DAY 1

As soon as I opened my eyes everything was illuminated and bright. Not bright like hurting your eyes, but a bright like when colors are enhanced and everything is extremely clear. I rolled my homeless ass right out of my sleeping bag and stood up.
       Everything just seemed so relaxed about the beach there. I knew it was gonna be hard to leave and hit the street from here on. I walked out to the water and walked into about 6 inches deep of the Atlantic ocean and just enjoyed it for a while.
        After saying my farewell to the water and realizing I had to take a massive dump, I decided it was time to pack up and head out. So I tried to fling most of the sand off all of my gear and packed up. Stepping away from the beach was a little sad. It is just so pretty and one of the things I have grown to appreciate in the past year of slowing my grind of life down. I walked off and took one last glance at the water.
        Then it was time to get serious, where is a toilet? I walked down the little beach streets and among all the cool places down on Atlantic st. I found myself a Starbucks to drop a Duece. I stayed at the Starbucks there to drink plenty of water, brush my teeth and used the Internet to map out my route for the day and charge my iPod/wifi device. Once I was charged up I was ready to kill half the days route before taking a break and recharging at another Starbucks.
     I threw on some Jason Aldean to start my walk. I walked about 5 miles and it was pretty hot out. I was sweaty and my ass was already a bit of a mud butt. But I kind of already know and expect that I will smell like ass for 95% of the journey so I'm just gonna have to deal with it.
      I got to the second Starbucks and ordered a few more waters and recharged the electronics. I eventually need to get a couple water bottles and probably a gallon also for the treks where there are no towns for a few days. Definitely not leaving a town for a long stretch if I don't have the proper water to keep me hydrated for the extent of the walk. I'm sure it will work out.
       I have noticed I have been coughing the last couple days. It's been sort of a whincing cough, an the last time I had that I ended up with phnuemonia so I'm gonna have to monitor that closely. That would be disastrous out here and if I have to I will take care of it if it gets worse.
     So I left after my break to finish the day off. After another 5 mile walk my feet are a little sore and feel like if I pushed it there was a tenderness on the balls of my feet that could turn into blisters. Definitely gonna pace myself around anything that will slow me down in the long run. And the first couple weeks I will get used to it and adapt where eventually I can build up to longer distances ect..
         So I finally stopped at a Dunkin donuts around 10 miles west of the coast. Happy with a nice easy day 1. I was pretty hungry an didn't eat all day. And as much as I really don't want to dumpster dive I know I'm going to have to get into it for this trip to survive. It was really hard to convince myself I need to but If I'm gonna stay alive in this challenge im going to have to. So I told myself I will only consider eating something if it looks somewhat sanitary and fresh, which is probably a hard find in a dumpster. I finally ballsed up and looked in. I was pretty lucky that right on top there were a bag with donut holes in it and nothing else. So I grabbed it. After looking at it and smelling it for about 10 minutes and honestly wanting nothing to do with it I just said screw it and went for it. It was mentally tough and just the fact that it was thrown out made me gag a few times. But after eating a few I realized they were fine. I pretended to be on fear factor for the first few then after that I imagined the world ended and it was complete survival and that made it easier haha.
       So after the dumpster dive I looked around for a place to make a bed for the night. Next to dunkin donuts there was an auto part store where it was pretty dead and empty. I went behind the building and made my bed on the concrete. I was pretty tired so I laid down and tried to get as comfortable as possible. When I lay down to sleep I wrap one of my backpack straps around my forearm and hold a flathead screwdriver in my hand incase anything were to happen. (I found the screwdriver in my backpack left in there from having it at the motocross races). I surprisingly went right to sleep.
      I slept for about 3 hours when I was abruptly woken up by thunder. I lifted my head and lightning struck and about 30ft away from me in the light from the lightning I saw 2 all black cats standing there looking at me. Pretty weird and freaky. I stayed up and watched the lighting for a while, I love that stuff. While sitting up and watching out of nowhere it went from completely dry to dumping rain! Luckily next to me there was an overhang where I moved my stuff to so I would stay dry. I stayed awake an hour or so to watch the storm (I remember doing that as a kid and loving to watch lightening). After the storm settled down I crawled back into my sleeping bag and shut my eyes.
        About 30 minutes later I woke up again hearing yelling. I looked up and saw 2 guys across the parking lot walking around at a fast pace and yelling. Not sure if they were upset but maybe just on a little meth and using there outdoor meth voices. I really hoped they didn't see me laying there. I always prefer to be hidden from anyone so there's a less change of an incident. The meth heads moved on and I laid back down and fell asleep. Pretty weird night.

