As stated in the previous couple of blogs, I have been climbing up and over summits here in PA. Now they have only been around 2450' high, but when you start out at about 1500' at the bottom, it is still a pretty good little climb. I was thinking about those passes I crossed over in CO and UT and NV. The summits might have been significantly higher, but the overall climb to get over the summit wasn't much more.

Today was a perfect day. The weather was nice enough that at about 9:30 AM I got rid of my cargo pants and donned walking shorts and a short sleeve shirt for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was very warm and sunny and is probably an Indian Summer of sorts. I'll take it. The rain passed during the night and it looks to be nice for the next few days.

We are currently near Yellow Springs, PA, a dot on the map at best. As a matter of fact, I may have passed it and don't know it. We are heading to Water Street, PA where we will have our route change. We will make our way west a mile or so to SR 45 and take it up past State College (home of Penn State) and on toward the town of Sunbury. Now this keeps us off the forbidden road of US 22 and gives us a more northerly route which eventually gets us to Easton and the NJ state line. I asked a fellow today about SR 45 and what kind of road it was and he just smiled. I then asked him about the truck traffic and he said it should have little traffic compared to US 22. That cinched it for me. This part of PA must be the dump truck capital of the USA. I've never seen so many dump trucks in my life...and they are the big mammas too. It is a little disconcerting to be walking a sweeping right hand turn and see a large fully loaded dump truck coming at you at 60 mph or more and drift over the white line and into your pitifully small walking lane. Talk about moving fast to get out of the way! Valda thinks I'm out there practicing the Cha Cha Cha.

I want to thank Keith and Peggy Hardie, owners of 'At the Hop' restaurant for letting us stay in their parking lot during dinner. They said we could spend the night and we were going to, but we stopped 3 miles down the hill from them at a church and that is where we are bedding down, right next to the cemetery.

Tomorrow will be the last day to walk this week before taking Saturday off. We are staying at the Greenwood Furnace St. Park and are looking forward to that. Then Sunday, it is off once again on the walk. If you are in the Indianapolis area, tune in to WIBC radio, 93.1 FM at 11:35AM on Sunday for a live phone-in interview. John Strauss has called me a couple of times since I left Indy and does an update. I think they might have a live stream on their website if you live elsewhere and want to check it out.

Pictures: At the Hop, a cool looking barn, and a statue of Admiral Perry who was the first to set foot on the North Pole. This was taken yesterday as I passed through his birth town of Cresson.

Miles covered: 17 Total: 2902.5

Money found: $0.18 Total: $79.96

Okay, here's the deal that I faced this morning when I started walking. What would you have done? There were two ways to where I wanted to go: First, I could walk about 4.5 miles on a narrow windy two lane road with two nasty uphills and one nasty downhill (I drove it last night, so I know about the hills), or second, I could stay on US 22 and walk about 4 miles in a straight line, in a construction zone (15' walking lane with barriers between me and the traffic), and all level until the end where it had a slight uphill. The only problem with US 22 was that there was a sign saying no pedestrian traffic, so I would be illegal. What to do? Normally I would have gotten on the narrow two lane and not looked back, but the road in front of me was pretty enticing. Here's how I handled the situation. I left my walking stick in the RV, I put on one of my safety vests with the yellow reflective strips on it, and I put my cell phone in my left hand. I went out looking like I belonged and looked at the temporary signs, guard rails, and anything else I could look at. I picked up an empty can of spray paint and carried it. In about an hour and a half, I was safely on the road I was supposed to be on, and all those road workers were left wondering who that PennDOT inspector was and where did he go. I actually did inspect the guard rails and made sure they all had the required carriage bolts in the right places.

After all that, the rest of my walk went pretty uneventful. I walked through the town of Cresson, up the 2 mile uphill to Cresson Summit, and down the other side about 4 miles. Valda said she saw a 12% grade side on the downhill side, and I know it was steep, but I'm not sure about a 12%er. I never saw anything out West above 8%. Anyway, we got near the town of Duncansville and it started raining so we stopped at 16 miles walked. Tomorrow I will pick it back up, walk around the south side of Altoona and then head toward State College, home of Penn State U.

