15 is the answer

Those first pictures, the ones of the tarp and the giant flammable tank, are of our camp two nights ago. Sleeping in shifts is very Lord-of-the-Ring-sy, though its definitely not all its made out to be. Sleeping in a wrapped up tarp is just another part of the experience.

As if to apologize for the rude lawmen we encountered the other day, some local authorities kindly found us a place to sleep in the next town. A good night was made even better when we discovered the park we were being allowed to sleep in even had a covered pavilion, so we didn't even have to assemble out flies to stay out of the rain.

An enthusiastic mantis kept watch as we slept the night away; sheltered from the rain that came down in buckets.

Today we caught a local parade and left town with pockets full of candy that had been left on the roadside by some kids who don't know the value of free sweets.

We are thirty five days in, and ten days away from a rendezvous with my family. Its a waiting game now...

Double Triple

Well today was exciting.

Upon waking up this morning we left our secluded campsite and made towards Jacksonville.

At our first rest point for the day we were joined by a great white wolf, who turned out to be friendly, but does not appreciate honey combs.

At our second rest point for the day we were joined by a police officer who was angry that he had to drive a few miles from town and check up on some kids who were sitting by the side of the road. After a very rude exchange, and a jail threat, we decides it best to make for the county line at double speed. After having nothing but good interactions with the police, it was a little disappointing to run into someone who hopefully was just having a rough day.

Not much happened after that, except for walking through cornfields of course!

Dagobah

It has been a while since our last blog post, though we have a very good excuse...

Sit tight, its a good one...

We have been undergoing Jedi training on the planet Dagobah. Equipped with food, tents, and of course... lightsabers, we have been hiding out in the woods west of Springfield since or last update.

It has been fun, despite a few coyote scares and some roaming bands of farmers. 

However, tonight will be our last night here, and we will hit the road once again in the morning.

Expect Jedi pictures, as well as more frequent blog updates!

By the way, I have been convinced to get this twitter thing rolling, @DylanHoltslag

Almost just like mine

Day 25: This day never happened.

Day 26: Waking up at four in the morning during a thunder storm, packing up wet gear, and making a mad dash for the nearest cover, is a ton of fun. Sleeping on the pavement under the overhang of n abandoned building for a few hours is a ton of fun as well.

The days walking was very much the same as any other day; we talked to a few cops, played with a few false-wasps, and ended up in the park in a little town called Elkhart.

However, shortly after arriving, we were approached by the towns go-to tough guy, whose neighbors seemed to have asked him to remove us from town. After a brief conversation, filled with double meanings and faux-politeness, we were left quite sure that our presence was not welcome in the quaint little Illinois town.

Not feeling very much like finding another place to sleep, we decided to walk through the night, and make the twenty mile trek to Springfield.

Midnight found us loitering outside the night's first twenty four hour gas station, and midnight thirty found us in the back of yet another police car. Still not in trouble, the officer just felt like giving us a hand with the night's walking. He dropped us off outside another gas station, this time on the outskirts of Springfield.

After a few quick phone calls, we headed in the direction of the nights third gas station, where we bought an 89 cent coffee, and loitered out back in the cold. This process was repeated several more times throughout the night at several different gas stations.

Walking through the streets of Springfield, very tired, moving only to stay warm, we stumbled upon an open graveyard and decided to stroll through it and check out the war memorials that we had seems signs for on the road.

It ends up that this graveyard houses the tomb of Abraham Lincoln, and the stone monument to go along with it!

After admiring the tomb, and then the war memorials, we crossed the street and fell asleep in a field for a few hours, next to a cheap hotel.

Upon waking up, we were tired, hungry, and dirty, and the looming hotel was too much for us mere mortals to resist.

We spent the night listening to music and watching cartoons!

/7

Day 23 Part 2:

After knocking out so many miles before noon, the rest of the day's walk was as much a breeze as it was breezy.

By the mid afternoon we were in the town of Atlanta, nestled into the small, yet geometric, public library. A few good books carried us through some evening showers, a reoccurring theme.

As has become standard operating procedure, we made our way to a covered pavilion just before dark, and set up our tents for the night.

I was delighted to find our medicinal camel at the bottom of my backpack, and to celebrate the occasion conducted a short photoshoot starring him and my dinner.

