And a beautiful night it was. No tent needed!
A guy in a pickup truck pulled up beside me this morning. He said he'd seen me walking yesterday and asked me how far I'm going. He gave me 20 bucks and then sped off, yelling "Rock on, dude!" out the window.
Who wouldn't want to be out walking? P.S. I just saw a swan fight a goose on this lake. The swan won.
It all started when Randy gave in to his curiosity and yelled down to me from his yard in Johnsonburg, NJ. He offered me a drink and we sat on his porch with his neighbor Mel and talked for a while. He let me take a shower, gave me a box of Girl Scout cookies, and even gave me money to go buy dinner at Sweet Jane's down the road. I ended up spending the rest of the evening at Sweet Jane's. In addition to preparing some delicious food, Kevin and Sheila (the owners) let me sleep on their property and gave me the slice of carrot cake you see pictured for my breakfast this morning. Cindy, Chaz, and David invited me over to their table for a while and shared their wine with me. But I think my favorite moment of the evening was when Kevin took a book off the bar, a book about the history of the township, and asked me to write something and sign my name on the title page.
The Paulinskill Valley Trail, which runs along the path of an old railroad
This road was lined with bizarre mailbox contraptions, many not secured to the ground, but this one was easily the best. According to one resident, the guy who plows this road gets a kick out of flying down the street so fast that the snow he's pushing slams into the mailboxes and knocks them over. Any artists or designers out there have a creative solution for these poor people?
I stopped at this gas station today to buy a soda and rest for a little while. I was sitting outside when a guy came up to me and said he was from Far Rockaway. We talked about New York for a little, and then another guy walked over and, out of the blue, gave me a bag with some food and Gatorade in it. Then a woman, Cynthia, came over and gave me a handful of money. She came back a few minutes later to get my name so that the guy who hosts a television show at the children's group home where she works could tell the viewers about me and ask them to look out for me and treat me well if they see me on the road. Then I met another couple, Jenna and Todd, who were really excited about my trip and wanted to get my photo. Todd proclaimed my walk officially "gangsta". I was hesitant to leave this magical place, but I had to hit the road eventually.
Last night as I was heading down the road I saw a man on a riding mower. I walked over and asked if I could pitch my tent somewhere on his property. He (Dennis) and his wife Nancy turned out to be the kindest, most generous hosts you could imagine. They fed me dinner and a double-pie dessert, let me use their shower and washing machine, and sent me on my way this morning with breakfast and a little care package of goodies. Dennis even drew me the map you see above to show me a shortcut I could take.
By the way, I think my favorite thing I learned about them was that they met at a toga party in the 80s at a nearby bar. (That's not classified information, is it?)
From the park information plaque:
Hemlock bark provided the tannic acid used to cure as many as 50,000 hides a year, making this the second largest tannery in America during this era. The river and the forest paid an enormous price for the Tannery's good fortune. Wastes dumped into the river turned it black. Logging created a landscape littered with the debris of abandoned trees cut only for their bark. In 1875, an uncontrollable fire ignited and swept across the forest floor, engulfing and forever destroying the tannery.On a lighter note, I just met some college kids out on a photojournalism assignment. They were excited by the encounter, but they did have one regret: "Man, I wish we had some weed to share with this guy."
Pennsylvania does it again! I was lucky enough to meet another wonderful couple last night, Marie and John. Marie fed me her world-famous lasagna (plus strawberry shortcake!), and then John and I watched Butler almost pull off an amazing upset over Duke. They gave me a bed for the night to keep me out of the rain, and made sure I had a full stomach when I left this morning, as well as a bagged lunch for the road (Marie: "Well, I had to pack one for me anyway, so...").
It's not clearly related to anything nearby; apparently the owner of the laundromat next door put it there just to get people talking.
Last night began something like this:
"Hi, my name's Matt. I'm doing a walk across America."
"Cool. Want some wine?"
Jeannie and Norbert, as it turns out, are a very friendly and interesting couple who had, until fairly recently, been living in wine country in Washington (and making wine, including the bottle from which I was drinking). Their house, which I got a tour of after dinner, was built in 1802 and once served as a hotel. In 1933, H.P. Field, the owner at the time, tried to murder his daughter, his wife, and himself. You can still see the bullet hole in the door from when he fired at his daughter down the hallway. The room where I spent the night was a post office in the 1860s. And so on. It was an amazing place.
Pictured above, in addition to Norb and Jeannie, are son Rory and nephew Addison (other son Cory wasn't home at the time). Pictured below are some old photos of Norbert's Irish ancestry.
The owner of the farm where I stayed last night wasn't too interested in talking, and I thought he was maybe a little suspicious of me, so I said a quick thanks and went out to set up the tent. But as I was heading out this morning, he brought his granddaughter down to see me off, and she brought me the "surprise" you see on the left side of the photo. Also pictured: socks in need of an airing and a couple of good-luck charms given to me by friends before I left.
As I was heading west down Route 45 yesterday evening, I could see a tremendous thunderstorm brewing ahead of me. I pulled over at the nearest farmhouse, owned by a retired Bucknell professor, and was given shelter in this shed/barn mere seconds before the sky opened up. Also provided free of charge were a Coca-Cola, some local beef jerky, a roll of toilet paper, and a two-hour lecture on the virtues of hard work.
Waiting for carnival season to roll around again
I was sitting on the side of the road taking a break when two plain-dressed women pulled up in their car. They said their school was selling hoagies, but they gave me one for free, along with a copy of the famous Chick Publication "This Was Your Life!", seen in the picture open to my favorite page.
There are some creative drainage solutions out here in PA.
As I was walking through Bald Eagle State Forest yesterday, I came upon Nigel filling up what looked like about 50 gallon jugs with water from a natural spring.
Below: Resourcefulness in action!
Most of the road signs in Pennsylvania have a date written on the back, presumably the date of installation. This seems like a good policy in case this information is otherwise lost. But I have a feeling the person who put up this sign would have no problem recalling the exact date it was installed.
A few women stopped their car in front of Millheim Small Engine to take photos with me. The owner of the establishment (Henry?), pictured with his daughter Emily, came over to see if I needed anything to drink or eat. I told him I was all set, and he stuck a $20 bill in my hand.
Emily's response to the amount of walking I'm doing: "I hate that."
Last night I dropped by this church to see if they would let me stay on their property for the evening. Pastor Nathan warmly invited me in for the community dinner they were having, which included a triple-cake dessert! He also asked if I wanted to take a shower, but I said no thanks. Don't want to get spoiled! I pitched my tent beneath a crystal-clear starry firmament and contentedly dozed off.
They really wanted to help support me on my walk, but didn't have any cash. What they did have, however, was a gift certificate to Applebee's. Suffice it to say that soon I'll be eatin' good in the neighborhood.
