051809

                                                                                                           Nevada City to Chico, CA

Monday May 18, 2009

     4:40am  I just woke up with seven hours of sleep.

     6:08am  They still haven't gotten here. They told me to be ready early, but they're not here. I am all packed up and I went to the Chevron and took a shit already. I can't find my walking hat I found when I walked around Loop 1604 in San Antonio[8-19-08 : 11:46am]. That sucks. I liked that hat. At least I have a backup Gilligan hat that I found in Sacramento.

     7:09am  The Dons arrived and Chico, here we come. They tell me it's a party town, a college town. I'll let you know what happens.

     8:17am  We stopped at a rest area in Oroville for a smokebreak.

                    They just bought this used BMW for a thousand bucks. I took a picture of it.

     8:25am  We had a magical smokebreak. The Dons let me keep the roach and everything. They just volunteered me a ten dollar bill. I appreciate it, guys. Everybody gets credit. Way to support the cause.

     8:32am  We are leaving the rest area here. Right before we left this kid in a truck walked over and said he couldn't help reading my shirt. He wanted to know if we wanted to buy any. I told him I was straight and was sure to give him my website.

     8:50am  Just passed Chico City Limits.

                   Don't forget my Clamper name is Turtle. We are already in Chico. We came to the Motel 6. They said I could take a shower if I wanted to, but I already scored a shower at Mark's yesterday. I'm just going to shave.

     9:55am  I just got dropped off. I've got ten bucks in my wallet. That's food money. I'm going to go to the college and catch up on my typing.

     10:00am  I'm walking Cohasett Road. I'm going to walk to the college and do some typing.

     10:07am  Man, everybody waves back in Chico. This town is cool so far.

                     Walking, random shot, another one, store

                     Did I ever tell you that my mom made friends with Peg and Rene. They told me that she was all worried when she heard I went white-water rafting.

                     I walked to the gas station here and they made me pay to fill up my bag with ice. I'm stupid though. I bought a pouch of Buglers for five bucks. I went outside and remembered Don had given me a whole pack of cigarettes. I walked back in the gas station and asked the Middle Eastern guy if there was any way I could return the Buglers. He said yes, but he shorted me a dollar.

                   Chico State University, students, marketplace cafe, random, Meriam Library

     1:37pm  I am going to take a break from typing. I'm going to go out and get some food then go back to typing. I have about eight dollars.

     1:47pm  I came to the campus store here. Butte Station. I got some hot water for some oatmeal. This pretty girl Maritza commented on my backpack and told me that she was going on a backpacking trip in Europe soon. Pretty girl.

                   CMU 7:00pm

                   Coming up on Memorial Street. The Bidwell Mansion. I'll take a picture.

     11:30am  I just asked this student and he told me I had to be a student to use the computers in the library. Damn. I guess I won't do my typing here.

     11:38am  I just ran into Ryan who just recognized me. He walked up to me and said, "Man, I ran into you in Boulder, Colorado five years ago." What a small world, man.

                     Ryan said, "Yeah, you're the guy that follows the signs, right?"

                     1525 Dayton Road. The Grub Farm. Thanks for the destination.

     11:44am  That was awesome! I ran into some guy who recognized me from five years ago in Colorado! He told me I was an inspiration. He said, "Yeah, you're the guy that follows the signs. I've told people about you." I am going to secure a workstation at this college. Mark my words.

     11:48am  Public access on the second floor, sweet.

     4:14pm  I'm going to celebrate four twenty right on time. I'm going to go buy some snacks. I've been typing. I am on May 4th, I think. Not that far away.

                    Random library shots

     4:34pm  Haha, I just had a run-in with the campus police. Dude, right when I was trying to get a hit of weed ready for my fake cigarette. I had taken a bud out of my tin and put it on the table and covered it up with my pack of cigarettes. Just then a campus cop walked up to me. He told me some bullshit about somebody calling them about me hearing and seeing me talk into my tape recorder complaining about finals. What a stupid story to make up. I told them that I was a long distance walker from San Antonio. One of the cops knew San Antonio and I told him how I walked around Loop 1604 twice. Before they left me alone they told me they just wanted to make sure I wasn't smoking dope on school campus. I assured them I wasn't, ha! Everybody knows that smoking ain't allowed in school. The cops liked me and were all smiling at me. I had a productive time typing. I have some more typing to do tomorrow. I'm going downtown.

                   I thought I had recorded the time of where I was supposed to be at seven o' clock. Some guy who had seen me in Boulder told me to go to some meeting. I forgot what it was about. I hope I run into him again. I forgot what he told me.

     7:23pm  I came to this little plaza downtown. I don't know what the name is. I'm going to show off my shirt and smoke a cigarette.  Fountain

                   Listeners, dude

     9:52pm  The coolest shit happened. I was walking around downtown looking for people to tell my story to. At the stoplight I offered my website to this guy and girl. They accepted it and I offered to tell them my story. The girl had to go, but the guy stuck around to listen to my story. He wanted to walk, so I walked with him and told him my story. He asked me if I drank beer and I told him no. I added, "But I'll take a shot of rum. It's the Puertorican in me." We walked to some bar and he bought me a shot of rum. I totally went off trying to tell him the note from the rich. I was all sloshed from the shot of rum. I asked him if he could recommend a campspot, or if he had a backyard or garage I could crash in. He tells me, "There's an extra bed in my hotel room you can crash on." Sweet! Welcome to Chico, Victor!

                     He had given me his number and he said he wanted to stay out pretty late and to call him around one. I didn't want to be at the bar, so I told him I was going for a walk and I'd call him later. I'm going to walk around downtown and give out my website. I won't tell my story because I've drank a shot of rum.

     10:25pm  Tracy and Crystal. I had a good presentation with them. I'm going to take these skater's picture now.

     11:11pm  I migrated to the plaza and was trying to find people to tell my story to. I took a shot of rum earlier so I was kind of spaced out. Anyway, Pezzy and Elvia, we're walking to their van and they're going to smoke some hash with me.  Their dog

                     Oh yeah, that dude I met earlier. He's going to let me crash in his hotel room tonight. I've got his phone number and these two girls have a phone so I can call him. Everything is working out.

                     It was cool, I hung out with these lesbian girls at their van. They smoked me out with some hash. I green-screened the bowl with some trim. I'm going to walk towards the hotel now.

     12:08am  The coolest shit. I found The Heritage Inn and knocked on 201 and Wayne answered the door. Man, it's a massive hotel room. I'm going to crash on the foldout bed in the living room.

     12:23pm  It's so awesome how I get to crash in this badass hotel room. I should take pictures. What badass accommodations. Wayne even offered me some delicious leftovers he had. I wanted to conserve it, but he said they had a continental breakfast in the morning. He told me, "Help me get my money's worth." Hell yeah, welcome to Chico! For the icing on the cake Wayne hooked me up with like five or six fat nuggets of weed!

Next day..