RVC's Finnegan reaches milestones during walk across U.S.

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One time zone down, three to go.

Rockville Centre native Daniel Finnegan and companion Abby Bongaarts made it to the Central time zone during their walk across the United States when they crossed the Indiana-Illinois border on April 29. The pair surpassed the 1,000-mile mark and have strolled across six states.

Finnegan, who is in Pittsfield, Ill., at press time, said the time zone crossover felt a little strange.

“That was weird,” he said. “My phone didn’t adjust. In my mind, it was kind of like ‘How the [heck] did you get here? You didn’t fly here. You didn’t drive here.’ It was definitely cool, sort of like a milestone.”

He noticed that the towns in the Midwest are becoming more spread out, sometimes more than six miles apart. That has led to fewer available resources and more planning to see where the next gas stations, markets and restaurants are located to acquire more water, food and supplies.

“It requires more planning,” he said. “It’s not the desert yet, but it’s starting to get a little more spread out to the point where we have to make sure we have enough food for the next few days in case there’s not a gas station for a little while.”

Kansas City, Mo., is the next major city on their itinerary, but that is almost 205 miles away.

The Midwest also lived up to its reputation for tornado warnings. Not long after the pair crossed into Illinois, Finnegan received a National Weather Service alert on his phone about a tornado that was sighted in the area. They rushed to the first house they saw and was offered shelter by the family.

The warning passed without incident, but Finnegan and Bongaarts still stayed at the house and the family gave them water and Gatorade and a donation to JOIN, the charity that they are walking for that raises awareness for the homeless.

“Abby is from the Midwest originally, so she was able to explain to me some of the signs,” said Finnegan.

Finnegan and Bongaarts remained in the public eye when they were approached by a reporter from the Herald & Review newspaper in Decatur, Ill., and had a feature story written about them. They also narrated a piece about homelessness for Mic.com.

The two stayed in an historic hotel for free in Pittsfield, thanks to word-of-mouth that traveled between “six degrees of friends.” The William Watson Hotel, named after the first settler of that town, was built in 1838 and brought in guests such as Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln when it was known as the Mansion House. The rooms feature old brick walls and wooden desks and chairs.

Those who would like to support Finnegan and Bongaarts on their journey and make a donation to JOIN can visit their Fundly page at https://fundly.com/a-walk-across-america. Over $12,000 has been raised so far.