Day 71 – 17 miles – 944 total

We got up and out early, as planned. We were walking as the sun was coming up. It was really cold. We had already had breakfast and everything. We were ready to walk and make some miles. We had a group of people who would be meeting us to walk at 1 pm and we were over 13 miles from the rendezvous point.

Despite the cold, it was a nice day and pretty pleasant walking conditions. We had a bike lane or a sidewalk most of the way. We even walked on the beach a little bit. We would’ve stayed on the beach longer but a river outlet prevented us from going further. The water was too high to walk across it in shoes and too cold to walk across it barefoot.

We came into Myrtle Beach. Pretty crazy that we walked here from Key West.

We made it to the meeting place just in time. A few people were there and the news reporters were too. We were all meeting in a parking lot of a restaurant and there was a parking lot attendant who wasn’t really sure how to respond to us.

I asked if it would be ok if we could leave a few cars there for a couple of hours. He told me that I needed to talk to the boss. So we went inside and I told the manager what we were doing and asked if we could leave some cars there. He was a big supporter of our cause as the restaurant had lost 3 employees to overdose. He had no problem helping us out.

We did the interviews with the reporters and then we all started walking. I had planned a 3.3 mile stretch for everyone to walk. I realized soon after starting that I probably should’ve picked a shorter section. It was a great walk but our pace was a lot slower than I had originally planned for.

This wasn’t a problem at all but I now know to try to plan shorter segments for future group gatherings. We had a blast though. I was very thankful for everyone who came. People came from far away to support us. It meant a lot. Everyone there is my hero. Seriously. You have no idea how good it feels to be supported on this. It makes me never want to stop.

We all made it to the ending point and split ways. I was able to get a ride from an awesome family who walked with us. They took me back to my car and then I drove back to pick up Stick and our carts. We then drove to a Dicks sporting goods and Stick got some new shoes as it was definitely time to replace his old pair.

We then headed over to the Williams family home where they were kind enough to let us stay there and to make us dinner. We spent the evening getting to know each other. I had a great time and it was also a learning experience for me in many ways. They had a lot to offer to me and what I want to do with this cause.

They also have 3 dogs so Domino had some fun too. It was a lovely day filled with lovely people. I am very grateful.