Beyond the Blog Day 17 (May 14): Last Day in the Sandhills

 

We completely altered our route on this day, electing to head south by southeast from Sanford instead of backtracking to 24/27, which was very busy with poultry and lumber trucks.  It turned out to be a great call...it was a wonderful day full of beautiful country roads as we slowly moved through the Sandhills towards the coast.   

North Carolina has four different regions or topographies….the mountains, the Foothills, the Sandhills and the coast.  For most activities, I prefer the mountains and the coast.  But for this event, I have to say, the Foothills and the Sandhills were awesome.   We had the best rural roads, rolling through farms, forests, wetlands, and open fields.  The people were, by and large, the friendliest.   We did have to deal with lots and lots of dogs, and if we parked on the side of the road, someone would inevitably ask us what we were doing, but only in Denton did we feel this as a challenge.  The rest were curious, which is natural, since most of the time we were parked on their property.

I had some great visuals on this day, just by staying aware of my surroundings, I saw some wonderful people.   My favorite was the 80-year old guy playing golf in his backyard.   He was wearing slacks, no shirt, accompanied by his cat...living the dream.   I saw another elderly person mowing her lawn, dressed up in her Sunday-best pantsuit topped off with a lovely hat.   On a sit-down mower spiraling in her front lawn.   I rescued a turtle, bringing my total International Turtle Rescue League count up to three for the Ruck.   Lifetime total, somewhere in the hundreds.   Passing through Barbeque Swamp...well first of all, that is the best swamp name EVER.  But more importantly, it was enchanting….sun streaming through thick green foliage over still water, the sounds of frogs croaking and other creatures splashing in the water.  I just stood there for 15 minutes...listening, smelling, and feeling.   This was what the Ruck was teaching me...be in and of the moment.   Don’t rush forward or you will miss where you are, and where you are is the most important place to be right now.   

Matt and Monty were having a significant encounter of their own.   While looking for refreshments, they stopped in a corner store, and naturally had a friendly conversation with the woman running the shop.   As it turns out, she had a son with autism and had her own incredible story.  I don’t remember the details but I know it was very impactful for them both.   It was amazing to us all, learning how prevalent autism was in communities.   It gave us yet more respect for the work that Becky and CAN do, and gave deeper meaning to the daily effort of the Ruck.  Meeting everyday heroes like this store owner, and so many others, was humbling and inspirational as they met these challenges every day.

Monty and Matt were wonderful to have this day, we were relaxed and in our groove.  I had started out the day feeling tired, but as the day progressed, I actually felt more energized.  Matt got some great footage of the fields and forests we passed through.   Our roadside stops were equally pretty and we picked out a local park to finish up my mileage for the day.   Anderson Creek Park in Lillington is a little gem, with plenty of walking trails and a few pondside lookouts where one can take in the full beauty of the wetlands.   We all ran together for the last 2-3 miles and it was a great finish to the day.   We found a picnic table and I had my late lunch and a cold beer...this was a perfect ending to the day, and as we were now slightly more than half-way through with the Ruck, the lessons were finally sinking in and I was hitting my stride.

The next day would test me, again, as I returned home in order not to miss my girls’ dance recitals.