Photo: Photos: Getty; Edited by Anna Gallegos
If you drove on U.S. 64 in Oklahoma this week, you may have seen a giant bear walking on the side of the road.
Your eyes weren't tricking you because the bear is actually Californian Jesse Larios.
Larios created the character Bearsun, a tan and white adorable anime-style bear. Bearsun is also a 78-pound costume that Larios is wearing as he walks across America.
The Californian is in a 2,700-mile walk from Los Angeles to New York City to raise money for six different charities, including the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Active Minds, and Autism Society for America, KFOR reported. He has raised more than $56,000 so far.
The walk is also somewhat of an artistic journey.
“I was like, ‘hey, why don’t I live as a real character and do these extreme things just like we see in cartoons,'" he said.
For the past couple of weeks, Larios has been walking through Oklahoma on his Forrest Gump-style journey.
He averages around 28 miles a day. How many miles he walks depends on the weather and who he runs into. Drivers will stop to take pictures with Larios and sometimes offer him something to drink or a place to stay for the night.
“The people I meet are so nice. They make the journey ... and I’ve learned a lot from them," he told the Enid News & Eagle.
Larios reckons he'll get to New York sometime in November, but he's taking his time and enjoying the journey.
Larios is sharing his travels on Instagram as @iambearsun and on TikTok as @bearsun.