Aurora to the Golden Gate on three pairs of shoes

It took Jim Armbruster three pairs of gym shoes and exactly six months to walk from Aurora to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Armbruster, 60, had two goals in mind when he decided to make the trip, which began May 6 and finished Oct. 6. The first was to get more brand awareness for Marklund Home, a Bloomingdale facility that offers 24-hour care for severely and profoundly disabled infants, children and adults. His 24-year-old son Nathan lives there.

His other goal was to raise money for the facility's general operation. In total, he raised more than $120,000.

"For me, it was my spiritual moment in life," said Armbruster, who had talked about doing this for the past 20 years. "I was able to walk through this country by myself on a solidarity endeavor that I enjoyed every single moment of."

Sunday morning, about 50 Marklund community members gathered at the building to welcome Armbruster home and celebrate his successful trip. Marklund's CEO Joel Rusco praised Armbruster's big undertaking.

"This is a great day to be able to celebrate what we did for Marklund," he said. "It's very rare that somebody does something like this."

Jim Armbruster's wife, Lynn, visited her husband almost every month. When he finally crossed the bridge, she was overwhelmed with emotions.

"To me, he's my husband and I am amazed and in awe of his perseverance and dedication," she said. "I admire and respect him incredibly to be able to stick through this.

Jim and Lynn's daughter Stevie Armbruster, 26, thinks what her dad did is pretty fantastic.

"The whole Marklund community, I feel like everyone is so motivational toward him," she said. "It's so exciting."

As for the humble traveler -- who on some days hiked through deserts in 110 degrees and on other days made his way through blizzards -- he plans to step up his regular, pre-endeavor exercise schedule of three to four times a day.

"It's going to be tough to work out six hours a day," Jim Armbruster joked.