Day 80 - Akela, New Mexico
All Profits go directly to the Pushing The Art Foundation *after production costs and taxes
Oh man, this was a nerve-wracking. I was off into the desert, knowing that there were stretches with no service roads, and no hotels, not much in terms of gas stations either. I got in about 20 miles on frontage roads (service roads) I got to a point that things turned to dirt, and I couldn't get to the interstate because of the barbed wire fences they had to keep cattle and other wildlife from running into the road and causing accidents. I had to backtrack before finding a way back onto the road. This time it was night already and I chose to walk and skate towards the oncoming traffic. The road was smooth, but I tried to be systematic about my approach. I didn't want my headlamp to startle driver and make them call the police. I walked when there was heavy traffic, and skated in bursts when the road cleared up- this was the routine that I thought was safest to not get rolled- and risk having to accept a ride from law enforcement; therefore forcing me to backtrack to where I was picked up and try again. I had to make sure I traveled coast to coast with my own strength the whole way, besides setting checkpoints. As I was figuring out where I'd be sleeping for the night, I realized there was a border patrol checkpoint on the interstate. I was feeling sketchy to be skating the opposite side of the road that's illegal for pedestrians to be on in this state- but I had to avoid being stopped. After making it through without hassle, I found a side road that required me to hop over a barbed wire fence. I was blessed with smooth roads with no traffic for the rest of the night. I made it a total of 40 miles altogether. I wanted to push to a hotel but it was getting really cold and I was exhausted and in pain. I set up my sleeping bag and passed out outside a gas station. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am sleeping outside in the middle of nowhere New Mexico in Sub-freezing temperatures...
