Day 165 - Tompkins

One minute I'm kicking myself to get up and the next thing I know I'm five miles down the road wondering how I got this far. I wonder if you can ever run out of things to think about.

I called my sister Chris this morning before I left to wish her a happy birthday. She was already at work but it was only 6:30am my time. As I was leaving town two dogs chased me down the highway. I was worried they'd get hit by a car. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic and they made it back to there yard safely.

I tried to keep my mind off the wind and my sore feet. Short of counting the fense posts I tried to think about what other people would be up to today or what I would be doing if I wasn't out here on the highway. I passed a few crosses that had been put up where people died from accidents. There were so many dead animals on the road again today.

I came up to a field with seven antelopes running around. I watched them for awhile. Just past them was a field of so many black cows I couldn't count them all. Then I passed a pool of water with some trees around it that looked like an oasis. I looked for the vending machine but no luck, just a flock of geese.

The headwind was so strong today. I use to think of it as endurance training. Now it just wears me down. I made it as far as Tompkins. There was a herd of pinto horses, at road into Tompkins, they all ran to the fense I thought it was the calvary coming to meet me. I love these little towns. The windows in the stores have hand-written signs like 'be back in 20 minutes, gone to doctors appt' or 'sewage bills due today'. I'm here at the library and had an interesting chat with the librarian. They were getting ready for a craft sale.

Tomorrow will be a long way to Maple Creek....I better get a good night sleep!