Today might just have been an important day, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow, and then maybe not until I get into NJ. I think I walked up and over my last mountain on the whole walk. Now if that's true, wouldn't that be a hoot? I vividly remember coming out of the Rockies just north of Ft. Collins and looking back at the jagged peaks behind me, then looking in front of me at the flat prairie ahead. This was not quite as awe striking, but it ranks right up there as far as accomplishments go. I took a picture of the mountain (below), and the second picture is the hill which I had walked to take the picture of the mountain (got that?). The third picture is a neat little paved road that Valda took...no significance, just neat.

We are currently in Pleasant Corners, PA, a small town on Route 309 just about 35-40 miles west of the NJ state line at Easton, PA. We are hoping to be in NJ on Thursday evening, but who knows. I tried to figure my schedule last week and got off the first day and then it compounded daily as I didn't hit 18 miles. So, I'll get to Jersey when I get to Jersey. We plan to walk Wednesday and Thursday this week and take Friday and Saturday off, but that isn't etched in stone either. A lot depends on the next two days.

Today started off cold, but sunny and quickly went downhill from there. Within about fifteen minutes of taking off, it started raining and did so for the next 2 hours. Not a hard rain, but a cold sprinkle. It was very uncomfortable but I need to get somewhere and I don't have the luxury of sitting it out. We managed to get in 17.5 miles today and that wasn't too bad considering the day. Tomorrow we head toward a small town named Egypt and then Bath. I don't think we will make Bath, but we should get really close.

Another good day in the 'money found' department. Valda found a laundramat in a small town and now I have some clean clothes. That's always nice. I think we are under ten days walking. Let's hope so.

Miles covered: 17.5 Total: 3071.25

Money found: $2.30 Total: $85.59

We got to Hometown, PA this afternoon and I had a choice to make. Head northeast on Hwy 54 and eventually have to deal with a 6 mile stretch of limited access highway, or turn south on Hwy 309 and have a four lane (so I was told) to walk on. I chose the four lane and immediately started down an 8% grade for about a mile or so. Now this type of walking isn't as easy as it sounds. Every joint in the knees hurts, you've got to really watch your step (don't want to stumble out into the traffic, or roll down the hill), and you have to watch starting to go so fast that people will confuse you with one of those runners. I got through the downhill and entered the rather large town of Tamaqua, a town that desperately needs bypass surgery. The highway splits into two one-way streets and they aren't any bigger than a minute. Here are all these big rigs snaking their way through the narrow streets in this town where the houses are built about 5' from the street curb. Crazy. But, we got through that and finally made our way out of town on the south side and picked up the four lane again.

Now, I started walking after dinner and it was about 5:30. The sun hadn't set but it was behind the large mountain to our west, so it was getting pretty dark. I walked about a mile and was just about to call it a day when I stumbled on a 12' wide shoulder. I couldn't believe it. I got all the way over to my left and walked another thirty minutes and ended up with 18 for the day. I could have walked till midnight.

The 'money found' improved today also. For some reason (economy maybe?) I lately haven't been able to find as much money on the road as I thought I would. Today was different. As Valda said, we had a banner day: good weather, 18 miles, and a bunch of roadside change. I hope tomorrow is just like today, I should be about three more days in PA and then I'm going to cross the Delaware like old George did a couple of hundred years ago. Think someone will paint a picture of me?

The top picture shows another typical 'coal town'.  The bottom picture shows one of those mountains of coal I blogged about yesterday.  Makes you wonder what kind of nourishment the trees get from the coal.

Miles covered: 18 Total: 3053.75

Money found: $1.81 Total: $83.29

For the last two or three days, I've been walking through coal country here in eastern Pennsylvania. As you walk along, sometimes you can see whole mountains being stripped of the black coal it holds. There are small pieces of coal all over the roads, probably having fallen off some of those dump trucks I see all over the place. Most of the towns I walk through are old 'coal company towns' with the highway being the main street and row houses lining the street on both sides from one end of the town to the other. The houses used to be 'company housing' for the miners and have evolved to what they are today. Sometimes whole blocks are individual homes or business that are all joined together giving it the appearance of one long building. The towns are usually situated on hills and those hills probably hold more coal (see picture).

We spent this past Saturday at the Locust Lake S.P. near Mahanoy City and I want to thank Jamey Finocchio, Deb Mamrosh, and camphost Mike for their generous help in making our stay pleasurable. Also, thanks again to Jamey for her donation to Gateway and kind words in a blog comment.  We won't forget it and it was much appreciated.

