Sunday, February 3, 2013

Every Crossroad

We began walking from the church parking lot in Cross City following the concrete sidewalk thru the town's four stop lights to the end of the walk where I crossed over to the Nature Coast.State Trial, and asphalt railroad bed, that parallels the highway thru Cross City, Old Town, Fannin Springs and all the way to Chiefland. At almost all the intersecting roads a car would stop me or people would come over to talk. Though it was hidden from the main road much of the time and passed over the Suwannee River and along stretches of unpaved roads with few people there was she ow a car pulling to the trail just as we rolled past. Then they would stop an take a photo and get an explanation or tell of how they had heard of our travels. A man on a recumbent (hope I spelled that one correctly) on a long trip stopped and we shared stories of the road. A pair of sisters on their way to run a marathon caught a glimpse as they passed, they turned about and came down the trail for a curious conversation. Even with the secluded trail I had a full day with conversations until we came back onto 19 in Fanning Springs fourteen miles, or so, from Cross City. I had worried at times while I walked the nature trail that I may not find a ride back to retrieve the support van, or like Old Town, we would return to the highway past any place to stop for the night. That sort of chatter never serves me well because when we got to Fanning Springs as I passed the first crossroad there were two vehicles parked in a vacant lot with a family who had tracked my progress since they saw me last week as I was rolling to Perry. We had been a topic of discussion all week as one or the other of them (the grandfather or his son) had seen us on the road. They offered a ride and waited at a motel just around the bend, where we stayed to rest though SuperBowl Sunday. Nice (the dog) slept in the sun all day as I reprinted the worn fabric of the world on the grass courtyard of the motel. We have had too many days where we walked more than twenty miles recently and we both needed a day to recover. I didn't want to risk a drunken mishap from a super-partygoer, the world is ready for another week of wear and we are less sore for the break from walking everyday.
Go for a stroll today, meet some good people along the way.

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