After arriving late Friday night with Daniel, who walked the final few miles with me, I awoke to in his cozy home, just north of downtown Greenville.

Having picked me up early, Julie & Carson ushered me away for an off-the-route excursion up into the surrounding Carolina hills. Julie took us to a Jamaican restaurant-- a family favorite.

These office clips are one of the handiest things I use across all my miles, and I'm thrilled to see a restaurant using them artistically, to hold down table cloths on windy days!

Carson races his father, Tim

Sunday afternoon, fabulous friends of Tim & Julie invite us all to a very pleasant hike around Lake Placid

Julie, Jade & Carson meet Daniel, as I transition from their home to his. They kicked off an auspicious opening conversation, as Julie is very interested in the up-and-coming theater work that Daniel will be doing, in addition to meeting locals through the Couchsurfing network.

As I complete the transition from one home to the next, in a rare event, those hosting me meet one another, as Julie, Jade and Carson meet Daniel. They kicked off an auspicious opening conversation, as Julie is not only interested in the hosting/traveling network in which Daniel & I both participate (Couchsurfing), she's also interested in the local theater work in which he's involved.

Daniel, Daniel, Romey, Eleacia, Steve, Shea, Bryan and Victor

Before leaving Powdersville, Dr. Tim McPherson (MD) and I took about an hour out for an interview about healthy living. I've recorded it, and will edit and post clips at some point down the road. Not too soon, as I haven't really been finding the time for much beyond what I'm already doing... Awesome Guy! Thanks, Tim!!

BEAUTIFUL fall day. If it weren't for the fact that I'm spending so much time with people along the way, I would walk nearly every one of these beautiful days!!

Brian Rascoe, Director of Operations for Powdersville's local water department, explains to me how clean and preferable local drinking water is over any other option.

After their daughters saw me speak at their middle school yesterday, the family spotted me on the side of the road and invited me to dinner. Nice folks!!

Anderson County Sheriff's Deputy Officer Simpson made sure I was legit before allowing me to proceed.

Officer Simpson is awesome! We exchanged contact info, and she plans to help seek meal assistance for me down the road . I really enjoyed chatting with her!

Hello, Powdersville Middle School!

Great kids here!

Great coach too!

During one of the breaks, some of the students want to try some of the foods I eat on the road. They liked my wholesome treats!!

Ms. Julie Richard, art teacher here, continues work on another of her mesmerizing masterpieces during our lunchtime chat.

After the middle school let out for the day, I went next door to the elementary school, where a handful of the kids helped me show the small size of my tent. Time to get more involved with actual items I'm using on the road, I see...

At the end of the day, we all walked a lap around the school grounds. Fun Stuff!!!

My fifth night here at Tim & Julie's, time seems to be flying by more quickly here than it has anywhere else. Time also feels a bit warped. It not only feels as if I've just arrived here, it's also difficult to imagine a point in time in which I didn't know them.

The Chariot has been resting comfortably in the garage--easily accessed up the steps from where I'm staying.

The kids' spacious downstairs recreation room / family storage room has been my HQ for days.

In the back of the rec room/family storage room, I've placed the guest mattress. Easy for me to stay out of the way of anything else they may have going on here through the course of this week...

Yes, Cosmo has continued to keep me GREAT company-- throughout the property!!

Nine-year-old Carson introduced Dobbie to me. Shy but curious cat, Dobbie finally approached me on his own today.

Julie's morning masterpiece. BEAUTIFUL!!

Family Traffic in the Powdersville Kitchen

As she too is interested in creating a blog, ninth-grade Jade sits down for a brief interview with the new microphone equipment I've just received for the Walk. (I'm hoping to add audio blogs to the miles ahead. This will translate to a LOT of extra work, so no premature promises!)

Dinner with Tim, Julie, Jade and Carson. Wonderful Family!! Julie is such an awesome cook!! WONDERFUL!!!

Julie & her daughters. I have yet to meet Elexa (left), who's currently in California.

Julie, Jade, Carson & Jade's Best Friend (whose name I'm not remembering at the moment!)

Tim & Jade

Cosmo, their nine-year-old schnauzer, is the friendliest of his breed that I've ever meet. He's been spending a lot of time with me since I arrived. He reminds me a lot of my dog Huey-- I LOVE that!!

Julie, an art teacher, works on her latest project...

After a wet morning, a ten-mile day begins from the very point at which I'd last left off on quiet Fire Station Road, in Pendleton.

A very sociable roadside jackass wishes me good morning!

A rare treat, over 80% of my day was spent on QUIET rural roads, such as this one.

The first church I passed today, this was an excellent location to stop, sit on the front steps, close my eyes, and spend at least a half hour meditating. To me, proper meditation is the #1 ingredient to a successful Walk and a successful life!

Andrew St. John, running for U.S. Congress, stops to say hello as I pass by.

Traveling at turtle speed allows the joy of being rained on by thousands of leaves spinning their way down to earth.

