Day 96 – 23 miles – 1,254 total

We packed up our things and were on the road right as the sun was rising. We wanted to get an early start so that we could beat the heat. A few miles in, a woman pulled over and told us to stop at a place called Cafe 45 when we get into the town of Colerain and they would have breakfast waiting for us on the house. Awesome. We picked up our pace and made it as quick as we could because we were starving.

The restaurant was incredible. Easily the best breakfast place that we’ve been to. The staff was very friendly. We couldn’t believe how kind that we were being treated. We talked to them about our route for the day and they helped us with some information on the backroads that we were planning on taking. They warned us about bears. Seriously.

We headed down the backroads and enjoyed the amazing views and peace and quiet. Bears or no bears, we were happy to be there. A gentleman in a truck pulled over and got out with a grocery bag full of snacks and cold drinks.

It was getting really hot at this point in the day and we had already walked off the big breakfast so we were very thankful to have the snacks and drinks. We weren’t expecting a store for the next two days so these items were real treats as we were out in the middle of nowhere. We sat on our stools and had a conversation with this guy while having a snack break.

Roger lived nearby and saw us walking by his house. He went to go grab the snacks and bring them to us. He told us that he lost a son to an overdose a year ago yesterday. He was very thankful for our efforts and took pictures of our us and our carts to show his wife, who was hurting really bad with grief. I gave him some resources that I know of for grief support and we went our separate ways.

We were walking down a long dirt road and we heard a car approaching from behind so we moved over to let it pass us. It never did. We turned around and it was Roger. He came back to invite us to his house to sleep tonight. He said that we could call him when we were done walking and he would pick us up and then bring us back in the morning to the same spot. His wife was out of town so it was just him and he said he would appreciate the company and we would be able to have a shower and a bed instead of a tent hidden off the side of a road. We gladly accepted and made the arrangements to call him later.

We had a long walk ahead of us. We decided we would push a little bit since we had a place to rest tonight. It was hot but we had a few things working in our favor. Whenever we were walking where trees lined the road, we had shade. Wherever we were walking where the trees were cleared for farming land, we had a breeze. It was still hot but we have had worse. At least we didn’t have to worry about traffic.

We made it to our destination and called Roger. He came to get us and he said his wife decided to drive home to come meet us. She was having a hard time with her grief. We get back to their house and had some ice cold home made sweet tea. So good. Then we met Roger’s wife, Karen. Her and I talked for a while and it was good for both of us.

People sometimes ask us why we walk the backroads instead of major highways. Thinking that we would get more awareness on a busy road. Quite the opposite. You don’t get to have conversations like these with people who fly by you at 60 mph. This is the reason that walking across America works. We get to reach the places in between the towns. Miss Karen needed support so bad and we were able to give her some. I give all the credit to my sister and her son Jeremy for bringing us together and I was very honored to be able to be a part of all this that was going on.

We wiped our tears off and then headed to dinner. An all you can eat Carolina BBQ buffet. It was incredible and we ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. We headed back to the house and talked for a while but it wasn’t long before we all said good nights and went to bed. A really special day for all of us.