Day 82 – 19 miles – 1,097 total

We were up early and said goodbye to the guys at the house. We then headed to our starting spot and loaded up and started walking. We opted for a gravel road that was on the military base that ran along the highway. It was perfect. We had a few convoys of military training activity but we made sure to stay out of their way and they didn’t mind us being there. It was a real treat getting to see our heroes in action.

About 4 miles of that awesome path and then it came to an end. Exactly at that spot, Chris West was waiting for us. Him and his parents came out to say hello. Chris walked across the country the same year I did for anxiety and depression awareness. He started on the same exact day that I did. I started in Delaware and walked to San Francisco. He started in Emerald Isle, NC and walked to Newport, OR. Our paths crossed and we ended up walking most of Illinois together. On the home page of this website there is actually a link to read my blog from my last walk if you are interested. Although, I quit writing it in Utah and never finished so it’s kind of a cliff hanger. Oops.

Anyway, Chris is awesome. He lives in the area and he came out to walk with us for the day. Him and his parents paid for a hotel room for us and took us out to dinner. But all that comes later….

It was so fun catching up and telling old stories of our walks. We have a name for people who have walked, ran, or cycled across the country… Crossers. The crosser community is incredible. There are just some things that someone who hasn’t walked across a country just don’t get. The pains, struggles, joys, the liberation, the depression when it’s over. It’s so nice to have each other to go through all of this with.

We all three walked for a while and then we stopped to talk with Vanessa who has been helping us out the last few days. She brought us some gifts. She was a huge help to our efforts here. She raised money for us, hosted a cookout, found us places to stay, got us lined up for news interviews, everything. All in honor of her son Wes. We are honored and grateful.

We hit the road again and the news crews came out and stopped us for interviews. Two very pretty women from different channels. They were dedicated to making a good story and also very supportive of this cause. We did our interviews and then they took video of our carts and of us walking. It was cool that they both came at the same time and worked together even though they were from different stations.

After they left, we still had quite a few miles left. The sun was hot and it was one of the first days that it has been over 75 in weeks. We were on the side of hwy 17 which made things hotter. Chris was getting sunburned and we still had a long way to go. He toughed it out though. I am so glad he came out today. It was awesome.

We made it into downtown Jacksonville after shimmying around some major interchanges and a few crazies. The downtown area was old and beautiful. There was a very impressive Vietnam Memorial that we stopped by. While we were there, there were two young men sitting at a bench. I walked by and gave a hello and kept moving. Stick was behind me and after I had walked on, they asked Stick about what we were doing. Stick asked if they were in the military and they said yes. He thanked them accordingly.

He then told him what we were doing and one of the guys said that overdose has affected his family badly. He looked up to Stick and thanked him accordingly. Stick came walking up looking like a child who just got a high-five from Superman. He was so honored that an American hero had thanked him for his hard efforts. I was floored as Stick was telling me this story with tears flowing down his face. I am so proud of Stick and I am so glad that we are doing this together.

We had 3 miles to go. We were all tired and hot but we pushed on through town. We were shuffling down a bumpy sidewalk and a woman in a mini-van pulled up. She had a few kids in the car. She stopped to ask a little bit about what we were doing but she seemed to already have it in her heart that she was going to help us. She handed us a $100 bill. I nearly broke down in tears right there. This hit us all out of nowhere. The whole reality of this just sinks in sometimes and I just can’t believe how amazing people truly are. I loved that her children saw her being kind to us. I am crying now that I am reliving it by typing it.

We made it to our destination. A hotel that Chris’s parents got for us. They went back and got our car for us too. After that, we saw one of the news stories and it was a good one. Then we went to dinner. It was awesome and felt great to sit down. We had great conversation and I was honored to be a part of the group.

I hated to part ways but we must go on and I know Chris understands that. We said goodbye-for-nows and Stick and I went in to call it a night in a comfortable and nice hotel. What a day.