We've stopped for the night about 2 miles east of Frackville and are heading toward Hwy 54 just east of Mahanoy City. We will then head toward Hometown and points east. This morning I started out in Mt. Carmel and took a windy mountain road named Snake Road. The only life on that road this morning besides myself was a bunch of wild turkeys. They were all over the place. Valda tried to get a picture of them, but they wouldn't strike the pose. When I got over the mountain, I arrived at Ashland and looked back at a sign that said Mt. Carmel was 6 miles...on Hwy 61. The mountain road was only 3 miles and thus saved me 3 miles of walking. I like that.

We were visited yesterday by long time friends, Cammie Allen and son Chris who live about 30 miles north of the park. We hadn't seen them since 1983. The bottom picture shows Valda enjoying her day off.

New Jersey is in sight, and we may have another route change. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday's stats:

Miles covered: 13.5 Total 3035.75

Money found: $0.01 Total: $81.48

Friday's stats:

Miles covered:  13  Total:  3022.25

Money found:  $0.40  Total:  $81.47

West Virginia stats:

Miles walked: 6.5 Average miles per day: 13

Days walked: .5 Days off: 0

Money found: $0.07 Average money found per day: $0.14

Average money found per mile: $0.01

Number and names of counties walked through, 1: Hancock

State highways: 2 US Highways: 0 County roads: 0

Major bridges crossed: 1/2 (Ohio River)

Most unusual find: Blue lid to Tupperware container

What can I say about WV? It was a very brief walk through the chimney portion of the state. We were in the town of Weirton all of the way and before we could even get settled to being in the state, we were out of it. My brother Ron joined me on this segment of the walk and in fact we walked in three states this day. I can't say I got a true picture of WV by being in the state for only two hours, but it was on my route and it counts as a state walked through.

Ohio stats:

Miles walked: 247   Average miles per day: 17.5

Days walked: 14   Days off: 2.5

Money found: $6.19   Average money found per day: $0.44

Average money found per mile: $0.025

Number and names of counties walked through, 11: Preble, Miami, Montgomery, Clark, Madison, Franklin, Licking, Muskingum, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson

State Highways: 2 US Highways: 2 County Roads: 1

Major bridges crossed: 1/2 (Ohio River)

Most unusual find: A blue light flashlight (we use it almosst daily)

Ohio started out flat like eastern Indiana and stayed that way until I got to the Zanesville area where the terrain began to turn hilly and was dotted with small family farms and pastures full of cows. We picked up US 22 at this point and traveled it through this picturesque terrain. We entered Ohio on a windy Sunday in September and in fact the state suffered major power outages while we were walking through. Some 750,000 people were without power for a number of days. The people we met were very gracious and took the power failures in stride. It was a pretty state and one I hope to spend more time in exploring the rich heritage of their past Presidents.

No, I didn't misspell the word in the title. Shamokin is the name of the small town we will be walking through tomorrow. It's a curious name and I wonder where it came from. Anyway, tomorrow morning we will be smokin' through Shamokin. This morning, as I stated yesterday, I passed the 3000 mile mark of my walk. This happened at noon, not 10:40 as I thought, due to rain and a little puny feeling I woke up with. Valda took a picture of me as I left to start my 3001st mile.

We had to say goodby to SR 45 yesterday. It was a really neat trip through this part of PA and I encourage anyone to take that road if they are ever in this area...especially in the Fall. The farm scenes are spectacular and there are good restaurants dotting the landscape here and there. It was a mighty fine journey. Today I continued on US 15 to Sunbury, crossed the Susquehanna River at Sunbury and finally ended up just a little south of Paxinos. I want to thank J. J. and Jim who work at the Sunoco complex just south of Paxinox for letting us spend the night in their parking lot.

As stated, it was a gloomy day for the most part and rained some on us this morning. These days are really the pits because it gets dark way too early and impedes my walking. It was actually too dark to safely walk at around 4:00 PM today. But, between the darkness coming early and my rough feelings, I managed to get in 17.25 miles. Not a bad day for an old guy.

After tomorrow, we are taking Saturday off. We will be in Locust Lake S. P. about 30 miles from where we are at the present. I don't know about the broadband service there, but if it is available, I will post Ohio and W.V. stats. If not, I'll try and get them next week. No blog tomorrow night...sorry.

Top picture shows me walking at 3000 miles, the bottom two pictures Valda took overlooking a valley. She couldn't get the total view in one frame. Pretty neat.

Miles covered: 17.25 Total: 3009.25

Money found: $0.38 Total: $81.07

Valda & I continue to be amazed at the generosity of total strangers. It happens again and again and I have blogged about it several times. Today was no exception. We got up and had a rare breakfast out, at a real good country restaurant on the outskirts of Hartleton. After that, the daily routine kicked in and I put in nearly 11 miles before lunch. Valda met a man who makes mobile offices in a couple of barns and he let us sit in the shade in his parking lot. Then it was anothe 5+ miles and dinner break. Now we were needing water and Valda found a campground in the little town of Winfield, PA that would fit the bill just fine. River Edge RV Camp & Marina is owned by Donna & Dave Steenstra. We not only got our water and other needs addressed, but we got to stay the night too. Thanks to Donna & Dave for comping us a night in their campground on the banks of the Susquehanna River. It is much appreciated.

