Walking from Livingston County Hospice to Hospice Buffalo: September 9-10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Finding Livingston County Hospice
The day began with my left foot feeling really sore. I packed up my gear by about 9:00 am and phoned up Carol Thompson of Livingston County Hospice to thank her for arranging the room at the Country Inn and Suites. I asked Carol if she would like me to drop by the hospice office, so she could take a photo of me and possibly contact newspapers about my visit. Carol said she had a team meeting at 10 am, but that it would be great for me to come over. I grabbed my pack and checked out with Doug Cope, the manager of the Country Inn. I thanked him for his help.
Sickels Rd became Murray Hill Road, which wound round and round. I was glad when I reached the top, but there I was confronted by a whole group of buildings. Carol had said that the hospice office was on the second floor of a building with a water tower behind it. None of the buildings quite matched that description.
Why is that Woman Talking to Herself?
As I walked around, looking, a blonde woman climbed out of her car. Serena, as I learned she was called, he was talking to herself and I wondered if she was crazy, but then I realized she probably had a Bluetooth head set and was talking to someone through that. I asked her for directions to the hospice office and she was going there. It was lucky. When she saw my walking for hospice sign she had a big smile on her face. She was a hospice social worker.
A Brief Meeting
We walked up the stairs to the hospice office. Staff were gathering for the meeting. Carol Thompson was there, along with a woman called Wendy, a woman called Roberta, a hospice doctor and another man. I talked to them briefly about my walk and they took my photo.
Someone had brought in cake and I sat and ate some cake and drank some coffee. I gave them details of the NHF blog and how to get hold of the books through amazon.co.uk.
My visit to the Livingston County Hospice was short and sweet. It was good to meet them, and I hoped something useful would come from it.
They wished me luck and I left by about 10.30 am.
Bryan’s Diner
Carol had told me about a short cut to the 20A, just past Bryan's Diner. It was called the Perry Road.
The walk down Murray Hill Road was much easier than the walk up.
Mount Morris is close to Letchworth Park. As I walked out of the town I passed a huge weir, where water dropped about 10 feet or so. Two fallen trees balanced on the edge of the weir.
It wasn't long before I came to Bryan's Diner. I ordered a julienne salad and soup. I also ordered milk and a coke. The soup was good, but the salad was huge. I could only eat about a quarter of it.
Tough Walking
I paid the bill and headed off. Perry Road was not far. When I got there a work crew was laying fresh blacktop. The walking was difficult: along loose rocks at the side of the road. Three workmen stopped and asked me about the walk. When I told them how far I was walking they wished me luck.
Cold Water from Bill
Perry Road joined Route 20A West. Not long after joining 20 A a pickup truck stopped just ahead of me. The driver was a tall thin man called Bill. He got me a cold water from a cooler in the back of his truck. Bill was a landscape gardener. He gave me his card and his phone number, in case I needed anything on the journey. We talked for a while and Bill drove off.
My Foot is Really Bothering Me: Must Stop for the Night
Through Perry Center and onward down 20 A, I walked slowly. My left foot hurt and there was definitely something wrong with it. By 4.30 I came to the East Hill Motel, which sat at the top of the hill into Warsaw.
I had wanted to get as far as Varysburg, which was ten miles further on, but Bill had said there were no places to stay at Varysburg. With my left foot feeling strange I checked in for the night. My plan was to try to leave early in the morning to try to make up the miles.
The owner of the East Hill was called Marilyn. When she heard about the walk she gave a donation for hospice. I thanked her and walked to room 11. Inside the room I ordered a chicken dinner from Di Salvos Pizzeria.
Do-It-Yourself Surgery
When the food arrived I wolfed it down. A bath came next. It was good to soak my battered body. Once the bath was done I sat on the bed and looked at the sole of my left foot. A blister had burst and the fluid from it had gone into the surrounding skin, making the damage worse. I got a pair of scissors and cut into the blistered area. Fluid seeped into tissues I'd put under my foot. I hoped that would enable me to keep walking in a just a few hours. By 9 pm I fell asleep. It was good to rest and I hoped I would be able to carry on to get closer to Buffalo.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 - entry #1
A Long Walk to Hospice Buffalo
I woke several times during the night and checked the clock by the motel bed. I'd planned on waking up at about 4:00 am, but thought better of it and snoozed until 6:00. I packed up quickly and was on the road by 6.30. The road sloped down steeply into Warsaw.
By 7:00 am I found the Silver Lake Restaurant and walked inside.
