Iuka was visited last week by the most interesting couple, Torin and Paige Rouse, who are making their way, step by step, across the U.S.

Their journey started in May of 2022 as a search for personal happiness. Torin says, “I was leaving my corporate job, and I wanted to figure out what I could be happy living without, so I got rid of all my things and started backpacking through the mountains.”

Now Torin and Paige are traveling with their 15-year-old dog, Jak, through the South. They have visited Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.

According to Opal Lovelace, who helped make their stay in Iuka easier, the couple said Iuka was some of the friendliest people they had met to date.

Opal and Terri Whitehurst were most generous and saw that they were fed great food during their visit. They were going to stay in Jay Bird Park, but Terri invited them to stay in “The Place” event center on Front Street. Hometown Pizza fed them their first night, and the Snack Bar packed them slug burgers for the road. Beth Davis made a donation, and Opal bought a few fried pies from Anita at the farmers market for them. The Iuka Fire Department let them take showers and do laundry during their stay.

The couple posted on their Facebook site: “With warm hearts, we want to doubly thank these two: Opal helped orchestrate our Iuka welcoming party, brought us pizza, and took us out for breakfast, while Terrie lent us the trust to stay in her event center and joined us for breakfast also. It was great getting to know you both! Anybody who knows them is lucky to have such good souls in their life.”

Torrin and Paige's website is walkingamericacouple.com