Pittsburgh to Akron and my 500 mile mark

April 15, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 50 // Pittsburgh to Sewickley // 15 miles // total: 422
Day 51// Sewickley to Beaver Falls // 22 miles // total: 444
Day 52 // Beaver Falls to New Waterford Ohio // 20 miles // total: 466
Day 53 // New Waterford to Salem // 15 miles // total: 481
Day 54 // Rest day People, rest day // 0 miles

Here we are. Just got into Ohio. Camping tonight. And, uh, decided to stay an extra day here ‘cause they have a swimming pool. So, I’m gonna go swimming. And pretend I’m on some exotic vacation somewhere. Got my clothesline going. Really getting, really getting the hang of this. [Laughs] Oh, gosh. Week seven. Been doing a lot of road-walking the last few days. So many hills. Lotta hills. I’m on my way to Akron. Gonna do something fun this weekend, ah, when I get there. Going on a camping trip. Something different. Um, my two friends I’m meeting up with there, they're going on this group camping trip, so. I’m gonna go. But we’re gonna stay in, like, a cabin or something. With a bunch of other artists. So. Should be fun. I might get to swim again. Yay! I really [just] walking so I can swim. I haven’t been able to swim at all. I’ve been walking past lots of bodies of water, and have been unable to get in any of them. You know why? Because...we pollute the water here. We pollute it pretty bad. I wonder how many kids are gonna be in this pool. Don’t know. Don’t care.

I’m in the middle of Ohio. Not the middle. Beginning. I don’t know what I look like. Just woke up. Had a rough morning. Staying in a place [got] no water or anything. So I am headed to a diner I saw down the street. Just thought I'd hang out in the cemetery for a little bit. Ulysses S. Grant’s grandmother, [whose] dead body is right here. I got this crazy rash on my ankles. It hurts. My skin’s all bubbled up. But, uh, I’m headed to Akron. It’s supposed to rain all day. But I see a little sunshine. I think this day’s looking up.
I mean, each day, you realize, there’s just two things — you're either alive or you're this.There’s no in between. Alive or dead. [Sighs] So. I’m alive, and now I’m gonna walk. That’s just what I’m gonna do. What I have to do. 500 miles in. I have to do that five more times. Four or five more times. [Sings] Sunshine. Thinks are looking up. Peace out, Rachel Grant. I hope I do something one day where m-, m-, I get, like, what I’m trying to say is — maybe I’ll have a really cool grandkid.

Akron, Kent, Cleveland // Week 9 // Stayed with a dog and a bear

April 12, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 57 // Akron // Performed Standup at Wandering Aesthetics performance space.

Day 58,59,60 // Went camping with my friends Benjamin and Kyle. At a pool people!!

Day 61 // Akron to Kent // 12 miles // total 528 // Did a show at The Stone Tavern in Kent, Ohio.

Day 62 // Headed to Cleveland, Ohio and performed standup at Duck Island and Reddstone.

Day 63 // Performed at Karma Cafe in Akron.

Ohio // Week 10 // Standing up and getting on the road again.

April 10, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 64 // Performed at The Funny Stop in Cuyahoga Falls, OH Day 65 // Day 66 // 0 miles Day 67 // Comedy at The Electric Pressure Cooker in Akron, OH - Amazing show!! Day 68 // 0 miles Day 69 // Akron to Canal Fulton // 21 miles // total miles 549 Day 70 // Canal Fulton to Massillon // 10 miles // total miles 559 - Stand-up at BuzzBin in Canton, OH

Jessica: Here I am. Northeast Ohio. 550 miles in on the walk. Um, I was anticipating being here for, like, three days. Been here for over a week. But I’ve done a lot of shows. So that’s been very cool. But I’m itching to get moving again.

01:34:15.18 Trying to write. Feeling inspired. I hadn’t done stand-up for a few weeks, and that was really affecting me, and now I’m doing a lot of stand-up, and I just wanna get moving. I was gonna stay with this old retired couple tomorrow, but they just canceled on me, so I think I’m gonna start stealth-camping a little more, which...would be interesting.

01:34:54.22 Um, been on the road for two and a half months. Feeling good. Feeling strong. I definitely need to get some miles under my belt. [But still]. This next week is gonna be about...walking.

01:35:34.04 I’m in Akron right now. I was in Akron. I went to Cleveland. I went to Kent, doing stand-up. I think is how people get stuck in Ohio. They walk through, and then... They never leave.

Ohio // Week 11 // My first 28 mile day and a week filled to the brim with generosity from strangers!!

