DAY 50 - 42.3 MILES

Today we drove to the westernmost point of our trip and walked back to our hotel in town. While taking our selfie, a sheriff stopped to see if we needed help. The first 20 miles we were in the middle of nowhere with rolling hills and some ranches. We even passed an emu ranch. During the second 20 we had our most poignant moment of the trip. Maxine walked by Linda and Skip who were clearing some debris from their yard at the edge of the road.  They are not accustomed to having people walk by, so of course they wanted to know what we were doing, etc. Linda said that their son, Ben, had been killed in Afghanistan in 2010 and would we mind carrying one of his pins with us as a way to symbolically take Ben on our trip.  She gave us 4, so we will each take one with us tomorrow and on the second half of our walk. Linda and Skip have 7 children between them (second marriages for both), and several of them are in the service or law enforcement.  They were so friendly and appreciative.   After checking in to our hotel, we walked to Dairy Queen and then all through town. There were lots of people walking around with cups of beer and wine, several blocks of stores, wine tasting places and restaurants.   There are many wineries in this area, and we liked the Fat Ass Winery store.   This town is also the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and we walked by the house in which he was born.