Counting Counties

We made great progress yesterday (June 16). Fifteen people walked at one time or another. Patrick, Moira, and Scott walked the entire distance, about 21 miles. Ellen covered 20, Jean walked 19, Timmy covered 18, Roberta walked 17, Veronica completed 16 miles. Dave finished 14 miles, Bernadette walked 12, Annie, Mary, and Grant each walked 10, Debbie walked 7, and Michael walked 2. That's a total of 218 miles.

After a great breakfast at Cedar Cross, and only a minor delay waiting for their dog RJ (short for Restorative Justice) to return, we left the desnse shade of the retreat for the dark asphalt of US 1 North. Driving from Cedar Cross, in Frankin County, we crossed briefly into Vance County, then back into Franklin County as we drove "the wrong way" on US 1 until we reached the spot where we stopped walking Monday evening, and resumed our walking at 8:02 in the morning.

US 1 this far north of Raleigh is much less busy, and also much more scenic. We enjoyed rural North Carolina, from the dilapidated hay barns to the scenic vistas. By 8:45, we had walked almost three miles as we crossed the county line back into Vance County.

Shortly into our walk, we met two walkers, Kate and Rebecca. Loaded with backpacks, they were on a 1,800 mile trek from Miami, FL to Boaston MA to raise awareness of sexual violence against women. They walked with us for a few miles, until we came to Kitrell, where we stopped for a break at the Kitrell Grocery. Kate and Rebecca had been walking for seven weeks, since the beginning of May. The nice folks at the Kitrell Grocery filled our coolers with ice, and we were soon on our way. We still had a pretty good hike into Henderson, and traffic picked up, as did the temperature. We got off of US-1 and followed the US-1 Business route into downtown.

We stopped for lunch and rest under a shelter.

We paused in downtown Henderson (to post yesterday's blog entry and to rest at the library), and then headed over to the county courthouse for a vigil. Scott was interviewed for an article for the
Henderson Daily Dispatch. We were on the front page, with a color photograph, on Wednesday, June 18. He was misquoted once, but overall it was a good article which covered much of our Pilgrimage's purpose and hopes. The statement, "But he finds most family members of victims oppose capital punishment, though he ac­knowledged those against the death penalty might gravitate toward him because of the work he does." was incorrect; Scott did not say that about victim's families but rather the wider community that Scott interacts with.

We soon started out from Henderson and followed 158 out of town. The temperature dropped, the breeze picked up, and we all felt much better walking out of town. We got as far as Middleburg - a few steps more and we would have been through Middleburg.

We spend the night at Cedar Cross again - it was very relaxing. We had some chips and great homemade salsa, and a great dinner featuring wonderful salads, and lemonade pie for dessert. Much thanks to our wonderful hosts, Margaret and John Hilpert, Betty Anne and Nancy.