Thursday, Aug 27
Temperature: High 78°F / Low 62°F
Conditions: Sunny
Distance Walked: 28.7k
Experience of the Day
Up early and walked a kilometer to the Red and White hoping to find a ride to the trailhead. Trail magic. I hopped in the van with Terry, a construction worker who worked for a potato company. He does everything for them from bathroom remodels to farm buildings. They also have a full time plumber and electrician. He apologized for having such a dirty van. I just looked at him and said I'd been wearing the same clothes for 35 days. We both laughed.
It's been interesting to see the season start to change: the apples are bigger, leaves are starting to fall, berries have been harvested...
At about 7k in, I saw my friends up ahead as they left the shaded picnic table. My feet were wet and I had to eat so I took a break there as well. Twenty minutes later I resumed my walk thinking I would catch them...but I never did.
Our friend Jo-anne picked us up at the end of the day and took us to her brother's DAIRY FARM -- what a way to wrap up our trip! We met both brothers (Ian and Paul), nephew (Collin), and Skippy the farm dog. She also took us out to see the VERY BIG cows being milked (the cows were getting some delicious looking oats as a part of the process). An Amish man and Ian did the milking while Paul was out on the combine. Collin was up on top of the silo, which was being filled with barley. The cows looked pretty happy -- there was a herd out in the pasture and after milking, the heiffers for to go out as well. These cows get to live outside and roam around in the pastures. It looked like a nice life. The dairy farm down the way has robotic milking. Those cows never see the light of day.
Clean at last, we tossed our dirty clothes in the wash, and headed out for dinner with Anne on the bike rack. Dinner was nice and we met several people...one of whom turned out to be Pauline's sister! Therese said goodbye to Anne; Jo-anne will find a good home for her.
One day left to walk...
So far: 714.9k on the walk and another 21.1 or so puttering around.
Most days I walked alone and listened to nature, my footsteps and the sounds of life. It is safe here and the people are amazing. As someone said the other day, it is a magical place.
Six days the walks were between 17.2-19.6k
Nine days were over 25k, two of which were just over 30k.
On the 8th day I was sad because we were already 20% done.
Three days ago, I thought let's be done already.
Today I was excited. It was my last really long day!
Yes, my feet are tired and my legs look good. 😁
Breakfast: Bean and hummus burrito, yogurt, blueberries
Lunch: Bean and hummus burritos, apple
Dinner @ Peakes Tees: fish sandwhich and poutine (Lynn), cheeseburger and baked potato (Therese)