“Hello there...are you travelling far?””
“I'm walking from New York to North Dakota for hospices.”
The lady who asked me the question worked in the restaurant. She asked more about the walk, then took my order. It was scrambled eggs, home fries and toast, with milk and orange juice to drink. When I'd finished the meal the lady said the meal was for free. I told her that I would donate the $5 for the meal to Hospice Buffalo.
I was now set up for the day fuel-wise.
A Crossing Guard Proves a Friend
Early morning sun shone as I walked through Warsaw. Old brick buildings passed me by. At the elementary school a man with grey hair, baseball cap and beard was guiding kids across the road. I said good morning to him. He asked where I was going and I told him from New York to North Dakota for hospice.
“Keep up the good work” I said to him.
“Same to you.”
I didn't think any more about the meeting, but started to walk up the steep West Hill out of Warsaw. As I pushed on up the hill a groundhog was right in front of me by the roadside. He was startled by me appearing and waddled off at a run.
I was just about to crest the long hill, when a big white car pulled up in front of me. It was the man from back at the school.
His name was Jim. He took down my details and said he would contact the local paper to tell them about me. He wished me luck and drove off.
At the crest of the hill I changed into shorts and put away my coat. It was already beginning to warm up. I hadn't walked much further on when a second car pulled up. It was the reporter from the Warsaw Courier newspaper. He took my photo and story and drove off. I was happy that another interview had been done.
I Can Give Directions!
Not long after the reporter went a third car pulled over. A young man and woman l were inside. It turned out they were driving to New York and wanted directions to the 390 Interstate. I showed them my map and told them to take the 20A to Geneseo and look for signs there. They asked about the walk, wished me luck and gave me an apple.
Walking down the road eating the apple in the morning sun was good. The day was much less humid than the day before, but I could tell that it would heat up.
I was headed to Varysburg and the plan was to reach East Aurora and phone up Rose Collins from Hospice Buffalo from there.
Hills--Bad Hills
The reporter had told me that the hills around Varysburg were big...and that there were lots of them. He said it was worse than coming out of Warsaw and I said: “How can it be worse?”
Unfortunately, he was right. Up on the hills were wind turbines. Big white and spinning in the air they had birds of prey gliding above them. I'm not sure if they were buzzards or something else.
By about 12 I reached Varysburg and had an orange juice and chocolate milk in a small store there.
Mike and Denise
The afternoon was slow going through the hills. At one point I passed a resort with lush green grass. Just going up the hill from there a couple called Mike and Denise came up to me with a 32 oz bottle of Gatorade. By now the day was hot and it was good to drink the Gatorade as I walked. The only problem was that I then had to find a shady spot by a cow field to answer the call of nature. . . .
By 4.30 pm I was approaching Wales Center. I'd agreed to phone Rose at about 5:00 to have her come pick me up and take me to the St. John Baptist Hospice House.
Awaiting Pickup from Rose Collins of Hospice Buffalo
As 5:00 pm approached a small restaurant called “August 25” appeared on the left hand side of the road, at the top of the hill into Wales Center.
I went inside and explained to the waitress that I was walking for hospice and needed to get someone to come pick me up. She gave me the address. I thanked her, then went outside to call Rose. Rose said it would take 30 minutes for her to reach me, so I said to Rose that I would go into the restaurant for a couple of drinks.
I ordered milk and orange juice and the waitress was confused. Eventually we sorted out that I wanted two separate drinks.
As I sat there a truck driver and a friend of his came in. The truck driver was called Ed. He asked about the walk, paid for my drinks and then got a road atlas to show me the best route through Buffalo. I thanked him and shook his hand. It turned out that he was married to the waitress of the restaurant, who was called Cheryl. He told tales of driving 4,500 miles in about three or four days and being stopped by the police for a routine drugs search down near the border with Mexico. He was a character.
Meeting Rose
I had been in touch with Rose by e mails for about two years. It was good to finally meet her. I had thought she would be older than she was. This was an ongoing theme...as most of the people I was meeting looked younger than they were. Rose was in her forties, but looked about ten years younger...if not more. Maybe it was just me feeling old.
Through the streets of Buffalo Rose drove me to St. John's Baptist House. It was in an area called the Fruit Belt. Once inhabited by German Americans, the street names had names like Peach, Maple and other trees or fruit names. The hospice house had been open about 1 year and was a one-story yellow building. What began then was three nights meeting with hospice staff and residents of the hospice house.
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