On the Road Again

Yesterday we started the New York section of the walk - - a fairly level road ahead, and a river on the left and the forest on the right, light traffic, and the birds singing - - back to reality. The roads so far in NY are a bit rougher than PA, the paved shoulders often broken up in pieces of asphalt - - have to watch not to twist an ankle. We're not complaining. Level roads are good!

One thing we've noticed is that almost every town has the row of beautiful large homes built in 1890 to 1910 period. Many are still obviously being looked after by their owners - - clean, fresh paint, straight porches, clipped grounds. That period in history must have been a very successful time.

Tonight, we're in the "Creative Arts Centre" in Wellsville. On the main street of town a converted hardware store is now a large 60 seat coffee shop/wine bar that has arts and crafts programs during the day and some music almost every night, and art on every available space on the walls. Tonight is open mic. The stage has held blues and folk singers mainly, and even yours truly got onto the old 1950's Hammond B-2 organ for a few songs.

The two guys at the next table were ready to solve all the problems of the world, install a government with Palin as President and McCain as Vice., recount the 9/11 event, describe the oil boom in southern NY State in the early days. The first oil in America was found in nearby Bolivar, NY.

Pictures:

Genesee River

A grand house in Wellsville

A performer at the Creative Arts Center

Corning, Watkins Glen, Hammondsport, Wellsville

Our "vacation" continues. On Monday mid-morning we headed up to Watkins Glen and had lunch in a little GermanSwiss winery high on the slopes overlooking Seneca Lake, and then toured around a bit seeing two of the beautiful waterfalls in the area.

Today we vacated Corning and in Hammondsport saw the excellent Glenn Curtiss Museum. Curtiss teamed with Bell and McCurdy on a number of aerial experiment including the silver Dart at Baddeck. In Hammondsport he started the Curtiss Co. which at its peak had ten thousand employees in the U.S. and Canada. building Curtiss JN-4's . On display were two recently built replicas of planes of over ninety years ago and it was fastinating to watch videos of these two planes taking off, flying, and landing on nearby Keuka Lake in 2006 and 2008. Curtiss was a man of speed and made records for the bicycle in his teens, and held the record for the fastest man on earth with his motorcycle in the twenties. The AAA listed museum also has beautiful boats, motorcycles and dollhouses on display and an interesting collection of Civil War artifacts. I give it a ten.

The Village of Hammondsport is a quiet, restful little place and the central square is not unlike Niagara-on-the-Lake though much smaller. A very busy railroad used to bring tourists here for boat tours of Lake Keuka.

This afternoon we scouted NY Rte 19, the route for the next three days of walking and were happy to find very few hills. Tonight in Wellsville. Recent weather? Two days ago record highs of over 90F, tonight down to the mid 30'sF. Tomorrow low 60s are predicted - ideal again for walking.

Pictures:
One of the beautiful waterfalls near Seneca Lake

An early airplane model at the Curtiss Museum

A moose outside a chocolate shop in Hammondsport

Itinerary Revised

Back at the end of March we posted the tentative itinerary.
We've made some changes in the dates.

The PA part of the trip ended early on Friday, April 24
The Corning area vacation break is now April 25 to 28
The NY part of the planned trip is now April 29 thru May 13
The Stouffville break will likely be May 14 thru 23rd
The Ontario part of the walk will hopefully start May 24th

Final moment is still June 11th, 4 p.m. Millard bridge, Stouffville.

Corning Holiday

The first time I came to Corning, years ago, there was a major rain storm. I was on my way home from Washington D.C. and thought it would be a good idea to check out the Outlet store to see if the rain abated. I pulled into the parking lot and ran through a couple of inches of rain on the lot to the ?entrance canopy. Someone opened the door and I went in to warmth and to escape from the torrent. Then I started to explore and had one of those magical moments when one discovers something special - in this case, the Corning Museum of Glass. It was only when I went out the in door that I discovered I had to pay and by then I had totally lost interest in the 'outlet stuff'.

Ron had been to Corning before in his bus driving days but had never done the museum. What a wonderful time we had watching a gaffer make a beautiful glass piece in the Venetian style. We did have some fun shopping for our two girls and then went off to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. The latter is not to our taste but it was well done. Ron did try to find some live music Sat. evening but it was not to be.

