Daily Archives: 2013-10-29

Day 21

I forgot to mention a little bit about Brian and Amanda yesterday. Brian is a systems engineer and works on security systems that remotely control train brakes when signals are ignored (distracted driving, for example!). Amanda has just started working on a masters in special education. They also have two dogs, Rally and Hershey, shown here with Brian as he prepares a hearty breakfast:

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Soon thereafter we used his GPS programmed to the exact coords of the pickup point. He dropped me off and I quickly donned warm garb as there had been a hard frost last night; it was COLD!

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There were times today, such as right at the beginning of my walk, when I could see a LONG way ahead — this is over two miles:

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Is this one business or two?

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Mini sub-station, I guess:

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Oh — let’s nip down this side road to see “Wizards of Clay” — sounds really interesting. It’s only 2+ hours away, after all!

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I think I spent half my day in Bloomfield. East Bloomfield, Bloomfield, West Bloomfield. I wonder if the plantings around this giant snow plow are an indication of global warming:

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Pretty setting:

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Park in one of the Bloomfields:

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The sky was virtually cloudless today and made for some beautiful interactions between trees and light:

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Double take — cell tower growing out of water tower?

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Time for a snack — honey crisp apple from Wegman’s:

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This is Carol. She stopped to talk and ask me what I was doing. It’s such a pleasure when people do this (provided they are not aggressive!). We had a conversation about my trip and she very kindly offered me a granola bar (I had just stocked up at Wegman’s), help if I got in trouble, and even a lift for a few miles. I explained to her that I REALLY wanted to walk the whole thing.

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Incidentally, someone asked me if the police had taken any interest in me so far. The answer is no. No interest in the slightest.

Stream of the day:

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I was tempted, until I realized that it would be REALLY heavy to push to Toronto:

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I saw lots of nicely kept farm properties with corn growing right up to the lawn:

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Yet another lovely property:

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This harvester was cutting the corn as I approached but stopped when I got there so I didn’t get a picture of it in action:

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Interesting historical factoid:

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Cattle on a hill:

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I bet the grass around this pond is quite squishy:

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Corn on a slight hill, so I can get a picture of it. Thank you, hill:

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B? I have no idea:

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I got choked up for while when I saw this:

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A very similar memorial for Tom Samson, my son’s best friend, is in Toronto. Kasha, Tom’s widow, has walked the Santiago de Compostela, by the way.

I was tempted to end my day at this motel — it has phones!

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Not too long after that motel I crossed the I-390, which figures in the route we usually use to drive to Toronto:

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Where I DID spend the evening was with this wonderful couple, Don and Kathy, the uncle and aunt of a young man I know back in New Jersey. They have a beautiful home in the the countryside of the Livonia region. Don works from home for Avaya, and has been a volunteer fireman most of his life (JLB take note!)

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They came and picked me up in Avon and gave me a little tour first to show me Conesus Lake (cone-EE-shus, I believe). It is the most western of the Finger Lakes. As usual, it’s hard to take a picture of a lake, but here are a couple looking east and west at the northern end:

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We also took a quick trip over to see Hemlock Lake, the Finger Lake just to the east of Conesus. This one has no cottages on it and no boats — it is used as the water supply for Rochester, apparently.

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Kathy prepared a sumptuous meal of pasta, venison, vegetables, salad, apple pie. Oh boy! They also invited over the pastor of their church and his wife, Chris and Brenda:

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We had a terrific time around the table. Before I had quite finished my apple pie Don got a call from Howard Appel, a reporter for the local paper, the Livingston County News. Don had notified the paper earlier that I was walking through the county and they wanted to do a phone interview! Wow — I’m famous now! Anyway, it was good fun and Howard expressed a desire to do a similar, though shorter walk sometime soon. I invited him to contact me later to pick my brains.

What a super day — great weather, great progress, new friends, fabulous food, supreme hospitality. Towards the end of each walking day I’m feeling like I can’t keep on going with this crazy plan but always I’m raring to go by the next morning, especially after an evening like this one. I wonder if I will feel the same way on Thursday, when it is supposed to rain.