I drank my morning coffee on the beach this morning. I smiled at the sky as a line of eight pelicans flew over my head. The ocean waves sparkled in a soft orange hue as the sun rose over the horizon. Even though we still had another day to enjoy Florida, after being here for nearly three weeks, my mind had already drifted ahead to our 450-mile trek which begins tomorrow as we head to Georgia.

Since mid-January we’ve traveled over 2,777 miles. Ahead of us remains a daunting 4,000 miles and the bulk of our work delivering Dog Research Exposed petitions to research facilities and state governors.

The funny thing is, I used to listen to music while I drove. I used to turn the music up loud and sing along. These days I find myself in silent reflection at the steering wheel for hours at a time. I’ve become one with the road and my surroundings. Distraction from that no longer fits my new reality.

Our time in Florida has been soul-healing. As important as activism is, there is a need for time-out as well. Strength of spirit is a necessary tool in this journey. So the dogs and I have been paddleboarding, swimming, biking, exploring, eating at dog-friendly restaurants, walking on the beach, and doing everything else that we love to do.

But even Florida had its ups and downs. Our first campground, a state park in the northwestern part of the state, was infested with ticks. Tiny brown ticks that were almost impossible to find on our dogs. Inevitably, when we had ticks crawling around in our RV and on my bed, we hightailed it out of there—leaving a day early. With no place to stay for the night, we found a large parking lot by a fishing pier and decided it was as good a place as any to park and sleep.

At another state park I made the mistake of leaving some valuable food item on the floor of the RV. When my small terrier mix and Cedric got into an argument about it, I unthinkingly put my hand in the middle of them to break it up and got my pointer finger bit. It was a small puncture wound, but by that night it was throbbing and I almost passed out from the pain. I gritted out the next day, my finger getting more and more swollen. By 11 pm—just over 24 hours after the incident—I noticed my hand was also now red and swollen below my finger, so we rushed to the emergency room in Daytona Beach. Some antibiotics and a tetanus shot later I was good to go.

The rest of our time in Florida was spent with friends and family. The warmth of the sun, white sand under my bare feet, and gentle ocean breezes were reminders of how precious life is. Something that I vow every day never to take for granted.

While we had no petition deliveries in Florida, we had the first news coverage of our cause and our tour in Daytona Beach. Cedric was the star of the show, hopping around on his back legs for treats, barking on command, and winning the hearts of both the camera man and the reporter named Hannah. Our story aired on Fox 35 Orlando on the 10pm news.

We also attended an Envigo Beagle Reunion in New Smyrna Beach. Beagle adopters came from all over Florida to join us. I got to meet friends from Facebook in person for the first time. When I first met my friend Michael (founder of Finding Connections:Envigo Beagles; pictured in first photo with his wife Jaime) in person, it was so surreal and special that tears filled my eyes.

The Envigo Beagle Reunion was a celebration of human connection and our shared love of these special beagles whose lives were spared a life of experimentation. Watching as the 19 beagles ran and played joyfully together, I felt so thankful. So relieved.

But as my mind usually does, it wandered to a darker place for a moment. For a moment my stomach turned and fear rose to my chest. I pictured all the other tens of thousands of beagles stuck in laboratory cages—scared, hurting, and alone. And even surrounded by so much happiness, I felt restless. I knew it was time to get back on the road and begin the most challenging part of our journey still to come.

Along our north-bound route up the east coast are the largest, most insidious dog research and breeding facilities in our nation. Charles River Laboratories currently has over 9,000 dogs which they experiment on. Marshall BioResources has over 20,000 dogs being bred and sold to be experimented on. And there are many, many more places. These giants of animal testing believe they are untouchable, and I will come face to face with them.

But also along our north-bound route are more friends that will be there to help us. If there’s one thing I’ve taken away from our months on tour so far, it’s the kindness and generosity of people. And if anything gives me strength these days, it’s all of you…all of my friends.