A Living Magazine - Day 287 - Homecoming - Colonial Heights to Chester

I slept fairly well and woke ready to finish the last of my old school long distance walks before New England. 

The plan now was to walk to Fredericksburg, a good 80 miles. When I reached that city I would have walked the entire way there from Athens, Georgia, over 500 miles (I will give a more exact distance soon).

Not that I should care, but  people once criticized me for taking too much public transportation. I hope that won't be a concern anymore. I could walk the rest of the way to Maine. But, I am giving myself a break (at least from long distance walking) for the true Mid-Atlantic states of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and the Long Island area of New York. 

The reason is the prevalence of the greater megalopolis of these areas. I have proven that I can sleep in any city or town in the United States, except, strangely, the parts of New Mexico and Northern Arizona that I passed through on the Manifest Destiny Journey. It would be close to suicide to spontaneously camp in areas filled with Native American Reservations. Also, without proper supply lines (towns or cities along the route), it's plain old stupid to think one can carry enough supplies to hike and camp over 100 miles stretches with no source of water or food. The western desert distances are far too vast. You'd need a pack animal and it would have to also carry its own food and water. The camping part is easy. It is the hiking part that would be brutal.

That kind of thing is way outside the scope of my project. My work has never had to do with extreme survival. It has been about reporting on the people, the towns and cities, their jobs, the economies, and societies, their cultures, etc. When it comes to big cities though, I have earned my stripes. I've slept in the middle of Tucson, Memphis, and Seattle to name a few of the more challenging.

There are three cities that I would only try rough camping in if I was paid a LOT of money: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I'm  positive I could do it, but it would have to be worth it to me. Bragging rights aren't enough of a reason. 

And this brings us back to the upcoming leg. I've done the city thing. I will give the states of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey a look-see,  but it will be the non-mega-urban parts. Big cities bore me now. They are not representative enough of real America. 

The reader may remember the Mississippi leg of the Living Magazine Journey. I took Greyhound buses to the places I wanted to explore and then walked around those areas--all major cities. In that case, I did one city every week for eight weeks, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. 

I'm not totally ready to commit to this, but the Mid-Atlantic tour will probably be based on two bus trips a week, stopping in two mid-sized cities per each of the three states (Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey). I will skip New York City and head inland, hopefully to visit my cousin--near Poughkeepsie. This will put me in a position to then continue the old school hiking all the way through western New England (western Connecticut, western Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and then Maine). I am still not quite sure whether I will walk or take a train into Maine. The only reason for taking a train would be to symbolically come full circle to the Amtrak station in Portland that I departed from, 608 days earlier. I would appreciate your opinions on this Maine entry!  

In all, I estimate that of my East Coast travels, only about 150-200 miles will be by bus. That means that by June 21st, I will have walked over 800 miles since the first of the year. 

I know all of this seems confusing, but it should become less so as the weeks go by. In 14 days from the date that I write this post (4/8/2016), I will only have 60 days remaining to complete the Homecoming Journey, and then it will all pass into history...

I was packed up, reorganized, ready to go by 10:00 a.m., and took these...

Great room! I left a shining review at Expedia and will do so at TripAdvisor.

Blurry selfie.

I checked out at 10:45...

Something was astir at the animal shelter, to have this many interested birds above it.

Back onto Route 1 (which was also 301 at this point).

My favorite snack after entering North Carolina. Has to be this brand though.

A surprising amount of protein--22 grams. And, only 14 grams of fat (despite the name)! 

All the Jefferson Davis honors struck me as somewhat odd. Davis, while being the President of the

Confederacy, was actually a pretty ineffective leader during the Civil War...

Many historians attribute the Confederacy's weaknesses to the poor leadership of President Davis. His preoccupation with detail, reluctance to delegate responsibility, lack of popular appeal, feuds with powerful state governors and generals, favoritism toward old friends, inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones, and resistance to public opinion all worked against him.

Wikipedia: Jefferson Davis 

A headlessaur.

Example of an ideal sleep spot.

I loved seeing and smelling this purple wisteria.

Very fragrant vine. See close-ups below.

Motel for sale.

American Wisteria (I believe it is W. frutescens--but I am double checking)

It was a relatively modest walk of only about 6 miles. Chester was clean, with the box store area being most prominent in this part of town. I found the clover leaf that I had planned on sleeping at. The bank to climb up into the woods was more steep than Google street view made it appear. This is common because of the distorting effect of the 360 degree camera used. No problem.

Climbing to the very top to the hill, I found a relatively level spot and set up the tent. Unfortunately, I also picked up a traveler (a deer tick) that I wouldn't see until two mornings later...

Sleep came quickly, and was so much more restful - as compared with the motel bed - that I overslept well into the next morning.