I woke up behind the large grave stone, having gotten a good night's sleep--about five hours. Just as I was zipping up the pack - with it completely done - a man walked his dog up along the little central road. That is rare. Most dog walkers don't leave the house before 5:30 am.
I walked down Commercial Street toward town. This time, before I even bought coffee, I wanted to check out the other side of Bush's Pasture Park. So, I took a side road that connected over the far end of the park. It was just as nice...
I decided that it was time to do a little re-organizing of the stuff. The first thing I did was pull out my compass (which always lives in my lower pants pocket). I noticed that the sighting wire was broken...
HOW TO FIX A COMPASS SIGHTING WIRE
Find a small screwdriver. I had one from a glasses repair kit.
Loosen one screw and remove the old wire.
Loosen the other screw, ready for the new wire.
The old wire. If it had a little more length I could adjust and re-use it, but not in this case.
The repair kit.
Blurry picture of my useless wire adapter.
Snip the cord to the right length--I almost didn't leave enough extra.
Pull out the inner wires.
Strip or pull out the inner copper threads from one of the colored wires.
Twist several strands together, for extra strength and size it up to make sure the length is right.
Push the new wire up through one of the holes and wrap one end around the screw,
in the same direction in which the screw will be turned,
so that the wire automatically tightens as the screw does.
Repeat on the other side, and tighten until the wire is taut.
Snip off the excess.
Done!
I was working in a great spot, with a beautiful view!
Then I made a small note pad out of my old bus tickets, and finally
drew out a rough sketch for a new backpack design I have in mind.
When I'd finished my repair and reorganized some of my adapters and tools, I started over toward what looked like restrooms...
There, I found what is typically used in the parks of Salem; a bathroom with all sinks, toilets and fixtures made entirely of stainless steel, including the "mirrors". I know it looks a bit rough in the following pictures, but, just to even have a public restroom (never mind the other five around the area), was a great step forward for any town. You'll notice there is no graffiti, and there are no broken fixtures...
Those round buttons to the left of each sink are air hand dryers.
Unfortunately, this bathroom only had hand sanitizer and no soap.
Outside was the typical drinking fountain for adults, kids, and dogs...
Profuse and perfectly ripe hips in the rose garden.
I had to find a new sleeping place. The cemetery was good for one night, but it was not really a solution. The only other part of town I had not yet explored was West Salem, across the Willamette River.
When I got to the library, I Googled the area and found that everything I could need to last the few more days was there.
And, it wasn't a big trip either; just over 2 miles. I left immediately...
Taken while walking across the Route 22 bridge.
The West Salem Beach on the Willamette River.
There is a vast park on the West Salem side of the river, with small secondary trails all through it...
One of the trails. Notice the very lush growth. There is a smaller
river right next to these paths, so the mosquitoes at night might have been bad.
The old trestle bridge, now a walking and biking path between Salem and West Salem.
A view of the bridge I'd just passed over.
The trestle bridge.
Footprints at the beach.
I did a new thing I like now. I call it, "trolling" - going under bridges to explore and take photos...
My feet were uncomfortable, wet with the disgusting sweat of several days with the same socks on. Here was my opportunity to really wash my feet and my socks. I went down to the beach and across the rocky shoreline to a small naturally formed pool. I still had my detergent from Klamath Falls. I removed my boots and washed my socks and then, while they dried, washed my poor feet. They were pale and had little splinters from sharp grass I'd recently walked through. I dug out the splinters with a pair of surgical tweezers--about six of spines in all. I cared for another couple of blisters on my tows.
The socks took a long time to dry. While I waited I carefully observed all the things going on at the waterside...
A shot of the ducks, with the steamboat-restaurant in the distance, across the river in Salem.
My view of the other bridge from my washing place.
As the sun touched the trees in the west, I saw more activity in the water. Right in front of me, I watched a crayfish come out of hiding and feed on the algae around his home rock...
A close-up of the steamboat.
The little fish fry were doing acrobatics to catch the flies swarming around the surface of the water...
Finally, my socks were close to being dry. I put them on, since the body heat dries them faster. When they were sufficient, I left to check out the space between the bridges for a sleep spot. I found one and wrote down a little map so I could find it after dark. Then I walked to McDonald's to get online. It was only two blocks away. I thought this was clever...
I worked until about 11:00 pm, and then headed back to my presumed sleeping spot. When I got there, I found the entire area bathed in the street lights of the bridges--something I should have taken into account. However, there were quite a few places in the shadows. I found a good one, bounded on three sides, with the open part facing the town-side. Fortunately, there is a large pipe gate at the entrance to the park area, so not even a police car can venture down there. And, because this was Salem, the small homeless population had many more places to sleep than they needed. I never saw another soul, from before sundown there at the shore, for the rest of the whole night...
Salem Sleeping Place 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.