Day 24:

This morning brought an unexpected and unwanted surprise, our first medical emergency. We knew it was going to happen eventually, however we didn't expect it to happen like this...

After packing up camp, and while flat on my back looking at the ceiling, I yawned. The problem: after finishing a rather satisfying exhalation of early morning air, my jaw stayed locked in the wide-open position.

Immediately sensing that something was wrong, I sat up and tried in vain to get my jaw closed. I started making strange open mouthed sounds in an attempt to alert Nick of my predicament, and was eventually successful. After a moment of warranted confusion, I communicated to him to call my mom, who upon becoming aware of the situation did what any good mother would do... laugh.

One thing lead to another, and after two hours of walking and waiting, we were sitting outside a dentist office, waiting for the doctor to arrive. Having tried all that we could, my jaw was becoming quite sore from a combination of forceful rubbing and being stretched open for an extended period of time.

Finally I was in a dentists chair, reclined and looking at the ceiling yet again, but this time with bandanas in my mouth, an attempt to give my jaw a rest.

The doctor came in, and within five minutes, had grabbed my jaw and pulled it out, down, and back up into place. Ow.

Not to be slowed down by the mornings experiences, we hit the road around ten and hustled on to the town of Lincoln.

Lincoln is a larger town than many of the ones we had passed through recently, so when I called the police dispatch number to ask for a place to sleep, someone actually answered! (A first, by the way)

After searching for a place for us to sleep, and finding no free locations, the officer took matters into his own hands. He drove to where we were loitering, we piled in his car, and were driven to an abandoned building on the edge of town. Officer Kuhlman, the kindly Lincoln cop, had a brother who had done a similar thing, so he was happy to help us out for the night, and assured us that no one would bother us tonight!

Thank You!

So now we are at the end of a VERY eventful day, faced with the very real possibility that tomorrow could be even crazier.

Night

The next few years...

Well the plan was to write a very looooong blog update last night from the tent, however our sleeping location wouldn't allow it.

But what good is any story without some suspense?

I'll put you all at ease up front: We are not dead. Dylan is not dead. Nick is not dead. Paul is not dead.

Day 19:

After waking up clean and refreshed we made our way to downtown Pontiac for a canned food shopping spree. Never have I been so excited at the prospect of eating cold Campbell's Chunky soup from a can.

Heading southwest again, our path was crossed by a tan minivan driven by a very enthusiastic whirlwind of words, named Amanda. She got us to our destination a tad quicker than we probably would have gotten there on foot, and then even went on to buy us soda and donuts from the fast stop! Thank you very much, and good luck!

So there we were in the public park of Towanda Illinois, just hanging out under the pavilion, waiting for it to get dark, when two very peculiar characters stumbled through the park. One, a "short pink leprechaun with a funny haircut and black antennae sticking out from his nipples" (description provided by the other character), eventually let us pitch our tents alongside his apartment. The other was a tall fellow with long hair, a gandalf beard, and a squeaky jaw.

Upon invitation, we joined them up in their apartment and were given free access to the fridge as we watched movies and listened to bluegrass.

If you guys read this, thanks for everything, and sorry we never got around to meeting up in Bloomington, peace!

Day 20:

Laden with extra supplies from all our shopping the day before, we slowly made our way in the direction of Bloomington, where we were going to be staying with Michael, who we found through couchsurfing.

After attempting to squish some pennies on the train tracks, wandering through the abnormally normal town of Normal, and picking up some free books from a garage sale, we arrives at Michaels abode.

A very well kept place with an inviting front porch, it would not have looked at all out of place in downtown Clarkston. The inside definitely matched the exterior, and everything was quite clean and tidy.

Our very kind host was quick to prepare dinner and show us to our room, which had two twin beds, so neither of us had to take the floor.

After a shower and a meal we watched a movie and crashed early... in real beds!!!

Day 21:

I seem to have lost the ability to sleep in past nine, it pains me greatly.

After some cereal and web browsing we walked around BloNo, spending some time around the campus before heading through downtown and north to a park.

Some afternoon rain drove us back to shelter rather on the early side, but it gave us time to hit a grocery store and procure some special ingredients for the dinner Nick would prepare later as a thank you to Michael for letting us stay with him over the weekend.

The whole kitchen was utilized, and quite a mess was made, but the final product made the whole process well worth it.

Please, take some time to enjoy some pictures of us eating.

