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.