Day 94 - Theba, Arizona
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Day 94 kinda smacked my soul around. I had the highest highs and the lowest lows.
I was planning my westward push to line up along old historic US 80- which is a route that kind of doesn’t fully exist. It’s old roads and frontage and service roads split apart and it’s quite confusing. With my one day at a time mentality, I just started going for it from Gila Bend, Arizona and made it about twelve miles before I hit a dead end… I recalculated the distance required to make it to the next town (without skating too much on the interstate) and it was 54 more miles…
I didn’t have enough food or water to skate that comfortably, but I had the confidence to make it happen anyway! I started onto the next path up into the desert and was excited for the mission! I got to do a super fun painting and was on my way to the next town! Roads were smooth, I was getting excited to reach California soon, and even got a call from the homie Jason Vanporppal that hyped me up for the push! I kept on cruising until I hit a little dirt path… that turned into a dirt road… that turned into a 40 mile stretch that was taking me deeper into the desert- and about 17 of those miles would be unpaved! I had less than 2 liters of water on me and a couple snack bars… I couldn’t walk for 5 hours and then skate 25 miles without really endangering myself, so I thought quickly to find any alternative… I still had to do a 16 mile hike in the middle of nowhere remote desert- through sand and rocks and boulders and over barbed wire fences, up and over hills… hearing animals rustling up against bushes to let their presence be known, as I slowly ran out of water, and my feet were killing me! I was on a path to sleep outside a random gas station…
Tired and weak, I was getting angry, and not happy with my emotional state… so I turned on some music, fought past my pain and frustration, and forced myself to dance alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere...
And suddenly I went from infuriated and miserable, to feeling joyous and excited and free!
It’s nice to dance through the pain. After all was said and done, I trekked 43 miles with only about 500 feet climbed.
I was planning my westward push to line up along old historic US 80- which is a route that kind of doesn’t fully exist. It’s old roads and frontage and service roads split apart and it’s quite confusing. With my one day at a time mentality, I just started going for it from Gila Bend, Arizona and made it about twelve miles before I hit a dead end… I recalculated the distance required to make it to the next town (without skating too much on the interstate) and it was 54 more miles…
I didn’t have enough food or water to skate that comfortably, but I had the confidence to make it happen anyway! I started onto the next path up into the desert and was excited for the mission! I got to do a super fun painting and was on my way to the next town! Roads were smooth, I was getting excited to reach California soon, and even got a call from the homie Jason Vanporppal that hyped me up for the push! I kept on cruising until I hit a little dirt path… that turned into a dirt road… that turned into a 40 mile stretch that was taking me deeper into the desert- and about 17 of those miles would be unpaved! I had less than 2 liters of water on me and a couple snack bars… I couldn’t walk for 5 hours and then skate 25 miles without really endangering myself, so I thought quickly to find any alternative… I still had to do a 16 mile hike in the middle of nowhere remote desert- through sand and rocks and boulders and over barbed wire fences, up and over hills… hearing animals rustling up against bushes to let their presence be known, as I slowly ran out of water, and my feet were killing me! I was on a path to sleep outside a random gas station…
Tired and weak, I was getting angry, and not happy with my emotional state… so I turned on some music, fought past my pain and frustration, and forced myself to dance alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere...
And suddenly I went from infuriated and miserable, to feeling joyous and excited and free!
It’s nice to dance through the pain. After all was said and done, I trekked 43 miles with only about 500 feet climbed.
