Paddock Lake, WI to Zion, IL
Sunday October 28, 2007
8:04am I'm all packed up and ready to go. I took a shit under this tree nearby. I dug a little hole with my heel and covered it up with dirt. A big shit too, hehe. I had toilet paper.
Camp
8:07am I am walking the highway now. I crashed on the property of 22245 of Highway 50. Olet's Farm. 1968.
9:29am I am leaving from the Shell gas station two miles out of Paddock Lake. I stopped here and had a good break. I ate my chocolate cream pie for breakfast and I went to the bathroom. I scraped another resin hit with a safety pin. Not a safety pin but a paper clip.
I'm going to head South on 45. Not 94 along the lake. I should go down the lake and take pictures, but screw it. I need to get to Chicago.
9:34am I am on Highway 45. I'm going to walk on the opposite side and give cars the peace sign. I'm going to charge up my Karma-Slingshot again.
9:52am I walked like a mile and I'm going to stop and eat something. I'm over by 85th Street on 45. In Bristol. I took a picture of the water tower.
10:13am I took a picture of the guy flying in one of those,
I don't know what the hell those crafts are called. Somebody tell me.
10:52am Leaving the Countryside Market. I changed my socks. I am on my last pair of socks. The kid inside didn't give me permission to ask for rides. I'll walk five miles to the next gas station.
The sun's up, I layered down.
I stopped across the street from 10075 Bristol Road AKA Hwy 45. I smoked a cigarette. I didn't sit down or nothing. I took my pack off and smoked. I'm going to keep going.
11:38am I'm about to cross Highway V.
11:40am All of a sudden, I was charging up my Karma-Slingshot and these kids pulled over for me! Danny and Mike Aken. I appreciate it, guys. Everybody gets credit, thanks.
12:07pm Those cool kids dropped me off in city if Zion on Kenosha Road. They wouldn't let me ask for rides at the gas station, but I talked this Black dude named Victor. He was cool and gave me directions. Told me of a more direct route. He told me to walk this road to Sheridan Road, three miles, he said
I'm turning right on Gabriel. I see a library sign pointing down there.
It's Sunday, I doubt it's going to be open. I'll walk back to Sheridan and keep walking if it's closed. I asked this Mexican dude in Spanish how far it was and if he thought it was open today. He told me it was. It's like a mile down the road.
12:56pm I walked all the way to the library and indeed it is closed. I should've known better. Ugh, I hate backtracking.
1:03pm I doubled back on Gabriel already to back to 21st Street. Check out this marquee for the Muslim place here.
Oh damn, I'm already in Illinois! Zion, IL! I didn't know that. I'm still going towards Sheridan Road. Like Victor told me at the gas station.
1:42pm I came to a grocery store here and took a piss in the bathroom. I'm going to keep walking now. I'm almost to Sheridan. At least I think so. I think it's 173. I'm going to turn right, I believe.
Coming up on El Lago Taqueria. Breakfast.
They gave me the 'ol manager's not here bullshit.
1:58pm I got my socks washing in the machine now at this laundromat I stumbled onto. I'm going to go to the Burger King too. I have a dollar.
2:25pm I've got seven pairs of clean socks and I'm leaving the laundromat. Walking down Sheridan. The cool lady working there gave me a quarter because my clothes weren't dry all the way. I handed out my website a couple times too.
I really hope there's a taqueria along the way. I'm kind of hungry. I'm out of money too. I've got a little in my bag, some cereal.
3:56pm Entering Village of Beach Park.
4:12pm I came out right next to Lakeview Manufactured Housing Community. There's a blue sign. I'm going to sit down and eat some cereal.
4:38pm I came to the gas station here in Zion and in no time, this guy pulled up in a van blasting Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. The Didn't I See You Crying song, where it goes Megan, she don't eat bacon at the end. When he was inside I was was all jamming out playing my stick. When he came out I hit him up for a ride South and he said sure. I told him I'm a journalist and he said, "Really? we're going back to my apartment to get my camera." He said he'd put it on his MySpace. Hell yeah.
4:44pm Chad
is the guy who gave me a ride from the gas station. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks.
Whoa, Chad is taking me to North Chicago.
6:46pm Wow, what a great night this has turned into. Not only did I get high, but Chad and Edie are hooking me up with a buffet at the Golden Corral. I appreciate it, guys. Everybody gets credit, thanks. Athena is with us too.
9:52pm Oh, I forgot to tell you. Chad is being nice enough to let me crash at his place. We went out to dinner to the Golden Corral. They invited me! Damn, nine bucks per buffet. I wasn't going to eat that much. Chad had made me a sandwich before. I told him, "I'm not that hungry. If you're worried about me eating just take me through a drive-through somewhere." He said it was alright, not to worry about it. He even said if I needed to crash there it was cool. Cool, I can get a full night's sleep and take off in the morning. Man, I'm going to have fun getting to Chicago.
We had gone and hung out at one of their friend's house.
2:21am What a crazy night I've had so far, man. I had crashed out in this dude's little apartment. Man, him and Edie were fighting up a storm! They woke me up arguing around eleven thirty. I started packing my shit so I could go find somewhere to camp. He actually said he was going to go camp too. I even told him he could sleep in my sleeping bag liner and let him use my other scarf. I even gave him my white grocery bag so he could take some of his stuff. We started walking away. He was scared the cops were going to come. Then we saw the cops zoom by a couple times and then his girlfriend pulled up and they kept arguing. I just kept walking. I walked back towards the car to see what was going on. I should've gotten my scarf back. Then this cop starts driving by and he jumped in the car with his girl and split. Then I see all these cop cars follow his ass and turn into his apartments. I got out of there right on time. He's probably going back to jail.
So, I have to find a place to camp. I lost a couple items. Oh well, I'm traveling lighter now.
Chad was a junkie, a heroin addict. That shit is bad news.
2:34am I just talked to a cop. He pulled over and ran my ID and shit. I told him what happened, that this guy at the gas station offered me a ride and took me to eat and got in a fight with his girl and I left. I tried to tell the cop my story, but then his partner came out and I gave him my website.
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