In Gibbon, Nebraska in the R&R convenience store, Ivey told me she had started out having a terrible day and then she saw my sign earlier in the day. She said she was going tell a friend of hers who was having a hard time of it about me and my sign! Larry, a retired mail carrier who now works for the Stehr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer near Grand Island, Nebraska, as a tour guide, filled my ears with all kinds of neat historical stuff. Did you know that nearly 90% of fatalities for the early settlers in that area did not occur from Indian attacks, but from accidents! And most of those were from guns! These settlers were for the most part, from bigger cities in the east and not accustomed to having to hunt for their own food and sooooo…… they were shootin’ themselves instead of the bunny wabbits. Larry told me of a free campground provided by the city of Aurora, Nebraska and so I took advantage of that for sure! It was wonderful! There was electricity for my laptop and phone, and restrooms. Best of all, there was a McDonald's across the street. I call their $1.00 double cheeseburger, McFillet Mignon… beats the hell outa’ Ramen noodles! What really stood out in Aurora’s campground, a total lack of any apparent vandalism, not even any graffiti… not even in the restrooms!  

At The Eagle, a convenience store at the intersection of I-80 and U.S. route 6, an employee told me her boyfriend had just recently lost his daughter to suicide and said she was going to give him my card and ask him to call me.

Near Nebraska City, a gentleman pulled his old truck up beside me and asked, “And just what may I do for you, how may I help you?” He was smiling big, told me his name was Robert and that he was a Christian and it was his obligation to help those in need. I told him I really needed nothing but if he would be so kind as to direct me to the local McDonald's, I would be much obliged. Robert told me he thought a subway sandwich would be much better for me and that I could get a foot long sub for only $5.00. I explained to him that I was a low budget operation and the McFillet Mignon was more in my price range. Robert then insisted on driving me over to the subway and purchasing a foot-long sub for me. We talked for awhile and during our conversation, he never one time asked of my religious beliefs. He did keep asking me if I needed anything else though.  All you other Christians out there…. please take note, if you are bent on giving something, don’t give me a religious tract, a sermon, or a Gideon New Testament with Psalms. None of the above are edible…. offer a friggin’ sandwich. If one dies from hunger they can’t be converted to anything, now can they? Robert was really cool and was following the teachings of Jesus…. he was administering love. “Kindness is the shadow of God in man.” Kahlil Gibran.

I have never walked through a state which showed more devotion to a sports team than Nebraskans show for their beloved “Huskers” football team! Every house, every business, and nearly everyone’s clothing is marked in some way with something denoting allegiance to the “Huskers”!  Whatever… Go Gators!!!!!!

There is an abundance of grasshoppers this year and they jump around in front of me by the thousands. Did you ever notice that they really don’t jump very well, they crash land on nearly every jump! They jump out of the way really fast, they jump really high, but when they land they fall over. It’s funny as hell…. have I been out here too long? And grasshoppers are cannibals, I couldn’t believe it! And they will start eating on a fellow grasshopper when it's only injured and not dead yet! I guess they get injured a lot ‘cause of all the crash landings? I see lots of them missing legs. I actually try to avoid stepping on them, don’t tell the farmers... I have been out here too long haven’t I?

 I did 18 miles of Iowa and so I have now officially walked through every state in the lower 48! Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. 

At the Pamida store in Tarkio, Missouri, I was walking around in the store trying to figure out how to buy stuff to keep me warm on the cold nights in my tent having very little money. Everything I wanted to buy just cost too much so I settled on buying two of those pull down knit caps for only $2.50 apiece. The strategy was to put them on my feet and roll my sock tops over them so they would stay on during the night.  I had been wandering around in the store for a long time, these kinda’ decisions do not come easily. A lady stepped in front of me and said, “Sir, is there something I can help you with?” By her tone of voice and the look on her face, she was concerned with the fact a guy with a backpack sitting in front of their store had been wondering around for a very long time. See, nearly everyone upon first seeing me, decides that I am a homeless wanderer. I immediately handed her one of my cards and told her who I was and why I walk. I could see the look in her eyes change. She introduced herself as Shana, the store manager. She told me she was extremely sorry for the loss of my children. We talked a very long time. She had spent ten years in the army and said she had really loved it. I had to ask why she would give it up when she already had half her time in before retirement. She told me, “I had the opportunity of an instant family consisting of two little girls, both under three and a wonderful man!” “What a great decision!” I said. She told me to go to the isle where they had the sample sized products and pick what I wanted. She also told me to get several packs of beef jerky for the road. Instead of paying, she had me sign a form and said, “You didn’t get much, are you sure you don’t need anything else?” I meet the sweetest people in the world… what a wonderful path I follow.

