The Ocean

My relatives drove me out past Olympia the morning of the first. They dropped me off at a turn-around and I walked for a little while to find a good place to hitch, then stuck up my thumb. An older, ex-hippie kind of guy picked me up and took me west toward Brady, and I sat down in front of a convenience store to hitch again, but was unexpectedly picked up by a transit bus. I guess they run routes all along here. So I tossed the fifty cents in the slot and rode down to Aberdeen, then transferred over to the number eight bus, headed toward Ocean Shores.
It was six thirty by the time I made it to the coast. As I came over the edge of the dunes the sun was thinly hidden, glowing through the clouds and shining on the water. A man was flying his kite a hundred yards down the beach. Some of the local teens threw up wet sand as they drove off along the water to the north. I camped, illegally, in the dunes, and woke up to rain.
Yesterday I started walking. Took off the flip flops and headed north for three miles, then got on the main highway and headed east. The clouds circled all day but the rain didn't come back after the early morning.
My feet did well. I had to put on the sandals briefly, through a really rough stretch a few miles west of Hoquiam, but otherwise there were no breakdowns. I still have to strengthen them up quite a bit, I think, but so far I'm alright. It might be a little bit slower going at first, but I was counting on that.
I made it into Hoquiam around eight oclock. Found a little park and boiled up some Ramon noodles. Drank some apple juice and chewed on some trail mix. As the street lights came on and the wind blew colder, up from the bay, I spotted some playground equipment down at the far end of the park. Unrolled my sleeping bag under a wooden bridge and listened to some music on my MP3 player before falling to sleep.
This morning I found the Hoquiam public library, and that's where I'm writing. But I'm ready to take off again, toward Aberdeen, and then up to Olympia. Hopefully the feet will continue to cooperate.