Walking across Texas with just a donkey and a wagon
SMITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) - For some people, the monotonous tasks of daily life just get old. Going to work, paying the bills, and running the same errands again and again have a tendency to leave people feeling bound to a life that's just moving too fast.
Will work for carrots
That feeling pushed one man to see if he could just walk away from it all.
Charlie Hill and his donkey Smokey were not just out on an afternoon stroll in Bullard this afternoon.
"We've been walking... out for a walk everyday... about 10 miles," Hill said.
So far those daily walks have taken them on a 2,500 mile journey, Hill estimates. He said seven months ago they began making a huge circle through the entire state.
"Why? I'm going to leave that up to your imagination. Why does somebody do something," Hill said.
Four-year-old Smokey came into the picture last November. He was about to be turned loose by owners who couldn't afford to feed him during the drought.
"I took him. I saved his life," Hill said.
The pair catches most people's attention with their clever sign that reads, "Will work for carrots."
"He works hard for his carrots, and he has gotten a lot of them, too. If I leave this sign up, everybody is bringing carrots in. I'd have enough carrots to set up a roadside stand," Hill said.
Charlie said Smokey's expertise is in weed-eating, though he's also good for running off coyotes, giving kids rides and reading "donkey poetry."
"He likes his job. I know where he itches. I know when he wants an itch or scratch. I take care of his ears, pick the fleas and clean his feet and feed him good," Hill said.
After years as a master mariner, Hill decided it was just time to do something else.
"People get so involved with their lives and their cars and their jobs. They end up spending all of their time in their cars rushing around in a big hurry. I just got tired of it," he said.
While he said he is getting tired of walking, he'll never get tired of the compassionate Texans he meets at every turn.
"To see the good Lord work that way just causes joy in the heart, and that's really the best thing of it all," Hill said.
This is not Charlie Hill's first tour through Texas. He said before this, he rode a bicycle across the state. He said before that he spent about seven years just sailing.
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