Sunday found us at the Horseheads Maranatha Alliance Bible Church - interesting, but between pastors. In the afternoon we drove through the historic portion of Elmira where there are dozens of quite large old homes. In the same area, over 13,000 civil war prisoners were housed in 1864-5. We tried to see the Mark Twain Room at Elmira College but it was Sunday and everything was shut up tighter than a drum. We did see Samuel L. Clement's gravesight. Then on to Ron's fantasy - the National Soaring Museum at Harris Hill. Ron has not yet tried gliding - but did enjoy the replica model gliders and two opportunities at simulation.

Tonight we had another of those magic moments. Ron phoned and found some live jazz. We ended up back in Elmira at Green Pastures - a jazz club serving chicken and collard greens. Howard has run the place for 75 years and introduced us to his son who now runs the place. They had been to Toronto twice when Howard Jr was a child. We did hear jazz but from a juke box which has CDs of all the performances ever done in the club. The group who was supposed to show never did. Instead we were treated to a gathering of regulars who included us in their conversation. A neat time.

Pictures:

Margaret heating glass in 'the glory hole'

The crystal table and boat made for the World Fair in 1904

Ron in the simulator

The jazz club

Pennsylvania Completed!

This afternoon, April 24th, at 2 p.m., we reached the New York State line. Took the pictures. A total of 214 miles in twenty-seven and a half days. Yesterday, feeezing cold (40F) with headwinds; today, sunny and warm (65F) with tail winds. Quite frankly I wasn't sure I'd get this far. And we're a bit ahead of schedule, not because of faster walking, but rather my previous estimates from paper maps and Google Earth, were a bit pessimistic.

Our last two nights were spent at Oak Hall in Brookland, PA. What an experience! The place is over a hundred years old, was the country estate of a rich lawyer, then from 1947 - 74 was a school for boys, and recently after 2000 is a ten room B&B The place is huge. Ten bedrooms with bathrooms on the second floor; a great room, several dining-rooms, kitchen, huge porches on the main floor. Lots of antiques and glass from the original family and from the present family - - son of the school headmaster. Breakfasts were fruit plates and veg omlettes a la Martha Stewart. Yummy.

Scenery around here was gorgeous. From the top of hills you could see forever. Those who live in this area are hardy though. The trips up and down hill are steep!

Yesterday we were at the highest point of land on the trip: 2480 feet asl. Water from the triple watershed goes either to the Mississippi and the Gulf, the Atlantic in Virginia, or to Lake Ontario and the St.Lawrence. We started at 361 feet above sealevel in Manheim. Needless to say it will be much more downhill walking from here to Buffalo.

We're taking a break in the Corning area for three or four days.
Pictures:
Oak Hall B & B

Ron at the highest point of his walk

Margaret cheering the arrival at the New York border

Galeton to Genesee

Yesterday, Ron had an easy walk west from Ansonia through Gaines and on to Galeton. The weather was clear and cool - great walking weather and a nice change from the rain all day yesterday. He walked across a bridge on Hwy 6 where the railing was visibly crumbling. A plaque on the other side of the bridge said the bridge had been built in 1924. Ron hopes that the underpinning of the bridge is in better shape especially when 30 ton transports rumble across it.

This area appears to be filled with lodges and holiday homes. The road follows Pine Creek whick leads into Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon and was once a Seneca Indian trail. One old place along the highway was beautifully restored and is a restaurant and inn.

A trip like this brings a new form of intimacy to a relationship. Good thing we're married. Each of us could give detailed descriptions of the other's feet and any changes in them in the past 24 hours. This is actually a very necessary part of each day's routine.

We're getting very excited at this point. After yesterday's walk we drove the next twenty miles to the - ta da!!!!- New York state boundary. We will be in New York state on Friday evening. Now there's a sense of accomplishment.

Today it an almost level road with wide shoulders, but after a couple of miles the rain started. We're warming up with green tea in a old-home-now-restaurant internet cafe updating. The poncho keeps the rain off but Ron's shoes get soaked. This place is furnished with old oak dining room table and chair sets - - quite homey. The next few days we'll be in the bush again: Brookland, Gold, Genesee, and then the New York State line three or four days early !

Pictures:

The bridge

The bridge plaque

Ron at the Internet Cafe in Galeton

Wellsboro

We have been staying in Wellsboro for the past four nights. We've found that it is easier to go ahead of where we are walking to plan the eight mile segments better.

