Editor, Jake McElveen: How many days do you have under your belt now?
Matt Grooms: This is day 149 walking.
Grace Nesseth: We started on October 2nd, though.
JM: Did you take any Zero Days? (A zero day is a term used for thru-hiking which means: Any day when you’re not gaining mileage toward the end of the trail; often this is resupply day where you lay over in a nearby town.)
Yeah, yeah, we have taken zero days. We used to take one after every 100 miles, and then we had to take ten during a snow storm in Arkansas. We also take days of for tornado warnings and any other bad weather. But other than that, we haven’t taken many.
It has changed definitely towards the end, but we were taking a day off every 100 miles. Then, towards the end here, we made May 1 our end date to give ourselves some wiggle room.
Was there a learning curve at first? Like, did it take you a bit to get used to?
Honestly, not at the beginning. The biggest learning curve was when our social media blew up in Oklahoma. Just transitioning from walking all day and no one stopping to a lot of people stopping and saying hello. We started to plan our days differently. Every few weeks something would happen. For example, one week we found her (here, Grooms motions towards one of the dogs that accompanied them on the trip) in Arizona. There were just so many people we were reaching, and we had to learn how to factor that into our day.
What are the pups names?
[The smaller one] is nemo, and that is Foxi.
You had the smaller one before the trip, correct?
That’s right, I’ve had her since high school. We found Foxi in the Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.
That’s pretty cool! A new friend along the way.
Yeah! She stumbled upon our tent at 6:30 in the morning on November 13.
What initially brought this idea together?
I read a book called “To Shake The Sleeping Self.” It was about a guy who biked from northern Oregon to South America, and he talked about his parents being the first to document their walk across the Continental US. We were kind of looking for our adventure to do together and though that that would be cool. So, I brought it up to her when she was sleeping in the morning while I was on my way to work. I wanted to give back, but didn’t have an idea for a non-profit. When I got home, she had this notepad filled out with “Time in a Bottle.”
So. it was just time for you to do something.
Yeah, I’m from Idaho and she’s from Iowa, and we were living in California at that point for about four or five months. We were both kind of over it and wanted something to do. We have always been very spontaneous. It sounded like a cool idea, and here we are.
Tell me about the non-profit you’re raising funds for.
My mom actually started it. It’s a non-profit that cleans the houses of children who have life-threatening illnesses. Right now, it’s just in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but we’re trying to spread it to other cleaning services in more states. She started it for my brother who had cancer when he was 11. Thankfully, he is okay now. She quit her job and started cleaning houses on the side so she could make money but still be there for his appointments. Then, once he was better, she still had clients. So, she decided to keep up with her company. She wanted to find a way to give back to the community after all they had done to support her during her sons illness. So, she thought about how important it was to keep a clean house, especially when someone has a compromised immune system. And that is how she started “Time in a Bottle”
Do you know how much you have raised so far?
Yeah, we are over $70,000. We want to be at $75,000 by the time we’re finished.
That’s incredible! How has your time in Turbeville been so far?
Great! Everyone is so nice! It has been really awesome.
To donate to “Time in a Bottle,” head to https://timeinabottle.org/donate/
To learn more about their journey, you can find them on social media at Theggoldenroad.
