Well, it's been two weeks since I finished my walk, and a week since I got back to T-town. It's good to home, back in the warmth of desert where I can watch the sun set and stare at the stars all night and not have anything obscure my view, or freeze my butt off.

I haven't had much of a chance to see my friends yet, been busy sleeping as much as I can and moving in with my boyfriend, Richard. Excited to get back to work and see my work family again. 

I also signed up for a 50K run next Saturday in Phoenix... I can walk 33.2 miles in 12 hours so why not run 31.2 in 9 or less? We'll see how that goes.  haha

So, all-in-all doing really well and just getting back into the groove of "normal" life again.  :)

Sorry for the delay!

Whelp, it's all over. I walked 3,575 miles across America; I crossed 3 mountain ranges, 3 major rivers, 3 time zones, with enough elevation gain to have summited Mt. Everest OVER 5 TIMES, and with the help of all you lovely people out there, I raised nearly $22,000 for Beads of Courage. I faced countless dogs... a moose, a couple close calls with cars... 100+ degree heat, polar-vortex cold, rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, tornadoes (not in one, but close enough), hail and hurricane force winds. Hordes of flies, grasshoppers, moths, spiders... But with all the bad, there was 100 times the good. I met countless amazing people and saw the beauty of America that only moving at 3 MPH can offer; crystal-clear lakes and rivers, wild flowers galore, soaring eagles and hawks, prairie dogs, deer, a moose... antelope, fox frolicking in a field, wild turkey... and perfect silence while camping alone under the stars.

My final day was of course, bittersweet. So excited to touch the Atlantic and be able to say I walked coast-to-coast and finally go to home to my family and friends, but also very sad that when I got to the ocean, I could literally walk no further and that would be the end of this epic, big adventure.

I am so thankful to everyone who came out; my mom and dad, my boyfriend, my brother and his wife, my aunt, my mom's cousin, and all my host families for making the drive to come out to celebrate my final 2.5 miles! It worked out really well actually, I wanted to meet at the North Beach parking lot, which just so happened to be next to the light house, and a really good restaurant called North Beach bar and grill. My family and I ate lunch there, and hung out until everyone arrived. We dropped off two cars at the other end of the island, and then came back and set up BMW to begin our last 2.5 miles together. We were off and walking just after 3 PM.

It went perfectly, it was cloudy and cold, but we moved much faster than I thought we would have, and we got to the beach around 4:30 and we warmed up by the time we got there. I really didn't know how I was going to react; the last few days of walking didn't invoke any kind of reaction other than it just being another day of walking, no tears, no extreme happiness or sadness. But the moment I started walking on the beach to the water, it hit me, I could literally walk no further. Once I walked into the water, I could only walk so far before I would have to start swimming, and swimming across the pond to Europe wasn't really part of the plan. I cried a lot less than I thought I would, probably because there were so many people taking pictures it made me a little nervous. I stopped before I got too close to the surf, and took off my shoes and socks and rolled my pant legs and then just walked into the cold Atlantic ocean. It felt like I was in there forever, and time stopped for a brief moment, but after watching a video, it apparently was only a few seconds.

The family I stayed with in Eatonton, GA gave me an... apple pie beverage... to celebrate the end of my walk with (thanks!) so I bought some red solo cups and gave everyone just a little bit for a cheers on the beach! It was perfect, absolutely perfect. Most of us walked a quarter of a mile back down the island to Sting Ray's seafood where we would be having dinner. That was perfect too, a few of us stayed until almost 11, and I said my good byes to some wonderful, wonderful people, whom I will never forget and I will always consider family.

My family and I stayed through Monday morning, and we spent the day together Sunday sight-seeing and just enjoying the small family reunion. I am taking a week to drive back to Tucson, stopping to see family in Texas.

I will update once I get some more pictures from the finish, and I have a video my friend and I are going to make, that I will post once it's finished (might be a month or so). But if you ever wonder how I'm doing, you can email me at: walk4beadsofcourage@gmail.com

For now, I guess that's it! If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to post. Once I get home I'll probably sit down and do some kind of re-cap on the entire experience. LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you so much for following me on my adventure across America.

~Stacie

sorry for the delay in posting photos of the finish! between bad internet, and a dying computer,  it just hasn't been possible. will probably be able to upload once I get home Monday. but I'll keep trying!
this week I am visiting family in Texas, and going to Carlsbad Caverns!