Filling in the gap

      Well it's been a while since I last updated my journey. The reason i didn't have any updates was because I sorta rejoined the "real world" as people call it, and honestly felt like it was boring and not worthy of sharing. But I will give a brief update since my last posting anyways.
    So when I came back from Oregon/Washington I settled in the bay area. I was still homeless and in fact have been since then. I was in search of a shelter around Dublin ca when I was referred to a lady who could help me. I ended up meeting her and she was very gracious. I ended up pitching a tent in her backyard for about 3 months. She literally took in homeless people anytime she met one, it was pretty amazing and her and her husband were amazing people.
      As far as work I was ready to start from the bottom and move up. I ended up getting a job offer from the people I was staying with to drive a taxi so I decided what the hell, and went for it. I never thought I would live in a tent or drive a taxi but I have to say it was a pretty fun job and life was good. I saved my money and after a few months bought a camper van to drive around in and sleep in. I freakin love that thing! I went on road trips with it and was so comfortable I eventually just moved into it. I had also purchased a gym membership with my earnings where I worked out and could take a shower whenever I wanted. I parked my van outside the office/shop and lived there.
      I saved my money for a while and met a lot of cool people driving taxi. I eventually decided to take a little vacation and felt I deserved it. I was going to meet my best friend in costa rica and backpack around there for a few months, so I booked it. I also had another close friend who was racing motorcycles all around the country so i took an extra 2 weeks to join him on his travels and go to a couple races. It was set and I was pumped!
      After traveling to Atlanta and st. Louis I would fly out from mizzouri straight to coasta rica... Except there was one snag. Our rig was broken into the day before my flight and everything except the clothes on my back were stolen... My passport.. Camera.. Lugguge ect. All gone. I should have been upset but weirdly enough it really didn't bug me. It actually bothered me more that I didn't care than it did I was robbed. So my costa rica trip was off and I would travel a little more around the country to the supercross races.
      After about a month and a half I decided to do something crazy. I flew out after the Houston tx race to Florida to visit the east coast an decided to try and walk all the way back to the California coast. So I flew into Orlando then caught a greyhound bus to Jacksonville and am now on the beach. (I'm actually writing this on the beach)
      So here I go. Oh and to make it a really interesting challenge I decided to bring no money here and start with nothing, not even food or water. So it's on! Full survival mode and having to think fast on the move. I'm not even sure if I can make it all the way but it sounds like a cool challenge to try anyway. I hope to have support and prayers along the way to be exposed to the good in this world. I will say as well it will probably get a little nasty at times, being in full survival mode will include anything to survive. Like mooching of hotel continental breakfast at times, or even dumpster diving ect.
      I have lived a good life and grew up with money an awesome family. I have always had nice things and never lived life in termoil from being poor or in a broken home. Life was always good. I had an urge to do this about a year ago when life was repetitive and I felt like I didn't appreciate it. Since I have been homeless I have lived more in the moment and have really learned to be thankful. So this challenge will be spiritual and an attempt to inspire others. It makes me feel great to be able to show people a different perspective of life and the things within it that can make you feel good and put a sincere smile on. So here it goes.
   
    Thanks for your support and interest
             
                              -nick kleckner

This is a picture of Chris buying a car Howard Hughes built custom. He is closest to us in the picture. He bought the car for a million and recently had it appraised for 3.5 million.