We are staying the night at the Weimer's RV Campground in Duncansville and we want to thank owner Carl Weiner for comping us a night's stay. Thanks Carl, we certainly appreciate it.

Personal to Cheri Wilson, yes that is Clark Gable's (the actor) home in Ohio. I knew he was in some movies, but I didn't know he was in Gone With The Wind. Are you sure that wasn't Boris Karloff?

Pictures: The road I didn't take, the road I did take, and a personal to my nephew Jeff Hammersley's little boy, Jack who is known in the family as Jack Hammer.

Miles covered: 16 (rain) Total: 2885.5

Money found: $0.44 Total: $79.78

Today went pretty well until I went out to walk after dinner. I was in Ebensburg and took what I thought was the route to Munster, Alternate Hwy 22. Well, I went down a ways and realized I was heading to somewhere I didn't want to go. So, I made a call to my brother Don and he pulled the Google Map up and told me that indeed I was heading the wrong way and that I could continue and go a half mile out of the way or backtrack and get back on US 22. So, here I was facing a decision I don't like, walk too far or walk West. I walked West and got back on US 22 and continued toward where I should have been going the half hour previous.

Today was just like all the rest of the days lately. It started out cold, got colder as I climbed a summit (picture), and finally in the afternoon, it got halfway warm. Then after dinner, it started getting cold again. I just wonder where Fall went. The leaves are beginning to change in this area and will be pretty in a week or so, but the warm sunny days are not where I am. If I want to get warm, I have to climb a summit.

Tomorrow we should be in or real close to Altoona. I will be off US 22 after about 4 miles tomorrow and will be on that Alternate 22 that goes South of Altoona. I'll hook back up with US 22 on the East side of Altoona. Things are going good and Valda & I are getting real antsy to see the ocean. The walk has been everything we thought it would be, but 7 months is a long time to do somethng like this. We are ready to have it come to an end, take a few weeks off, and then figure out what we are going to do.

Personal to Penny Bennie and her friends, Kathy Nicols, Sharon Williams, Carolyn Hamann, Judy Hoeping, and Dianna O'Rourke. These people were responsible for generating $170.00 for Gateway For Cancer Research through pledges at our 10 Laps for Cancer Research at Monument Circle in Indianapolis on Sep. 6. Many thanks to all and especially to Penny who walked the 10 laps. Everytime I talk to Penny, the amount goes up, so I'm going to call her every week.

The bottom picture is Clark Gable's boyhood home in Ohio.

Miles covered: 16.5 Total: 2869.5

Money found: $0.10 Total: $79.34

I just emailed a friend in CA and remarked that it seems unreal to me that I'm just about done with this walk. It has been my major focus for seven months, and has occupied a spot in my mind for a couple of years. In less than a month, it will be over. I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

I heard today that a friend of mine from Southern Cross Corp. died this past weekend. He makes the seventh person that I either knew or knew a relative, who has died while I've been walking. I also got some news from a friend in Indianapolis whose brothe-in-law was shot in the abdomen in Iraq this morning. The soldier's name is Roy Shaver and at last word, he seems to be doing okay, but you never know about these things. Please keep Roy and his wife Brea, and their four kids in your thoughts and prayers.

The actual walk went real good today. I covered 18 miles, a lot of it still in construction, but the workers were there today and I couldn't walk where they were working. It made for a tough few miles. I had a real nasty climb too and Valda measured it at 3 miles on a 6% grade (see picture). It was my toughest climb since Colorado. I'm sure I climbed a couple of thousand feet and later in the day, I stopped and looked to the west and there were mountains behind me (where did those come from?). I've got them in front of me too and I know what tomorrow is going to bring.

