Waking from some funky dreams we both looked at our feet. They didn’t sting at all anymore and there were absolutely no blisters from the coals. We took our time getting up. Ingrid read a bit, I walked the Zen labyrinth thingy, then Ingrid walked it as I packed up and eventually off we went for about a mile, maybe not even.
We were hungry so we stopped in at a park and made some hash browns talking with a guy there then read a bit. After, we saw a restaurant across the street and in line with my new found Zen of trying not to worry so much about money, since it seems to come when we need it, we ate some more over there. By about one we were back on the road crossing the interstate we’d driven in on six days earlier and heading into new unseen territory by our eyes.
Our first order of business after the interstate was to purchase a map of Alabama. With our gifts we had mailed home the first of many marked and road worn maps and now we had its replacement for its replacement state. From there we hit the next mountain for about three miles with not too much of a view.
The day seemed to take forever. We stopped often and Ingrid’s knee was really hurting by the fourth or fifth mile. By the tenth we were stopping almost every half mile to rest it and she shed tears of pain while we walked. But at the tenth mile we ran into the tiny town of Ider, AL and met a nice lady named Joan. We talked a bit with her and she offered us a place at her barn three miles down the road with a lift to get there and everything. The idea was nice but I didn’t want to skip three miles walking and I didn’t want to put Ingrid through three more miles so I pushed Ingrid to accept her ride while I’d walk it. After a bit she went for it and off they went.
Half a mile down the road I regretted doing that. I felt like I’d pushed Ingrid away and figured she’d be mad at me for it, so for two and a half miles I kicked myself for the suggestion. When I got there I found out I was completely wrong. She was happy watching Joan’s grand kids smash ants (although not happy at what they were doing at all) and had enjoyed a Coke for the hour I was gone. I’d been watching lightening for the past mile on the horizon and after re-meeting Joan and Mike, the man surveying the land, we hurried into the barn as the rain started to come down.
The rain came down as it never had on us before. The wind howled and rain blew through the corridor we were in so much that I had to step on the tent and tarp to keep them from flying off. Once the tent was somewhat up we threw the bags in there to weight it down. Billowing like a sail it looked ready to fly off, even Ingrid hopped in to weight it a bit. When we finally got it settled the wind stopped, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared completely.
After all of that we made dinner. As we did a car pulled up and the neighbors came out with a bag full of left overs for dinner. Steak, veggies, bottled water, and smore things. Joan had called them to let them know we were here and they figured they’d bring us some food. We thanked them profusely and settled back into our tent. Not more then five minutes after they left Mike showed up with his wife and more dinner for us. More steak, potatoes, moon pies, a bagel with cream cheese, and more water. Again, we thanked them profusely and settled in for our feast. After we stuffed our faces, saving some for morning, it was about ten minutes before we past out completely.