Jim's Spring 2016 Hike: Jim's NC to PA Hike

Here is the journal of Jim's next five days:

Sat., Mar. 12 - Jim's voice: I have enjoyed walking quiet country roads for the past several days. The great variety of tree species in this area fascinates me. There are several types of pines, neither of them the eastern white pines that we are familiar with in NH. Cedar trees are quite common especially along the roadsides. Major hardwoods include several oaks and the gum tree. Gum trees drop seed balls, aka gum balls, and hundreds of these littered the roadside with each step I took as I passed. These balls are very prickly, so sitting down on the ground as I do several times each day requires that I remove any gum balls from my perch. And walking on them is to be avoided for it resembles walking on golf balls with stingers instead of dimples. Today I was once again dodging traffic on a busy highway. After 90 minutes I came to US 1, the same road I hiked many miles on in Florida. Locally here it is known as Jefferson Davis Highway. When I reached it at mid morning the surrounding countryside was a mixture of woods and open fields with occasional buildings scattered around. As I walked north on this road it became more commercial the closer I came to Fredericksburg. I knew today was going to be a good one when I found a coin on the road - in fact I found two, both nickels. Superstitiously I have come to believe that retrieving someone's lost coin will bring me good luck. Every day I stop several times to apply powder and Vaseline to the blister-prone areas of my feet. Today when I did that I noticed a new small blister. I took the time to apply a blister bandage and tape that on in hopes the additional cushioning would keep the blister from getting any larger. By 1pm I was hungry for lunch and Jane met me at the roadside Taco Bell that she had previously alerted me was there. I dodged traffic at many intersections and had to cross the highway - a risky venture at best. After eating and resting for nearly an hour I resumed my travels for another two miles and Jane met me at that point. We found a local grocery store in order to buy some wine for our next hosts, Paul & Louise. We arrived at their house just after 3pm and found them to be gracious hosts who are providing a great dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow and lodging. After showering and chatting for a while, Jane and I went off to church nearby. It is an interesting story about how we found Paul & Louise. We had a claim on our homeowners insurance a couple of years ago and the claim adjuster, Bill, was such a delightful person that we developed a friendship and he asked to be added to the hike journal. When the initial journal asking for lodging went out in February, Bill immediately responded that he had family in Fredericksburg. He asked them and they said yes - another amazing connection! When we returned from church, Paul &. Louise had set out an amazing array of appetizers and we were both quite hungry so this was perfect. We later had a lovely dinner and more wonderful conversation. Unfortunately we neglected to take a picture of Paul & Louise - so sorry about that.

Miles Today - 15..... Total Cumulative Miles - 221

Sun., Mar. 13 - Jane's voice: After a French toast breakfast with P&L, Jim returned to Route 1, where for the next 5 miles he walked through the outskirts of Fredericksburg. The main part of town was about a mile east of here and just before leaving the city he passed near the campus of Mary Washington University. MWU is a state university established for women in 1908. At that time Virginia needed a women's university because the University of Virginia was for men only. Today both are coeducational. It was named for Mary Washington, mother of President George Washington and a long-time resident of Fredericksburg. Soon after this Jim crossed a large bridge over the Rappahannock River. Shortly after that he left Route 1 for the last time on this trip. Now he was walking north on another major highway, US-17, that he will follow for several days.

Meanwhile, I drove into historic Fredericksburg, parked the car and began walking. I was fascinated by all of the churches and their architecture, especially St. George Episcopal Church. I went to the Visitors Center and chatted with a lovely woman there about this great historic city, known for its Civil War battles. There are actually separate cemeteries for the Union and Confederate soldiers that died in Fredericksburg - many thousands of men. There were more combatants in the Battle of Fredericksburg that any other battle in the Civil War - 200,000!

Jim had requested a 12:30 pickup for lunch back in the city and I managed to find just the place for us - Sedona Tap House. We were astonished that this place carried 500 craft brews. Jim was satisfied with one beer and we enjoyed a lovely relaxed meal together. Jim decided to make today a short mileage day in hopes that the new blister will not grow larger. We drove to our next hotel where we will stay for two nights.

Miles Today - 12..... Total Cumulative Miles - 233

Mon., Mar. 14 - Jim's voice: I started out in a damp 48⁰ day - not raining but dampness was definitely in the air. As I left the car I noticed that we could see our breath as we were saying goodbye for the day. Bundled up with multiple layers of jackets and gloves I trod off. Most of today's hike was uneventful, even boring, but my biggest challenge was staying on my feet when those huge semi trucks barreled past me just a few feet away. At times they were like convoys, six or more in a row throwing a wave of air at me at 60mph. I took few breaks today except for a 15 minute stop on a piece of grass to eat my Subway sandwich and banana lunch. I did find another couple of coins today - a dime and a quarter. I passed through a small town named Goldvein. A roadside marker told me that this town in the late 1800's was the site of ten gold mines. Who knew they used to mine gold in eastern Virginia! I was feeling good today so chose to do some extra miles to make up for yesterday's short day. When Jane and I talked at 3pm I asked her to pick me up an hour later. As we were talking I noticed a treasure trove of coins at my feet - about 20 pennies. I left them there for someone else to discover. I reached my target town of Bealeton at 4pm and Jane arrived a few minutes later. My feet were sore and I was really tired but so glad to see my chauffeur on schedule.