We are currently about 2 miles east of Armagh, PA on US 22, and I have been traveling in Indiana Co. all day. It's funny hearing the people on TV talk about some Indiana resident who did this and that and know they are talking about someone who lives in Indiana, PA, not Indiana the state. Things are progressing quite well and I am becomming more and more confident that I will be in NYC on Nov 1 & 2. It would be a real shame if everyone else was there and I was trudging through Somerville, NJ. I don't think that would go over too well.

Tomorrow is more of the same. I wish is would get a bit warmer. It seems it went from nippy to chilly to cold all in one day. I should get the Ohio and WV stats on the blog on my next day off. WV shouldn't take too long.

The second picture showes some of the road workers, and the bottom picture shows how much dirt they have removed from around the telephone poles.

Miles covered: 18 Total: 2853

Money found: $0.04 Total: $79.24

Today was the day following a day off, and generally, I am a little draggie on those days, but today, we broke out of an early fog and it was a clear sky and sunshine and I hotfooted it across 18.5 miles of Pennsylvania. Now, I might have done more, but I'm in hills and when the sun goes down, it gets dark in a real hurry. The sun set here at 6:51 PM tonight and by 7:15, it was too dark to safely walk. Valda keeps saying you're going to have to start walking earlier, but there is no earlier. I've cut my breaks way down as is and I'm sure not going to walk all day with just some piddly little half hour break. So, the 20 milers are probably a thing of the past.

I had a nice eight foot shoulder with rumble strips all morning, and then in the afternoon, I got into road construction and actually had a whole side of the road to myself for the last 7 miles. That was extremely nice. I always love it when those trucks and cars have a ten foot lane, two way traffic, and no passing, and I'm walking the other side of the road that is about 30-40 foot wide. Kinda makes me feel important. Anyway, I take it when I can get it and it hasn't happened since Illinois and has happened very few times on the walk at all.

Yesterday was a needed day off. I'm finding that I'm really getting tired after five or six days of walking, and I really enjoy the day of doing nothing. We stayed at Keystone St. Park in New Alexandria, PA and enjoyed a nice view of a lake. This morning as I said, there was fog and the lake was nowhere to be seen.

Friday's walk was mostly uneventful. I've finally gotten out of the Pittsburgh influence and the terrain has gradually turned back into a rural setting. I was on a hill today and saw mountains in the far off distance to the east. I'm not sure how far away they were, but I didn't get into them today.

I will be having a major route change in three or four days. US 22 is designated a limited access highway in a lot of places in PA, and I just decided to go a different way once I get to Altoona. The highway became limited in Steubenville, OH and was that way all through WV, and PA to just outside of east Pittsburgh. Finally, we could get back on it and be okay to just west of Altoona, but then it picked up again on the other side of Altoona and was limited all the way to Harrisburg. I'll post our new route later in the week as we get closer to it. It will take me a bit north of the old route and utilize state roads, but at least I don't have to worry about the police stopping me and escorting me off. That wouldn't be a good thing.

I am currently sitting at the Blairsville VFW, and want to thank those good people for letting Valda & me plug into electricity at their pavilion. It was very unexpected but much appreciated. Thanks Bruce.

Tomorrow I continue east. I should be in Altoona in about three days and then start my journey northeast on the new route. Till then...

The top picture is Pittsburgh (notice the overcast). The second picture was taken on the U. of Pittsburgh campus. I had trouble with downloading pictures last Thursday evening.

Sunday's stats:

Miles covered: 18.5 Total: 2835

Money found: $0.41 Total: $79.20

Friday's stats:

Miles covered: 16 Total: 2816.5

Money found: $0.26 Total: $78.79

Belins:

Well I know this is a long time coming, but better late than not at all. I have had pictures of your new homestead since Utah but for one reason or another, it is just now getting posted. First of all, congratulations on your new domicile. It took Valda & me about 6 minutes to decide on this for you. We know you have traveled the West far and wide searching for the perfect new dwelling and bingo, we run across it just like that. Go figure. It is an old structure, built in the early 1800's and has that distinct early pioneer look to it. It is actually two seperate buildings, and can easily be attached together by a covered walkway. Now the one structure needs some roof repair, but I'm sure Robert can handle that, being through Hurricane Andrew and all. The second, main building needs a new skylight, but you can pick that up at your local Home Depot about a hundred miles away.

