I rose and walked as usual in the morning, setting out with the vigor and excitement of entering a big city. My knee had been aching a bit the day before so I babied it at night and it felt fine in the morning, but I made a point to remind myself that I should break after three miles so as not to drive it into the ground. Three miles down the road I came across a Break Time gas station and stopped in for a coffee and some breakfast.
When I went up to pay before sitting down I chatted a little bit with the cashier as she asked what I was up to. It turned out her brother had wandered Ireland in a similar way so it was neat hearing about his stories as well. I sat by myself and ate after chatting a bit and rested up since for some reason I was feeling really beat so early in the morning. It probably had something to do with skipping dinner the night before and then not grabbing even a light snack before doing those first three miles. Either way, it felt good to just sit, eat, and contemplate all that life is.
On my way out I asked the girl where the library was and a good place in town for lunch. We got to talking again about the library because she had moved around a lot and was saying she really liked the library in Jefferson City compared to others. Either way, she asked if I wanted a ride in to town when she got out in an hour or so but I turned her down, of course. Instead, I was looking for someone to celebrate my upcoming thousandth mile with, so I offered to get her lunch after I got into town and finished up at the library. This was how I met Lindsey.
I got into town around one or so and set up at the library for a while doing the internet thing. Afterward I gave Lindsey a call for lunch. She came to pick me up and offered a shower and laundry so we went back to her house and got all of that going. Well, all but the shower, it turned out all of the towels were in need of washing so they were thrown in with my filthy duds.
Most of the afternoon we hung out chatting about how her and her brother had been foster kids, managed to hunt down their dad, and were all living together as a recent turn in events for them. The brother and father came home after a while so we all started gabbing about travels and stories and a good time was had by all. Eventually I got my shower in and cleaned up before Mike, her brother, brought up the notion of food which had been completely forgotten in all the conversation. Their dad had split off again to another job so we all piled in the car and drove over to a bar, pool hall, restaurant type place called Spectators.
There was some karaoke starting up that night. I was tempted, but as I flipped through the books I didn’t really see any songs that struck me. Mike and Lindsey didn’t seem like they wanted to hang out there either, so we finished up our wings and nachos and left after a good hour or so.
On our way out we ran into some of their friends playing pool and a gathering was organized. Within half an hour there was a gaggle of us all hanging out on their front porch having a good time sipping on beer and telling stories. It was a wonderful mileage celebration.
It had been arranged that I’d stay the night, and as people tuckered out and floated away the sleeping arrangements came into their own. Eventually it was about 2am and we were still chatting but realized the morning was going to have to be an early one so to the living room floor I went with a comfy sheet on a nice little carpet. It was a happy day.