091907

 

                                          Kyle to Buda to Austin to Round Rock to Georgetown, TX

Wednesday September 19, 2007

     1:42am  I just woke up. I got a couple hours of sleep. ::yawn::

     4:47pm  I'm getting up and I'm staying up. The Valero is in the town of Kyle, by the way.

     5:51am  I'm just about finished with my morning wash-up in the bathroom at the Valero. I'm going to start walking.

                   I'm leaving from the Valero. Gas stations will be pretty abundant in this area. Goodbye Kyle. Thanks for that car last night.

     5:58am  I'm going to stop at the stoplight at Venner Street. I'll stop at the Dairy Queen and switch out tennis balls.

     5:59am  I'm leaving. I switched out my worn ball right in front of the DQ. It's closed right now. It's early still.

     6:28am  Passing another Exxon/San N Pac. I don't know what street it is. I'm walking non-stop.

     6:33am  I just walked under some bridge. There's an HEB over on my left.

     6:42am  One mile to Buda.

     6:59am  Coming up on Exit 217. Cool, at the end of this hour of walking there's a gas station, perfect. Conoco Fuel Stop. I see a Home Depot on the other side of the highway.

     7:04am  Coming up on the Conoco Fuel Stop. Tex-Best Travel Center. I'm going to sit down and rest.

     7:21am  I walked over to the gas station in Buda and Henry 

 is being nice enough to give me a ride to Austin! I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

     8:18am  Sixth Street, Austin. Paranoid-check. I have everything. I'm going to take a picture of the big tall Frost Bank Building. It's evil.

                   I stopped at LaVaca and Sixth Street and ate some vitamins and used some mouthwash.

     8:46am  I asked the pretty girl at the Citgo which way to the college drag. She told me and I'm walking. I'm all sore and my shoulders hurt like hell. I need to take a day off in Austin.

     9:00am  Blanca me esta dando comida en The Chicken Bowl. To lo agradezco, señora. Todo el mundo recibe credito, gracias.

     9:08am  The name of the taqueria is The Chicken Bowl. Hmm, that's not a taqueria name. 1610 Lavaca.

     9:12am  Dude, I got treated like royalty at The Chicken Bowl.

 

                  They gave me two fat tacos. The first one was carne guisada and the second one was a delicious breakfast taco with egg and cheese. I'm all full. I was going to save it for later, but screw it. I was hungry. I had bought me an egg sandwich last night and I ate half, but I lost it when Henry gave me a ride.

                   The nice lady inside gave me a cup with ice. I'm standing in front of The Chicken Bowl smoking. This white guy comes out and tells me, "Nice shirt, man." I handed him my website. He gladly accepted it.

     9:22am  I'm walking. I just hit MLK Jr. Drive.

     9:31am  Walking by a mural that says, "HI, HOW ARE YOU DOING." 21st and Guadalupe.

     9:34am  I just got to the shade at Renaissance Park. I'll take a picture. No, I won't.  Somebody wrote The Revolution and I wrote havethisbook.com with an arrow pointing to Revolution.

     10:24am  Oh yeah, I came to the square here. Renaissance Market Square. The weed is on the way. Some guy in the square called somebody on his cellphone and my twenty sack is on the way.

     10:43am  I just had a great presentation with beautiful Phebe.

 

Thanks a lot for listening, sister.

                     Go downtown and catch the 982 to Leander. I'll have to walk like a quarter mile to the freeway, but I'll be like twenty miles outside of Austin.

     11:17am  I just scored me that twenty sack. I'm going to ride the bus North and get out of Austin. This town is way ignorant. I was testing the college kids. I did have a couple good presentations.

     11:30am  When the bus came I tested the driver. I had fifty cents, but I asked for a courtesy ride anyway. Her greedy ass told me no. Oh well, these boots are made for walking.

     11:45am  Michelle is the pretty girl I just took a picture of. What did you have to say about my story? Michelle: "Just that it's very inspiring." Now do you see why I wasn't meant to get that courtesy ride? I got to tell that pretty girl my story. I'm walking to where I need to go anyway.

                      I jumped on the 1L, paid my fifty cents and asked the driver directions. He told me that I was on the wrong bus. He dropped me off to catch another one. That sucks. I got dropped off at the corner of Sixteenth and Guadalupe. I'm waiting for either the 92, 93 or 97 to go to Leander.

     12:14pm  The driver ended up dropping me off at the wrong stop. Melissa is showing me where I need to go and she just volunteered me some water. I lost my lemonade.

     12:17pm  I'm at the bus stop at Sixteenth and Lavaca. It sucks that I lost my lemonade at the bus stop. It was strawberry lemonade. It was only a dollar!