         So I worked at the car dealership for the rest of my week stay there. I stayed at the house a while and actually stayed outside at other random places a few days to let Brian and Mary hangout alone at the house. 
      Mary was being kicked out of her apartment and splitting up from her abusive boyfriend ( who she also had a kid with ). So she was staying with Brian at the house until she could figure things out. I was a little shocked that Brian allowed that but that's his own business. 
       Meanwhile during the day I would ride with Brian to the car lot to help out. He was a sales man there. When I was at the car lot I would wash cars, load and unload trailers, and move things around. I didn't want to work hard all day because I wasn't getting paid much by Chris. He just basically said to help out here and there when I could and he would let me stay the week at the house and give me a $20 here and there. So I helped out for what I figures was fair.
       The manager of the car lot was a pretty shady guy who was doing shady business to buyers. The salesman who worked there really didn't like the way he ran the place and how he treated them. And eventually he tried to drive me to work non stop. I was not having it and wouldn't be taken advantage of. So he kept getting on me to go wash more cars and I eventually let him know of the agreement me and Chris had. He got upset and tried to tell me I can't just stay at the lot and sit around half the day on the Internet. So that really upset me and I went off on the guy. I let him have a piece of my mind and it pissed him off. I was really pissed.
       That night Chris came to the house and apologized to me about the situation. He said his manager can get like that and try to take advantage of people. I told him it upset me and I didn't like the way I was talked to. For the amount of work I was doing, i actually was doing them a favor. I counted all costs including staying at the house, food they would buy me ect. And I was still ultimately working for about 5 bucks an hour. So Chris said sorry. The manager already knew what I was doing and he said he was probably just mad that he had to work and I didn't.   
        The next day my buddies picked me up by the freeway. I headed north with them to Portland. They are all pro motocross racers and had a big annual race at Portland international raceway that we were heading to.
       We went to a BBQ at the race promoters house that evening when we got there. It was in a beautiful big house with a giants deck on a lakefront property. Dinner included salmon, BBQ chicken, pasta, salad, and a bunch of other sides. It was a real treat from the fast food and other random food I had been eating lately. 
         We stayed in a really nice hotel that night. The next day was the race. I had a blast there. I helped the guys with a bit of wrenching on their bikes. An Daniel Blair (who I've worked with before) tore it up. He got the hole shot award of 1000$ for starting first, and he ended up 4th over all. Not bad for coming off a broken femur and back just months ago. We had a good stay in Portland

         I decided to head back to California with them the next day. I wanted to see Ashley and some of my family and friends back home. And after all I didn't have a real purpose of going to Seattle. So after actually staying in south Washington at the hotel, the journey headed south back to California. 
         I got back to CA and ended up staying with Ashley for a weekend. We just relaxed and watched movies most of the time. It was nice to see her and visit. 

   It's been a while since I have posted any journal entries. So I'm going to write a quick overview of the last few weeks just to get caught up.

      So the next day I went into the Online auction corporate office in Eugene Oregon. I met with the computer Guru James. He had checked out the blog and was really impressed with my travels and journal entries. He and Chris Fain (owner) sat down and talked with me. The details of the job were honestly way over my head. There was a lot of computer skills that were necessary that I don't know, and that in fact overwhelm me just to think about. James said it wouldn't be hard for me to learn and that he had faith I could do it. Apparently the last few guys who were in that position screwed off a lot and didn't get work done. Chris wanted someone who would bust ass and commit to working hard for the company. I knew I could probably catch on with the computer part, and that I could for sure be a dependable worker and work hard. But I honestly wasn't ready to commit to the level they were looking for, and frankly didn't have any interest in doing that kind of work. Which basically would bring me back to square 1 ( working purely for money ) which I'm not going to do.
        So I was straight forward with them about it and said thanks but that I would pass on the offer and keep moving. They were totally OK with it and understood. They appreciated me being honest about it. Then Chris said I was welcome to stay in his house for a week or so if I'd like. He also said if I wanted to work a bit in the meantime I could help him out with a few random things. In a week from then some friends were going to Portland, so I figured I could hang there a week until my buddies drove up there.
        So that night I ended up going out with Brian ( the guy who was also staying at the house) and his buddy Paul. We went to downtown Eugene. It was really packed down there with college kids as the campus was nearby. We were walking down the street when a group of drunk girls walked by and flashed us. It was pretty random. We were standing outside of a club when a car with two girls pulled up next to us and honked. The girl on the passenger side jumped out and grabbed Brian and said "your coming with us". The girls were really pretty and it was completely out of nowhere.
       So me and Paul stayed there til about 2am then took off. He was taking me back to the house and just as we were getting close Brian called us. The girls were completely random chicks who he didn't know at all. He told Paul to come pick him up. So we drove about 20 minutes to get him. When we got there him and the girl (Mary) were sitting outside on a curb waiting. They jumped in the back of the truck and immediately starting going at it. All of a sudden she pulled his pants down and started to give him oral sex. It was unexpected and for sure an abnormal drive back to the house.
        When we got home her and Brian were banging the bed on the walls all night. It was an interesting night out with the boys.

