Today went pretty well until I went out to walk after dinner. I was in Ebensburg and took what I thought was the route to Munster, Alternate Hwy 22. Well, I went down a ways and realized I was heading to somewhere I didn’t want to go. So, I made a call to my brother Don and he pulled the Google Map up and told me that indeed I was heading the wrong way and that I could continue and go a half mile out of the way or backtrack and get back on US 22. So, here I was facing a decision I don’t like, walk too far or walk West. I walked West and got back on US 22 and continued toward where I should have been going the half hour previous.

Today was just like all the rest of the days lately. It started out cold, got colder as I climbed a summit (picture), and finally in the afternoon, it got halfway warm. Then after dinner, it started getting cold again. I just wonder where Fall went. The leaves are beginning to change in this area and will be pretty in a week or so, but the warm sunny days are not where I am. If I want to get warm, I have to climb a summit.

Tomorrow we should be in or real close to Altoona. I will be off US 22 after about 4 miles tomorrow and will be on that Alternate 22 that goes South of Altoona. I’ll hook back up with US 22 on the East side of Altoona. Things are going good and Valda & I are getting real antsy to see the ocean. The walk has been everything we thought it would be, but 7 months is a long time to do something like this. We are ready to have it come to an end, take a few weeks off, and then figure out what we are going to do.

Personal to Penny Bennie and her friends, Kathy Nicols, Sharon Williams, Carolyn Hamann, Judy Hoeping and Dianna O’Rourke. These people were responsible for generating $170.00 for Gateway For Cancer Research through pledges at our 10 Laps for Cancer Research at Monument Circle in Indianapolis on Sep. 6. Many thanks to all and especially to Penny who walked the 10 laps. Every time I talk to Penny, the amount goes up, so I’m going to call her every week 😀

The bottom picture is Clark Gable’s boyhood home in Ohio.

Miles Covered: 16.5
Total Miles: 2,869.5
Money Found: $0.10
Total Found: $79.34

I just emailed a friend in California and remarked that it seems unreal to me that I’m just about done with this walk. It has been my major focus for seven months, and has occupied a spot in my mind for a couple of years. In less than a month, it will be over. I’m not quite sure what to make of that.

I heard today that a friend of mine from Southern Cross died this past weekend. He makes the seventh person that I either knew or knew a relative, who has died while I’ve been walking. I also got some news from a friend in Indianapolis whose brother-in-law was shot in the abdomen in Iraq this morning. The soldier’s name is Roy Shaver and at last word, he seems to be doing okay, but you never know about these things. Please keep Roy and his wife Brea, and their four kids in your thoughts and prayers.

The actual walk went real well today. I covered 18 miles, a lot of it still in construction, but the workers were there today and I couldn’t walk where they were working. It made for a tough few miles. I had a real nasty climb too and Valda measured it at 3 miles on a 6% grade (see picture). It was my toughest climb since Colorado. I’m sure I climbed a couple of thousand feet and later in the day, I stopped and looked to the west and there were mountains behind me (where did those come from?). I’ve got them in front of me too and I know what tomorrow is going to bring.

We are currently about 2 miles east of Armagh, PA on US 22, and I have been traveling in Indiana Co. all day. It’s funny hearing the people on TV talk about some Indiana resident who did this and that and know they are talking about someone who lives in Indiana, PA, not Indiana the state. Things are progressing quite well and I am becoming more and more confident that I will be in NYC on Nov 1 & 2. It would be a real shame if everyone else was there and I was trudging through Somerville, NJ. I don’t think that would go over too well.

Tomorrow is more of the same. I wish is would get a bit warmer. It seems it went from nippy to chilly to cold all in one day. I should get the Ohio and WV stats on the blog on my next day off. WV shouldn’t take too long.

The second picture shows some of the road workers, and the other picture shows how much dirt they have removed from around the telephone poles.

Miles Covered: 18
Total Miles: 2,853
Money Found: $0.04
Total Found: $79.24

Today was the day following a day off, and generally, I am a little draggie on those days, but today, we broke out of an early fog and it was a clear sky and sunshine and I hotfooted it across 18.5 miles of Pennsylvania. Now, I might have done more, but I’m in hills and when the sun goes down, it gets dark in a real hurry. The sun set here at 6:51 PM tonight and by 7:15, it was too dark to safely walk. Valda keeps saying you’re going to have to start walking earlier, but there is no earlier. I’ve cut my breaks way down as is and I’m sure not going to walk all day with just some piddly little half hour break. So, the 20 milers are probably a thing of the past.

I had a nice eight foot shoulder with rumble strips all morning, and then in the afternoon, I got into road construction and actually had a whole side of the road to myself for the last 7 miles. That was extremely nice. I always love it when those trucks and cars have a ten foot lane, two way traffic, and no passing, and I’m walking the other side of the road that is about 30-40 foot wide. Kinda makes me feel important. Anyway, I take it when I can get it and it hasn’t happened since Illinois and has happened very few times on the walk at all.

Miles Covered: 18.5
Total Miles: 2,835
Money Found: $0.41
Total Found: $79.20

Today was a needed day off. I’m finding that I’m really getting tired after five or six days of walking, and I really enjoy the day of doing nothing. We stayed at Keystone St. Park in New Alexandria, PA and enjoyed a nice view of a lake. This morning as I said, there was fog and the lake was nowhere to be seen.

I am currently sitting at the Blairsville VFW, and want to thank those good people for letting Valda & me plug into electricity at their pavilion. It was very unexpected but much appreciated. Thanks Bruce.