     12:25pm  This older lady at the bus stop. At first I asked her what bus she was waiting for and she said, "Does it matter?" I hit her up for my story and her bus came and she just gave me her card. Divine Ministries Reverend Beth Forbit. It's got her email. I am still waiting for the bus to Leander.

     12:38pm  I've decided to go to Leander. I've been directed there for some reason. But, it's like a good thirty five miles away from I35.

     12:41pm  The 93 came and the driver told me to get off at Guadalupe and Twentieth and catch the 1. He hooked me up with a daypass.

     1:39pm  I just got off at the bus transfer center. I see a Kohl's. On the other side of it there's a gas station on I35.

     2:01pm  I stopped at the Arby's and got a sub. I came to the gas station and ate. I'm going to stand here and ask people for rides, with my WPTMJ shirt on. Ha, a sherrif just pulled up. I'm going to tell him my story, hehe.

     2:13pm  I'm going to go to the Citgo gas station across the street.

     2:27pm  I came to this busy intersection and went in the gas station and asked the manager Cheryl permission to ask for rides. She told me that I couldn't do that. There's a bum on the corner flying a sign. I'm going to stand here and thumb cars.

     2:53pm  That bum abandoned his sign-flying spot. I'm going to spread the word here with my shirt.

                    I was at Howard Lane and I35 in Round Rock.

     4:17pm  Max, I think he works at Dell, he's hooking me up with a ride North to the next gas station. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

     5:01pm  Oh man, I had the most awesome presentation! This guy was just loving my story. He had such great reactions at every point.

                    Maximillion even came back and said, "Here," and handed me a Vitamin Water. He said, "I knew there was a reason why I got two." I'm going to sit in the shade and smoke. Then I'm going to ask for rides. I'll ask permission first. It's cool how all the Middle Eastern people who work at gas stations have had my back lately. Earlier when that lady Cheryl ran me off I just went across the street and asked this Middle Eastern guy permission to ask for rides and was granted it. Right now after my badass presentation at the Shell station with Maximillion I asked permission from this other Middle Eastern guy and he said yeah too. At first he was all, "Sure, do you need to rest here?" I told him, "No, I want toask for rides." He said okay.

     5:19pm  Dude, in no time. I asked this guy Quinn if he was going North and what did you tell me? He said he can't take me very far, but that's okay. I am gas station-hopping.

     5:45pm  I just got dropped off at a Shell station in Round Rock. I'm going to ask permission to ask for rides.

     5:48pm  I am weighing myself on this scale at the HEB grocery store. Let's see how much I weigh with my pack on first. 207.5 pounds. Without it I weigh 167.1. That means my pack weighs 40.4 pounds. I've got a lot of weight. Well, not really.

     5:58pm  I went to the gas station across the street and sat down in front and took my boots off to air out my feet and socks. I've had the same socks on now for a couple days. Quinn just pulled up again. He was looking for me. He told me, "I've got some water and some Gatorades you can have." Awesome.

     7:01pm  I just had a great presentation with First Lieutenant Doft in front of the Shell station. I took his picture.

 

He listened great. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

     7:14pm  By the way I am in Georgetown. What's the intersection here? 29 and 35.

     7:16pm  Lieutenant Doft is being nice enough to take me to the next gas station. I appreciate it, brother. Thanks for mobilizing me.

     7:23pm  Hell yeah, I got a ride from a Lieutenant. He stood there listening to me at the gas station for like over half an hour. I even told him my head injuries story. It was just great. I am having such a great day today. In the end Lieutenant Doft told me, "I don't think you're crazy. I think you believe in what you're doing." I told him, "Thank you. That's all I have to do.  Believe."

                    Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. At that gas station where I talked to Lieutenant Doft, when I first went in there I went in to get a hot dog. I guess the cashier saw my shirt or something. At first I asked for permission to ask for rides. At first she told me, "Yeah, we can run you out. Then she said, "As long as nobody complains." Then I went to get in line to pay for my hotdog. When it was my turn she just shooed me off with her eyes. I didn't tell her anything. She
just saw my shirt. I appreciate it, sister. I got hooked up with a hotdog.

     8:49pm  I have to make an update. Lieutenant Doft drove me to another gas station off the highway. At first I was all tired and sore and wanted to find a place to sleep. I was looking around for a campsite and I saw this big recently-mowed field. I walked towards the back of it and put down my rain poncho and made my bed and lay down. All of a sudden I got attacked by all these ants! I piled all my stuff together and came back to the gas station. This guy came up to me at the gas station and asked me how I was doing. I told him not good, that I needed to crash out, but I got attacked by ants. Lo and behold, he tells me, "I got some floor-space at my house." He's going to bring me back here in the morning. I'm going to smoke him out, hehe.

Next day..