Decorah is the latest stop for man walking across the country

Chuck La Rue

Chuck La Rue walks.  Not in the sense that you and I might walk to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  Chuck La Rue walks in the sense that Lance Armstrong rides a bike.  He has walked from Washington, D.C. to Decorah in just over two months--and intends to cross the entire country by February--a distance of 3,000 miles in under nine months.

Camped out Tuesday morning in the front yard of Kevin Lee of Freeport, La Rue talked with decorahnews.com about his walking journey of 1,200 miles since May 13th--and his goal to walk to the Pacific Ocean coast.

He is walking across the country in support of his brother, Dave La Rue, who has ALS, often known as "Lou Gerhigs Disease."  The disease not only affects the person with ALS, it affects everyone around them.

And so Chuck La Rue has decided to walk for 3,000 miles, raising money for the ALSA Rocky Mountain Chapter.  Says Chuck on his website, "I believe that there is a cure out there and your dollar could be that dollar that finds the cure."

Each day La Rue sets out to walk some more miles.  He sets out not knowing where he will spend the evening, but he says people have been good to him, allowing him to camp in their front yards and helping him along on his journey.  Sometimes he starts walking on a road, only to discover it's not a good road to walk along, so he changes his course.  Sometimes there a hurdles along the way: "I've had lots of dog issues," he tells decorahnews.com.

But always there is the walking--and always there is the thought of his brother, Dave, to spur Chuck on his way.  He will reach his childhood home of Rochester, Minnesota in a few days and take a short break, then he'll set off for Colorado Springs, Colorado, where his parents and his brother live now.

If you're interested in learning more about Chuck La Rue's odyssey, or if you'd like to donate money to his cause, visit his Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120883384593963&ref=search