I woke up bleary-eyed in Thomas Jefferson’s “man-cave”. I slept on the couch with Bodhi, and Laura (aka Button) used the cushions from the campervan to sleep on the floor near me. I did a little video on my phone to show the various accommodations and conditions that Button and I were staying in each night. It really ran the gamut, from a multi-million dollar home, to the suburbs, to our campervan. This walk was not for light sleepers.
It was nice to have had dinner the night before with the Jefferson’s at a local Mexican restaurant. They talked about their new marriage after knowing each other for so many decades. We had no way of knowing then that Thomas would pass away less than a year later.
The morning was chilly and we drove the campervan to our end point and hitched a ride back to the start with Thomas. Then we walked 13 miles towards Parsons, TN to where we had parked the car. It was cool but sunny, and we took refuge under an underpass for lunch.
Throughout the day, Thomas and Paula would pass us on the road with Bodhi in tow. Paula is a dog-lover and agreed to dogsit Bodhi while we walked. I could tell they were concerned for our safety.
In the late afternoon, we packed our things to head to the next stop. We were sad to leave the Jefferson’s, but we were eager to get to the Perryville Marina where we would meet up with Bo again.
One thing about working with Planned Parenthood, the work doesn’t stop, even if you are walking 13 miles a day. Often, I would be in phone meetings while we were walking. Or like this day, when we got to the Perryville Marina, I was lucky to be able to use the Marina wifi to catch up on emails and other responsibilities. We were in the heat of the election season. We had endorsed several state candidates, and we wanted to be sure we did all we could to support their campaigns. I wanted to confirm that we got campaign mail out to elect Ronnie Glenn in the Clarksville area. [Ronnie later won his election and became Representative for House District 67. Ronnie also had participated in the training walk for Walk for Our Lives before we got started.]
The Marina was serene. It appears that it must be quite the happening party place on the weekends. The area was lined with mack daddy RV’s, fully decked outdoor living rooms with industrial strength blow-up movie screens, and every camping lot had a place for a full bar. Because it was in the middle of the week, staying along the Tennessee River was peaceful. We were going to be staying here for five nights and using this location as a home base over the next few days.
Pictured here are us entering Perry County; with Dr. Jason Martin for Governor at a townhall in Lexington; crossing the Tennessee River.
During this time, we took part in a town hall for gubernatorial candidate Dr. Jason Martin in Lexington, TN; Button wore her pink Women’s March hat and walked holding a Planned Parenthood sign on the day of the Women’s March; we had dinner in a magical fairy house in the woods; and witnessed the changing of the leaves in this beautiful state. We were completely enchanted by the area and by the generosity and sincerity of everyone who supported us here: Erin Garcia Fernandez, Tony Campbell, Betty Manness, and Linda Siegl. Once we crossed the Tennessee river, we left the West Grand Division and entered Middle Tennessee.
Tags: protest, Tennessee, Pilgrimage, WalkForOurLives
