Manns Choice April 27

I had breakfast with Sam Pratt. He owned a manufacturing business in Bedford. We talked about environment and how being respectful of ourselves and each other might effect the environment positively, given that we are part of it.

Log cabins

As he drove me through town back to where I had left route 31 we talked about dreams. Building boats was a big dream of mine that I told him him about. He stopped the car a slapped his side saying it was the same for him as well. He started talking about Phil Bolger a wooden boat builder. A police car sped past us. He hadn't notice the light had changed to green.

Chamber of Commerce

He let me out at the corner of a once famous Inn. It was now the Chamber of Commerce. He would find me later somewhere on the road.

Coffee pot architecture

The road led out into the country side past the coffee pot architecture climbing gently then coming down into a small valley of farms and log cabins from the American Revolution. In the Village of Manns Choice, I stopped at a grocery store to buy lunch, a sandwich to take with me. My picture was on the front page of the Bedford Gazette. The store keeper wished better weather for me. I told her I liked how it was. When I stepped outside it started to pour. A little further on I found a small yellow sided school bus shelter, I had lunch inside.

School bus shelter

More hills, not so gentle, the valleys wider until I climbed up into what a sign called the Laurel Highlands, tree covered mountains, lush green farms that stretched from one rise to the next. In some of the valleys covered bridges crossed rivers. I only saw one man testing the water with a fishing line, but the bait dispenser outside of the sport shop told me that fishing as well as hunting was an important community activity

Rain stopped

The rain had stopped by the time Sam and his wife reach me climbing the hill out of West End. I think I walked about 20 mile, a good walk considering the mountains I had to climb. I was happy to see them, to get off of the road. The rain had stopped but there was a chill in the air. I tried not to think about the mountains that were still in front of me, instead I thought about dinner and a good nights sleep.   Quiet sounds

Bait machine