Farmscapes, Skyscapes, and Fortunes

At the end of an almost twenty mile day, we pulled into The Village Motel in Richfield Springs, NY, dropped off our packs, grabbed our laundry for the laundromat, and went down Main Street to grab some Chinese food at Foo Chow’s.  The food was pretty good, and at the end of the meal, I broke open my fortune cookie and look what popped out.

Fortue from Foo Chow’s in Richfield Springs, NY

At every turn during this journey of planning and now execution it feels like the Universe is behind me all the way.  In addition to the fortune that seemed to be written just for me, we had the best day to date with scenery while we walked scenic US Highway 20 from Sharon Springs to Richfield Springs, NY.

Farmscapes,

Skyscapes,

And even the US-20 tourist traps were spectacular today.

Even though we had a long day, we had a really good day.  We talked about the experiences we both had purchasing our first homes.  We talke about the things we knew, thought we knew, and wished we knew during that process.  We talked about our reasons to buy rather than rent, and how we felt about those decisions in retrospect.  We talked so much we managed to climb a fairly long hill out of one ot the endless valleys in this part of the country without it seeming like the hard work my legs knew was going on.

We’re coming up the learning curve, and our time on the trail is clearly starting to pay off.  I’m tired tonight, but I’m not exhausted. We have long days coming, but I have confidence we can tackle them.

Slowly, but surely we’re taking the small steps required to reach a distant goal.

A Walk in the Rain

Last night, we managed to find an abandoned lawn maintenance shed behind an abandoned Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, NY.  We set up the tent inside the shed, and waited for the rain predicted to fall during the evening.

We woke up this morning dry after spending the night in a tent in an abandoned garden shed in Carlisle, NY.

The weather prediction seemed to be in our favor.  There was a small chance of a thunderstorm starting at eight in the morning and a small chance of light rain after that until around eleven.  The weather was warm, and during the tent breakdown activities, I actually saw some blue skies. We headed down the road at about fifteen after seven.

Four miles into the trip, the thunderstorm hit.  We were across the US-20 from the Sharon Springs Garage, a Mahindra Tractor, Implement, and Off-road Vehicle dealer, and Dad needed to use the restroom anyway.  We popped across the highway, and I dropped my pack under their awning to wait out the rain.

Dad finished his business inside, and we both waited and watched the rain.  We watched, and we watched, and we watched. We talked to Jeff and Zach about the Roxor off-road vehicle based on the Jeep CJ3 design offered by Mahindra.  We talked about the international nature of the tractor trade globally. We ate a Clif bar and some Fritos. Still, the rain fell.

Eventually, we decided that there was no such thing as bad weather….only inappropriate clothing.  We threw on our rain jackets and pants and hit the trail.

Pictures were sparse because of the rain, but this sign tells the story of the rainy farm valleys beginning to show the first signs of spring under the gentle drumming of a warm spring rain.

US Highway 20 - Scenic Byway….all the way to Oregon.

We made our tent mile destination with time to spare.  We were soaked from top to bottom, but in relatively good spirits.  Tomorrow, we've got a good weather forecast for perfect walking weather so we're going to try to put up a twenty mile day.

Life on the road is not always ideal, but time after time, we're finding that the trail brings just what we need.