I understand it will be hard for you two to leave the club scene on South Beach, but we think you will be able to replace that style of living with a whole host of events on your new deck (after you build it). You can have Tupperware parties, hoe-downs, and maybe even incorporate that staple of South Florida, shuffleboard onto your new deck. Just think of the hours and hours of fun those events will produce. Your new neighbors will appreciate it too. By the way, you might want to expand the parking lot.

It is so gratifying to be able to help out friends, especially those that we know will truly appreciate our efforts. The asking price was a modest $678.00 and we placed a down payment of 1% in your name. Even in these hard financial times, the bank out here jumped at our offer to buy...lucky you. Please enclose the check of the down payment with the standard finder's fee of $250.00. Also, please no checks numbered 101, and no checks from any bank in the Carribbean. We are still trying to get the Stump's check to clear, and every time we call the bank in Martinique, we get some crazy woman who speaks nothing but French.

You guys enjoy, and you might want to stop on your way out here at a Tractor Supply Co. (TSC) and pick you up some bib overalls. I believe they have your sizes. Take care my friends.

Above: main dwelling (the one that needs a skylight)

Above: the secondary dwelling (new roof please, notice large window looking South0

Above: perhaps a new line of work for you 'ranchers', goat breeding

Moseleys:

No, I didn't forget you two, how could I? It was that I didn't have a new boat for you until I heard about you two building not one, but two new boats for yourselves. Wow, what an undertaking. But, scouring my memory banks, I remembered a 'steal' that Valda & I saw in Bodega Bay. It is just setting there asking, no begging for someone to pay attention to it and take it home. And, what finer home could it find, than that new dock you two have in your back yard. Now, you might have to dredge a deeper channel to your dock, and perhaps expand the floating dock by 20 or 30 feet, but hey, it's basically a free boat, so what's the worry.

Now I'm sure maritime laws apply and salvage rights to those who are adventurous enough to tackle it. You might want to check out the tides in Bodega Bay and proceed accordingly. Also, check with the Coast Guard and make sure there is no quarantines on the new boat or anything like that. I would think that once you got it righted, the best way to get it to Yorktown, would be to sail it around through the Panama Canal (make sure you thoroughtly check it out for any hidden drugs or drug parafinalia). It should be no problem going through the Canal, and in fact I can see the Panama authorities standing at attention as such a fine piece of sea worthiness drifts through their country. I really envy you two.

Ah, the nature of the boat being maritime salvage, it should be free of any financial encumberance, however the standard finder's fee of $500.00 applies (after all it is a boat and if you can afford a boat, you can afford the finder's fee). See above posting about checks numbered 101 etc.

Mason, I know you and Patricia will have just hours and hours of nothing but fun rehabing this fine fixture of the sea and I only wish I could be there to help you, but I think I have some dentist appointment or something going on during that time. My loss. You two should be very excited about this wonderful opportunity and I wish you only the best in your new endeavor. By the way, don't sell your two new boats just yet. You guys are so lucky. Happy sailing.

Opps, sorry, this isn't it.

Sorry I couldn't get any closer, but I think you'll understand I had a walk to attend to.

What a day. We started out about 8 miles from downtown Pittsburgh and after making our way through road construction mess, and the general uneasiness of not knowing for sure where we were, we got to the confluence of the three rivers and before you knew it we were right smack in the middle of downtown. Now it didn't affect me as much as it did Valda. She had to contend with one way narrow streets, road construction, and traffic. She finally got on the right road and called me when she found a place to pull off...9 miles away from where I was. She said to walk it because she wasn't coming to get me if I got tired. I didn't get tired. After we hooked back up, she asked me if we were about done with Pennsylvania.

