Woman’s cross-country skateboard trip makes stop in Franklin

FRANKLIN, Ky. (WTVF) – One woman’s cross-country trip made a stop that may sound a bit familiar.

Brooke Johnson says she has been traveling by skateboard from Venice Beach, California to Virginia Beach, Virginia, and on her way, she stopped right down the road in Franklin, Kentucky.

The trip might sound exhausting, but to Brooke Johnson, it’s simply exhilarating.

“So I’ve been on the same board for 93 days,” Johnson says. “She kind of feels like home now.”

Johnson’s home was an hour from Seattle. However, out here, in Franklin, Kentucky, Johnson prefers the road less traveled.

Now, Johnson says she is “skating across America” for thousands and thousands of miles.

In an environment where reflection is perfection, Brooke thinks about her stepdad, Roger McElroy.

Johnson says, “Roger passed away of a spinal cord injury, and I promised that I would raise money for his recovery. But during the recovery process, that’s when he passed away.”

McElroy died last summer.

Thousands of miles off of the beaten path, Johnson reunited with her stepdad’s brother, Marty, for the first time in a year in Roger’s hometown.

Johnson says, “He looks exactly like him. And it was just like – the coolest moment because I’ve just felt Roger out here, and he brings people out on the trip that help me out.”

Johnson says the thing that keeps her going is knowing that her stepdad would be proud.

Her message? Use what you have, and move while you are able.

“People take for granted the fact that they can move and you never know when it can be taken from you,” Johnson says.

Johnson has been following her own route, one that’s less about directions and more about connections.