That night brought more relaxation and some music. The place was already starting to feel like home, which is very dangerous when you know you have to put in 12 miles the next morning.

Day 22:

After another shower and some eggs, we finally rolled out of Bloomington around noon, which is much to late a time to start moving.

Our pace didn't quicken much, and by two, we hadn't moved much further than two miles. However we had been gifted a nice full bag of protein granola by a fellow traveler, so the day had not been a total waste thus far.

With still ten miles to go, we hustled through the afternoon, and made it to Funks Grove just before nightfall.

However we didn't have enough time to find an optimal place to pitch a tent, and settled for a patch of tall grass behind a bush near the side of the road, and on the edge of someones property. As long as it was dark, the tent (as we only felt safe pitching one) was hidden enough, but in the daylight our hiding spot would be plainly exposed.

Day 23, Part 1:

Four Thirty came early, but we forced ourselves to crawl out into the cold and pack away a tent soaked with dew.

Our efforts were rewarded with the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen!

By seven thirty we had gone five miles and had arrived in McDonalds, with plumbing and free WiFi.

So here we are.

And in closing:

i Dot o k

That is all

Alice

As I get further into this trip, these post titles are only going to get more and more obscure... so hold on tight.

Having a pavilion over our heads last night was a gift, it rained hard, and so far we have been lucky enough to keep our gear from getting wet.

Even with the sun at its highest it was only about eighty out today, and compared to the last few days, that was very comfortable.

About halfway through today's walk a jovial woman pulled over to the side of the road near us and asked if we wanted to hop in the bed of her pickup for a few miles, as she was headed that way already.

That's not hitch hiking is it?

Our thumbs weren't out, and we weren't really in the car, so... not hitch hiking?

Good, cause that's the decision we reached on the side of the road.

Due to that friendly lift, we made it to today's destination rather sooner than expected, and had some extra time to relax and get creative.

The cheap campsite we paid for today was worth every penny, as it came with peace of mind, a fire pit, free wood, and even... showers!

Washing off ten days of dirt and sweat was liberating. When I stepped outside after drying off and brushing my teeth, I realized I could feel the wind on my face and arms for the first time in days. This lead to the frightening realization that the grime had been caked on so heavily, that it prevented my nerve ending from picking up the breeze blowing past them.

Ew.

A big bowl of chicken noodle soup followed the shower, and I was on top of the world.

We winded down even further after a relaxing day with a blazing fire and some music, and then prepared to turn in early.

We plan on being in Bloomington on Sunday night, which means we need to do about 12 miles a day for the next three days straight. Which shouldn't be a problem... as long as the rain holds off...

Sophomore and Junior Year

Well the train station did not have much to offer in the way of sleep, however the delightfully quirky town of Dwight provided a steady supply of mildly amusing people to watch.

Dwight, I dub thee the Town that never sleeps.

Even stranger than the endless trickle of Dwight folk who had no apparent business being up at 2:00 a.m. after a long hot Monday, was the fact that none of them seemed to pay any mind to two teenage kids who periodically shifted location from park bench to sleepless sleeping bags.

With no sleep in sight, we decided to relocate to a picnic table a few miles out of town before the sun made the downtown area unbearable. Setting up a temporary camp, we attempted to sleep away the day, with intentions to walk through the night.

However falling asleep on a picnic table, in 97 degree heat, a few feet from a barrel of decomposing fish corpses, with flies strolling up and down your arms and neck, is not something that they teach you how to do in highschool.

To all of my former teachers who are reading this- and don't bother hiding, I know you are out there- perhaps you could work that into your curriculum? Call it critical thinking or something like that? :)

Though in all fairness I guess I did leave highschool practiced in the way of sleeping with my head down on a hard surface...

When night finally came around we realized we had been kidding ourselves, and walking through the night was just not an option after sleeping only nine of the last seventy two hours. So we set up camp and spent another night among the beautiful people of Dwight.

We awoke the following morning around 11:00 in the company of a delightful uniformed man who was kind enough to take down our information and send us on our way without further consequences. 

Another day of walking and some neat-o corn fields brought us to our next destination, a public library, where we decided to wait out some afternoon showers.

Reading a book was wonderful, I had not felt that civilized since leaving home.

A mad dash under looming clouds carried us to our sleeping spot last night, yet another set of picnic tables under a pavilion off route 66.