       The next day we went to the car dealership and hooked up a couple trailers to diesel trucks. We ended up driving two hours away to pick up 3 cars and some other random materials Chris had at a property he owned. It was a full days work loading everything and Chris paid me and Brian for helping him. He also bought us breakfast and lunch.
      More to come tomorrow

Day 29

  I woke up at about 2am. I heard a bunch of yelling outside of the tent I was sleeping in outside of. It was two ladies arguing with a man and they all sounded hammered. The girls yelled at the man and told him to get out of there. I stood up and peeked outside the tent. There wasn't any physical altercation so I just watched. The man was completely hammered and could barely even sit up. There wasnt any attention needed so I laid back down. 
      About 5 minutes later a cop showed up. I was worried I would get into trouble so I laud low and was silent. The cop told the two ladies and guy he had to kick them out and off the property. He said he would return 15 minutes later and if they were there he would have to deal with it. He left.
     The ladies left and cussed out the drunk during their exit. The drunk guy was talking to himself and his words were so slurred I couldn't make them out. I heard a crash into the bushes and he hit the side of the tent right next to me. I was silent and still. He crawled onto some tanbark between the tent and the bushes and finally passed out.
     I wasn't really worried about him there because he was so trashed he wouldn't be waking up for a while. I went to sleep again.
       I woke up at about 7am. I packed my things up quietly. I took a picture of the passed out dudes legs then snuck out of the tent. I walked to the north bound on ramp on I-5. I sat there about an hour with a sign that said Eugene and clean. A man pulled up and said he would take me to grants pass where there was a good exit/onramp to get to Eugene. 
       He was a cool guy who gives people lifts often. We made good conversation and he asked me to pray for him to get job interviews. He was an out of work school teacher. He dropped me off 30 miles north at grants pass in a mcdonalds parking lot. 
       I sat in mcdonalds for a few hours and used the Internet. After a while I wandered outside to a shade grass area and took a nap. I napped about an hour then went near the freeway with my sign. 
       I was there about 15 minutes when a car pulled off to pick me up. It was an older Buick. The guy inside was dressed nice and had a briefcase. He said he could take me to Eugene. So we took off driving. We started talking about my trip and we hit it off. He was a cool guy and we shared similar thoughts. We talked about faith a while and he told me some of his stories. It was cool
       I eventually asked what he did for work. He said he was the CEO/president of online auction which is the biggest auction site right behind eBay. I sorta thought he was full of it at first until a business call came in. He took a conference call on speaker phone and I couldn't believe my ears. I have never hears numbers that big thrown around like nothing. They were talking 100's of millions and I could tell this guy was big money.
      I was a little confused why he drive an older car but it was actually a lot car from one of his dealerships. He also owned a Hotel and multiple houses around the area. We talked about how money won't make you happy and he told me a really humbling story about what he went through that taught him a lesson. 
        When we neared Oregon Chris said he could tell I was a good dude. He said he hardly ever picks up hitchhikers but he loves my sign. He offered me to stay at one of his houses in Eugene for a few days if I wanted to. I laughed and said thanks. He said he was happy to help me. Then he said he had something else to talk about. He said he really sensed that I was a good dude and he actually had a job opening that he offered to me working for online auction. He said he felt a good vibe with me and that he needs a good guy working there for him. I was seriously shocked. I was literally bathing in a creek a day before and now I was offered a job where I could make good money. He said that the potential to make big money is there if I would work hard. I didn't even know how to feel about it. 
       I said I don't know how I feel about it and he said don't think too much about it. He would take me to the office and have his guys talk to me about the job the next day. I was really taken back. I told him I would for sure check it out and see what it had to offer. But something felt weird and I was just really in prepared to run into something like this. So he said he would pick me up in the morning and talk about it then. 
       I got to the house where he had another friend of his staying there. He had recently got out of jail and he was helping him out and had given him a job at a car dealership. The house was big and empty. There was a big online auction semi next to it and a bunch of trailers and stuff stored on the property there too. 
      I got to the house and was just shocked. Couldn't believe he picked me up and offered me a house to stay in and a job! It was really exiting. I called my family and friends from the guys phone who stayed there (Brian). I talked to a handful of people then I decided to get to bed and rest for the next day. I laid out in a big empty room and was so exited I couldn't hardly sleep. I tossed and turned all night.

