Day 133

I awoke just at sunrise. I broke and repacked. I climbed up to the road. I laced up. My feet hurt.

I watched the sun rise.

I reached Marfa city limits! 

I put in the miles and made it to town. I ran a few errands: I bought flip flops, bought gatorades, and ate lunch at Dairy Queen.

I found a park in town and set up my hammock under a gazebo. I took a sprinkler shower, dried off, and took a siesta. Time passed, and so did the heat of the day. 

I awoke around 3 p.m. And repacked the buggy. I found grocery store on the edge of town. I bought beans, tortillas, bagels, water, apples, a grapefruit, and some peanut butter. I bought a sandwich at Subway. I hit the road.

Next stop: Van Horn, TX. 

I saw a sign: No Services for the next 74 miles. I headed west.

Storm clouds rolled in. The air shifted. Rain fell. It was cold! Lightening struck down. Thunder boomed. I hustled with a smile. It was intense!

I made it to a picnic area a few miles outside town. I dried my clothes, and ate a meatball sub. I watched the clouds shift and change. 

I found my break. To the west it was clear. I kept my pace up.

I put in a few miles.

Lauren and Kieth pulled over! They had seen me walking in the storm a few hours ealrier. They decided to check on me. 
Kieth is from New York, and Lauren is from Austin. They were visiting Marfa on vacation. 

They were so nice to me! They gave me a san pellegrino with a green unbrella, a cheese stick, some cookies, toiletries, and a donation! I sat on the bumper of their car and we talked and chatted. Kieth is moving to Los Angeles, he told me to catch up with him when I make it out that way! We talked about the desert, pilgrimages, and the Marfa Lights. It turns out, we were there at the Lights at the same time night before, crazy! 

Roadside visits are the best. One minute I am in the middle of the desert, alone for miles and miles, and the next I am with friends drinking a cold san pellegrino with a little umbrella haha! They were the awesome! We parted ways.

I kept putting in the miles. The sun started to set. I kept moving.

Storms to the west and to the east. I watched from afar.

Darkness fell.
Further down Highway 90, I saw these crazy lights off in the distance. At first it seemed like a second sunset. At nightfall, it looked like a ring of fire. As I got closer I didn’t know what it was. 

It actually freaked me out a bit. I thought all kinds of crazy thoughts. Miles and miles and miles. I couldn’t seem to reach them. They just hovered in the blackness of the night. 

A border patrol agent stopped to check on me! He gave me some water! Didnt catch his name 😦 . 

I asked him what the lights were. He told me it was their radar surveillance balloon, haha. Pretty cool! He told me it was 3 miles to a rest area down the road. He also told me if I needed to rest before then to hang a reflective vest along the road where I would be sleeping. It would help the patrol out and let them know I was safe. We parted ways.
It was a tough stretch. I was tired and had skipped dinner. I ate a few cookies. My feet were sore.
I made it to the rest area and hung my hammock between a lamp post and a trash bin. A truck was overnight parking. I slowly eased off the nikes and socks. My heels were blistered.

I fell asleep gazing off into the desert. It met with the night sky. Stars plentiful. I heard animals. I slept great.