Laura Melvin, a 64-year-old grandmother and retired Florida circuit court judge, reacts after completing a 12,186-mile motorcycle journey to all four geographic corners of the United States Thursday, July 21at the Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S. marker in Key West. (Source: Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)
KEY WEST (CBS4)- A 64-year-old grandmother and retired judge completed a 12,186-mile solo motorcycle trek down the Florida Keys Overseas Highway to Key West Thursday afternoon.
Laura Melvin traveled to all four geographic corners of the contiguous United States to raise awareness and contributions for four charities focused on children and families.
The former Florida Circuit Judge, who calls herself the “Gypsy Judge,” resides in her recreational vehicle based from Milton, Fla.
Melvin, began her ride on June 3 in Pensacola, Fla. She traveled west to San Ysidro, Calif.; north to Blaine, Wash.; and east to Madawaska, Maine, before heading south to Key West, the fourth “corner” of the nation and the southernmost city in the Continental United States.
She ended her ride at Key West’s Southernmost Point monument marking the southernmost land mass in the continental U.S.
Melvin’s motorcycle trek benefits Shriners Hospitals for Children, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House and Gulf Coast Kid’s House, a child advocacy center. She chose the charities after being a juvenile court judge for several years and gaining first-hand experience about the needs of children.
