AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A Fort Worth attorney who walked from North Texas to the state’s capital city hoping to land a meeting with Governor Greg Abbott, arrived Tuesday.

Leon Reed, who went to law school at Texas Tech almost two decades ago after serving in the Marines, walked from his home of Fort Worth to Austin, about 200 miles.

The journey took about 8 days. Reed battled blisters, soreness, and the scorching summer heat.

“I’m coming down here letting the governor know, you know, that I’m committed to working on this problem,” Reed said as he arrived at the Capitol. “And my commitment is at such a level that I’m willing to walk 200 miles to come and help.”

He hoped to hand-deliver a letter to Abbott outlining a handful of focal points on police reform, addressing recruiting, enhancing training, updating daily operations, and improving officer mental health.

When Reed walked up to the Capitol Grounds— which are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the man he hoped to visit with, Gov. Greg Abbott, was in —of all places— Fort Worth.

Abbott held a press conference on police funding, announcing a legislative proposal to freeze a city’s property tax revenue if city leadership moved to defund local law enforcement agencies.

“Well, obviously I’m not there today, and my schedule is in flux tomorrow” Abbott said, when asked about Reed’s mission.

“We’ll just have to see,” Abbott continued. “If not, I have no doubt I have representatives who would be happy.”

Reed said his journey would be incomplete without a meeting with Abbott.

“When God told me to come down and and have enough faith in him to take off on this walk, he didn’t say I will see the governor Tuesday morning, so maybe, you know, I’ll just wait,” Reed said.

“And maybe it’s Wednesday when I’m supposed to see him. If it’s not Wednesday, maybe it’s Thursday when I’m supposed to see him, maybe I’m supposed to wait till Friday to see,’ Reed explained.

“Either way, you know, my mission hasn’t been completed yet,” he said.

Reed said he had originally planned to arrive Monday, making him “only a day late on my plan.”

He hopes being a day late won’t leave him a dollar short on his opportunity to visit with the state’s chief executive.