When we were in English Center we had an interesting chat with a highways superintendent. We were commenting on how good the roads are - no potholes. He said that truck drivers complained that Pennsylvania roads are the worst in the country. (They obviously haven't been over Rupert or Elm in Stouffville recently!) The gentleman indicated that they don't get the frost upheaval that we do but that there is a lot of erosion on road edges often near guard rails. Maintenance would be difficult.

The walk has been mostly downhill from a major drop of 6 kilometres before English Center to more 'flat' portions. Although we are in very hilly country we are also in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The canyon is just to the west of Wellesboro. When we visited the observation point in the Grand Canyon Park we were at a height of 1833 ft and looked down 1000 feet to the river below. Apparently at some points one can see for 100 miles. The view really was spectacular. We got some close up sightings of either turkey vultures or osprey eagles. The park is also a habitat for bald eagles. The lookout points were built during the Great Depression as a make-work project and were very well done. There are extensive hiking trails taking one to the bottom of the valley. Somehow the thought of all those stairs didn't appeal to Ron or me.

Wellsboro itself is a pretty town of about 3400. It was a major regional centre for shipping and trade. The houses in the centre of town reflect that heritage. There are attractive gas lamps all down the main street and interesting sculptures in the town park. These days the town is still the county seat for justice but the focus of commerce has shifted more to tourism, hunting and fishing. We actually had to change motels after two nights because our first place was filled for the weekend. Fishing season and wild turkey season for adolescents opened on Saturday. People on the street have asked us if we are here for the fishing. Um, is that the Ron or Margaret you know??

Ron had a little treat on Saturday night. He's been hoping to find some local musicians doing bluegrass. At an establishment ten miles west of town Hemlock Project - banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and bass viol, cranked out an evening of honest-to-goodness down home bluegrass music (every song in the key of Bb, by the way!)

We have passed beyond Wellsboro now headed out on Rte 6 west. Ron is walking. I'm taking a couple of days off with swollen feet - no not cellulites but I'm not taking any chances. We may be out of internet range again soon but - good news! We have checked the original plan and we appear to be about four days ahead of schedule.

Pictures:

Reflection north of Morris

The PA Grand Canyon

Thumptown??

Bluegrass night

Oh, Technology - How Wonderful when it Works

It's April 20th - - we're still walking - - Wellsboro area - - but we're having trouble posting any wps files on the blog.

Larry's Creek

Note: For the original news release see the March archive. We will be in and out of internet range for the next two weeks.

The Susquehanna is a long river with several branches. One branch starts in north western Pennsylvania and runs into the Chesapeake Bay. It isn’t navigable by large boats because although it is wide it is not very deep. For a time it factored in American history as the dividing point between north and south. For the Brownsberger story the river offered a path to go north. Like us they would have been looking for a route that would not take them up and down too many hills.

At the moment the river and its tributaries are flowing swiftly with winter run off. We have been told that it has been a dry spring though and you can see that the river can be a great deal higher. There are water marks along the bridges to prove that and there is evidence of flood plains in several places. All along the river in Sunbury there is a wall which protects the low lying town from flood. On the west end of Williamsport there is a river diversion with very high earth and rock dykes which protect far more than the two ball parks known as the home of Little League baseball. Just west is the town of Jersey Shore where another wall has been built around a factory to protect it. Further west at Lock Haven the Piper Airplane factory employing 30,000 people was flooded out in 1972 and never rebuilt.

About ten miles west of Williamsport we turned north onto Rte. 287. The Susquehanna is behind us but we are now never far from its feeder streams. There is much less traffic on this road so it is possible to listen to the water and the birds - very pleasant. Emily Dickinson’s poem “ How still it is here in the woods’ came to mind. Ron’s geography background is now coming into play. Although I much prefer the rock formations around Muskoka it is neat to see how the Alleghenies were formed. The rock is slate - sedimentary rock which has been pushed up with tremendous pressure. All along the rock you can see rivulets of water and moss working away at its layers. There are signs cautioning falling rock and you can see where the next weakness is developing.

