Day 131 - Salters, SC

Thursday, January 7, 2011

I ended up spending the night in a field behind the truck stop instead of the RV Park. By doing that I could hang out a little longer in the truck stop before setting up the tent. Eventually I went out to set up camp, and while doing that, one of the truckers stopped by to talk a while. He was out exercising his dog and saw me and the tent. Interesting guy, from Wisconsin I think he said. Has lots to say about a variety of stuff.......I guess these guys (and girls) sometimes get lonely on the road. Although I was right behind the trucks, and right beside I-95, I still slept well. When I crawled out of the tent this morning, there was a heavy layer of frost on the rain fly. It was cold inside last evening, so not surprised to find this.

I headed out about 715, and stopped just down the road at McDonald's for breakfast. Read the USA Today, and hung out there for a while, then headed SE toward Georgetown. The sign in downtown Manning indicates 61 miles, so that should take 2.5 - 3 days. I'm walking on Hwy 521 for almost the entire way, except will change to Hwy 17 near Georgetown. I passed several sizable swamps just outside Manning. The road was flat, with some shoulder, and not too much traffic......so good walking. The temperature when I left Manning was around 38 F, and the day was overcast. The radio interview was at 10, so I kept watching the signal "bars" on the phone to make sure I could connect. The farther I got from Manning, the weaker the signal. Finally around 945 I just stopped walking while there was still some signal, and waited for the interview.
The interview wasn't long, but went fine. Keith seemed a little confused about what I do out here at night, so maybe he needs to read some more of the blog. But, he's always fun to talk with. After the interview I headed out and passed a small community named Wilson. Nothing there that I could see, except for the sign. I also passed a sign for Bennett's Bay Heritage Preserve, and that sounds like an interesting place. I passed through a small community named Foreston, again not much there. In one of the swamps I saw a beautiful yellow bird sitting on the tall stump of a tree. Never have seen this bird before, I don't think. Not bright yellow like a finch, but more muted with brown splotches on the wings. Maybe about the size of a robin. Someone out there will know this bird.

Some time around 130 or so, Jon Childs called and said he and wife Laura (from Gastonia) were in Manning and coming out to find me. He asked if I wanted something to eat, I hadn't eaten yet, so they brought me a burger........and some Sundrops. Jon came to walk a while with me today, and Laura was going back to Manning to look around for a few hours. After eating and talking a while, we finally started walking a little after 2. The weather was warming, the road was good, so he picked a good day. It was nice having someone to walk with......makes the miles go by faster. We passed through a small community named Greelyville, and it was a nice, small town. We took a few pictures and continued on with the walk. As we walked along for a while, a car pulled behind us and stopped. The woman inside introduced herself as Beth Godwin, from Lake City, and stopped to see why we were walking.

We told her the story, and she was very interested and said she would read the blog. She handed me some money for the trip, and went on her way. I'm glad Jon saw this as a witness......it happens almost every day. We passed the Williamsburg Federal Correctional Institute along the way. It appeared minimum security (a Martha Stewart type of place), and the buildings and grounds must have stretched for a mile or more. All too soon here comes Laura to pick Jon up. But, as sometimes happens when people get to walking, it's hard to stop. So Jon asked her to go about a mile farther up the road and let us walk 1 more mile (he had already done over 7). So she did, and we walked the mile to the town limits of Salters. The place where Laura had stopped to wait had a nice looking spot for camping.

So, they were going home in the car, but Laura just couldn't accept me staying there in the cold and woods (much like Rufus Ford back in Selma). She tried to get me to go with them somewhere and stay in a room tonight, or to find some place to get something to eat, or anything other than just out in the woods. I finally convinced her I would be fine, and Jon helped me set up the tent. When I came back to the car, Laura handed me a bag of the original, chocolate, caramel, "turtles" to eat, and said, "it's not so healthy, but at least you'll have something". So, turtles and Sundrop for dinner tonight. It was getting dark, I had to get in the tent, and them on their way. It was very nice that they came this far to be part of the walk, and a great day to be a walkingman.

I also received a call from Laura Lawler, a former co-worker. She and her husband Brion are going to be at Myrtle Beach this weekend, and going to take a side trip to visit the walkingman a while. (I hope they don't have the same difficulties as those Cooley girls!) As I'm resting and reading the paper, think I hear a few raindrops on the tent. I didn't tuck in all the ground cloths, but hopefully it won't rain much. I'm not going back outside to check on them.

About the pictures:
Jon and Laura Childs, spending time with a walkingman;
Beth Godwin, good Samaritan from Lake City, SC;
The walkingman and Laura Childs...."I will be fine out here."