1/16/2015

After a night filled with mishaps I just wanted to run. I needed the comfort of taking one simple step after another. I poked my head out of the trailer to find a glowing sun. There was no trace of the previous day’s rain. The cloud filled skies and the obstacles of the prior day had been wiped clean. Crystal whipped up a cheese and scrambled egg sandwich just before dropping me to the spot I left off.

The prior evening I had discovered a tree root that looked like wooden stalactites and stalagmites. They decorated the inside of a bar next to the trailer’s parking spot. The bartender working told me the wooden decorations were called cypress knees and that only the Seminole Indians were allowed to cut them...

1/15/2015

I woke up surrounded by large trees and chilly air. I had planned to make my way toward the town of Mayo but my joints stiffened when I took my first step. The cold weather was affecting my body and my mood. I just wanted to have one day of real rest. Crystal saw my fatigue and asked if it would be better for me to take a day off to rest my body. She then called the KOA in Perry, which we had just left, and asked if we could stay for another day. They were very welcoming and they even started warming the hot tub for my aching body.

When we returned to the campground, I slept an ample amount of time. My moments of consciousness were spent reading by our heater. I lost myself in the book “A Map of the World” by Jane Hamilton. It was a day for my mind and my body to just relax...

1/13/2015

I left a place of comfort to take on the unknown. Every day of this adventure has been about stepping out of that comfort zone to discover something new. On day 134 our destination was a speck on the map. We said thank you to Joe and Tallahassee RV and took our leap of faith.

Running through the state capital took a surprisingly short time. The straight road took me past a few miles of big retail stores. But, before breaking a sweat on this very warm day, the buildings began to vanish. Again magical forest surrounded me. I followed rows and rows of trees as beads of sweat began to form. As I headed east, slopes and hills began to find their way under my feet. Between every few miles of trees, I would run past tiny towns. These towns consisted of a gas station and a church.

It w...