“All I Have to Do is Recover from a Cold And Walk 150 Miles in Freezing Temperatures”: October 14-15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Shores of Lake Huron and Then, on to Alpena
I slept until 8 am and was packed up by 8:30. Slipping out of inn’s side door, I walked down to the white sandy beach of Lake Huron. Waves broke against the shore and the sun was just above the horizon. It was cold. I turned to take photos of The Copper Inn, which rose several stories at the rear. It was an impressive building, much larger at the back than at the front.
With gloves on and the baseball cap that Dennis Kennedy had given me to keep me warm I walked the 2 or 3 miles into Harrisville. I stopped at a gas station on the outskirts of town and got talking to the man behind the counter. His name was Pat. He had been in the Air Force and worked on inflight refueling planes. From inflight refueling to refueling people's cars it had been a change, but he was glad he didn't have to travel all over the globe.
I asked Pat about a place to eat breakfast and he suggested the Flower Garden Diner, just down the road. Breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast, coffee and orange juice set me up for a long day walking to Alpena. As I was leaving the diner an old man asked where I had walked from I told him New York and he looked surprised. I talked to another man and from the look on his face I could see he didn't understand why I was walking to North Dakota. Somewhat bemused I left the diner and set off to walk the 32 miles to Alpena.
The day warmed slowly to somewhere in the 40’s and there were many hills. As I walked listening to my CD player a couple of women in a pickup truck stopped to talk to me. Their names were Diane and San Brown. They wished me luck and said they would drop me a line via e mail once I'd given them my e-mail and the Web site address for the National Hospice Foundation.
Paul Bunyan and the 45th Parallel
By 6 pm I was close to Ossineke. Marlon Smith from the Hospice of Michigan pulled up beside me in his car and offered me a place to stay with someone who lived 15 miles North of Alpena. I explained to Marlon that I probably wouldn't reach Alpena until 11 pm or later. We agreed that I'd book into a motel and come and meet Marlon at around 9 am.
As darkness fell at Ossineke I took a photo of another Paul Bunyan statue and walked into the night. My throat was sore and my nose running and I realized a cold was on its way.
Beyond Ossineke the houses stopped and Thunder Bay was ahead. Lights from the city of Alpena showed as a glow on the horizon. Thunder Bay was a large grey expanse to my right and the land to the left was dark. I headed towards the glow of Alpena and slowly it came closer.
A sign was caught in the light of passing cars. It was large and green and white. I crossed the road to see what it said. In the light of cars that shot by I saw that it told me that I was crossing the 45th Parallel and was now half way between the Equator and the North Pole. I smiled and took a photo. The back of the camera was pitch black, but the flash illuminated the sign and the picture came out well.
Looking for a Motel in the Dark
I walked on and it seemed to take forever to reach the outskirts of Alpena. Eventually industrial buildings showed and then came the first motel. It said no vacancies. The next motel was closed. It was now around 11 pm and it was around 30 degrees. I started cursing the long spread out towns and was worried as to where I would find a place to stay, as the lights of a gas station and Burger King showed ahead. And then I spotted a sign saying Bay Motel... and vacancy. The door to the office was open and I had to dial 0 on a phone. A door opened and the motel owner, Dave Hite was still awake at 11:15 pm. I booked in and talked to Dave about the walk. He had been helped by hospice with one of his parents. He wished me luck and I thanked him for being there.
60 Degrees Feels Toasty
Room 10 was three doors to the right of the soda machine. As I walked in it felt toasty warm. I looked at the thermostat controlling the heat and saw a message telling people to turn the temperature down to 60 degrees before checking out. It was set at 60 now and felt wonderful to me after walking at around 30 degrees. I left it at 60 and got ready for sleep.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A New Day Dawns, with Plans—and a Cold
When I woke I felt achy and my sore throat and running nose were worse than the night before. My plan of action was to contact the Hospice of the Sunrise Shore and visit their office in Alpena, as well as the Hospice of Michigan office there. I needed to make firm contacts up to Mackinac City and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I phoned Marlon Smith and said I would walk up to the Hospice of Michigan office by about 9:45. I then phoned the Hospice of the Sunrise Shore and arranged to visit there office at around midday.
I booked into the motel for a second night and walked the two miles or so into the center of Alpena. At the Hospice of Alpena Marlon Smith introduced me to the staff who were having an interdisciplinary team meeting. I also said a quick hello to Mary Woods, Sally and Janine who I had met back at the weekend.
Greenbacks in My Hand and Chicken Soup in My Stomach
Leaving my pack at the Hospice of Michigan office I walked to a nearby bank and exchanged Canadian dollars for U.S. dollars. Initially they were not keen on doing that, as I didn't have an account with them, but the young lady teller checked with the manager and he gave permission for them to change the money. It was a relief that I had more U.S. dollars.
A small cafe called Take 5 looked promising, and I got a bread bowl and chicken soup there. My throat was still sore and I was sniffly, tired and achy. The chicken soup in a hollowed out roll of bread was wonderful. I also got a hot chocolate and two cookies. I decided I would get my hair cut and buy some new socks and take the day to sort myself out for the push to the Mackinac Bridge.
I said my goodbyes to the people at the Hospice of Michigan office and walked with my pack over to the Hospice of the Sunrise Shore. The receptionist there, Alicia was waiting for me, along with the chaplain, who was called Bob. I talked to Cindy Spens at the Roger City office and she had arranged for me to stay with her on Friday night. My plan was to walk roughly half way between Alpena and Rogers City and have Cindy pick me up from there. Between Alpena and Rogers City there was little in the way of towns. Cindy had arranged for me to visit her daughter's school in Rogers City on the following Monday morning and for me to visit the Hospice House in Cheboygan at 2 pm that day.
Buying New Socks
Chaplain Bob drove me to a sports shop called Dunhams, which was South of the Bay Motel. There I bought 6 pairs of socks, hoping they were the right size and that they would not give me blisters. As I stood in the shop I was wondering whether I should really be buying gear for the winter, as temperatures were now down around freezing at night. My idea of getting to Duluth before refitting for winter seemed more than a little crazy.
A Free Haircut
Walking out of Dunhams I was flagged down by a lady from the AAA office. Her name was Jill Freeman and she had seen me on the TV the previous weekend. She gave me a coffee and wished me luck. After a quick coffee at the AAA office I was walking down the street when a car pulled over. Inside were two ladies. They gave a donation for hospice and I told them I was having the day off to get new socks and then a haircut. It turned out that the woman driving the car worked at a hair salon called Profiles Plus, just around the corner. Her name was Karen. She offered to cut my hair for free and I said I would give her a signed copy of the book. I jumped into the car and was whisked around the corner. Karen shampooed and washed my hair, then cut it and trimmed my beard. It was good.
“All I Have To Do…”
With U.S. dollars, new socks, a haircut and contacts potentially up to Sault Sainte Marie in the Upper Peninsula, things were looking up.
All I had to do was walk 150 miles or so and recover from my cold as temperatures fell to freezing.
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