Happy trails: Woman travels country on horseback

>>> back now at 8:51. in requested today's american story with bob dotson ," comes from a place where 70 miles is not an hour but three days. bob is here to explain.

>> good morning, everyone. on a dusty road i came by a woman who was traveling so slyy will she could see the rows between the corn, and she was a retired schoolteacher who has learned a lot about us.

>> just look at that. that's just spectacular.

>> bernice ende set out seven years ago to see america at four miles an hour.

>> you know, those peaks up there, it's like, come on, see if you can come up here, and i would go to the next one and i'd want to go to the next one.

>> 18,000 miles, so far. if you flew from the north pole to the south pole and back to the equator, that's about 18,000 miles.

>> easy. easy.

>> our paths crossed just north of glacier national park in canada.

>> okay, let's go.

>> a beautiful place like this would be on anybody's bucket list, but bernice prefers the journey, not the destination. she was born on a minnesota dairy farm , taught ballet, and when she retired decided the only rocking in her future would be in a saddle.

>> okay, claire, you ready.

>> she's breaking in a new horse this fall, her fifth.

>> how are you doing back there, claire, okay? her dog found nearly frozen in a ditch, has been with her the entire way. the two set out on this long ride in 2005 . they have been looping around the country ever since.

>> you can't do this without having the faith in others.

>> they help her find her way.

>> can i go down this instead of going around this way?

>> but she rarely accepts invitations to spend the night in their homes. when was the last time you slept indoors?

>> i don't know. four months ago.

>> during a flood. what was your scariest moment?

>> a black stallion tried to steal my mare and tried to kill me.

>> tessie, be careful.

>> you're always right on the edge. you're riding that wave of uncertainty. it demands that i be bold. it demands that i have skill and attentiveness and caution t.demands that, or i'd be dead.

>> most people who wander off on quests finish them and then dine out on what they did the rest of their lives. but bernice just keeps going.

>> i don't go home. i'm home. everywhere i go i'm home. you need more?

>> such freedom is hard work.

>> how thirsty can one horse get?

>> animals need to be fed, brushed. shoed and bandaged. repairs and camp chores take --

>> four hours a day.

>> bernice was divorced and in her 50s when she started this long ride. no kids.

>> i just didn't want to go home and be alone anymore.

>> spirit, come on.

>> so she left to find another kind of family.

>> don't we have children that know how to hold horses?

>> i do.

>> oh, very good, here. you take care of this horse, would you?

>> it's an in-your-face kind of life, no cell phone , no computer, just neighbors she's never met.

>> oh, look who is coming.

>> they ride into smiles. do people turn you away?

>> never, and the kindness that i have experienced is nothing short of phenomenal!

>> folks help her find firewood, food and a place to camp every day.

>> you ride in a stranger, but in just minutes you're friends.

>> oh, my goodness, nice to meet you. nice to meet you.

>> i wish you could just come and see what i see. you would think so differently about our country.

>> a place where good and generous people still pull together to sustain this remarkable journey.

>> i've got thousands of spirits in my saddle riding with me, thousands. happy trails.

>> for "today," bob dotson , nbc news with "an american story" from the slow lane.

>> bernice will soon head east to watch the leaves fill with color and figures she will arrive here next fall.

>> tell her to stop by and come visit her. we want to meet her.

>> it's fascinating because she didn't watch this story.

>> i had about to put a gps in her saddlebag to track her because she doesn't carry a cell phone . not even in a cell phone area.

>> wow, great story. got to bump into more people like