Day Fifty Three

Friday, May 13, 2011
Distance: 3.8 Miles

This was a restart and catch-up day. I set out around noon, found a locally-sourced, slow food-souled, good and good-for-you cafe, ordered a breakfast sandwich and started banging out tardy updates to the blog. I spent a few hours there jacked into the outlet, my seat, and recounting the miles. I finished for that moment, placing me into May. I walked through the Ohio University campus, a familiar and welcome contrast to the past weeks. The tenor of the people, businesses, buildings, and activity were youthful and buzzing. The rural areas are decidedly stoic and measured - they are weathering the conditions of time, economy, and circumstance. Built, poised, and set for the stationary log-haul.

I called my mother from this cool and beautiful sunken garden:
OU Garden

I found a calzone place and turned in for the night on the far side of town, ready for the full day to come.

Day Fifty One & Fifty Two

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Distance: 35.5 Miles

Thursday, May 12, 2011
Displacement: 0 Miles

I woke up late and had a tough go-no-go moment. I went, I was done with West Virginia. The day was the hottest and brightest I had faced yet and I paid for it. My pace was good, and I travelled along the Ohio River for a good stretch.














The day was hot and I got exhausted in the heat. I was two-thirds of my way through and I had to quit. I had slowed to two miles per hour and I still had twelve miles to go. I called a taxi and after some confusion on the phone, I made it into Athens, Ohio for the night. And the next, I rested a day to avoid more thunderstorms. I walked to the theater and saw Hanna. A great movie that was limited in it's impact by staying focused as a study of characters without placement in a larger context. I also bought gear for the sun: black underwear (to be worn a la bike shorts), fast drying shorts, long sleeve fast-wicking white t-shirt for UV protection.

Day Forty Nine & Fifty

Monday, May 9, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Displacement: 2.6 Miles

Monday was a lazy day. Tuesday was planned to be a light day, over the Ohio River. The motel was no longer in operation, so I had to return to West Virginia for the night and stay at the well-positioned, and beautiful Blennerhassett Hotel.


I had dinner on a patio across from a French family with adult children. Did not expect that.

Day Forty Eight

Sunday, May 8, 2011
Distance: 4 Miles

I relocated further into Parkersburg, next to the movie theater and mall. Parkersburg is a shrinking city that has managed to preserve its dignity. Old homes are lived in and kept up. The people have the pride and means to make the place worth living in. I found a Tim Horton's; I thought they were only in Canada.

I saw Thor: great cast (although tens like Natalie Portman are rarely struggling astrophysicists), great set-up, Asgaard looked stupendous, and then the film wilted. It was never clear if the characters were immortal or not nor how supremely powerful beings could engage in battle that wouldn't immediately end in a holocaust of destruction with no survivors. However, these Marvel movies are establishing a series of characters and future stories I eagerly anticipate.

Day Forty Seven

Saturday, May 7, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

Rest Day. Hot shower, stretching, television. Boring and welcome.

Day Forty Six

Friday, May 6, 2011
Distance: 37.9 Miles

Today followed along the North Bend Rail Trail at the start. About a third of the way through I linked back up with US 50. My planned campsite turned out to be mythical, so I hiked into the night towards Parkersburg. Three miles out I called for a cab, my legs were cramping and the cold had sapped me. I ended at a Red Roof Inn just at the city limit.

Day Forty Five

Thursday, May 5, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

Rest day, my feet hurt, and I'm walking around like an old man. Pennsboro is a quiet, pleasant town.


Panorama:
Pennsboro, WV

Day Forty Four

Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Distance: 41.5 Miles

I woke up early and headed out before dawn for a long day. I continued out along US 50 West. I linked up with part of the North Bend Rail Trail. The spookiest part was the long #4 rail tunnel - a Scooby Doo set come to life.


Daylight came and peaked and left for the night. I finished along the ridges and rolls at Pennsboro, West Virginia. In town, a man and his son walked back from a store and greeted me. He magnanimously handed me two Old Milwaukee tall boys to reward my long trip.

Days Forty Two & Forty Three

Monday, May 2, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

I stayed put for these two days waiting for weather and discouragement to pass.

Your Kind Attention Please

I will now be traveling cross-country by elephant.


That is all.

Day Thirty Seven

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Distance: 15.2 Miles

I stopped at a gas station's convenience store and found this, rejoice all ye Jugalos:


I continued on through the significant mountain terrain and made my way back onto Maryland. At the top of the day, I found myself at Backbone Mountain, the Eastern continental divide, along with a small, unlisted motel attached to a family run pizza place. I put in for the night and an early morning start the next day.

Day Thirty Six

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Distance: 14.6 Miles

I thought today would be easy, wrong. This was a day of significant mountain climbs, and mountain goat, mountain rim routes.

Panorama (Photosynth, Silverlight required):
Saddleback Mountain

When I reached the campgrounds I found out that there were tornado warnings along with thunderstorm warnings and bunked down in a cabin for the night. This place was plastered with signs, that is my indelible impression.

Day Thirty Five

Monday, April 25, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

Rest Day. I microwaved a full-size, non-microwaveable DiGornio pizza for over 35 minutes. Ate it. Survived.

Day Thirty Four

Sunday, April 24, 2011
Distance: 23.3 Miles

I overfilled my backpack's three-liter water sack and it formed a leak. I forgot my iPhone's power cord. I realized this two miles in to the day. I walked back. Picked it up sheepishly. Not a great start to the day.

