Looks like I’m on a streak of updating once for every state. Today was my first full day walking in Illinois, and I’m currently in Martinsville, Illinois, staying at a paper mill that is owned by my girlfriend Mary’s uncle. The past couple nights I have spent camping under a bridge, on a golf course, and at a friend of Mary’s family.

I crossed Indiana in 8 days of walking, and this month I have walked in 5 different states. Today was the first time that I’ve really been able to measure how far I’ve walked, which is more than 850 miles. I’m about a third of the way across America.

I have lots of stories to tell, but limited time on computers. At one point I had to walk past a prison where I was yelled at by inmates. “Hey man get me some cigarettes. I’ll hit you back.” Just after making it past them a prison guard pulled up in a van and said he had to drive me to the end of the property. I told him that I had walked every foot since the East Coast and I wasn’t about to break my streak because he told me I couldn’t go any farther. It was only a quarter mile to the end of the grounds, and he said he couldn’t force me into the car so I walked anyway.

See you in Missouri!

Today I arrived in Indianapols, Indiana. I only had to walk 15 miles today, after having walked 30 miles through sometimes heavy rain. I completed the walk from Columbus, Ohio to here in only 8 days. It’s been suprisingly eventful. Today I saw a car crash, another day I found a police officers wallet on the side of the road. People in Indiana have been friendly, but I’m afraid that my beard is making me appear like a typical vagrant. Yesterday a woman stopped in her car next to me and said, “get something to eat” and handed me $30.

I obviously don’t carry a laptop, or I would update more often. I would write more but I’m tired after a long week of walking. I will post again sometime in the next couple of days.

I am currently a days walk outside Columbus, Ohio, and so far this state has not been very fun. Alternating extreme heat and heavy rains prevent me from covering as much ground as I would like to in a day. Besides that I have met some friendly people in trailer campgrounds that give me a place to camp, and food. Today the heat index rose to 105, so I was forced to quit after going only 10 miles. I am sitting comfortably in a hotel, that I paid half price for thanks to the friendly staff. I think I have finally made it outside of the rolling hills area, and now a flat landscape lies ahead. It is supposed to be cooler the next couple of days, so I hope to cover a good bit of distance before my gig Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.

Besides meeting some colorful characters not much interesting has happened since I got into Ohio, but I’m sure that some eventful things will happen soon.

Today I walked from downtown Pittsburgh towards West Virgina which I will cross tomorrow. I will only be walking in West Virginia for about 5 miles before I’m in Ohio. I am staying at my aunt and uncle’s house south of Pittsburgh and I was able to take a day off resting for my gig on Tuesday. I performed at the Funny Bone, it was the first time I had done stand-up in over 2 months, and it went well despite a small crowd.

I have about one eventful thing happen to me each day that I walk. One day I found 20 dollars on the side of the street, another day I was given a free lunch, but the most insane thing that has happened to me happened on Sunday. I was walking off the top of a mountain that I had camped on and there was a bar across from a truck runaway ramp called the Runaway. There was a car parked in the parking lot with the engine running loudly. I walked past and saw that there was a woman passed out in the driver’s seat. I went around to the back of the car and saw mud and dirt all stuck in the tail pipe. It looked as if in her drunkenness she had backed into a bank causing the mud and grass to get stuck in there, and she fell asleep with her foot on the gas pedal. I pulled the grass and mud out, and knocked on the window to see if she was alive. She opened bloodshot eyes, gave me and evil look, and pointed for me to to go away. I don’t think she was trying to kill herself, and she will never know that I potentially saved her life.