About a mile from day's end, I meet Moe. 99% of the dogs who rush up to me as I walk by are aggressively defending their turf. Not Moe. He just wanted to say hello, and wanted to play. It didn't take long to see that Moe was an escapee, as he was aimlessly wandering around, dangerously cutting off cars, etc.

I saw a phone # on Moe's tag, and though I could only leave a voice message on the #, I didn't know what to do about Moe. I couldn't sit in the middle of the field and wait with him indefinitely for a return call that might or might not come to pass. I also didn't want for him to get hit and hurt on the road. Then it clicked: my little sports belt of my pants could function as a short, makeshift leash! I walked this strong, active 35-lb dog home with me. I was called just before arriving. The owners were out of town, and the neighbors were being dispatched to retrieve Moe.

Happy ending for Moe, as he's being picked up and taken home by his neighbors

Gearing up for 20k on the road today, Rocio duct tapes her feet to prevent blisters in the most vulnerable places.

Less than a mile into the day, a family native to the area comes to greet us as we pass by their property. The two men working on their truck first saw us and waved hello. Before we knew it, an entire delegation of family came out to introduce themselves, and make us feel abundantly welcome to the area!

Beatle and Buggy Babes! (Yes, Rocio!!)

Heather & Mechelle, her mother, stopped to say hello and offer their support to the Walk. Heather drew a happy-smiley face on the front sign!!

Five Forks Road. Luckily, most of the day's 20k was on not-so-busy, beautiful country roads.

Rocio's sweet road spirit shines brightly!

Out on Five Forks Road, miles from any other commercial establishment, sits 5 Forks and a Spoon Cafe, a local "meat & three" --what locals refer to as a restaurant that gives you the option of any meat dish with your choice of three sides. Locals had told us about this place for miles, and though we were walking past, at first we were simply going to do no more than snap a couple of pics. However, loyal locals exiting the restaurant upon our arrival lobbied successfully to get us into the front door.

Once inside the front door of this homegrown favorite, I quickly realized there was no turning back. The founding father of the restaurant was enthusiastic to feed us--and feed us well!

"Hull," nickname of the owner of restaurant, serves us up a piece of his delicious home-cooked pie after we finish our lunches.

All five members of 5 Forks and a Spoon Cafe! (Including husband, wife and daughter.)

Walking from Anderson to unincorporated Pendleton, I spot one of my very FAVORITE street signs!

Fun surprises around every corner!

Hello There!!

"Behind the abandoned store at the intersection of Five Forks Road & 6 and 20 Road, I'll leave the bag of toothbrushes and toiletries you forget as I'm on my way out of town, to North Carolina." Having completed most of the day's miles, Rocio & I reached the small abandoned store, and easily found our bag of hygiene products placed behind it by Dan Snipes, who'd hosted us Thursday night. Thanks, Dan!

As we approach the end of our 20K day, on a country road so little used that it didn't even have a dividing yellow stripe, we were surprised by the sudden appearance of a rodeo!

On his 22 acres, host Dan Snipes shows us just how fun a swing attached to a long, high rope can be!

Rocio & I both took a turn on the swing-- and both of us felt intimidatingly hesitant when it came to launching-- the super-swing is a backyard forest theme park ride!

By people I had yet to even meet, a complimentary night at the Hilton was arranged for EnjoyTheWalk.org! Though Dan picked us up yesterday at a miles-away sporting goods store, given that the roads between the store and the Hilton are anything but pedestrian friendly, I simply asked Dan to drop us off at the Hilton parking lot. From here, I'd arrange to return to the sporting goods store and walk back to the Hilton without my buggy-- connecting all the steps in the process.

Farron, niece of Eleacia (whom I've yet to meet), made the contacts within her branch of the Hilton to arrange for a complimentary night. I just met Farron upon my arrival to the Hilton today. Thanks, Everyone! What AWESOME people!!!

Farron's flawless organizing skills continue, as she links me with Ricky, head of maintenance at the Hilton, who kindly returned me to the sporting goods store parking lot, saving me from having to walk a complete loop (a handful of extra miles) just to connect all the steps to the Hilton. Thanks Guys!!

I walked a more circuitous path today to avoid what would have been the most dangerous of the bridges across the lake-- neither of which have sidewalks or any reasonable pedestrian space. The Liberty Hwy bridge was shorter, slower, and had about a foot of walk space, so going out of the way to walk it was well worth it. I'm so happy I didn't have to cross it with the Chariot

Though slower than the Clemson Blvd bridge, and with about a foot of walk space, the Liberty Hwy bridge still felt too dangerous, so I walked over the tops of these 25" siderail reinforcers. Even for a tall guy like me, I had to carefully step across each one. I'm glad I didn't trip or tear up my pants in the process! (Been there, done that!)

If I finish a day's walk at sunset, I'm almost never walking into brilliant colors of the setting sun (in the WESTERN sky). Tonight's circuitous path, however, pulls me straight into the setting sun for the final half hour