Romney:





Coke Bottling Location





Native American Burial Mound

The day was beautiful and I captured a panorama. You will need the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in to view this. Internet Explorer has it by default; or you could get it for Firefox, Chrome, or Safari if you'd like. Link: West Virginia Gorge

I continued on, seeking the Keyser Wal-Mart to find a generic bladder to replace mine which broke. I began running low on water and had to ask a family celebrating Easter if they might fill up my water bottle. They happily obliged, and I now carry more water with me. About four miles from Keyser, on the back roads, a red pickup with a father and son pulled over to ask if I needed a lift. Considering my burst bladder, early backtrack, and low water I hopped in the bed and they drove us straight to the Wal-Mart I was angling toward. It was a roller coaster trip back there rolling and racing over the knolls, knobs, hills, and ridges. I got there, found a puny two-liter sack and put in at the Microtel next door. It got very dark very quickly; I was quite fortunate to have gotten the ride.

The West Virginia geography is unlike any I have seen. Massive formations roll and form, cut by streams and rivers that slither between the giant mounds. It is beautiful and daunting.

Days Thirty to Thirty Three

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

The first day here was a recovery day. The next two days I was told by the television to expect rain - which did not come. So I wasted these days expecting to slyly avoid weather. I felt particularly bad when I woke up late in the morning opened the drapes and found a beautiful day staring back at me. But I was too late to make it to the next site. The fourth day it did storm most of the day. I was kicking myself for not being two days further along while I waited out that storm. Here I ate salad, croutons and dressing out of the bag. Nice.

Day Twenty Nine

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Distance: 29.5 Miles

The longest distance I have yet covered, also rainy, humid, mountainous, and cold. The middle of the day was spent warming up at a small restaurant in Capon Bridge, WV waiting for a thunderstorm that had soaked me to pass. It did pass around 1430 and I continued on up and over ridges and ridges to Romney, WV.

Day Twenty Eight

Monday, April 18, 2011
Distance: 6.1 Miles

Today I finished what I had planned to complete the day before, a short jaunt to my last stop in Virginia. I made it easily to the small motel that placed me within striking distance of my next stop inside West Virginia. The trees are continuing to come alive, sprouting fresh new leaves. It is striking.

Day Twenty Seven

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Distance: 4.2 Miles

I planned a longer trip into the country, but I got distracted by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. One-third museum, one-third working farm, one-third preserved estate and gardens it reminded me of Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills. The house, gardens, and farm, Glen Burnie, was owned by a prominent founding family in the area. They were early friends with George Washington and launched his political career in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Passing through generations, the
estate was entrusted to the public in perpetuity.

Some pictures:


Sundial


Celtic Cross


Crabapples trees in bloom. The depth is an optical illusion - the distance between the rows decreases as it runs from the house (and camera).








A formed, living gazebo.



Rock wall with built in steps.















The Asian Garden

I retired to a motel on the far side of Winchester. A shot of the wonderful night sky.

Essential Gear: Weather App

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-cast-weather-radar/id348779486

This is the best iPhone weather application I have used. It is simple and robust. I use it every day and it is four dollars. Get it if you need weather information from your iOS device.

The trail of links (source first) through which I found it:

http://brooksreview.net/2011/04/weather/

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/04/27/ben-brooks-weather-app

Days Twenty Five & Twenty Six

Friday, April 15, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

These two days were days of weakness. I cloistered myself in the motel. I was spooked. The frigid, bruised concluding miles of my trip to Winchester hurt me, froze me, and left me trepidatious. Beyond lay West Virginia, a decidedly different place, and it loomed large in my head - becoming alien, grotesque, and frightening. I was paralyzed; I clung to the familiar: Netflix, DVDs, grocery stores, the bed, and desk. Darting among these perches and dawdles betrayed my churning angst crashing against my continental endeavor. I was caught - tangled in fear and shame, in comfort's lee.

Day Twenty Four

Thursday, April 14, 2011
Displacement: 0 Miles

I explored Winchester, Virginia and found a lovely, interesting town. The trees lining my route downtown pulsed. The wind, sun, and newborn leaves fluoresced a joyful, verdant glow.


Central pedestrian walk - in the brickwork is either a solar calendar or a solar clock, which uses a church steeple's shadow as a pointer:


The town's library was breath-taking:














The glass floor is translucent and illuminated from the floor below.


The library was veined with wrought-iron, functioning, spiral staircases.


Along the pedestrian mall sat a monument to the area's Confederate soldiers.





My friend Josh Mullen told me now that he lives in North Carolina, it is fascinating to hear and learn about the War of Northern Aggression from southerners and I could not agree more. The change is significant - more reverent with less emphasis on the machinations of the enterprise than I am used to.

And a beautiful, Masonic door.

Day Twenty Three: Catch-Up

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Distance: 0 Miles

Today was spent indoors watching DVDs from the front desk, eating Asian hibachi buffet, and groceries for dinner.

Not much to report.

Day Forty One

Sunday, May 1, 2011
Displacement: 0 Miles

Clarksburg is a burnt-out husk of a city that no one should ever have to experience. Clarksburg is plastered in depressing municipal reminders that Stonewall Jackson was born here in 1824. Wikipedia tells me that it was a pre-war glass manufacturing center that has halved its population since 1950. I scrapped my plans in town, returned to my motel, and plan to put in as much distance as I can starting early tomorrow.

Day Forty

Saturday, April 30, 2011
Distance: 17.7 Miles

Easy trip between two close towns, Grafton and Brideport. Cows and ducks:





It was a pleasant day, got a sweet discount at a motel, and ate some Panera.