Richard and I woke up and got all packed up to head over to Backus Children’s Hospital for my final visit. Amy came down from Atlanta to help me out and there were a lot of people from the hospital that showed up to show their support, which I really appreciated, and two TV stations. I only got to meet a few kids, but I registered to be a bone marrow donor with Be the Match, and got to meet a girl making a chinchilla out of a coke can, pretty awesome!

After the visit, Richard and I went downtown and found a great spot for lunch and then finally checked in to our hotel where we got kinda-sorta set up for the day ahead tomorrow. Jason, Alisa and my Aunt Anita drove in around 5, and we met up with my Mom’s cousin, Barbara, and her boyfriend Jeff, at a brewery downtown called Moon River. Great food, great company, so excited for tomorrow.

Well today was my last full walking day of just over 20 miles. I walked from the west edge of Savannah, through the historic district, down a couple of islands to Tybee, where I ended at The Sugar Shack.

It was a very cold day, never got above 35, and it was pretty breezy all day. I had walked 7 miles when I arrived at my first bridge… which was closed! I panicked at first and thought I would need to get a ride all the way around to the other bridge, and as I was talking to a local reporter on the phone, a man in a muddy jeep pulled up to see if I was alright, and if I needed a ride. We chatted for a few minutes about my walk, and what I was raising money for, and he ended up giving a $100 donation and a few carrots from his carrot farm! Haha, he thought I could still make it over the bridge even though it was closed. It was a draw bridge, but it was down, so I walked over it with no problem. The guy sitting in the booth waiting for boats to come and go, watched me walking, and didn’t say anything, so I kept on walkin’.

I crossed a hand full on bridges and enjoyed all the birds in the marshes and saw a glimpse of a few snapping turtles. I came up to a rails-to-trails that was also closed, but I walked down it anyway too, it just had a few areas that were washed out, nothing too bad. That lasted about 3 miles, and I was far enough away from the road so it was pretty quiet so I could just enjoy walking a little bit more before I hit Tybee. I was pretty excited when I got there; it had a really nice sign for me to take pictures of… I walked a few more miles until I hit The Sugar Shack. Right before I got there, a guy and girl with a pit bull pulled over and wanted to say hi, and told me they had read my vest and Googled me. They both work at a restaurant called Stingray’s there on Tybee, and said I should check it out since I was still looking for a place to have dinner on Saturday.

Alison picked me right at 3:30 and we got back around 4, right about the same time Richard drove into town. Yay! I showered and he and I drove down to Tybee to check out the restaurant, which turned out to be really good, and I spoke with the manager, and made a reservation for Saturday! We got home around 8, and talked with Alison and Bret for awhile before heading to bed, big day tomorrow, with my last hospital visit!

Today was a good day off, slept in, did laundry and ate a lot.

Didn't do much until the afternoon, when Alison and Bret's friend Micheal came over and we went out to get some food for dinner and cooked up some brats, and played pool. After we ate, Alison and Bret drove me around and we did a sight seeing tour of Savannah before the sun went down.

That's it! Like I said, pretty chill, do-nothing day. Tomorrow is my last night walking!

Well today turned out to be not as bad as I thought it would be, it was still cold, but the rain didn’t start until just after 3, which happened to be when I was getting picked up! So it couldn’t have worked out any better than that. Craig and I met Matt at a gas station on our way to the dropped off point and Matt took my cart to Alison’s house, my host for Savannah; which I was so thankful for because the highway I was on, was very busy with trucks and I was glad to be able to walk off the road.

It was probably the fastest walking day I’ve had. No one stopped since I didn’t have my cart, and sometimes it felt like I was almost at a slow run rather than a walk. But my body felt good, and my tendinitis in my right ankle didn’t act up at all and that was really nice, usually it starts to hurt at mile 12-13 and hurts until I stop walking for the day, but the last couple of days it has hardly bothered me at all.