Tomorrow we continue on toward Nathan's World Famous Hot Dog Stand. I can almost taste those hot dogs now. As you all probably know, the day I end the walk is also the day of the NYC Marathon. We plan on working around that event since I couldn't get them to work around mine. We will leave the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge at 11:00AM on Sunday and hopefully the bulk of the marathon runners will be past that spot. We aren't sure about our route to Coney Island since it is the same route the runners will take in the other direction, but we have an alternate route in the works. We will be flexible. If Valda & I have learned anything on this journey, it is to be flexible. It will work out.

Check out the 'media page' for the lastest and greatest pictures and newspaper article of yours truly. If anyone knows anyone who lives in Hawaii, please let them know about my website and have them log on. Hawaii is the only state missing from our log on list. We'd like to make it all fifty states.

We will be crossing the Susquehanna tomorrow morning and then at about 10:40AM or so, I will walk my 3000th mile. How about them apples?

Pictures:  A thermometer in the town of Mifflinburg, Harvest Moon over PA, and a neat pastoral scene that I walked by today.

Miles covered: 17.75 Total: 2992

Money found: $0.27 Total: $80.69

We've begun to make our way across the mountain ridges of this part of PA and crossed over our first one today at Woodward. I had a short uphill of about a half mile and then it leveled out for about 4-5 miles. I was walking on the side of the mountain ridge, with a large hill to my right, and a sharp drop off to my left. I knew I was on the side and wondered the whole way when I was going to have to climb over the large hill to my right. After the 4-5 miles, I started a 7% downhill grade for about 3 miles and then before you knew it I was back between ridges. I'll take those type of crossings any day.

We once again had a perfect day of weather. It was mid-70's and sunny with a slight breeze. Clouds moved in around 4:30 but were gone in an hour. I stopped walking about 2 miles east of Hartleton, PA and should be done with SR 45 tomorrow morning. I'll be somewhat saddened to see it go, it is one of the great roads in this whole country. It rivals Colorado 14, it's that good.

We drove back into Hartleton and are spending the night in the parking lot of Chilly Willy's, a local ice cream shop and restaurant. I want to thank Shawn & Stacey Moyer for their hospitality, and T-shirt. Both are much appreciated.

Tomorrow we just continue on with the quest. We should have 13 days of walking left until the end. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won't have to dip into our three extra days. I plan on taking them off all in one stretch.

The barn scene is typical of the area. Chilly Willy's. Valda stopped and filled up our drinking water jugs at this spring today. We don't see too many of these and as a matter of fact this is the first one on the walk and the only one we've seen since North Dakota in 2006.

Miles covered: 18.25 Total: 2974.25

Money found: $0.00 Total: $80.42

Well the broadband is working tonight and if you checked last night's blog and didn't see any pictures, you need to check it again. You have some bonus pics to look at. We've gotten into some really pretty areas of PA and the fall colors just enhance the natural beauty. It is rolling hills, small quaint farms (I saw a sign at one yesterday that said it was established in 1793), picturesque little towns, horse drawn buggies, and of course the mountains full of trees. It is a very nice place to be right about now.

Michelle Bixby came out and shot more pictures of me this morning and also did an interview for her newspaper. It should be on the website soon. She also walked 3 miles with me and shot pics the whole time. I can't for the life of me understand why she wants 200 pictures of a 60 year old man walking down the wrong side of the road, but I want to thank her for her interest.

It was a gorgeous day today. Low 70's, slightly humid in thePM, and somewhat overcast. The dump trucks returned today apparently after taking Sunday off. We are currently just east of the small town of Aaronsburg, PA. We are right on schedule to get through PA in another seven days of walking (based on 18 miles/day). Then it is five days in NJ, and then the two days in NYC.

Chris emailed us and said he had some new pics on the photo gallery page. Check it out. Tomorrow we head to Mifflinburg, PA. I hope to hook up on Wednesday with a young fellow who worked with me when he was 15-16 years old (he's 41 now, I think). Chris Allen lives in Bloomsburg, PA but used to live in Johnson County, IN 25 years ago. I don't think I've seen him since then. He plans to walk with me on Wednesday as I make my way through Sunbury. It is really a treat for me to make contact with people I haven't seen in years as I walk through their neck of the woods. I really appreciate them taking time out and spending it with me.

That's Michelle with me, some great scenery (check out the clouds), and a neat round barn I walked by today.

Miles covered: 18 Total: 2956

Money found: $0.20 Total: $80.42