You know you’re in the Bible belt when you come out of a Tarkio, Missouri Dollar General Store and you find a 97 pound bible placed on top your backpack. It was a brand new bible. I took it into the store and asked the employees if they might know who put it there. None seemed to know who it might have been. I asked if I could leave it with them and if they were to possibly find out who left it, would they please explain that I appreciated the gesture but just couldn’t handle that much extra weight. It felt as though they were all staring at me as I left the store. I was expecting to hear at any moment, “Blasphemer, blasphemer!”  

I waved at a Tarkio, Missouri policeman as I was walking out of town. He didn’t wave back, I wasn’t at all surprised when he turned around, pulled up behind me and turned his lights on. I’m not comfortable when they turn the lights on and make a big show of it, I feel it puts me in an even  worse light than I am already in for being on foot.  His name was Michael and he was a huge young man, extremely overweight. He asked, “Where you goin’?” I immediately gave him my card and very quickly explained to him that I was walking to Key West, Florida and why. I started telling him how wonderful it was to have concerned police officers like him looking out for my welfare. My strategy must have worked because he didn’t even ask to see my ID. I asked him how far it was to my next place to obtain food. He told me that would be Burlington Junction and that was at least 30 miles away. I asked if he were positive about the mileage because I thought I had remembered the map having listed it as 17 miles. He looked at me as though I had dared question his knowledge of the area and said, “Burlington Junction is 30 miles away and then Maryville, the next town after that is 45 miles!” I certainly had no reason to doubt him, he was from the area. I was disappointed that I was going to have to go so long without eating because I had looked at the map wrong and misjudged the distance. I said thanks and turned and walked away, he grunted, got in his car and went back to the donut shop.  And I swear this is the truth! I walked about 300 yards and there was a sign, BURLINGTON JCT. - 16   and under that, MARYVILLE – 35. I don’t know… maybe you have to be a county deputy to be required to know how far apart the neighboring towns are? There must not be any donut shops in Burlington Junction and Maryville, Missouri.  Just after the cop stop, a big burly farmer pulled up in his old truck and handed me a sandwich, cookies, and a bottle of water. “Here” he said, “I saw ya earlier so I stopped and got these for ya. God bless ya.” It all balances out my friends, just ask the Lakota.

Near the junction of U.S. 136 and U.S. 69, Missouri Highway Patrolman, Rob Dudeck stopped and asked if I was okay and if I needed anything. He was very interested in what I was doing and thanked me for doing it! He told me that if I need anything at all to dial *55 on my phone and that would take me directly to the Missouri Highway Patrol. He was such a fine young man…. More balance.  A young man stopped to talk, told me he had lived with the mother of his two little girls for seven years and they had decided to get married about a year and a half ago… and now they were getting a divorce. I told him I was so very sorry and having experienced a divorce I knew how bad he must be feeling. He said, “Aw, shit happens.” That’s not what his eyes were saying, that young man was hurting! There was a reason he wanted to talk. I gave him my whole story and told him my view as to why we do not have the right to take our own lives. “Oh, I would never do that, I could never be that upset about anything!” He said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.” I answered. I heard my son say the same thing once.  

A seriously beat up old mini-van pulled up beside me and the driver, a very colorful young lady who called herself Sylvio. She was dressed quite unusual, sort of Amish looking, long dress going to her ankles, a shawl around her shoulders, and a little lace cap on her head. But she was wearing very bright hot pink shoes which looked like ballet slippers. There were two other people in the van and a pit bull. The other two, a guy and a pretty young woman, were both just as colorful with their dress and lots of tattoos and piercing. The girl’s hair was a purplish red…. now I did see a '37 Chevy coupe once that looked good painted that color.  Sylvio asked if I needed a place to stay for the night. She explained to me that she was currently staying in a place they called, “the ghost town” with several other people who were all practicing a simpler way of life. She told me that she would be sleeping in her van with her dog and I could use her large tent. I decided I would take her up on it. She opened up the back of the van so I could place my large backpack in the back. I never even thought about the pit bull and simply tossed the pack up into the back. It evidently startled the dog and she attacked! Sylvio was able to grab her before she got to me! She snapped at Sylvio and brought blood from her hand. She grabbed her dog and flung her down on the ground and held her there screaming at her until she finally stopped snarling. I apologized for startling the dog. They all three told me the dog was always like that when she was around men. Sylvio said she would never own a pit bull again and that the dog had caused her numerous problems. I’ve owned pit bulls, never had one act like that… nor would I.