We are right out in the bush at the moment. After yesterday’s grumpy man we came across a cairn built in memory of a doctor who was killed by a black panther near English Centre in 1846. At a village store the locals don’t think there are any more panthers around but they did mention bears. Needless to say I did not drive the van very far from Ron today (Wednesday).

We had lunch today in the general store/restaurant in Salladasburg. After we told the proprietor about the walk, she said, “You must tell the boys.” Ron moved to another table where three men in their sixties were having lunch. The one tucked his foot long beard into his T shirt before eating. His father is still living at age 99 - - many in the local families have lived into their nineties or past one hundred. These guys were prepared to solve all the problems of the nation including going to a flat tax for all. They indicated that in former times many locals worked at the Piper factory or at Bethlehem Steel in Williamsport. There are not so many jobs now. But on the bright side, fishing season was opening up this weekend. We passed several hunting and fishing lodges on the road today.
Pictures:
2 views of the rocks and moss

The dyke we passed on the west side of Williamsport

A billboard advertising the Piper Museum

Into the Bush

(Several days without internet service.)
What a relief to get rid of the noisy roads with constant trucks and Jake brakes and speeders. It’s Tuesday, the 14th , and we’ve turned north onto Rte. 287, a road leading in the direction of Wellsboro and eventually toward New York State. Many times today, we would have three or four minutes with absolutely no vehicles in sight and only the sounds of birds and the rushing waters in the nearby rivers and streams. Very pleasant!

Sunday we descended from Bald Eagle Mountain into Williamsport, enjoyed an extremely well-played Vidor Toccata on the mighty organ at a Lutheran Easter service, and had a huge (for us) Easter brunch in the crowded restaurant at the hotel. On Monday we headed west out of Williamsburg to past Linden - - city streets and then noisy four lane highway.

After enjoying a quite nice hotel in Williamsport for several nights, we did a low cost place ($39.) for Monday. Ya git wachoo pay for! As I was registering us Margaret was treated to the sight of a long-term rotund resident trying to extract pop from the machine. She was unsuccessful and called for Charlie to help out. He rushed out wearing his girth and long black trunks to retrieve their purchase. At least the location was clean. Tonight we’re in a nice clean ski resort lodge with a stove! - - we’re the only ones here. Relaxing. We’ll have some serious mountain work for the next few days.
We’re on the back-road 287 because U.S. 15 is being converted into I-99 where no pedestrians are allowed. We figured we’d be possibly dealing with bears, but so far none have been seen. Our only “encounter” was with Mr. Noisy Grumpy in Salladasburg. As we returned to our van at the side of the road near his home, he yelled at us, “You can’t park here! You can’t park here!” I was able to close the door of the van before his large noisy black dog reached us. A few minutes later, when I had restarted walking, the same man drove up and asked if I was trying to fish in “his” river. I explained the walking-to-Canada thing to him, but I don’t think his mind was able to comprehend. Margaret drove the van up behind him and thereafter kept the van within sight of me for the next few miles. Before the afternoon was over, a trooper stopped to ask us if we needed any help - - the same sort of courtesy that we’ve been experiencing for three weeks.

The weather is still unseasonably cool. Margaret points out that the benefit is no bugs and the carrion doesn’t smell. Warmer temperatures are to start tomorrow. Blooms continue to be abundant. There is a lot of periwinkle around here and there have been some patches of a white crocus-type bloom opened flat in the woods. Leaves on the forest scrub are out and tree leaves are just waiting for a warm day.

Pictures:
Ron and Margaret at lunch on Easter at the Genetti Hotel


The Lutheran church where we attended Easter service


Mr Grumpy's taste in art ain't so bad!

We're in bear country. (This was a flag!)

Climbing Bald Eagle Mountain

Pennsylvania has some roads, E I E I O.
And on them roads there are some hills, E I E I O.
With a hill hill here, and a hill hill there,
Here a hill, there a hill,
Everywhere a hill.
Pennsylvania has some roads, E I E I O.

I’m sure there’ll be more verses. Today we did the stretch from Allenwood to the top of Bald Eagle Mountain. It was quite a hilly approach (both up and down) combined with a stiff north wind. 15 to 25 mph. My face may thaw sometime tonight!

One of our rest stops was at Hidden Creek. A nice sized pond with some huge overfed ducks was surrounded with vintage trailers and shacks. I think one has to own an old pick-up in order to qualify for residency. It was the best version of hillbilly Pennsylvania we have yet seen.

