There was a time in my life when I would have trembled in awe at the idea of a taco dog.
Not much rain this time, but some snow and a lot of hail.
The sign reads: "Mary Ann Iron Furnace 1844-1851"
Marianne, PA
Last night I stopped at the American Legion in Knox to see if they'd let me pitch my tent there. They wouldn't, but a couple of people at the bar made some phone calls and found me a nearby lawn I could use. Gary Sr. (Whitehorn) bought me a few beers and I sat and talked with him and his son Gary Jr. (G-man) for a while. They had a lot of good stories to tell (during their military days, Whitehorn danced with Jayne Mansfield and G-man had tea and dates with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia), and they were both really supportive of my walk and the fact that I'm doing it all for its own sake. They offered to drive me to their house for the night, and G-man said he would bring me back to where I left off in the morning, but I'm still hoping to find lodging each night en route, so I set up my tent in the nearby yard instead.
And they're still here!
(FYI, the town's name is actually spelled "Nineveh", contrary to the sign.)
Speaking of wildlife, did you know PA has a sizable elk herd? I didn't!
Jason L. Haas, where are you?
Pennsylvania has a whole set of color-coded detours already signed and ready for use.
I offer up a prayer of thanks to the God of Nectarines every summer
Accidentally coated with tar when they were paving the road?
The porch blends seemlessly with the architecture of the rest of the house.
Back up the road a bit, a local pastor/auto dealer stopped me to talk. He gave me five bucks to buy lunch and wanted to give me his card, but couldn't find one on him. As his wife dug through the glovebox looking for one, he chatted with me. "So where'd you start? New York City? That's great, that's great. Now, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" And so the sermon began.
As you may recall, I was given an Applebee's gift certificate by Denee and Scott a while back. It's valid in the greater Pittsburgh area, including, it says, State College and Altoona. I found an Applebee's right on my route in Hermitage, PA, closer to Pittsburgh than either of the aforementioned cities. But they refused to accept my gift certificate, so I continued on down the road toward the greater Cleveland area.
As I walked past, Gary yelled up to me from the parking lot. He was waiting outside while his wife was in the doctor's office. He was really excited about my walk and wished me the best of luck.
Almost all of my direct interactions with other people on this trip have been positive, like this one. If you've been reading this blog, you know that.
But I do sense a lot of suspicion and unfriendliness from people as well. People glaring at me, not returning my waves. The thing is, none of this is worth reporting; the negative stuff tends to be non-events. And, of course, I could be wrong about these people. Maybe they didn't wave back because they didn't see me, or maybe they did and I didn't see them, or maybe they were just really focused on driving and not hitting me. I'll never know for sure.
Kind people tend to be outward-reaching, while the suspicious ones withdraw themselves. Thus the kind people will always be over-represented on this blog, because they're the ones engaging with me and giving me something to talk about. And making my trip as wonderful as it has been so far.
My first night in the Buckeye State was a great one. As I was setting up in the back yard, Darlene made me dinner and brought it out to me. She also did my laundry and let me take a shower. Chad and Brandon (pictured) thought my trip was "awesome!" (Their sister Ashley was a lovely young lady, but wasn't around when I snapped the photo.) And this morning when I was heading out, Darlene made a donation to my walk, which I playfully like to call the Get-As-Far-Away-From-Here-As-Possible Fund.
My favorite trio of names so far: Moadus-Fuda-Flask. It just rolls right off the tongue!
I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but the fine print at the bottom of the sign indicates this guy's name is Eugne Lucci (sadly, it's actually Eugene).
Center of the World? That's nothing. I'm from the Center of the Universe!
Just to set the record straight, most of the religious people I've met on this trip are totally normal and respectful people, not like the couple of pushy, preachy ones I've mentioned on this blog over the last week or so. Their interactions with me are generally run-of-the-mill: a quick "God bless you" or "I'll pray for you tonight", both sentiments I'm happy to hear. And occasionally something more meaningful happens.
I met a couple of guys, Randy and Curt, in a little park by the river in Warren yesterday. They meet regularly to just sit and think and talk about God and the world. They told me a little about their faith and asked if they could say a prayer for me. I said "Sure!" Randy took my hand, Curt placed his hand on my shoulder, we bowed our heads, and Randy came up with a prayer for me, right on the spot. It was a really wonderful moment.
Later in the day they tracked me down on the web and sent me an email, which included a line that's really stuck with me. On contemplating my walk: "We thought what a great way to go about life and remove yourself from the main stream."
I love how these guys make time to share their experiences and work through them together and just think together. Religious or not, the world could use a lot more of their kind of thoughtfulness.
Many of my nights are like last night. I ask someone if I can pitch my tent on their property, they say okay, and I never see them again. In case you were wondering what happens on those nights I don't write about, it's this. Nice, quiet, nothing exciting.
To give you a little more detail about last night, the guy who agreed to let me stay on his property pointed me way down to the far end of a field, right next to his neighbors' house. I guess he figured if I'm a serial killer, at least I'll kill them first. How neighborly of him.
I briefly met Bob (pictured), one of those neighbors, last night. He told me to give him a holler if I needed anything. He then came down to check on me this morning, and asked "You want me to fix you on up some eggs?" That's an offer I'll never turn down, so I went inside and met his wife Diane (who didn't want to be in the picture even though she had on awesome giant duck slippers) and their two dogs, and Bob fixed me on up not just some eggs, but an entire breakfast, including dessert (a jelly doughnut)!
In case a car runs off the road into this sign, these posts will cleanly snap off at ground level, reducing the damage to the vehicle.
After getting turned down by a couple of people last night, I came upon High Water Farm, owned by Scott and Teresa. They welcomed me in and told me to make myself at home, and Teresa cooked me dinner (fresh eggs from their own chickens!) while I set up my tent (they said I could sleep inside, but the tent has started feeling like home; I did take them up on their offer of a shower), and also breakfast this morning before I headed out. They own nine horses on the farm, and board three more. Their daughters Stephanie (pictured) and Amy are talented competitive riders. Lacey the horse was also supposed to be in this photo, over on the left, but ducked out of the way as I snapped the shot.
Day 28
Fun on the bridge
April 23rd, 2010
I took this video back at the Paulinskill Viaduct in New Jersey, and just got a software update that allows me to post it.
