BEST FRIENDS WALK
A Fenelton woman is more than 850 miles into a walk across the country intended to raise money for a no-kill animal shelter organization.
Rebecca McCrea, 45, called home to Butler County from Perryville, Mo., on Friday to tell of lessons learned and people met along her long trek to Burbank, Calif.
“Everyone I've met is so kind,” McCrea said. “The positivity and generosity is amazing. It's the best part of the trip, to be honest with you.”
McCrea started walking from the Walmart in Butler Township on May 18. She's marching along to raise money for the Best Friends Animal Society, a national no-kill animal shelter group. As of Friday, her online GoFundMe page had garnered more than $2,800 for her $2,473 goal.
Why $2,473? That's roughly the number of miles she set out to walk.
“It was an approximation using interstate miles,” McCrea said. “It's going to be a few more miles for me. Especially with all the flooding I've been through, I've had to walk farther. I can't cross this bridge or get around this river. It's nothing to me, compared to the devastation places have received.”
McCrea is traveling light, but she has a support team following a few miles behind in a vehicle. The most important member of that team is her dog, Arnie, a Japanese chin. She stays some nights in hotels, and Arnie has grown accustomed to the hospitality. “He'll walk into the hotels well ahead of me through the automatic doors,” McCrea said. “Then, I walk in and the receptionists are laughing at this dog that walked in alone looking like he owns the place. He's the boss man.”
Arnie is getting McCrea through the trip. “I'm glad he's with me,” she said. “It would be a long time without him.”
Each morning begins bright and early. She wakes around 3 to 4 a.m. and begins transporting back to the exact spot she quit walking using GPS coordinates.
McCrea's timing had some friends scratching their heads.
She underwent a complete knee reconstruction in February.
She has hit a few roadblocks so far, she said, one of which was related to her knee. Only about a week into the journey, she slipped in mud and fell hard. She was driven back to Butler for treatment, then dropped back off precisely where she fell to keep walking.
“I said I would do it, so I'm going to do it,” she said.
Another time, she was surrounded by three aggressive dogs on a country road with only a small can of Mace to defend herself. A passing car full of neighbors spotted her, took her to their nearby home and fed her.
“They saved me,” she said. “I didn't know what I was going to do. I guess I owe everybody an extra eighth of a mile for that.”
McCrea said she has been floored by acts of kindness like that every step of the way.
“It gives you chills,” McCrea said. “It's hard to explain the good feelings that come from doing this.”
Both her start and end points carry significance. McCrea makes barbecue sauce, and she started at the Butler Walmart because it sells her products. The end goal in California is the home of a major Best Friends Animal Society center.
She chose the no-kill group in part because talk show host Ellen DeGeneres supports their work. McCrea is an avid fan.
DeGeneres' show is aware of her trip, she said. Her dream is for DeGeneres to try her sauce.
As for her knee, McCrea said not to worry.
“My feet hurt worse than my knees because of blisters,” McCrea said, laughing. “But I feel great from the waist up.”