After arriving at the ghost town I met several of Sylvio’s friends. They were all very nice but for some reason I had made up my mind in the van to not stay the night with them. Sylvio said she had to make a trip to the store which was back on the highway. I told her I wasn’t going to stay and she wanted to know why. She kept questioning my reasons, was I turned off by someone, was I nervous around strangers, etc. I explained to her that it was just a decision I had made and I could not explain it other than it was a decision I had made. I think it’s called, following your heart. And I do it all the time. She seemed to like that answer and we had a wonderful time driving to the store. She dropped me off at a stretch of woods where I could pitch my tent. Sylvio started giving me all kinds of natural stuff, soy milk, organic energy bars, and drinks, etc. She just couldn’t believe I preferred greasy hot dogs and burgers over the natural stuff. People are always worrying about what stuff will kill them if they eat it. I think what is killing them is the worrying over the stuff they eat killing them. Eat, drink, and be merry… damnit! A few days later, Sylvio came by my motel room and visited with me about an hour or so. She brought me a chocolate milk shake! She gave me some more energy drinks. I really enjoyed her company; she was a sweet and giving person with a beautiful heart. She has called me a couple of times since to check up on me.

Near Sedalia, Missouri, a guy pulls up beside me in a brand new, really nice truck and asked me if I would like to have a ride. I told him no, that I was walking and why I was walking. He asked one more time if I was sure I did not want a ride and then left. About four hours later, a few miles up the road, the same guy pulls up on the other side of the road from me. He yelled at me to come over to his truck. I did so and he asked me again if I needed a ride and I again told him no. He then said, “Look, I would like to help you out; I would like to get you a motel room.” Wow! It had been quite a few days since I had been able to get a room…. I didn’t have to ponder that decision for long. Once in his VERY expensive truck, he told me that he first had to stop at the medical center that he managed. He was inside but a few minutes and when he came out he handed me a large bag full of cereal and energy bars. And before I could get out a thank you he reached his hand out to me and said, “Here’s a hundred dollars, this should help you out.” I was stunned…. To say the least! I said, “Sir, are you sure…. That’s a lot of money?” It was a stupid thing to say and…. by now, I should know better. The people giving want to give and are joyful in doing so. The gentleman said, “I don’t mean to brag Steve, but this is what I do, I help people whenever I get an opportunity. I have been very blessed in my life and so I pass it on.” He took me to a very nice motel and we went in and he purchased me a room! Before he left, he asked me if there was anything else I needed. If I had stayed the night with Sylvio’s friends, I would not have encountered this fine gentleman who enjoyed so much, the opportunity to help others.

I have had a tough time accepting charity ever since I started my walks in 2001. I have NEVER asked for anything but water. I am a  self made guy who owned my own business for 31 years and I just don’t like taking anything I don’t feel I worked for. I’ve been chewed out for this attitude several times by people wanting to help me.  The best chewing out came from a wonderful gentleman near Springfield, Illinois in 2007. Here is that story:

                                                     "An Elvis Sighting"

Just east of Springfield, Illinois, a big truck pulling a trailer loaded with feed corn started pulling over to the side of the road as soon as he seen me. I thought he was going to go into the ditch he got so close, he was still not completely off the highway. A big black gentleman climbed down to the road with lots of grunts as his big pot belly sticking out from under his hole filled tee shirt, bounced up and down. His face was filled with a most beautiful smile! “Hi there, I been a lookin’ fur you!  My name is Elvis Beal (Bill)!” I said, “Elvis like in Presley?”  And with a wonderful laugh and shaking his head he said, “Yeah, my momma, she loved Elvis!” I had the feeling he would have preferred another name, but whatever his momma did was the right thing, and okay with him. When he spoke it was as if he would break into laughter any moment. I was instantly very comfortable with him. He said, “Now climb up here in muh truck here and we’re gonna go up da road here a bit.” And he started to climb back up into the cab as if I had been told and now I would do as he suggested. He never stopped smiling and chuckling. I said, “Sir, I do appreciate the ride offer and all, but I’m trying to walk from corner to corner of the U.S. with this here sign and if I take a ride, that kind of defeats my purpose.” I might as well have said nothing at all.  He insisted I get in his truck. “Looka’ here now.” He said, “I’m gonna take ya up da road just a few miles where there are restaurants and stuff for ya. And there’s an ATM there and I’m going to draw out some money for ya.” I said, “Sir, I do appreciate the offer, but I am okay and I really don’t need your money sir.” Without hesitating even a second, he said, “Now, I didn’t axe you at all whether you needed it or not… now did I?” “No sir!” I said “But…” He didn’t let me finish and began explaining, “Now you looka here now, it ain’t really none of your business what I do with my money… now is it?” “Well, no sir, but…” He cut me off again and said, “Now you ain’t gonna’ cheat me outa’ my blessin’! I feel like the Lord is a wantin’ me to give you a certain amount of money… and by da grace of God, I’m gonna’ do it… whether you think I should or not!” He continued to laugh. Elvis had a real special way of getting… his way.

