Day 99 - Vernon, New Jersey

Day 99 -- and a good day it was. Got up around 7:15. Everyone else was packing up to hit the road -- but not me. I had a leisurely breakfast, then did my hostel chore of vacuuming. Asked someone from the church if I could stay a second night (supposed to be a one-night maximum) and she said sure.

Decided to go for a walk, so I put on my Walkman and headed out on a fairly major road. Planned to go for an hour, then turn around. Wow, how I missed the woods! Instead of leaves, roots, rocks, dirt and bugs, I was looking down at broken glass, trash, crumbled pavement and dead animals. Lots of dead animals! Usually I smelled them before I saw them -- and oh, what a terrible smell. Most creatures were unrecognizable -- flattened pancakes with fur. Except for the deer (just the front half) and the bird with the broken neck.

I saw one place where an animal had been recently scraped off the road -- little bits of fur still outlined its final resting place. There was no sidewalk, so I just did my best to stay on the side. Overgrown bushes made this nearly impossible at times. Then there were the cars zooming past -- supposedly at 40 miles per hour -- which is quite a bit faster than my 3 mile per hour body is used to traveling.

Most of the cars that had to swerve to avoid hitting me were driven by someone either on the phone or changing the radio station. My life was definitely in far greater danger on the road than it has been for the past three months in the woods.

Then I had to go to the bathroom. When you’re in the woods, it’s easy. Find an appropriate tree in an appropriate location, and do your thing. On a busy road, without any gas stations or restaurants, it becomes much more of a challenge. I finally found a couple of abandoned lodges a good distance off the road and ducked behind one of them.

Even just trying to cross the road can be stressful. How am I going to handle taking left-hand turns (in a car) into busy oncoming traffic?

When I finished my walk, I was more disgusted than refreshed. No pretty views or cool breezes. I remember one nice tree, a couple of wildflowers, and a fleeting glimpse of a live deer. My image of Vernon, New Jersey has been permanently altered as a result of my 1 ¾ hour mid-day roadwalk.

P.S. -- I was on County Route 94.

Finished my walk and was on my way to a strip mall when I saw Dave and Smittee in a gas station parking lot. They were talking to Nimblewill Nomad, author of Ten Million Steps, who’s hiked from Key West, Florida to Cape Gaspe, Canada twice. Seemed like a cool dude. Considering how early Dave got into town, it was obvious that his feet were feeling pretty good.

Tried to decide whether to hike out or not. Since we’d end up at the same place either way, we decided to take advantage of the hostel for the night. Used the computer and the phone. Bought stuff for dinner, and Smittee cooked chicken parmesan subs. Delicious.

Deuce, Bad Moon, Moonshine and Noggin came in. Got to spend another luxurious night on the carpeted floor with a quilt under my body and a pillow under my head. Oh, we got to see fireworks, too. Watched them from the church parking lot so we wouldn’t have to pay. Not bad.

"Hear no" Longshanks, "Speak no" Deuce, and "See no" Smittee