A Living Magazine - Day 345 - Homecoming - Milford to Nashua

Not a bad night. I slept all the way through. Just as I sat up a car drove by on the road. They didn't look over. But it was my cue to leave. Pack up was simple--just the tent and tarp.

The first priority was getting to McDonald's and processing my photos from the day before. I thought I might have missed it on my night walk to the cemetery the evening before. But, after about fifteen minutes further I found it right where it should be.

I went in and bought a coffee, then took out the SD card from my camera, slipped it into the card reader, then plugged that into the keyboard's USB port attached to the tablet. I crossed my fingers and began transferring pictures and video. Then suddenly, everything went haywire and the process stopped only halfway through, with a message popping up that the card needed to be formatted. This had happened once before, and I had lost all the data. I tried repeatedly to find the untransferred pictures, but they were permanently gone. That little bead of sweat developed on my forehead.

I rely on my pictures to tell the story of this Journey. I also use them to jog my memory about the sequence of events. To lose them is always devastating. I went through my other SD cards, looking for one that hadn't been ruined. I even tried to reformat them, and had no luck. They were unusable. Then I remembered I still had a MicroSD, so I tried that. It was able to be reformatted. Holding my figurative breath, I inserted it into the camera and tested it by taking this picture...

Phew! It worked.

I was unable to review the pictures before leaving. I was sure I'd lost my incredible sunset panoramic shots from the night and I thought I'd lost my turtle pictures which would ruin the story of his being returned to the river. But, there was nothing that could be done. Getting the right kind of card reader (one that could be plugged directly into the tablet, bypassing the keyboard) would have to be a major priority in Nashua. It was time to get back on the road...

Big guy--probably two or three years old.

Look at those front paws. They are essentially just like human hands.

Roadside memorial for a little girl--no other information.

My last view of the Souhegan River that ran along 101A.

I nicknamed it "Turtle River" in honor of my reptilian friend.

Every creature deserves to be remembered, if it is possible.

The bottom tag is pretty good work.

Am I the only one who thinks this is somewhat bizarre?

First it looks like a gravestone. And the "Come Again" sounds like something

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon - the Kwik-E-Mart owner on The Simpsons -

says as shoppers leave. Okay...more overthinking. Ha!

With every thousand feet I walked, the temperature rose by a degree. I walked all the way through Amherst. Didn't really get to see much of the town. This particular area was the Hypermall section. But I did stop into Staples to look for a new card reader, but had no luck and continued on. The very western tip of Nashua is marked by this dealership... 

I had entered Nashua and kept walking, looking for a place where I could get cheap food and spend the rest of the day online...

Not exactly chilly!

I got to a McDonald's, but it was the smallest one I'd ever seen. Mostly just a drive thru, with four tables on the inside. At each table were employees chatting. I couldn't even sit! I left and looked across the street to see a Market Basket--Somerset Plaza Shopping Center, 375 Amherst St, Nashua (another chain grocery store). I thought they might have a salad bar, and if I was lucky, a little cafe area. I saw this thermometer on the way in...

Sure enough! They had a lot of really great food at excellent prices, AND a huge cafe sitting area, with tables and AC outlets. I bought one of their $0.50 ginger ales, then sat down and worked for the rest of the afternoon, getting quite a bit done and drying off. Over the next four days, this place would be my center of operations. It is a superbly run business.

The employees are friendly. They hire teens, giving them a chance to get great work experience. All of the male employees wear ties and white shirts. In fact, there are so many young men, that it gives the impression of being a prep school.

And, the prices are lower than any comparable place that I've seen. You can get a slice of pizza the size of a 12" pie for $3.59. Beautiful and creative sushi (made right there) is $5.99 to $11.99. Breakfast sandwiches are $1.50. Big Greek salads are $2.99. You get the idea. All this food is made there, fresh, each day. It's good stuff too.

The eating area is impeccably clean, being wiped down, mopped and maintained at least once an hour. You know me. I'm not much for gushing on businesses, but this is a real exception. I hope to find more of these before and after this Journey is over.

When dinnah' time rolled around, I bought a (huge) pork chop meal, with mashed potato and corn, for $4.95! The chop was the most tender I'd ever had. It was nearly 2" thick, juicy  and perfectly seasoned. Although I could simply cut it by pushing the plastic knife through, it was not stringy at all. So filling! A hot meal that wasn't fast food.

I published a post, while checking Google Earth for sleep spots. I was pretty sure I'd found one just down the road, along Somerset Parkway--the road that leads to and from Interstate 3. I left just as the sun shot its last rays through the trees...

I easily found a good spot. My worry over mosquitoes didn't last too long. They were there and they were biting, but, nowhere near that first night in Chesterfield. Again, I used only the simple set up--without the fly. I climbed in after dark and fell asleep easily.

Nashua Sleep Spot.