sleep. It was 7am and I hit the road. Telephone poles turned into tooth picks as they disappeared over the horizon. It took me a long time to get loosened up, and I only made 12 miles before noon. Roys Gas Station on Route 66 was one of the surviors from the glory years. I was excited to have a sandwich at the, “cafe”. I guess that description on the sign was a work in progress. The lady working was as nice as could be. She would drive 75 miles from Yucca Valley to work at the Gas station for a couple of days before driving back. We took a picture in-front of the gas station sign for their facebook fan page. After I mailed a post card from the Amboy post office, finished my soda pop and orange I took off down Route 66.

I didn’t know what it was about the road but I was excited to be on it. Maybe it was all the strange items that peaked my interest along the route. There were not many trees but when I spotted one it usually held strange things like underwear and shoes. People would write their names on a mound that ran along the side of the road. They would use anything from colored rocks to clay pigeons. I thought it silly at first but after a couple of miles I started reading every single name written. I would wonder who they were and what they where doing. Throughout the day the roads were long and straighter than an arrow. I ran 34 miles only making two turns.

My body would go through these strange energy cycles. One minute I would be rattling off 5k’s like I had been training for a race. After about 25 minutes of this, I would slow to an awfully painful slow jog. Eventually, I would walk and then sit down on the side of the road, take a picture, have some kind of energy thing then 15 minutes later… It would start all over again. I did this all day long. The sun was getting low in the sky as I crossed a ridge and stepped into a vast bowl that looked exactly like the one that just took me a full day to cross. I ran three more miles shirtless then decided to set up camp under a bridge. It proved to be a good choice for a couple of reasons 1) It had a roof and two walls
2) strong poles to hang my hammock
3) I felt safe. I’m not sure why but I felt safe being connected to the road. Maybe I was spending so much time on it during the day my brain just assumed I should be under it at night. I built a giant fire, watched a distant train roll across the night desert and stared up at the biggest ring around the moon I had ever seen.