Jack and I are good friends. We tried to walk across the United States of America. We’re not exactly sure why we were doing it. Part of     1     (its) was to test ourselves; to see     2     we could face the challenges. When I was a teenager, I often daydreamed that I was going to walk across the United States after     3    (graduate) from high school.    4     , I didn’t do that.

Before I knew it, I was     5    my thirties，married, a job, yet still had this idea in my mind with each passing year. I figured I was too old and my opportunity     6    (pass). Then, a few years ago, I met Jack, who     7     (be) thirty­five years old and quit his job as a civil engineer in New York City to walk across the United States. He wasn’t doing it for a cause as part of an organization. He was doing it     8    (simple) because he loved to walk and discover. The idea was back and I no longer had an excuse. We planned on averaging 20 miles a day and taking some days off     9    (rest), so we expected that the walk will take about 6 months, realizing it could take     10    (long). We were in no hurry: The total distance would have been about 3,100 miles.