Margaret was a bit concerned about me being a pedestrian while passing the Allenwood Federal Prison but I didn’t see anyone running, or any officials with machine guns.

A few comments about infrastructure. In Ontario it seems that most rural roads have gravel shoulders and a sizable ditch. Beside most of the roads we’ve experienced in PA, the shoulder is paved varying from 12 inches to ten feet wide and have no ditches. Mostly there is level grass beside the road and in many places the fields are ploughed and cultivated to within inches of the pavement. Only in the hilly parts, the roadway is down to two lanes and little or no walking space beside. This might a problem next week when we’re in the bush for a while.

Despite the cold there are many flowers and flowering shrubs/trees in bloom. Some tulips are out. In fact in one garden there were tulips that looked like peonies. The best displays are still daffodils and magnolia trees.

One of the parking spots today was right by a chocolate factory outlet that was doing a brisk business for Easter. We weren’t customers. Margaret said no!

Tomorrow’s Easter - - - Happy Easter to you all.

Pictures:

A neat garden swing at agarden centre

The pond with the big duck

A highway sign

Over 100 Miles Completed

Note: Go to the March archives for the original press release.
Today we are over 100 miles along on our trip back to Ringwood. The milestone feels good. The territory covered today was from Milton (home of Chef Boyardee), through Watsontown to Allentown. We are now following the west branch of the Susquehanna and are enjoying break from all the hills. We’ll be back to that tomorrow.

We have some silly fun along the way as our pictures indicate. It continues to be interesting to follow the historical backgrounds of the places we pass through. There are so many plaques to tell one about the background. Your fact for the day was that we passed Eagle Grange - the location of the first farmers co-operative in Pennsylvania. It was set up after the civil war as a means of driving down prices of supplies for farmers.

Now that you are wiser here is the fun part. Ron made up the sign to mark our 100th mile. We drove back to the sign in the picture because this sign is prettier than the one at our exit end of town.
Ron also notices interesting things. There have been a number of interesting characters decorating barns and houses. When Ron saw the mail box he had to strike a pose.

The other group of pictures show some old farm machinery including the base for a wagon that would have been used in pioneer times.

Today was Good Friday so the traffic was quite quiet. We wish all of you a very Happy Easter.

Pictures:

Mile 100

The pose

An antique wagon base

An antique tractor

At Williamsport - Again!

The “Trail of the Susquehanna” Walk goes on. It is gratifying to find out that Melanie Calandra, wife of Oak Ridges rep Paul Calandra, is on board and is helping with the publicity at home. This walk has two main features - - - our feet hitting the pavement, and people in Ontario contributing to Sunnybrook.

We walked as far as Milton PA today and have booked ourselves into the historic Genetti Hotel in Williamsport. It was a very cold morning (0 - 5C), but pleasant sunny afternoon along mainly level roads. (Rtes. 147 and 405) At noon we enjoyed our bowls of chili in a diner with a view of the river near Lewisburg.

This long walk is not in any way a “religious” event, but, because of the varied past of both Margaret and me, we have taken in visits to a number of churches during this trip: The LOUD and joyful service at LCBC Church near Lancaster where we saw 15 people being baptised; the quiet gathering at Hernley Mennonite, near Manheim, where we were challenged to get The Message out to the community around us; the visit to a Methodist church in Millersburg, where the able pastor spoke passionately from the Bible with no “sermon notes”; and tonight participating in the Maundy Thursday liturgy at Trinity Episcopal in Williamsport.

Margaret has done the arithmetic and reports that we are 16.92 % finished. That means, by my calculation there are only 114,084 steps to go. It doesn’t always get easier. Joints ache when it is cold - and it has been, especially in the morning. Every day one of us has something that acts up. Fortunately a few hours of rest has made most of those things go away. Also it is encouraging to be spending the night at the same hotel we stayed at on the way down and to be hearing such positive news from our friends at home!

Pictures:

One of the gorgeous old mansions along the way

A hedge in the shape of Hershey kisses

Margaret cooking

Along the Road

Well it’s ten days down and two months to go! Today’s forecasted southwest winds were in my face no matter which direction I was walking, which was mostly north. And the temperature ranges from 36 - 47F max - - about 2 - 7C. Cold!