April 08, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 71 // Massillon to Orville // 15 miles // total miles 574 Day 72 // Orville to Wooster // 15 miles // total miles 589 Day 73 // Day 74 - Hanging in Wooster Day 75 // Wooster to Lakeville // 17 miles// total miles 606 Day 76 // Lakeville to Mt. Vernon // 28 miles // total miles 642 Day 77 // Mt. Vernon to Centerburg // 8 miles // total miles 663

This is my happy face!! I don't remember where I took the photo but I bet it had something to do with a beer.

I’v seen a lot of wild life thus far on my adventure, this particular deer and I starred at each other for several moments. I think it was confused by my cart. This was my epic 28 mile day, 90+ degrees on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. cra –

Clouds are your friend on a walk like this. Sometimes I use an umbrella to shade myself, and sometimes nature does all the work:)

It’s day 73. Still walking through Ohio. Uh, yesterday was by far the hardest day that I’ve had thus far on my trip. Walked 28 miles. And I was going through part of the Appalachian Mountains, so it was a lot of inclines.

01:38:10.00And it’s also hot. Very hot. But, today...Short day. Travel 12 miles. Going to Centerburg, Ohio. My good friend Melissa, she’s from there. Called a couple friends.

01:38:37.21 Next thing you know, I’m gonna go have margaritas. Mexican food. And watch a soccer game. So, gonna be freaking great. Except for there’s supposed to be thunderstorms.

Ohio.

Tennessee // Week 12 // The 4th of July and a baby was born!!!!!!!

April 06, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 78 // Centerburg to Westerville // 21 miles // total miles 663

Day 79 // On Day 79 I was invited to stay with a friend of a friend of a friend. When I arrived at their gated community I was greeted with a bottle of white wine and a swimming pool! They were such an amazing family, who, after I had traveled some heavy mile days could not have come at a better time! They could not have been more open hearted and generous. Check out their awesome business // http://www.simonsaysstamp.com

Day 80 // July 4th!! Walked in a parade in Columbus, Ohio!!

Day 81 // Day 82 // Day 83 - comedianing around Columbus

Day 84 // Got the phone call I’ve been waiting on, my sister went into labor and I hopped in a car to head to Nashville to meet my new nephew. Fastest miles I’ve traveled in 3 months!!

It’s too hard to say if there’s one overarching — or, like, one surprise moment that really sticks out to me. But, um, I, one that I can, one surprise I can think of off the top of my head is when I walked in June, and it was like 95 degrees outside. I was in Ohio. And I was on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, pushing this cart up these crazy hills. And I walked 28 miles. And it was just the hardest day ever. And the next day I was going to this small town. I’m like, “Who am I gonna know? How am I gonna find a place to stay in this small town?” And... When I put it into my Facebook, ‘cause I do a lotSo, um, I went on this, you know, crazy hard walk. 28 miles. I didn’t know where I was gonna stay in this small town. And so I put it into Facebook, which is what I do. Um. And it turns out one of my really good friends, Melissa, is from this small town. And she sets me up with a friend of hers, and they were really awesome. It w-, they were great. But the next day after that, they told me about some friends. Um, it was like, “You have to go stay at this house. You have to.” And I realize now that this story isn’t as exciting as it seemed at the moment. But... I just went to this awesomely beautiful home, and, um, when I got there, they like, were like, “Come, take a shower in our l-, master bathroom.” And I was in this huge shower with, like, all these jets. And they gave me a bottle of white wine, so it was just — I had this bottle of white wine in this amazing shower. Like, in this home after, [of] just having the, the hardest day, you know, that I'd had so far and then all of a sudden, I’m on this house overlooking a lake, you know, swimming in this pool. Just like “W-, what, when did this happen o-...” It was a — just moments like that, that happened over and over again. And they ended up, um, when I left their house, they put a little card in my cart, and when I opened it up, there was 300 bucks inside. Yeah. It was awesome.

Walking Tennessee // Weeks 13 and 14 // Hanging in Nashville visiting with my family and friends, and doing some comedy!

April 04, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Walking Tennessee // Week 15 // Slowly but surely, I traverse my home state

April 01, 2014 by Jessica Watkins

Day 98 // East Nashville to Belle Meade // 10 miles // total miles 673 Day 99 // Belle Meade to Cafe Loveless (Bellevue) // 9 miles // total miles 682 Day 100 // Cafe loveless to Kingston Springs // 11 miles // total miles 693 Day 101, 102, 103 // 0 miles Day 104 // Kingston Springs to White Bluff // 7 miles // total miles 700 Day 105 // White Bluff to Montgomery Bell State Park // 1 mile // total miles 701

I started walking in Tennessee when is was 100 degrees and humid, I felt like I was walking through a pudding sauna.