Day 28

  I woke up at 7am in tanbark next to a climbing wall in a park. I was still in Medford Oregon. I woke up from a truck driving through the park. It was the parks keeper making his morning round. He drove right by me but I don't think he saw me. I got up and rolled my bag up.
        I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I cleaned up there and then headed north. I walked up to a Starbucks at the exit in Medford. I stopped there to use the Internet. I texted my mom and I texted Ashley. I left there after about 30 minutes to walk north.
        I decided to walk along the freeway (legal in Oregon) and see if I can catch a ride. I walked about a mile and then sat on a barrier and stuck my thumb out a while. I tried that for about an hour but no luck. I continued walking and came to a creek crossing. There was a trail that ran next to the creek and parallel with the freeway so I jumped onto it. 
       It was early but it was getting hot already. I walked a while and then impulsively decided to find a spot to jump in. I walked down a dirt path and through some trees to get to the creek. The trees were really thick and the path was narrow. I walked down there and found a few abandoned homeless camps. 
        The creek was further away than I thought and I walked a while. I finally heard water running and knew I was close. As I was nearing the creek all of a sudden a pit bull dog jumped out at me. It was barking in fury and wasn't backing away. It looked like it was going to bite me so I swung my sleeping bag over my shoulder to my stomach and used it to guard me. Right then a girl ran up yelling at the dog to leave me alone. She came from the other direction. The dog finally backed away. I told her he had that look like he was gonna bite and she said sometimes he does.
       She shook my hand and I told her nice to meet her. I said I was looking for the creek and she told me I was almost there. So I said thanks and kept on. As I walked a little further I passed her homeless camp. She was probably 20 and at her camp there was also an older man. 
       The camp was big and had a lot of stuff. It was organized though and didn't look too nasty. It was really thick and jungle like and they had a huge tarp over the whole camp. It was well hidden and was pretty cool looking actually. It reminded me of the movie hook and looked like something on there.
         I walked down to the water. I took my clothes off down to my boxers and walked in. It was freezing cold! I decided to lay on the sand for a while to let the day heat up before getting all the way in. So I rested about an hour and just listened to the water. It was pretty cool.
          It was getting hot so I finally got up and went into the water. It was really clean and rushed by quickly. I took the clothes I was wearing and washed them with some soap I had. After washing them I draped them over some branches in the sun. I got back in and then took some body wash and cleaned up in the water. It was awesome and I felt like an Indian. I was laughing while I was in there because I never thought I would be taking a bath in a creek as a homeless guy. I always find myself laughing in those kind of moments.
         I eventually got out and sat on a rock in the sun to dry. While I sat there I saw the girl and the man from the camp come down to fill up water jugs. Good thing they were upstream or they would have been drinking my piss. 
       After I dried I put shorts on and packed my things to go find a better place to let my clothes dry (the ones I washed). So I headed back to the path by the freeway. When I got up there I went north and saw a wooden structure that was covered. I stopped there and hung my wet clothes over a bike rack in front of it.
       I decided to lay down and read on a bench under the covered patio. I laid out my sleeping bag and put music on while I read. I read a while and then dozed off. I took a nice nap and felt fresh and clean. 
       I woke up a little later to a man saying "hey man". I sat up and it was a older white man in ragged clothes on a bike. He was just resting in the shade for a few minutes. His name was clayton and he looked like kid rock. He asked if I'm homeless and then said he is about to be homeless in a couple days. He sat down and he asked about me. He was really impressed with what I sacrificed and the cause of my journey. 
