The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VII

Tuesday - September 2, 2008 Day 181 22.4 miles

Total Connecticut miles - 96.1 Walking Days - 91

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6 Cumulative miles 1620.1

A fun day - not much contact with people, but lots of waving,
pretty scenery in the morning, and cities in the afternoon.

We decided to walk down Hwy 79 to Hwy 80, and not worry
about trying to find the back way between Hwys 79 and 77. We
were pretty certain we wouldn’t find it anyway. This walk was
very pretty, and lots of good places for pit stops (very important
for me). I liked Hwy 80 as well.

We stopped for lunch at The Giant Big Y - I think that’s right. It
is a grocery store supreme, with a nice place to sit and eat
whatever you decide to get of the variety of foods offered. When
we stopped for lunch I opened my phone to see if I had missed
any calls and I noticed that the chaperone was on, so I knew
Dave was looking for me. As soon as it went off I called him
and asked, “Well, did you find me?” I couldn’t resist. He
proceeded to tell me exactly where I was at the moment. You
know it feels kind of good to know he wants to find me.

After our delicious lunch we headed back out - we had to drive
back a little bit to where I had stopped walking before lunch. I
started out, and pretty soon I was walking by the Big Y again.
As I walked by my phone rang - or actually it called out to me,
“Ring - ring, ring - ring, ring, ring.” I kid you not that is my ring
tone - a voice that starts out with a sweet “Ring” but gets more
and more urgent and louder as it adds more “Rings.” It’s really
funny, and I love to hear it.

When I answered my phone a woman’s voice asked if I was
Lyn. I said I was, and she told me she was calling from the Giant
Y Market. They had found a purse that belonged to Norma and
wanted to know if I could get in touch with her. I told her that I
was walking right by the store now, and yes, I could get in touch
with her and let her know. I immediately called Norma, but got
her voice mail and left a message. After I hung up I suddenly
realized that her phone was probably in her purse and she
wouldn’t get that message.

Well I knew I’d be seeing her in about an hour, so just figured I
would wait to talk with her then. Sure enough it was about an
hour when I came to where she was waiting. I told her where her
purse and phone were. She hadn’t yet missed them (which was
probably good), but now she needed to go get it, which was no
problem.

I filled my water and drank my G2 drink, then headed out again.
I enjoyed walking through this next segment. Lots of cars, and
many were waving. The cars came in groups and often one in a
group would get all excited and honk several times and wave
excitedly. That got the next one or two or three going as well. I
always enjoy it when they do that.

Our next meeting was at a Dunkin’ Donuts where Norma had
enjoyed a cool drink. Oh, yes, today warmed up considerably -
about 90 degrees I heard. I never felt real uncomfortable, but I
was dripping a lot. This stop brought us to the city of New
Haven, CT. Once I refilled my supplies I walked on through the
city. It was great, but poor Norma got all twisted around in this
city, and I got several phone calls with requests for help. I
was able to walk her through, or tell her what to put into the
GPS.

I got all the way through New Haven, and entered West Haven
by the time she caught up with me. The last time she called I
asked her how our gas was. She told me it was on empty. Now it
just happened I was standing by a gas station with the price of
$3.65, and I could see her coming, so I told her to get in the left
lane and turn in when she saw me. As I watched her get into the
left lane I all of a sudden realized I was facing her and gave her
the wrong lane. I quickly called her to tell her to get into the
right lane. She managed to do it and made it into the gas station
ok. She’s usually the one to get right and left mixed up.

After getting gas I had her pull into the laundromat lot next door
and I walked there to end our day. Then we drove back through
New Haven on the route to check the mileage on the last
segment since poor Norma had made so many wrong turns. We
really need two people in the car - one driver, and one navigator.
It would sure work a lot better, but we can barely get one
person, let along two.

Then back to eat at our restaurant across the street from our
motel - Shoreline Diner. We’ve really enjoyed every meal we’ve
had there, so figured it would be good to eat there one last time.
Tomorrow we move on down. And now I’m ready to get to bed
- after I call Dave, of course.