So how does it feel to push a sixty-eight year old body along the Pennsylvania roads. Occasional sore knee, or sore calf, or sore hip, frozen face, as well as monitoring the heart rate on the hills. So, to all you folks who are sitting in your warm home enjoying our blogging, I hope you’ve made your contribution to Sunnybrook and are getting all your friends and associates to join in. Go to www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca click Events click Trail.

Today’s first rant is about car parts. It is incredible the wide variety of car parts and truck parts that are found along the shoulder of the road. Nuts, bolts and washers, metal brackets, pieces of body (fenders, bumpers, grills,) lights, rubber parts, fan belts (whole and shredded), wheel covers, - - it’s amazing that some cars make it to their destinations. And the bungies! Whole bungie cords, broken bungies, and hundreds and hundreds of S hooks. If these bungies were supposed to be holding down loads, one wonders whether the loads made it.

My second rant is about keeping the vehicle between the lines. Many, or shall I say, most drivers cross the white line on a right curve. On one sharp curve, yesterday, it seemed that all the approaching cars and trucks were driving where we were attempting to walk. This is not just an American problem. I remember noticing one day a while back that all the vehicles I could see ahead and behind me were driving on the shoulder on the ramp from Stouffville Rd. W to 404 South.

Today we walked through Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Thomas A. Edison set up his first practical demonstration of electric lighting in a hotel in this town back in July of 1883. Also, the town has obviously suffered from the Susquehanna’s flooding, for the entire town is protected by dikes and seawalls.

Across two bridges was the town of Northumberland. Here Joseph Priestley lived from 1794 to 1804. He was the British scientist who discovered of oxygen.

As I write this, my wonderful partner is filling the motel room with the magnificent aromas of our next culinary delight. Oh, and how cold was it outside? So cold that frost formed on the propane tank as we were doing supper.

Hazards and Huzzahs

Note: Go to March archives for the original news release.
Today we walked from Herndon to almost Sunbury. Snow had been predicted but we just had a few light flakes. At the northern end of Herndon there are two points of interest - one a former Indian path which was used to carry peace wampum from Syracuse to Philadelphia, the other the location of a log trading post built in 1702 that became a tavern catering to travellers and missionaries. The current stone house was built in the early 1800s. The location of the tavern was the beginning point for the first Pennsylvania road north.

As we stop along the side of the road we often are a curiosity. So frequently people stop to see if we are alright. It is so kind. People are quite surprised when we tell them about Ron’s project. The really funny times we have been stopped is when we are assumed to be locals (we’re walking after all) and are asked for directions. Actually the questioners luck out because Ron has studied maps so carefully that he is able to give excellent directions.

At other times we have a few concerns:
With winter runoff and recent rains we do have to watch where we walk. Road allowances sometimes cave in.

When we first arrived I wandered about all the vultures flying around. It doesn’t take long to find out. We have come across a lot of road kill, particularly possums, two small deer, groundhogs and squirrels. The vultures have a real job to do!

We get the odd toot of the horn and Ron often waves at railroad engineers but we continue to hope that more than 99% of drivers really don’t want to kill pedestrians. It can also be a challenge to find safe places to park in the allotted walking distance parametres.

The edge of the road can also have some interesting garbage. I hope I don’t drive over broken glass. The roads in Lancaster were remarkably clean but highways have their usual junk. I was surprised at so many half filled pop bottles with yellow/orange liquid in them. Ron looked at me and said they had to do with long distance truckers.

Sounds of gun shots and a spent shell by the side of the road are disconcerting. Ron says the shots were from a shooting range in a state forest. I’d combine that with a passionate conversation I heard in the grocery store between two teen males about the merits of a particular gun. What is it with guns and Americans? Two hundred and forty million guns (U.S. ownership statistics) is almost one per person.

Dogs can also be a concern. It's great when they are on chains or behind a fence. Often the dogs are lose and we wonder if they are friend or foe. There was only one that came quite close but we hope it won't happen again.

Despite the cool weather, we continue to be delighted by wonderful displays of spring flowers. White and pink magnolias, forsythia and all the flowers are so cheerful they make us smile.

Pictures:
Plaque about the 1702 tavern and Indian trail


The house built on the site of the tavern

An imaginative mailbox

Ron's favourite barn

Right hand drive U.S. mail car

A Typical Day

Note: Go to March Archives for the original news release.