        He told me he was a strong believer in god. He struggles with staying off of drugs but said he is a good person at heart. He told me some of his thoughts and he had a good spirit. He told me that honestly he doesn't know how to live. He prays to ask for help in life because he had never learned how to be responsible. He has tried many times to hold a job and take on responsibly but always seems to screw up because he doesn't know what he is doing. 
         He said he has to face that he is just not the type of person who can work or deal with much so he just makes the best with what he has. He is a member of the church near there and they call him "preacher". He also said nobody gives him a chance or help him, and many people write him off as a drug addict with no hope. He said he has a good heart and never does anyone wrong, but yes he does have problems with drugs because he is in pain a lot and wants to feel normal at times.
        We talked a while and he loves hearing that I had money and possessions and wasn't happy. He said that made him feel more truth that money doesn't make you happy. It might for a time or in some ways, but not the way we ultimately want. He said he felt like god put me in his path and that I didn't even know what I meant to him. He has wanted to hear that for so long and finally did (from someone who went through it).
       When I say I had money, I don't mean I was rich. But to people on the streets what I had was all they dream about in having money. It's just the point of not going hungry and having shelter. To a lot of people I have met that has never been something they have had. They were born poor and have always been poor. So "money" is more of having things you want, shelter, food, and a job where you know you will have money and it's not a struggle to stay afloat (all things I had). Middle class. Just don't think going from middle class to upper class would change your real feelings. I think it starts deep within your heart.
         So me and Clayton talked about that a while then he said he was going back to town to drink beer. He invited me to his church on Sunday if I was still around. I was glad I met Clayton. 
         By then my clothes were dry and I changed then continued north. I walked to a town called central point about a mile up. I asked a man walking if there was a Starbucks but he said there wasn't. So I headed to a mcdonalds hoping they had wifi. Luckily they did. I went in and ordered a mcchicken and sat down to use Internet and eat. 
        While I sat there a lady came up as she left and gave me 4 dollars. I told her thank you so much. $4 out here goes a long way. I wrote my journal a while and ended up staying there til about 9:30. 
       I left there and when I got outside I saw a girl with a pack and two dogs. She asked where I was going. I told her I was just passing through. I talked to her a while. Another girl came out of mcdonalds and it was the same girl I ran into by the creek earlier. Both girls lived at that camp but the other one was asleep when I passed bye that morning. We talked a while and they were really free spirited. They loved my journey. One of the girls stood up and gave me $20! I was shocked! They said like me money isn't why they are out here. They had money but were out here to share love. I was suprized and would have never guessed. They also gave me some pizza they had left over. I ate a couple slices. I took a picture with them, said thanks and hugged them and then left. That was cool.
        I went to little Caesars to see if they were throwing out any hot and readys.  They had actually sold out all they had and said try back tomorrow. I said thanks and no worries and left. 
       So now I was looking for a place to sleep. I walked towards an albertsons. In the parking lot there was a huge white tent up, probably set up for selling fruit or something like that. So I just said screw it and went inside. It was completely empty inside and I made my bed. I laughed because I had the biggest huge a$$ tent I had ever seen all to myself. I wondered if I would get kicked out in the morning or if anyone would start taking it down the next day. I just figured I would be ok and I fell asleep on the concrete floor in there. My own tent. It was funny.