    Well, I was properly chewed out, chastised by a man smiling and chuckling the whole time. I climbed up in his truck and down the road we went. He explained he had seen me on the way to pick up his first load of corn for the day. He said when he saw me he just knew God wanted him to bless me. I said, “But…” one last time and was laughingly chewed out for it. We talked of giving, God, loving life, and lots of other things pertaining to life. He had a bible beside him that was reduced to just a pile of tattered pages. He was obviously a Christian, but not the ‘pain in the ass’ kind. He spoke of love and understanding for his fellow human being. He never talked of salvation or sin or what anyone else should do in their lives. He never one time asked me if I were religious nor did he even hint to it. Most Christians out there on the road, nice they may be, will invariably ask if I too am a Christian, or the most privacy invading question of all… “Are you saved?”  I commonly answer that with another question, “Saved from what?” He was a delight to be with and converse with. In the parking lot next to the ATM machine, after he had given me the amount of money he insisted on, he gave me directions to all the services I might need. Then he grabbed me and gave me one of the best damn hugs I’ve ever had! And that was my Elvis sighting! Hell, I’d hang a velvet painting of that Elvis on my wall any day!

The hundred bucks sure came in handy! I did my laundry and two days later, I was caught in a terrible storm and was able to get a room! And I was able to get a haircut at Harold’s Barber Shop, quite a wonderful experience. I gave a thrift store a new jacket I had just bought and paid $4.00 for one I liked much better. It was a much nicer jacket than the new one. It was down and very easy to stuff into my pack. I walked into Harold’s Barber Shop which I was told about by some guy in the thrift store. Harold was 85 and still runs his shop 3 to 4 days a week. I asked, “How much for a haircut sir?” “$4.00” said Harold. Four bucks… I couldn’t believe it! Waiting for the two ahead of me and getting to listen to Harold’s stories was wonderful! Harold gave me an awesome haircut, trimmed my eyebrows and mustache. He was very meticulous. I handed him a five dollar bill and asked if that would cover it. He handed me back a dollar bill and said, “We don’t do that here.” He placed my card up on his wall mirror with the LOVE LIFE side showing. Yes, you should envy me for all the awesome encounters I experience!  

In Lincoln, Missouri at the County Discount Store I placed all my gear up against the wall with the intent of going into the store to look for a patch kit to mend my leaking sleeping mat with. It was 10:00 am and the sign in the door said they opened at 8:00 am and there was a huge neon “OPEN” sign in the window and it was lit up. Just as I approached the door to enter I heard the click of a lock. The glass doors were heavily tinted so I had to put my face up close to look in. Everything was all lit up but I saw no one. I knocked on the door and there was no answer. I walked to the end of the building and there was a door with a small glass window in it. As I went to look in it, I saw a woman looking out it so as to see where I was! I looked in and she was on the cell phone and she looked frightened to death! I asked loudly (so she could hear through the door) “Are you open?” She looked up motioning with her hands for me to go away and said, “Go away! Go away!” She looked absolutely terrified. I checked my sign to make sure no one had marked out “LOVE LIFE” and written in, “AX MURDERER”. How terrible to have that kind of fear! Perhaps she had been robbed before… by a guy with a “LOVE LIFE” sign over his head?