After a much needed shower and a bit of rest, we went to my new favorite place to eat - Golden Corral - an all-you-can-eat buffet for the amazing price of $10.99 - tough to beat - and we can't figure out how they make any money!

Jane's voice: I just wanted to say that I also had a productive day today in a different way. I brought a long overdue project with me and finally worked on it today. A friend had given me a granny square afghan that her late mother had made many years ago. There were many holes in it and my friend didn't want them to get any bigger as she used it. I spread it out on the bed and went to work. I never knew my friend's mom, but I couldn't help thinking as I stitched, about the love of a mother that went into this afghan. My friend will be very happy when I return the repaired afghan to her when we return to NH after Easter.

Miles Today - 19..... Total Cumulative Miles - 252

Tues., Mar. 15 - Jim's voice: We had to drive 45 minutes to return to Bealeton, where I finished yesterday. Before starting I visited the local Subway to buy a sandwich for later on - Jane insisted on a picture! This morning's forecast was for rain ending early and sure enough, by the time I started up the road it looked like the rain was over. The first 6 miles out of Bealeton were a miserable trudge against a nearly steady stream of traffic, much of it trucks and most of those were dump trucks. These wide, outrageously noisy vehicles would typically pass me at 55 mph spewing their noxious fumes as they went by. I couldn't wait to get off this road but it took me 2 hours to do so. Most of the rest of the day I was on pleasant country roads passing a variety of farms - some clearly growing crops, others raising horses or cattle. Several times I saw large grain storage silos from miles away. For the past two weeks I have been surprised by how little roadkill I have seen, in particular how few deer carcasses I observed along the road. Today that changed. I am now clearly in deer country - I passed at least a half dozen deer that never made it to the other side of the road. Late in the morning it started to drizzle on this hiker that had left his rain jacket packed in his suitcase this morning - oh oh!! This is the first rain that has fallen on me on this hike, now 16 days old. WOW, have I been lucky! I donned my rain-resistant jacket and rain pants and covered my backpack with its rain cover. The drizzle persisted for only half an hour or so, enough to make me wet but not soaked through my outer clothing. By 1pm I was ready to eat that Subway sandwich but needed to find a location sheltered from the precipitation. It was my lucky day - I found a porch at the local Episcopal church with no one around. The overhang kept me dry as I sat on the steps eating lunch. The rest of the afternoon's hike was uneventful and pretty monotonous. By late afternoon I noticed that my feet were hitting the pavement unnaturally hard, as though my sandals had lost their normal cushioning. I suppose this should have come as no surprise as this pair of footwear had at least 150 miles on them before this hike and another 250 in the last several weeks. Not coincidentally my left lower shin began to hurt, reinforcing my impression that this pair was kaput! Jane met me at the agreed upon location and time - day over. We then drove to our next hosts - college classmate Gene and wife Elizabeth in Aldie, VA. Gene & Elizabeth live on a 300 acre farm with over 80 head of cattle and a super friendly Australian sheep dog named Merlin. We are staying in their guest cottage and are very comfortable here. We had a lovely evening chatting and eating and playing with Merlin.

Miles Today - 15.5..... Total Cumulative Miles - 267.5

Wed., Mar. 16 - Jane's voice: The first 3 miles of today's hike were on a gravel road that Jim had identified as a shortcut over to the James Madison Highway, which he will follow on the next several days. Unfortunately once again, Jim was hiking on a busy highway, but today he was lucky to have sidewalks, then large paved shoulders, then miles of paved bike ways to separate him from the traffic. We talked several times during the day and each time Jim reiterated what a wonderful day he was having - a perfect hike day! His new sandals felt great and he had a lot more energy than yesterday. With a wind at his back and comfortable temperatures, this was a day to remember - perhaps the best so far on this hike. He asked me to delay picking him up until 3:30 so he could walk a few extra miles. As it turned out I pulled into the next driveway after passing him and we later learned from our hosts that this was the estate (called Oak Hill) of James Monroe, our 5th president.

I spent the day in the next town over, Middleburg. It had been described to me as a great walking-around town and that it was. There were multiple shops to peruse and a wonderful lunch spot - Red Fox Inn & Tavern, which is a historic fieldstone inn built in 1728. I did some research at the local library and Middleburg was where JFK and Jackie lived in the only home they ever built together. This is famous horse country and Jackie rode here quite often. It was also where she retreated to after JFK's death - her peaceful spot.

When we returned to our hosts' house, Gene gave us a guided tour of his 300 acre farm - we did this on his Kawasaki four wheeler - what a thrill! We saw many of his cattle up close and personal. It was an exhilarating four mile ride over the very hilly terrain of this Piedmont region estate.

Miles Today - 17.5..... Total Cumulative Miles - 285

Pictures:

1 - Jim approaching a hill to climb toward Taco Bell, where I was waiting for him

2 - Our friend's afghan that I repaired

3 - Jim with his Subway sandwich for a later lunch stop (March 15)

4 - Jim pointing out hundreds of gum balls at the foot of a few trees at our pickup spot on 3/16

5 - Gene, Elizabeth & Merlin

6 - Snickersville Turnpike - couldn't resist