Day 67

Got up early because I had a big day ahead of me. I got on the road at 9 am and walked through Vincennes. I stopped at the post office where I had a package of t-shirts waiting for me. They were made for me by TAM. Theaddictsmom.com … I was excited about it and glad to have them. I now look official with my custom made t-shirts haha!

Shortly after the post office was the river where the state line between Indiana and Illinois runs. I crossed the bridge that had some beautiful monuments on it and was in a new state! I was also in a new time zone. Gained an hour as I crossed into Central time zone.

At the welcome to Illinois sign was a monument dedicated to Abraham Lincoln traveling west with his family. It’s hard to travel by foot. I can’t even imagine doing it without all of the resources of today’s society. I gave my respect and walked on into Illinois.

Flat and corn fields everywhere. Big surprise. I turned on my radio and tuned it to the radio station that I had an interview with in a couple of hours. WAKO radio had been talking with me and we planned a time for me to do a live interview as I passed by the station.

I got there and was shocked to find out that the DJ was blind. I wasn’t shocked in the sense that I thought a blind person couldn’t do it, I was just shocked because no one had told me. I had put on my new tshirt and everything. Guess looks didn’t matter. Kind of cool. He had the most amazing voice and was very nice. So was Gil, the guy who worked there that I’d been emailing with.

We did the interview and it was fun. I’ve never done a live radio interview in the actual station. I’ve done some on the phone but it is so much cooler sitting in front of a mic. I met the station manager and headed on out as I had more people to meet in the town ahead.

I pull out of the radio station and there was a hair salon named “Hot Mess.” The ladies in there all came running out and some of them still had their aprons on. It was fun and Domino got lots of loving. We took a picture and they gave donations. I had to move on quickly to get into town.

I stopped at a little convenient store and met up with a reporter from the local paper, a police officer, and a few women who lived there who I’d been speaking with on Facebook for a while. We all walked with a police escort through the pretty town of Lawrenceville. It’s funny because there is a Lawrenceville in Georgia and I’m not a huge fan of it. It is where the county jail is that I spent over 2 years of my life in. I’m over all of that stuff but I still don’t like going to Lawrenceville, GA. For years, the only reason I ever went there was either for court or to see my probation officer. I’m so glad all of that is behind me.

Anyways, back to the good Lawrenceville. I stopped into Towne House. A tavern type restaurant that was recommended to me by a few people. I ordered the pork tenderloin sandwich that Gil told me to get. It was as big as Texas!

The bar tender and other servers had all heard about me and asked about the walk. They took care of my meal and I talked to the bartender about a loss that she had about a year and a half ago. Poor thing. I was glad to have met her.

A couple of guys came in and sat next to me and we talked about the walk as they watched me eat the whole damn sandwich. They offered to walk with me to the end of town. I loved that. They were very knowledgeable about the town and I learned a lot about it as we walked and talked. Evan and Anthony. Cool guys. I was happy to meet them and hope to stay in touch.

I had about 10 miles to go from the end of town to the state park that I was planning to camp at. I was on cloud 9 for all of it. It was easy and carefree. I gained an hour today so I had plenty of time and no need to rush. I got to the park and set up my tent and made dinner. Right when I got done eating, Dani and a good friend of hers came by to visit. Dani lost her sister close to the same time that I started my walk. I have been looking forward to meeting her for 2 months.

It’s always unfortunate to meet another person with the same hole in their heart that I have but it does feel good to know that I am not alone. We hung out for a while and watched the sunset. She was responsible for getting me in touch with all of these wonderful people I got to meet today. I will never forget little Lawrenceville, IL.

Now I get to go to bed to the Cubs game on the radio. It’s the first night since I bought my new tent in Cincinnati that I’ve been able to sleep without the rain fly on. So glad to have 2 days of good weather back to back. Today was amazing and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful as well.

I enjoyed Indiana and had a great time there but I’m glad to be in another state and blessed to have such a great welcome.

I’ll never forget today.