Some of you have asked how our day goes so here is a ‘typical’ day. This varies according to the weather and terrain.
.We normally get up around 7
.We breakfast and pack the car. In many places we have stayed so far breakfast has been provided and we find it interesting to meet others on the road. Ron gets lots of comments if he is wearing his ‘Walking to Canada’ shirt. Inevitably someone has a hiking story.
.We aim to be at our start point between 8:30 and 9. As time goes by we’re finding it easier if we start our day early.
.We make sure that we have our telephones with us and our walkie talkies turned on. Initially we walked with water bottles too but we find it better to walk without. A drink is something to look forward to at the end of one leg of walking. We take a hot drink with us just now because it has been quite cool.
.Ron starts walking while Margaret drives 1 mile or 2 ahead depending on the conditions and weather. Margaret walks back to the point where she and Ron meet and then turns around and walks back to the car with him. We don’t have a set time limit for the distance. We just use a comfortable speed.
.We have a break whenever we reach the car - the length depends on how hard the walk was.
Snack at the end of the second mile, usually consisting of some fruit and yogurt in the morning and Ron loves his peanut butter and crackers in the afternoon.
.Back to walking one/two more miles.
.Then mid day lunch and a big rest (an hour nap or rest for Ron on the bed in the car while Margaret reads.)
.Another round of walking and snacking and breaks happens in the afternoon. Our goal is to walk a total of eight miles per day.
.We usually try to end ‘the trek’ between three and four.
.Then it’s off to our hotel to rest, do laundry, shop for food.
.About every three or four days we go to a park and I use the stove to cook enough healthy food to last for three or four days. I am very lucky. Ron’s favourite food is leftovers!
.In the evening we do e-mails if the internet is available and write the blog. We are usually ready to head toward bed between 9:30 and 10. Sometimes there is something interesting that takes us into the town we are staying in - in Harrisburg, for example, we went the their Art Museum to see an exhibition of modern art (a bit slim but they did have two Lichtensteins).
Anyway by tomorrow we may well have walked in all kinds of weather - snow is predicted! Tonight we are in Shamokin Dam where we will stay for three days while we walk the area.

Pictures:

Ron walking in the rain

Ron walking in good weather

Ron writing in his diary

Margaret making dinner

Millersburg

Note: The news release for the blog is at the beginning of the blog archives.

What a terrific hiking day we’ve had today. The wind was high - gusts between 25 and 30 mph but the sun came out; the terrain was quite flat and we covered about 9 miles. Quite a change from yesterday!

Today our focus was on the Millersburg area. The town was founded in 1807 and still has an old town centre with market square and monument to the GAR - Grand Army of the Republic from the Civil War. What really capture my attention, however, is the ferry that was in existence from about 1825 to 1879. What I imagine is that ‘the family’ crossed the Susquehanna River here - this could just be poetic imagination because this is the only operating ferry still on the Susquehanna. For a time it was replaced in the 1880s by a paddleboat.

The current ferry operates only on weekends and in season and I love the sense of humour of the operator. A sign directs you from the main street to the ferry site. There a sign indicates that you should open the door (attached to nothing) to summon the ferry. The ferry is now, and was then, operated by a person poling across the river. I guess what makes it work is that the river is relatively narrow at this point.
The town itself does not look to be overly prosperous. A few shops are closed and there appear to be many pizza shops and nail/tanning emporiums. But the town has charm. One cause is that each home has a different style sidewalk. Some are clay brick done in a herringbone style. Others are new cement and thick. Still others are concrete but heaved up by weather and broken. Ron’s favourite spot was the gazebo in the main square built in 1891 for a cost of $164. The gazebo was built to be a centre for culture, probably for bands.

Tonight we are staying out of town at a motel on a golf course. The scenery is gorgeous - great high blue hills, beautiful farms and daffodils everywhere. We cooked over our Coleman stove but had to find a sheltered spot to do so. We’re enjoying the sunshine while we can. At the moment the winds are whistling around the door but the sound is quite pleasant to listen to, maybe getting us ready for what's in store. The weather forecast calls for snow showers on Tuesday. Who hires these guys?

Good news! The hike is claiming pounds from both of us. Why is it that men lose weight from the bottom up and women do so from the top down?