Day 27

       I woke up in Medford OR at 9:30 am. I slept like a baby all night and was well rested when I woke up. I laid there and relaxed listening to music for a little while. Today was 4th of July. 
       I packed up at around 10 and headed to a bathroom in the park to brush my teeth. There were a few other guys near the restroom who seemed to be homeless too and had gear. I heard them talking about me while I brushed my teeth. They said they didn't know how I could feel comfortable sleeping in town. They must have saw me wake up. They had bikes and I figured maybe they stayed in a camp somewhere outside of Medford.
         I headed to a Safeway nearby where they had a Starbucks inside. I sat inside during the heat of the day. I took some notes in my journal of different thoughts from the night before.
         I met a couple there who I talked to for a while. The wife was disabled and she told me how she can still do mostly everything even when doctors told her she couldn't. She told me to never let people bring you down and to follow your heart. She was a proud woman. They gave me words of encouragement and left.
        A little later an old couple walked up with two Safeway employees. They were trying to get his keys to give to his wife. I was confused at first. The old man kept calling his wife a friend. And he would ask what they Safeway guys were looking for? They kept saying they wanted to help get his groceries into his car, but the old man seemed paranoid. I finally realized the man was senile. He didn't know his own wife and it was like he constantly forgot what was going on. The wife called his daughter and gave the phone to the man. He asked who's this? And after a while he finally said "hi sweetie". A little later his daughter showed up and he didn't know who she was. The wife was crying and the whole thing was really sad. The man wouldn't give up his wife's phone and thought everyone was trying to "steal" it. Eventually the cops showed up. One of the cops and the wife and daughter walked away to figure out how to get him out of there. He didn't want to leave. Meanwhile the other cop stayed and talked to him so he wasn't alone. The cop asked if he had ever served the country in the military. The old man said he was in the army. Then the cop said "well we have you to thank for our freedom today. Thank you for your years of service" and the man replied "what do you mean? This is the first time I been to this store! And who are you and what are you looking for anyways?!" I couldn't help but laugh. But it was still sad overall. Eventually they got him out.
         A little later a guy my age sat next to me and ate a sandwich. He talked to me and asked where I was headed. He was pumped and said he hitchhiked for a while when he was 18. He told me some stories about it and he was a street hustler when he did it. He would call pizza places and make fake orders so he could get the pizza when they threw it out. He said he made bunch of money pan handling and asking for change too. A year later he went to prison for 6 years on a bunch of theft charges and had just got out two months ago. He asked me what I needed and he was gonna buy me something. He told me him and his girlfriend got $1000 a month for food stamps and to get whatever I wanted. So I got a box of granola bars. He took off after that.
       I left Safeway and went to a grass area where I found shade and took a nap. It felt really good. I slept a while then woke up at around 7:00. I was watching some people who looked like tweakers walk by. It was a man and lady and they walked to Safeway. They looked like they were on something. They came back out with 4 cases of water in a shopping cart. Then I thought, wow, I was wrong and again can't judge them by their looks. Then about 10 minutes later they walked by again with the shopping cart full of empty water bottles. Now I was confused. They walked to a recycle box next to Safeway and started to throw the bottles in. Then it hit me. They bought the water with a food stamp credit card. Then they emptied all the bottles and returned to recycle them. Then they take the receipt inside of Safeway to receive cash for the recycling. Then they take the cash to go buy whatever dope they were on. Straight junkies. They do all that to turn credit into cash so they can use drugs. Wasted the water and all. That was pretty upsetting. Then about 20 minutes later another tweak did the same exact thing. Poor people are so desperate. Dam tweaks.
        I went to the little ceasars to see if I could catch some throw away food when they closed. They closed at 8pm for the Holliday. The guy came out to throw trash bags out and said they didn't have anything left. I said no worries and started to pick my things up. Then he said to come inside the front in 20 minutes and he would see what he could do. He ended up giving me a deep dish pizza and I think he put it on his own tab then made it. I was exited and he was a good guy. I got a picture with him.
        I went to the park at around 8:30. I got to the park and watched a group of mexicans play soccer while I grubbed out. I ate about half the pizza then was full. I forgot to get a bag and knew the pizza would be full of ants leaving it in the box over night. So I went to the mexicans and gave them the rest. They were so pumped. I talked to them in Spanish a little (spanish I learned as a farmer in  high school). They were funny guys and liked the curse words I knew. I got a picture then left. 
         I made my bed in the grass at the same spot as the night before. I wondered when the sprinklers would come on. I laid there a while and all of a sudden it felt like a Ton of bricks needed to fall out of my a$$. Excuse my language. I hobbled to the bathroom across the park and clinched the whole way. I got inside and let her rip. When I was in there a parks keeper came to lock up the bathrooms for the evening. They were single bathrooms. When I was inside he turned off the light and was going to lock the door. I yelled out for him to wait, and said I was dumping. He said sorry and turned the light back on. Then when I was done I came out laughing and said thank god he didn't lock it because I didn't want to spend the night with the aliens I just hatched. We both cracked up. 
       I went back to my bed and laid down. I laid there around 10 minutes when sure enough, the sprinklers turned on. I grabbed my things and walked toward a playground. The only place I could find was on the playground behind a climbing wall. So I made my bed there to stay out of the grass where the sprinklers were running that night. I laid there and then I saw a few teenagers walk up. It was a boy and two girls. They jumped on the swings. I was really hoping they wouldn't come any closer. Then they went to a jungle gym and started climbing on it. I was next to the jungle gym but in a dark shadow where they didn't see me. But I had a feeling they would climb the wall next so I decided to let them know I was there. I didn't want them walk up on me and be scared to death. So I said "excuse me". I didn't know what to say really. Both the girls screamed and jumped back. I felt terrible. I said I didn't mean to scare you guys but I wanted to let you know I was here. They laughed from being startled so much. They were cool about it and said it was ok. They went back to the swings, and when they eventually left they yelled "happy 4th of July!" to me. 
       I laid there and watched some fireworks go off from the neighborhoods around me. I eventually went to bed around 11.