Ninety days have passed, it’s another Saturday night and there are only a couple of weeks to go. I suppose it’s only natural to have a whole lot of mixed emotions,
I have now left Maryland, walked into Pennsylvania and didn’t even notice for about half a mile. There were no signs, no change in the pavement, nothing. I just looked at my phone and realized I was solidly in the penultimate state before walking over the bridge. Started off in 30-degree weather, but the sun soon brought it into the comfortable forties. Now they’re talking about record lows in this part of the country. First it was record highs, in fact, I was in 9 different cities or towns that broke heat records this year while I was there. So, we’ll just have to see what happens towards the end of this week, but for now the temperature spread to beat is 75 degrees, from my initial 103 to today’s 28.
As I walked along, I was thinking back on this walk’s prior Saturdays, fun to think about. Week one in blistering Texas. The second was at Scottie’s, third in Texarkana. Then there was Toad Suck Buck’s in Arkansas, Beale Street in Memphis after that. The sixth was Miss Zeke’s Juke Joint in Nashville, then another Nashville on music row, Knoxville the next, after going to Oak Ridge, both with Jimmy. Then there was cool Lexington, changed my route and a lovely Saturday ensued at the Wayside Inn. And now here I am in Pennsylvania, second to last before I arrive, barring any impediments. I’m kind of looking forward to going back on my notes, voice recordings, these posts and the almost 15,000 pictures I’ve taken and pulling them all together to easily share. And even though I’ve been doing this for just over 90 days now, it is still somewhat surreal; I look at the map and think “did I really walk that, am I really this far?”. It was fun to think about for a while but went back to consciously enjoying the day.
After about 10 miles, I stumbled upon a trail I was told about, that is, the Heritage Rail Trail that runs north from the Pennsylvania-Maryland border up to York, PA. Unfortunately, I had to leave after about three miles to head to the hotel, but I plan on resuming tomorrow if I can find the proper route. It was beautiful, a nice flat wide trail, and above all, no cars to worry about, at least for an hour. And it was nice to see other walkers and bike riders. This was more like a walk in the park as opposed to to the park.
I’m pleased to say that my body is holding up remarkably well. I logged nineteen miles today, and though tired, nothing really hurts. I get a little achy towards the end, but nothing like when I started this adventure. The weather is certainly helping. So now, with less than ten percent of the distance to go, I don’t anticipate any physical issues that will impede arrival, if I can just figure out the way to get to the bridge.
