New Mexico and Nice People

The folks at the Savoy travel center near Deming, New Mexico are nice people. After several hours of their ministrations to a cold Cody, Cody is on the road again. Cody was hunkering down outside last night when the security guard, Catfish, told Cody to come inside. He got a nap on the couch in the truckers lounge, a juicy burger with fries, free shower and more! He had planned on just sleeping a few hours yesterday evening before walking more at night, but he caught some good sleep while it was available. He was there from 7:30 pm until 3:00 this morning. He's trying to do more night walking at the moment because there isn't many options except the prohibited interstate, so he tries to walk at the least busy times.

After leaving the comfort of Aerol's ranch last week, Cody walked into a headwind all day long. The next day the wind pushed him sideways, then it whipped at his back the third day. Plenty cold! He was supposed to pick up his package from Mom and Dad at the Lordsburg P.O. Friday, but it wasn't in yet. He hiked south of town to the ghost town of Shakespeare to look around while he waited until Saturday's mail. He was met with a shotgun by the caretaker (not a nice person) and was told he had to leave. Cody, of course, just waited until it was dark and then snuck around back and spent the night in the stable. I asked him if he saw any ghosts, and he said no, but his sleep was rather disturbed by dreams about the guy finding him and shooting him! Then he snuck back out before the sun was up. Unfortunately, the package was still in El Paso Saturday (tsk, tsk, USPS, Priority Mail let him down!) so he asked them to forward it to Alamogordo, NM and set off again.

Today found him in Deming, NM. He went to a Wal-Mart and got a CD made of the pictures he's taken so far! Can't wait to get that! He was thinking he would have to backtrack a ways to send it at the post office, but when he walked out of Wal-Mart, the mail lady was there in her little truck and he was able to mail me the CD right there. You probably get more excited about saving a couple miles when you have to walk every foot of the way. (Or drive the green bus, but that's another way-back story). He also traded in his "guaranteed-for-life" tire tubes for his stroller tires-- says he'd forgotten what a Cadillac the stroller can be! It's been pretty stiff pushing lately. There's a Wal-Mart in his next big stop, Las Cruces, so he only has to last until there to trade his tubes in. I have a feeling they're going to be sick of their little guarantee by the time Cody finishes his trip!

Cody sure enjoyed his time with Aerol (The Bachelor), and hopes he'll see him again some time. Aerol has roots in South Dakota, and attends the Sturgis rally every year, so he's told Cody to come stay with him in a trailer at the rally and work security or something. He also has friends that run combining teams across the Dakotas, a job Cody has always wanted to do. He did some combining in Oregon last year, but he's always dreamed of running a combine on the Great Plains.

Cody isn't able to check in on the internet much, but he was really excited today when I told him how much has been raised on his fundraising site. It's encouraging for him to know people are supporting his cause.

I checked with Google on an approximate mileage count for him, and he's come at least 675 miles, not county any backtracking or fencing hikes. No wonder he wears out shoes!