I had an interview today with Rick Wills of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I want to thank Rick and Andy Russell the photographer, for their time and also for the help they gave us in navigating our way through the city. They had some tips for us and it was all much appreciated. The story should be out tomorrow and will probably be on our 'media page' in a day or two. Check it out.

The walk today not only took us through the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, but also through the campus of the U. of Pittsburgh. It is about 5 miles east of the city and is actually a city within itself. Quite pretty.

Tomorrow we continue trying to get back to US 22 where we can walk it, and continue on east. We look to be okay for a while or until we get to Altoona, then it is back to trying to find an alternate route all over again. I was told today by the interviewer that New York City was about 380 miles from Pittsburgh...via the Interstate. I'm not sure how much further it is for us, but I know I'm getting close. I can almost smell the ocean.

Personal to Judy Fasig: I made it to Pittsburgh, Judy and this time I got to see it. Also, I swear I felt Dean tug on my sleeve today and tell me wake up, that it was my turn to drive.

Miles covered: 18.75 Total: 2800.5

Money found: $0.73 Total: $78.53

Tomorrow I will walk through the downtown of Pittsburgh. I am about 10 miles from downtown right now and should get there in the morning session. It has been tricky trying to get there from here because I cannot walk US 22. The road has all the appearances of an Interstate but it isn't. Still, I can't walk it and am forced to walk old Hwy 22 which is windy and narrow. Once I get through Pittsburgh though, I will be able to walk Hwy 22 again until I hit the Harrisburg area.

Well it has turned rather fridgid here in Western PA. I had to put my good Ol' Oklahoma State sweatshirt on for the first time since Colorado. I'm not too sure it got out of the 50's today and it rained off and on and even hailed for a few minutes this afternoon. It was a day that made coffee taste so good. We are still picking our way through the metro area with the help of my brother/route planner, Don. We are trying to get to the Churchill area of Pittsburgh without too much out of the way walking where we can pick up the highway again. It's pretty tough walking and having to look at street signs at the same time. In Nevada, I didn't have to do that.

I believe I will be having a newspaper interview tomorrow morning and will let you know about that in tomorrow's blog. For now, not much is happening so I think I will end and have something hot to drink.

The bridge below is the one Ron & I couldn't walk yesterday (but we did anyway).  Notice the rocking chair for Granny in the back of the Clampett truck.

Miles covered: 16.25 Total: 2781.75

Money found: $0.30 Total: $77.80

Today I hit the trifecta I've been talking about for a while. My brother Ron and I walked from Ohio through West Virginia into Pennsylvania...all in one day. It was a pretty neat thing to do and now there are two Hammersley brothers who have walked across at least one state. I am currently in a small town named Florence and tomorrow I head to Pittsburgh.

About the walk today, Ron & I walked about 5 miles through Steubenville and crossed over a narrow, narrow, narrow bridge with a closed sidewalk. We skirted around the barrier and walked the sidewalk because the bridge was so narrow. After crossing the Ohio River on this narrow bridge, we were in West Virginia. The road was pretty rough and with little or no shoulder but we made our way into Weirton and after our chauffeur got lost and we straightened her out, we continued on toward Pennsylvania. We walked about 6.5 miles or so in WV and then it was a small left turn and a slight downhill and a change in the color of the road and we were in PA. Now, most states have a 'Welcome to ...' sign, but PA doesn't on this particular road, so when you look at the picture below, look at the change in the color of the road in the background and that is the state line. Pretty neat, huh?

PA has started out with a pretty good road and hopefully it will stay that way. Pittsburgh looks to be a challenge and we should find out how challenging tomorrow. We are standing at thirty-one days till New York. If we continue like we have all summer, we should be okay.

We had a great day, weather wise, starting out with a sprinkle and ending up sunny and cool. Right now though, it is raining again. It is hard to believe this walk is almost over.

Miles covered: 16 Total: 2765.5

Money found: $0.52 Total: $77.50