I was walking through Buffalo, Missouri in a cold rain and was fairly miserable when a lady yelled from an old Lincoln, “Hey you need a place to sleep tonight.” “That would be very nice!” I yelled back. It was Teresa and the driver was Tom whom she said was her dad. Teresa told me to put all my gear in and she would feed me, let me take a shower, and wash my clothes for me! WOW, now I’m a happy guy! Before I entered the car, I gave them a card and told them exactly who I was and what I was doing. As we were driving back through town Teresa started saying things like, “Now I want ya to know, we have six guns and they’re all loaded! My dad is real protective of me and he won’t hesitate to shoot you!” I assured her none of that would be necessary. She told me she was aware of all the bad people there were out on the road these days. I told her again who I was and I told her that if she was going to be uncomfortable with me in her home I would prefer not to go there. I told her I would not be comfortable knowing I was creating such discomfort for her. She apologized and pleaded with me to please let them help me. And Tom explained that Teresa just worries a lot and that they would love to have me stay over. The rain was pouring down now and it was getting late, so I let it go and went to her home.

Tom and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating taco’s and just jabbering away. Tom told me he had known Teresa since she was a little girl. I thought he was her dad? Anyway, we’re sitting there and Teresa is in her bedroom talking on the phone to her brother when, “BAM!!” this loud noise goes off in the adjacent bedroom! Tom jumps up with me right behind him and we run into Teresa’s bedroom and there she stands pointing at a 45 automatic lying on her dresser! The color has completely left her face! She starts screaming at Tom, “You stupid son-of-a-bitch! I told you to never have a loaded gun in this house! (What happened to the six loaded guns?) I saw it laying there close to the edge and so I reached to move it further up on the dresser and the fucking thing went off! You fucking asshole!” Tom had gone into the bedroom as soon as we entered the house. He had taken the safety off and placed the gun on the dresser so he could get at it in case the murderous man with the “LOVE LIFE” sign tried to kill them. The bullet went through one side of the steel door which led to the outside. It didn’t go through the other side, but you could see where it almost had. Tom tried to lie and insisted the safety had been on, which of course is impossible. Teresa continued to yell at Tom and berate him until he threw his hands up in the air and left! I then told Teresa, who was an absolute wreck, that I would leave. She said it would be fine if I stayed because her brother Alex would be over any moment and was staying the night. Alex was a wonderful young man who had spent some time in prison five years before and was trying very hard to change his life. We spoke for hours after Annie Oakley went to bed and some more hours the next day.

If that gun had been aimed in another direction it could have easily killed me or either one of the other two! And they had been afraid of me! The next day at a Dollar General store in Buffalo, a sweet young lady who worked there walked up to me and handed me a very large cup of hot coffee. She said she had seen me in the rain the day before and felt sorry for me. She said she saw someone pick me up in a Lincoln and that made her feel much better. She wouldn’t have felt better had she known it was Bonnie & Clyde in the Lincoln.

On route 125 going into Strafford, Missouri, there was no shoulder at all and steep ditches on both sides of the road, so I had to walk in the road as close to the edge as possible. A very frustrated driver of an old green Ford pickup was getting tired of waiting behind the two other cars waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so they could then go around me.  As soon as the cars in front of him made sure they gave me plenty of room and passed me, the green Ford truck gunned his motor and came straight at me! I ducked down as far as I could and that prevented the large extended side mirrors from hitting me! I looked up and a young lady was holding her arms out the windows of the next car taking my picture. “Do you mind?” She asked. I said, “That guy in front of you tried to hit me!” And very nonchallant like, she said, “Oh yeah, I saw that.” And she continued to snap pictures of the novelty with “LOVE LIFE” over his head. Not much farther down the road I saw the Calvary Mission Church with this sign in front of it, “SHACKING UP WILL COST U HEAVEN - HOPE ITS WORTH IT!” And at the very bottom of the sign, BRO. FISH. Brother Fish needs to change the sign for his community, “IT IS NOT NICE TO RUN OVER OLD MEN ON THE ROAD!”  Brother Fish probably drives an old green Ford pickup truck.

In West Plains, Missouri, at a little café where I was eating, I met John who insisted on driving me over to his house and showing me his Model A Ford collection. We climbed up into his big Lincoln Navigator and as soon as we entered he attached the breathing apparatus to his face.  He looked at me and said, “This is from having a Margarita in one hand and a cigarette in the other for most of my life!” His three Model A’s were all restored beautifully and I enjoyed looking at them. John was a very nice person, he was very lonely though. I spent a few hours with him as he drove me around West Plains and showed me the sights.