Planetwalk Wednesday April 23, 2008

The morning clouds had disappeared by the time John Graham drove me out to the white barn across the road from a grand white farmhouse. Its porch sagged and the siding was in need of more than a fresh coat of paint. An old man with white hair, in blue overalls sitting on a bench peeked around a corner and waved in our direction.

Day 2 begins

Earlier we both said goodbye to Rachel and Dr. Tim full of energy and ideas for Planetlines. They headed back to Maryland, promising to see me again on Earth Day a year from now.
 
It was about 10 am when I started walking, not looking for a big day in miles, I paced myself over the rolling hills and then down to the Town of Monongahela. After lunch John G and I walk down to the river. John took a water sample and analyzed in with the PASCO probes. A string of barges passed as they were gingerly pushed by tug down the river.
 
That done I started out to continue on route 136 west. The street looked familiar to me particularly Hills family restaurant. I had noted in my journal from my first walk that I had stopped there on an evening in November. I stopped there again, this time to inquire about the Rotary meeting that was suppose to be there this evening at 5:30. It was posted on the Rotary sign just outside of town, but the cashier did not know anything about it. I went on.
 
I had walked about quarter of a mile when it started raining and I realized that I had missed the turn off for route 136 and was now on route 80. I turned back onto a parallel street in hopes of running into it further on. But just to be sure I asked one of the two men standing in front of a furniture warehouse if I was going the right way.
 
He was about my height with short straight back hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. Matt was written I the corner of his grey sweater. After he confirmed the directions he asked where I was going. I told him I was walking to California and he laughed. "Aren't you the fella I met years ago up on Route 40? Me an my buddy was moving an air conditioner." Just as he said the words I was thrown back to the time. We shook hands a bunch of times and I went on to find Route 136.  On the way up and over the hills I stopped to think how getting lost I had made a rediscovery.
 
A few miles later I stopped at a Denny's Road House. At the top of a hill and where several roads came together, it was another place that was familiar. Denny was inside, in the cool darkness, had only owned the business for about 3-years. But he told me the building dated back to the late 1700s and as far as he knew it had always been a roadhouse. I sipped a cool glass of water while I listened to some of his trucking stories.
 
At the end of the day John G was waiting for me in the parking lot of a church. I would start there in the morning. Rain clouds were gathering as John drove me to the hotel in Washington, Pennsylvania.


John Francis