Day 34: Bylas, AZ, To Pima, AZ

Again, up early after a good night's sleep. By early, I wake up around 5am, usually ready to hit the road by 6am. As the days shorten, it will be later before I can get on the road. Since I stayed in the rest area last night, had restrooms and a place to clean up and shave. Lots of guys just let their beards grow, but I feel better with a clean shave.......plus, I'm afraid it would be all gray if I let if grow out.

I set out, and had not gone far before a young Apache man called to me and wanted to talk about my walk. He introduced himself as, "Virgil Stanley....we are Apache, last to surrender." There was some pride in his voice as he said that, and I was surprised that he introduced himself that way.....interesting. But, several other Apaches also mentioned this fact to me.

Today is a big day......neighbors from Daleville, Suzanne and JW Rhoades, and their son Jeremy (from San Francisco area), are in Globe, AZ, for a wedding, and going to take me to lunch. Very nice to have company out in the desert. I was soon off of the reservation after 2+ days of walking. I passed through Geronimo, which is nothing more than a road sign and a marker about the Apache, Geronimo.

The next small community was Ft Thomas. That's where Suzanne and family found me. It was nice to see them, and we rode into Safford for lunch at Golden Corral. Nice to sit down and have a good meal, plus catch up on the happenings from home. Suzanne brought me several items: apples from Ikenberry Orchards, leaves from trees in her yard, reminding me that the seasons are-a-changing back home, some homemade pecan pie (what Jeremy hadn't already eaten!), and about 50 or so of the nicest and most encouraging letters from the students at Greenfield Elementary school in Daleville. A line from one of them: "dear Mr Rudisill, I would love to come and walk with you, but I don't see that happening any time soon." I can imagine his parents would agree it won't happen anytime soon. And, JW brought me 2 Snicker bars!

After visiting for a while, Suzanne and family had to leave for the wedding, and I had to get back walking. I wanted to make Pima today, but was still about 13 miles away. So, just decided to walk as far as I wanted and stop. Along the way I saw miles of cotton fields (irrigated of course), and some pecan trees which reminded me of back home. Clouds were moving in from the West, and rain appeared on the way. Plus, the clouds were causing it to get dark earlier. Around 6pm or so, I reached Pima......later than I like to walk, but just wanted to get there. In Pima there is a diner called Taylor Freeze, which is a Dairy Queen type place, but a little more "old school" and local. It was a nice place to hang out for a while and get some nourishment.

While there I asked a guy about possible camping spots. He suggested I put my tent up behind the local Morman church. Said they were not having a Sunday service this week because of some convention or something. I figured a church wouldn't mind if I stayed there, so took his advice. It was just down the street, and before long, I was unpacked, my tent was up, and I was settled down for the evening.......I thought. Because of no rain so far on the walk, I have not used my tent fly the entire trip.....and without it the tent is not waterproof. So before long, the clouds were here and I felt the first few drops of rain. So had to get out of the tent, put up the fly, and get settled back in. The wind was awful, at times I thought it was going to blow the tent away. There was some lightning (are tents safe during lightning?), but other than the first few drops, very little rain.

Soon I was able to get to sleep. A note: when out walking/camping, small things tend to make the experience more pleasurable or not. The place I set up the tent was grassy and soft, and the tent stakes pushed easily into the ground and held firmly. So many times the ground is hard and almost impossible to get the stakes into; or so soft the stakes won't hold. This ground was perfect. It doesn't seem like much, but it is.

Random acts of kindness for the day:

• Of course the visit with JW, Suzanne, and Jeremy, and the gifts they brought.....and lunch.



• As I was walking to Pima (I walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic), a small pickup truck approached going in the same direction. The man pulled a little ahead of me, turned his truck around, and pulled beside me on the shoulder of the road. He handed me something, wished me a safe trip, turned his truck around, and went on his way. It happened so quickly, I didn't get his name or give him a card. What he handed me? A twenty dollar bill. What do you think about that?