Bret and Alison picked me up right as it started to rain. They live in mid town Savannah and have the two strangest, crazy animals; a bangle cat and a Scotty dog that’s just insane. They get into all kinds of trouble together and are very good at keeping you entertained. We went out to meet some of Bret’s friends at local restaurant and I had perfectly cooked salmon and a beer. It was a night of interesting conversations, and funny jokes. We went to a local brewery after dinner and for me it was bittersweet; I’ve joked about this Walk being a very long, extended winery and brewery tour, and this is probably the last brewery I’ll hit. We got home a little after 8, and I talked to my boyfriend for a bit, and passed out. 

What a gorgeous day! The temperature got up to almost 70, and I actually got hot for the first time in a all time. I enjoyed every minute of it since tomorrow is going to be yucky and cold. Luckily it’s nothing too different from I walked through while I was in Kentucky and Tennessee so I’ll just deal with it; only 2 days left of walking!

I had a quick interview with a CW station this morning, and I got stopped by the man, who owns a running shop in Statesboro, but other than that, I just got honks and waves; which means I got to move pretty fast and got in nearly 24 miles, so I only have 18 to walk tomorrow.

Not a whole lot to say, I did see a huge flock of black birds do their beautiful dance in the sky. I stood and watched them for a few moments and listened to them sing while the traffic flew by. Amazing what you miss when driving down the road.

Craig came and picked me up at my next stop at 4 and took me to his wife’s boutique in Statesboro called Mary’s Linens. Mary sells beautiful, high-end bed and bathroom décor and linens. Her church was kind enough to pay for dinner from a place called Vandy’s; best BBQ I have had in a long time! It was so good, and we had the most velvety chocolate cake afterwards. I tried to get to bed at a decent hour so I could get plenty of sleep for a quick walk tomorrow.

Had another good day today; weather was nice, and the roads were good. I got stopped a lot and made a little bit of money. I also had a nice man stop once to give me cash, and then came back with a plate of KFC from his wife; which consisted of a piece of chicken, mac and cheese and a biscuit.. So that was a nice meal to start off my day!

I was planning to do 22 miles today, but I missed my turn for that route, so I ended up walking 24 miles... But I made it to where I wanted to end so that's all that matters. I had a great interview with CBS 11 in Savannah this afternoon, the reporters name is Dal, and he was super cool; as runner and a man who puts on a 97 mile walk for the Red Cross every year, he could relate to what I'm doing pretty well.

I finished up right at 5, when Matt picked me up. We ate pork loin with asparagus and baked potato for dinner, and I ate a ton. Much needed after walking hard today. We spent the rest of the evening watching the Grammys and talking. All-in-all, I had a really good day. Tomorrow will be nice too, but Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be cold and wet... So better enjoy tomorrow!

I was a little apprehensive about today since I haven't been feeling so great the last couple days walking. My goal was just 20 miles, and temperature turned out to be pretty nice, and the wind that was really, really bad, was at my back for most of the day.

I ended up having my fastest 5 mile time; 1 hour and 29 minutes, usually it's much closer to 1:40 and I think I have the wind to thank for that. I had a couple people stop who heard me on the radio yesterday, so thank you Aaron for making me get out bed to do that interview! I spent the day on back roads that were kinda busy, but nothing too crazy, and I am starting to see a lot more swamp and Spanish moss in the trees...  So I know I'm getting close! I have less than 100 miles to go, and only 4 walking days... Trying to take it in as much as I can.

Mandy is my next host, and she picked me up right on time at our meeting place, and took me back to her house where her son and husband, Matt were. We all went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, which was awesome because I haven't had BWW since I left Tucson and I ate 16 boneless wings and the carrots... Much needed protein! We came back to the house and I pretty much got straight to work, so I could go to bed early.

Here's a story about one of the children I met in Macon and completely forgot about until this morning: 

He was probably around 10 years old, and he asked me how I could have walked sooooo far and not given up. I told him that looking at it that way, one giant trip of 3,600 miles, of course that would be over whelming. Instead I just took it one day at a time; 20 miles, 20 miles, 20 miles, one foot in front of the other, just keep walking, and before I knew it, I had walked 3,400 miles across the north American continent. I told him, just keep walking, and you'll get to wherever you need to go, it might just take a long time to get there, and there might be really big mountain ranges to walk over, but just keep walking and enjoy the ride. He looked away and thought about it for a moment, and then he said; " So that's like life? Right? One day at a time? I get it.". To which I laughed and said yes, just like life, just keep walking, and you'll get there eventually.