Wilson to Rocky Mount

Thank your for filing our Phone In blog report, Guest Writer!

Tuesday morning met us with more rain, but it did not dampen our spirits. (Pictured: Scott, Dave, Neil.) We walked all morning in the steady rain, and it became very contemplative. We could not converse much, but we could reflect on the cleansing rain. We hope our Pilgrimage can also wash away years of the injustice (racial injustice, economic injustice, moral injustice) of how victims' families are often treated, how families of those on death row are treated, and of course the injustice of the death penalty.

As we stopped for lunch at Wilson Presbyterian Church just west of Wilson (thank you for your hospitality, Rev. Andy!), a TV crew from WITN came and interviewed Scott Bass and Neil Mohlman. Watch the story. (You can skip the viewer comments...)


In the afternoon, we stopped in front of the court house in downtown Wilson. (Pictured: Neil, Scott, Debbie.) We hoped to meet the District Attorney, Robert Evans, but he was not in Wilson at the time - he was in Rocky Mount. That was OK - we would be in Rocky Mount the next day!


We continued out of Wilson and finished the day a mile south of Elm City with a total of about 23 miles of walking. We ended up staying at a Wilson motel Tuesday night, but the wireless internet connection there was pretty poor and we simply could not submit an entry. Dave spent an hour in front of the motel clothes dryers, holding the doors shut while waiting for our shoes and other wet clothes to dry.


We were back on the road Wednesday morning, walking north towards Rocky Mount. We completed over 13 miles before stopping for a picnic lunch in the playground at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where we were also offered lodging for the night.

After lunch, we walked to the courthouse where we did get to meet DA Robert Evans. He was very gracious in taking us in and hearing the story of our Pilgrimage and why we are walking. He is a newly appointed DA and is currently reviewing the issue of North Carolina's death penalty. He was also aware of the Racial Justice Act and also aware of the need for improved support services for victims' families. He said his judicial district has good services for child victims but less so for adult homicide and violent crime victims. We thanked him for his time and attention and left very satisfied with the meeting.

That left us with a short afternoon for walking - it was already 3:30. We did get in another 10+ miles, making this 25 mile day our longest yet.







Some of the beautiful Eastern North Carolina scenery we are walking past. The horses and this farm were on the road between Rocky Mount and Tarborro.