Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - Day 9 - West Greenwich, RI to Kingstown, RI - Kim Baxter

When dawn was near I felt a drop on my forehead. Damn! It was a light rain but I had no idea whether it would get heavier. It was time for pack-up. I made short work of it and was all strapped up and ready to climb down the cliff. I got nearly to the bottom and lost my footing tumbling on the grass by the side of the road. Thankfully no cars were around and I was not hurt.

I had no idea how far or near I was to a town center. I just kept walking on the same road, Route 102. And, within 3 miles I realized where I had been when I saw the West Greenwich sign. I spotted a Dunkin Donuts, a truck stop farther up, and several banks. It was all near the I-95 exits. I was so happy to be at Dunkin Donuts! I felt like I'd found civilization again. I bought a coffee and a doughnut and then checked out the Wi-Fi. I think I posted where I was at Facebook, but didn't spend much time online. I did check Google Maps for a few minutes, but I had to keep walking. I wanted to reach Charlestown by nightfall, but that was not to be.

I don't remember much about the walk out of West Greenwich, because I was still pretty tired. Somehow I made it to the route I had a screen shot for, Route 3 south. If I followed that south for only about 500 feet and took a left turn on to Route 102 east I could hit Route 2 and go directly to Charlestown. Charlestown was right on the water and reaching it would allow me to follow some kind of coastal route into Connecticut, probably Route 1. My original plan to go the western way into Connecticut had not been realistic. The Hill taught me that. But I had accidentally changed my route earlier the day before and ended up going more southward. I think that's what allowed this opportunity.

The day got sunnier and the miles didn't seem so bad after awhile. I was trying to take pictures of the landscape but my little Kodak digital was dead. It's a shame too, because western Rhode Island is rustic in a really nice way. Lots of mills and wooden barns, stone walls and very old street signs.

I kept resting. Usually every mile or so had a stump or a short wall on which to sit down. It was a nice walk. I was basically walking down hill the whole way. The small coastal plain of the state has a certain feel to it. It was a bit of a haul to the intersection of Routes 102 and 2 though. But I did it without stopping. It had been a solid 7 miles--10 miles from the last sleeping place on the cliff.

I was pretty hungry. The only things I'd had in the last two days were a soda, beef jerky, coffee and a doughnut. I really wanted to find a store at that point. I could tell I was getting somewhere but not sure what might appear for food possibilities. Finally, I found an building called Oatley's Junction, with a old boarded up convenience store attached with a sign that read, “Restaurant Entrance in Back.” So I followed my nose. It always knows. And what do you know, there was a place back there, Oatley's Family Restaurant (1717 Ten Rod Red Road, Kingstown)...

Oatley's Family Restaurant

Google Street View

I entered the restaurant and asked for a table. The server, Kim Baxter, sat me at a booth and I asked for a Coke and then picked up the menu and saw the bacon cheeseburger, “...and that please.” It took all of one second. When Kim brought the Coke, I asked her if they had Wi-Fi. She said “no.”

Oh well, at least I could get a good meal. As I looked at the screenshots I had made on my laptop, Kim came back with the burger and fries. It looked absolutely delicious. She asked if I was hiking and I told her where I'd come from and that I was going to California. She said, “You're crazy!” I had to laugh.

She noticed I was struggling with my Google Maps screenshot, and said, “We don't have Wi-Fi but we do have a road atlas that someone left behind. No one ever uses it. Want to give it a try?”

I told her I definitely did. When she brought it over I flipped through it with her to find Rhode Island. That was easy on this spiral bound book. It was the first page. But the book had all the states and major cities. Kim said I could do anything I wanted with it, even rip out just what I needed. Very cool. I went through the cities and took New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, and all of their associated states. These maps would greatly help me for the next few weeks. This had to have been another non-coincidence.

By the time I left I felt like I knew these people. They offered me a free soda for the road and I gladly accepted. We'd determined that Route 2 was the fastest way to Charlestown...

Lisa and Kim Baxter

Oatley's Family Restaurant

I was on my way again. As I walked along Route 2, I got that same distinct feeling I'd had the day before during my Transformation, that of pulling the earth under me. I passed by small rivers and hay fields. My ambition to reach the coast by nightfall was waning. It looked like there were some pretty good places to sleep all along the road. What I needed now that it was late afternoon was another place to rest and get online,

As if on cue, I saw the orange and pink sign of a Dunkin Donuts just ahead. Even with no glasses, there was a certain glow to the color of those signs. I always knew exactly what they were, though I hardly ever actually read the words. I'd walked over 15 miles since leaving my last sleeping place and deemed it wiser to camp, than to stress myself out trying to get to Charlestown...

Duncan: keeps America...wallking.

Google Street View.

The sun had warmed the day, but evening's cool air was quickly pouring down across the land. I worked outside on the little deck for awhile, then migrated into the store. I was able to do some writing and touch base with friends on Facebook again, as darkness settled outside the window next to me.

I was feeling stressed about not knowing where I would sleep. I hadn't yet learned to just relax and let each night's place simply appear when it needed to appear. I wanted a drink, truth be told. I asked the guy at the counter if he knew of any places just down the road where I could buy a beer. He said, no. But then he looked up and told me there was a liquor store about a mile further down the road, but the closed at 9:00 pm--in about a half hour. It was worth a try.

I thanked him and packed the laptop away. Heading out the door, I found myself a bit disoriented and almost walked in the wrong direction, back toward Oatley's. But I caught my mistake before venturing on.

He was right. It was almost exactly a mile to the liquor store, Wolf Rock Wine and Spirits...

I had about 10 minutes to spare, but not much money. I went for the half pint of Popov, for $2.99. It would be just enough to make me sleepy wherever I ended up rough camping.

With the "sleeping pill" tucked into the pocket of my jacket, I was off again. Now I just needed to wait for that intuition to kick in and tell me which dark spot along the road was my destiny for sleeping. When I'd reached some woods just in front of the corner of a harvested hay field I knew I'd found my spot. I cut into the woods when no cars were going by. It was a good place, but I should have been a bit more careful. In walking to the edge of the field I ran into a barbed wire fence and it caught me, jabbing into my coat. 

After freeing myself, I turned and in the light of the rising moon I saw a wall and a big boulder. There was a natural trench and I set down the tarp first this time, then the little towel and finally rolled out the sleeping bag. I took off the winter coat and rolled it up for my pillow. It was nice in the sleeping bag; quite warm. I heard people partying at a house across the field and pickups peeling out. I surmised that perhaps it was an early Halloween party. Halloween was the next day.

I cracked open my vodka and sipped it along with a cranberry juice that I'd bought. I didn't finish it all before getting drowsy. So, I capped it for the next night and just as I closed my eyes, I hear coyotes way off in a field beyond the one next to me. It was the first of more than a hundred times I would hear these shaggy characters in the two years to come...

Kingtown Sleeping Place.