A Living Magazine - Day 276 - Homecoming - Henderson to Middleburg

What a difference a night in the woods can make. I woke bright eyed and bushy bearded. After packing up, I decided to take a walk around Henderson taking photos of anything that stood out as interesting, until the library opened at 10:00 a.m. As has happened with most of my first impressions about new towns, my negative view of this place from the day before was adjusting to a more objective one... 

A look back at the sleep spot.

There was some really neat traditional architecture here. After all the regions I've been to in this country, I still prefer the house designs of the Atlantic coast. There is something about the old age of the eastern US that ties European styles with the innovative designs that are purely American. The Colonial Period lasted a long time when it comes to architecture. Houses are still being built to reflect Colonial aesthetics, though the newer houses typical of the last forty years have tended toward chintzier construction and missing details that are very important to the way a house looks.

For example, in the next picture, observe the crown molding that underscores the peaks of the gables. It is thick and multi-layered. Also, check out the eyebrow arch molding over the front porch. This house integrates many different styles with its high hipped roof combined with a gambrel (on the left side)...

In this next shot of a traditional American foursquare home note again the detail and thickness of the molding around the large front porch. Here in the Mid Atlantic states porch post are often squared and tapered. They also triple them on the corners--something that adds a great impression of strength. These were a feature I liked about the Conrad's house as well...

The downtown streets were lined with old fashioned storefronts, often with impressively detailed facades and brickwork. We take these things for granted. It is nice to notice them every now and then though. A high degree of effort goes into such construction, as is demonstrated by the white and red buildings closest to my position...

Nearly every town I've been to has wall murals. I've really grown to appreciate them...

There is just something about all the trees in bloom that seems to characterize all of

what it means to be here in North Carolina.

The outside of the library entrance. I love the bird who happened to fly into view.

Again, a marvelous example of thick crown molding. The multi paned windows around the porch

add so much class, and also we see the squared posts between the varied number of windows.

I like the extra long eave returns on the main building.

I kept walking around the area as the library was about to open...

Ha, ha! The Eleventh Commandment.

Nice example of a brick Federal Style, with an unusual six bays on the second floor. 

The following mosiac steps ran along the side of a church. They were practically hidden from view. I had to take a shot of each one...

I noticed that the time was 10:05 a.m. So, I turned around and walked back to the library...

I took some shots of the inside of the library. It really was quite nice...

Working until late afternoon, I was able to publish a post and scout the route to Norlina (the last town in North Carolina) and thence South Hill, across the border in Virginia. The coming trek eventually to conclude in Petersburg would be a massive 100 mile undertaking through a lot of remote areas. I planned two extra days in anticipation of rain. I also knew there would be very few places to get online, and even fewer to charge the laptop. It turned out, however, that there would be nowhere at all to do either, and the rain would come earlier in the week than I had seen online.

I was both nervously anxious and filled with the excitement of the challenge. I had never had such a potentially long amount of time without internet contact in the whole 17 months I've been traveling. This would either make me or break me as a walker.

I set out at around 5:00 p.m. with the intention of getting six miles up Route 1 by nightfall, to the tiny town of Middleburg--located just between (in the middle of) Henderson and Norlina (perhaps the reason for its name?), where I planned to camp in a cloverleaf at the intersection of Route 1 and I-85 (cloverleaf camping is the best if it can be done)...

Neat sight--a lone flowering tree.

As with the day before, seeing that thirty eight miles to South Hill, plus the additional six miles it would take to reach Norlina after my camping on this night was intimidating. That would be nearly 30 miles of walking. I could do it, or get close to South Hill the next day (I've never walked more than 35 miles in a single day), but it would be a slog. One thing at a time though. That is how to take these long distance walks. After my 20 miles the day before, I was definitely pushing myself. It was good to only have the six miles on this day...  

Made it to Middleburg as planned, and watched the sunset.

There was a store located mercifully right at the cloverleaf. I bought a lemonade (Quik Stop has large fountain drinks for $0.78--something I would take advantage of many times in the days to come). I took off Saggy and stood on the lawn beside the parking lot, looking over at the woods where I planned to camp...

When I turned around and faced east, I saw the strangest sight. It looked like a fire in the distance rising far above I-85. Then, it got brighter. It really reminded me of an atom bomb exploding, mushroom-like...

For just a moment, I got a strange feeling, like perhaps Washington DC had been bombed. But my imagination cleared away, as I saw the clouds part to reveal a beautiful and full orange moon rising...

It was a good time to head over to the woods. I crossed the off ramp of the highway and made my way in. It was very nice in there. Not overly clear of brush, but well camouflaged to stay near the edge. Cloverleafs are simply the greatest spots when it comes to a security profile. They are surrounded by (usually) one-way traffic.

This means the chance for animal encounters is very slight. Human interaction is even less likely. And, cars are distracted by the complexity of the area, the light blindness of their own headlights, and the inability to stop and check out any glimpse they may get of me. I know this all sounds slightly paranoid, and perhaps it is. But, being careful in this way has allowed me to camp undisturbed now-hundreds of times. I am proud to say that I have a perfect record in this regard.

I set up the tent and stood around partially to dry my shirt, but also to commune with the Spark, which seemed somehow closer on this night, as if maybe it were ready to partner with me on the walk to come. I had a very secure and confident feeling about what I was doing; something that hasn't happened to this degree in several weeks. I'd overcome a spiritual growth spurt that was somewhat painful in that time; going through a lot of doubt and nearing a kind of resentment and disinterest in my project. That was gone now...

I climbed into the tent at around 9:30 p.m. and quickly fell asleep in the comforting confines of my sleeping bag. As I drifted off, it was hard to believe I was so far from Wake Forest and my time with the Conrads in such a short amount of time.