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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