Tomorrow I continue East. I should be in Altoona in about three days and then start my journey northeast on the new route. Till then.

Today’s walk was mostly uneventful. I’ve finally gotten out of the Pittsburgh influence and the terrain has gradually turned back into a rural setting. I was on a hill today and saw mountains in the far off distance to the east. I’m not sure how far away they were, but I didn’t get into them today.

I will be having a major route change in three or four days. US 22 is designated a limited access highway in a lot of places in PA, and I just decided to go a different way once I get to Altoona. The highway became limited in Steubenville, OH and was that way all through WV, and PA to just outside of east Pittsburgh. Finally, we could get back on it and be okay to just west of Altoona, but then it picked up again on the other side of Altoona and was limited all the way to Harrisburg. I’ll post our new route later in the week as we get closer to it. It will take me a bit north of the old route and utilize state roads, but at least I don’t have to worry about the police stopping me and escorting me off. That wouldn’t be a good thing.

Miles Covered: 16
Total Miles: 2,816.5
Money Found: $0.26
Total Found: $78.79

What a day. We started out about 8 miles from downtown Pittsburgh and after making our way through road construction mess, and the general uneasiness of not knowing for sure where we were, we got to the confluence of the three rivers and before you knew it we were right smack in the middle of downtown. Now it didn’t affect me as much as it did Valda. She had to contend with one way narrow streets, road construction, and traffic. She finally got on the right road and called me when she found a place to pull off – 9 miles away from where I was. She said to walk it because she wasn’t coming to get me if I got tired. I didn’t get tired. After we hooked back up, she asked me if we were about done with Pennsylvania.

I had an interview today with Rick Wills of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I want to thank Rick and Andy Russell the photographer, for their time and also for the help they gave us in navigating our way through the city. They had some tips for us and it was all much appreciated. The story should be out tomorrow and will probably be on our ‘media page’ in a day or two. Check it out.

The walk today not only took us through the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, but also through the campus of the U. of Pittsburgh. It is about 5 miles east of the city and is actually a city within itself. Quite pretty.

Tomorrow we continue trying to get back to US 22 where we can walk it, and continue on east. We look to be okay for a while or until we get to Altoona, then it is back to trying to find an alternate route all over again. I was told today by the interviewer that New York City was about 380 miles from Pittsburgh…via the Interstate. I’m not sure how much further it is for us, but I know I’m getting close. I can almost smell the ocean.

Personal to Judy F. – I made it to Pittsburgh, Judy and this time I got to see it. Also, I swear I felt Dean tug on my sleeve today and tell me wake up, that it was my turn to drive.

Miles Covered: 18.75
Total Miles: 2,800.5
Money Found: $0.73
Total Found: $78.53

Tomorrow I will walk through the downtown of Pittsburgh. I am about 10 miles from downtown right now and should get there in the morning session. It has been tricky trying to get there from here because I cannot walk US 22. The road has all the appearances of an Interstate but it isn’t. Still, I can’t walk it and am forced to walk old Hwy 22 which is windy and narrow. Once I get through Pittsburgh though, I will be able to walk Hwy 22 again until I hit the Harrisburg area.

Well it has turned rather frigid here in Western PA. I had to put my good Ol’ Oklahoma State sweatshirt on for the first time since Colorado. I’m not too sure it got out of the 50’s today and it rained off and on and even hailed for a few minutes this afternoon. It was a day that made coffee taste so good. We are still picking our way through the metro area with the help of my brother/route planner, Don. We are trying to get to the Churchill area of Pittsburgh without too much out of the way walking where we can pick up the highway again. It’s pretty tough walking and having to look at street signs at the same time. In Nevada, I didn’t have to do that.

I believe I will be having a newspaper interview tomorrow morning and will let you know about that in tomorrow’s blog. For now, not much is happening so I think I will end and have something hot to drink.

The bridge is the one Ron & I couldn’t walk yesterday (but we did anyway). Notice the rocking chair for Granny in the back of the Clampett truck.

Miles Covered: 16.25
Total Miles: 2781.75
Money Found: $0.30
Total Found: $77.80

Today I hit the trifecta I’ve been talking about for a while. My brother Ron and I walked from Ohio through West Virginia into Pennsylvania – all in one day! It was a pretty neat thing to do and now there are two Hammersley brothers who have walked across at least one state. I am currently in a small town named Florence and tomorrow I head to Pittsburgh.

About the walk today, Ron & I walked about 5 miles through Steubenville and crossed over a narrow, narrow, narrow bridge with a closed sidewalk. We skirted around the barrier and walked the sidewalk because the bridge was so narrow. After crossing the Ohio River on this narrow bridge, we were in West Virginia. The road was pretty rough and with little or no shoulder but we made our way into Weirton and after our chauffeur got lost and we straightened her out, we continued on toward Pennsylvania. We walked about 6.5 miles or so in WV and then it was a small left turn and a slight downhill and a change in the color of the road and we were in PA. Now, most states have a ‘Welcome to …’ sign, but PA doesn’t on this particular road, so when you look at the picture below, look at the change in the color of the road in the background and that is the state line. Pretty neat, huh?

Pennsylvania has started out with a pretty good road and hopefully it will stay that way. Pittsburgh looks to be a challenge and we should find out how challenging tomorrow. We are standing at 31 days till New York. If we continue like we have all summer, we should be okay.

We had a great day, weather wise, starting out with a sprinkle and ending up sunny and cool. Right now though, it is raining again. It is hard to believe this walk is almost over.

Miles Covered: 16
Total Miles: 2,765.5
Money Found: $0.52
Total Found: $77.50