Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - Day 19 - Havertown, PA to West Chester, PA - Lost on a Rough Night

What a great sleep! The large oak tree was perfect cover. When I hiked back down the hill at around 5:30 am, the traffic was quite light on Route 3. I looked forward to whatever my walk would bring on this day.

After an 1.5 hours (about 7 miles), I came upon the Delaware County Veterans Memorial. It was very well appointed for a new memorial. And, being so close to Veteran's Day, I thought it wouls be an appropriate place to spend some time visiting...

Looking across at all those names - too many names - I felt a tear come down my cheek. I recalled how much I love the people of this country. These men and women gave all they had that we might live in a beautiful land, and that the world might someday have the possibility of finding peace--even if it isn't here right now.

Yes, we Americans have made mistakes. We have had leaders who push our children (soldiers) into the fire for selfish reasons. But the fact that these children marched forward without questioning and allowed their blood to be mingled with the soil of the earth they loved shows the immense dedication and loyalty they had for the human race--not just America; a kind of courage we all can have.

In a few short years this world may have the chance to end global conflict forever. Watch for it. Let us give these fallen sons and daughters the Garden they fought for. We are all One. Because of this, I truly believe - I Know - that someday we will "no longer know war."

No matter what else you do or don't have faith in, have faith that we will not destroy ourselves.

Light is peeling away the darkness of the past. All those things are passing away, Behold, all is becoming new...

Let the empty spaces shown above never be filled.

When I was done paying my respects I walked on to a strip mall a little further down the street, passing into Edgemont, to get some lunch. I had two choices: Pizza or Indian-Thai fusion food. I chose pizza thinking it would be cheaper and walked into Anise Pizza and Grill.

It was dark and silent. The owner – an older Italian woman - saw me standing there and continued to speak with the cook. Finally she strolled over and blandly asked me what I wanted. I placed my order and right in the middle of it, interrupting, she waved to a man who had come in behind me and began talking to him right over me. She set up a time for him to come and look at her house for remodeling!

I was not happy. I waited until I could finish my order and paid an outrageous $12 for two slices of pizza. I was stewing over this terrible customer service and the price when the pizza arrived. Before leaving I called the woman over and gave her some unasked for advice: When you are tending to a customer you do not interrupt him, nor talk to other people while he is ordering. She said she was sorry, but she had to catch her interior decorator or she'd have to call him later. I just stood there stunned...staring at her. I said, “Are you serious?” She apologized again but it was weak and snotty.

I simply left the restaurant and sat down outside to eat the pizza, and it was awful! The crust had no taste and was brittle. The sauce was virtually missing and the ingredients (meat and cheese, I think) were not cooked very well, the cheese being still in its shredded form. When I finished I walked over to the window of the Indian-Thai place. Of course the menu was reasonably priced and they had awards and good critiques posted. I just hit myself in the forehead with my palm and said “...figures...”

Finally, it was time to hit the road again. I was still feeling hungry and more than a little irritated. I walked along about 8 miles of very remote and beautiful farmland, all the while looking for a place I might be able to sleep. I would always be willing to find a place early in the day and just hang out and rest there if possible. But that didn't happen this time.

I walked up and down some rather large hills until I entered another town. Somehow I'd ended up on Business Route 30 and had entered Exton. I was pretty tired and even more hungry. I went to the ATM and took out some cash. Then I located a Ruby Tuesdays and decided to try it for the first time. A nice young gentleman name Pierre was my server. He was very inquisitive and asked about what I was doing.

I told him and he got excited. He said he knew someone else who had done a similar thing. I asked him about what he does when not working. He said he's a student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, studying criminology. He wants to be a policeman some day.

I snapped a few pictures of him. Two older ladies were quite smitten with Pierre and they insisted on being in a picture with him. I never got Pierre's last name, and an exhaustive online search turned up nothing on him. This is a shame, since I'd really liked to have kept up with his career...

Pierre at Ruby Tuesdays.

When I left I was in a good mood again until a woman walked by me and literally stopped and stared or glared. I asked if I could help her with something. She didn't say a word and instead grimaced then continued her divine entrance into the restaurant. That threw me off. Maybe she is the opposite of the person I'm trying to reach. Talk about ups and downs? How many could come in one day? I was about to find out.

I was way off of my plan to walk towards Lancaster. I needed to get back down to Route 3 which I assumed went through West Chester. It was this assumption that buried me in a quagmire for the rest of the night. I walked south from Exton along Whitford Road, which turned into Grove Road, then merged with Pottstown Pike, where I saw a sign for West Chester.

The temperature was really bottoming out, close to freezing when I entered West Chester. It was a cute town. Like many college towns it was very clean and filled with hip stores, all closed when I got there. There were bars open but I needed to find my way through town to some sort of sleeping place. I'd walked over 15 miles since leaving Havertown.

As I mentioned above, I thought Route 3 continued on west but it did not. It turns into Route 322 then Route 30 again (which I had been on earlier that day and should have stayed on). By the time I made this realization I'd walked around the whole perimeter of the town twice, profusely sweating while the temperature finally did drop below freezing.

Ultimately, and after asking directions from a great guy named Jason, who was working late in the booth of a the Giant Gas Station (615 West Strasford Road), I found the correct way out of town. It was right in front of us. I had wasted several hours, burned way too much energy, and put myself through several cycles of anxiety. There was nothing left of my ambition. After walking across the parking lot and turning onto Downington Pike (Business Route 322) in front of the Giant, I resolved to find the nearest dark place and settle there. I ducked off the road after only about 100 feet, into a really thickly tangled area filled with bittersweet vines.

This really sucked, because these vines were not only threaded throughout the trees but they ran tripwires all along the ground. The ground was also a wet area, like a swamp. While standing in one spot trying to decide how to sit or lie down, I heard some animal come bounding down the hill toward me. It was something much larger than a raccoon, judging by the gate of its steps. I was concerned that it might be a large stray dog.

I do this thing now when larger animals are around in the woods. I growl very angrily. That literally stopped this thing in its tracks. Then I just walked toward its direction intimidatingly (you should never back down, but rather appear to be on the offense), swinging my stick against bushes and branches loudly. I never heard another sound all night.

I went back to a dark spot (because the moon was bright), and laid down my towel on a small hill/bump. I finally got to remove my backpack. I was aching, shivering pretty badly and was afraid of hypothermia. I would have been fine if I weren't sweating so much.

I got out my little soft blanket and sat with my knees tucked up tightly against my chest under it. Eventually, after an hour, I was able to dry enough to get the sleeping bag out. I didn't have enough room to lie down so I unzipped it, pulling it over my legs, then up around me, and stuck my head in the hood part. Right away I began warming up.

I crunched the blanket into a pillow and lay down on the edge of the hill, with my head up hill and my feet pointing down, curled up in a fetal position. It was uncomfortable--the most since I've been on this journey, not excepting my wet sleep way back at the Blue Hills Reservation in Massachusetts.

I wanted to light a fire so badly, but I was way too close to the road. I think I fell asleep at about 1:30 am, then woke up once at 2:40 am, then again 15 minutes before my alarm sounded, at 5:15 am. Still, it was better than staying up all night.

West Chester Semi-Sleeping Place.