Chris Murphy would walk 50 miles, and he would walk 50 more, just to be the man who walked a hundred miles when off the Senate floor.

This is the fourth summer in a row that the Democratic senator has walked across Connecticut, and his journey from New Milford to Groton concluded on Friday. In between, his route took him through Bridgewater, Roxbury, Woodbury, Middlebury, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Prospect, Cheshire, Wallingford, Durham, Killingworth, Deep River, Essex, Old Saybrook, Old Lyme, East Lyme, Waterford and New London.

This is the first year he walked along the shoreline in southeastern Connecticut. His trips the past three years were north-south from Hartland to New Haven, east-west from Killingly to Danbury, and east-west from Voluntown to Greenwich.

He posts pictures, videos and impressions to Twitter, Facebook and Medium along the way, though he hasn't been reading the comments. Depending on one's view of Murphy, they're often something to the effect of, "It's great that you're doing this! Stay hydrated" or "Keep walking when you hit the border."

Murphy started his 17-mile journey Friday by Rocky Neck State Park, spent about a half-hour talking to people in The Book Barn in Niantic, ate lunch at the relatively new Meatballs Ristorante & Pizzeria on Bank Street in New London, and talked to people outside the New London Homeless Hospitality Center.

The Day caught up with Murphy while walking nearly two miles from Bailey Circle in New London to Bridge Street in Groton, crossing the Gold Star Memorial Bridge. It was his first time walking across the bridge.

"What's remarkable about this walk is the consistency of issues from year to year," Murphy said. While people across the political spectrum have talked to him about immigration this year, the walk otherwise reminds him that the headlines and cable news shows often aren't reflective of what the people of Connecticut care about.

He said the only time the Democratic presidential primary came up was at the Tuesday evening town hall in Cheshire, a venue more likely to draw activists anyway, and that impeachment has not come up on his walk.

For the record, though, he said of his thoughts on impeaching President Donald Trump, "I think the House is doing the right thing to begin an investigation, but my belief as a potential juror in the Senate is I should let the House make their own decision."

Rather, he's hearing about issues like cost of living. He's hearing from people approaching retirement who love the state but are scared they can't afford to retire here. He's hearing about the burden of student loan debt.

While crossing the Gold Star Bridge, Murphy stopped briefly to talk to a man biking across, who shared his struggles with the VA after serving in the Army Reserve and National Guard.

"Are you a Republican or a Democrat?" he then asked Murphy.

"I'm a Democrat," Murphy replied.

"Oh man," the veteran said in disappointment but shook Murphy's hand before launching into criticisms of the Trump-Russia dossier.

Murphy had told The Day earlier after referencing a chat with an opponent of tolls, "Some of these conversations are an opportunity to try to find common ground with people who probably have never voted for me and never will."

In his posts on Medium, Murphy also said he talked to a woman struggling to pay rent and care for her three kids on $15 an hour, a 72-year-old former welder working at Walmart to support her son through his addiction and mental health issues, his summer interns, a 19-year-old cancer survivor who is an advocate for the Affordable Care Act, and employees of the Connecticut Food Bank and Deerfield Farm.

Murphy said he has been spending nights this week either in his house in Cheshire or his parents' house in Old Lyme, but that he's "very disciplined about always starting exactly where I ended the night before."

When Congress is in session, the senator typically spends weeknights in his home in Washington, D.C., where his sons go to school, the Hartford Courant reported in an article about Murphy putting his Cheshire home on the market. Murphy said Friday he's still looking — he'd like to be closer to his parents' primary residence in Wethersfield — and the Cheshire home still is on the market.

While Murphy grew up in Connecticut and has always had a home here, walking the entire state makes him see it differently, he said. The downside is that "this country, and this state, are wildly pedestrian-unfriendly. It's so unbelievable how hard it is to walk in the main roads of this state."

He ended the interview after crossing the Interstate 95 on-ramp and Bridge Street, behind schedule after stopping to talk to people but determined to make it to Esker Point Beach in Noank in time for a planned celebration with Groton Democrats.

e.moser@theday.com