Friday conclusion

Marker 19.0 at 8:21. Marker 19.5 at 8:31. Marker 20.0 at 8:41. Marker 20.5 at 8:51 . (It smells like cow shit everywhere around here.) Marker 21.0, free Willy, smoke, and rest at 9:01. Leave Marker 21.0 at 9:28. Marker 21.5 at 9:38. (My butt cheeks are starting to hurt because they've been rubbing together for almost 20 miles.) Marker 22.0 at 9:49. Marker 22.5 at 9:59. Marker 23.0 at 10:09. (I'm at least halfway home now.) Marker 23.5 at 10:20. Short break. Leave Marker 23.5 at 10:42. Marker 24.0 at 10:52. Marker 24.5 at 11:03. Marker 25.0 at 11:13. So there we go: 23 miles today, give or take half a mile. And I don't feel too bad right now. I'm probably about 5 miles from the center of London, leaving another 14 from there to home. Gonna try to be asleep by 12:00, be up by 7:00, and on the road by 8:00. That means it will probably still be breakfast time when I hit London. Nowhere to
eat between London and home, so I might have to buy a can of ravioli or something for the road.

Fishbone

Brad Perkins just called me. You may recognize his name from some blog comments (especially if you're him). Well, Brad said he was checking in on Aimless just about every day before I left. But when I stopped linking to new blog posts on the front page, he thought I hadn't written anything new, so he kinda stopped checking. I guess he must have checked in again recently and discovered that I've been VERY busy with the blog. (I think I've written maybe 200 entries since I left.) I just thought that was pretty funny. It was real good to hear from you, Brad. Well, it's 8:00, so I have to start walking again. Gonna try to get maybe another six miles down the road tonight. That would total 23 miles for today, leaving another 19 to go tomorrow. (I really, really hurt right now. Tomorrow's going to be a bitch.)

Friday's timeline part 2

2:25 PM - Lunch break is over, walking toward US 42 & South Charleston... 3:51 - Finally made it to S. Charleston-Clifton Rd. & US 42. Man, that road is a lot longer than I remember it being. I am at least 13 miles closer to home than I was this morning. Looks like two or three more miles to South Charleston, where I'll be eating chicken for dinner. I was right here the last time I saw my parents on 4/24. Right now it's time for a smoke break... 4:21 - Break is over; walking on bike path to South Charleston... 4:29 - Milemarker 16 (from Xenia)... 4:43 - Mile 16.5... 4:54 - Mile 17.0... 5:04 - Mile 17.5... 5:15 - Mile 18.0... 5:17 - Short break (on a bench!). Can almost smell the chicken... 5:32 - Break over... 5:58 - I have my chicken in my hands and I'm about to chow. (No, I'm not going to choke it.) We're gonna take at least a two-hour break right now because I've walked about 17
miles so far today. I have to walk at least four more before I set up camp.

Friday's timeline part 1

9:08 AM - Leave Yellow Springs station (US 68 & Dayton St.) via Ohio Route 343... 10:36 - Main St. & S. River Rd. in Clifton (break)... 11:12 - Break over, walking along S. River Rd... 1:16 PM - Lunch break: S. River Rd. & Selma Pk. Gonna eat ravioli straight out of the can. When I walked this route on April 25, I had to take at least six breaks. Only two today, plus an additional two miles. I'd estimate I'm nine or ten miles down the road already. I feel fine except for my feet. This body is turning into a machine. Strange! I feel very good about my chances of making it home tomorrow, maybe even pretty early. After lunch I'm going to take S. Charleston-Clifton Rd. to US 42, sticking with the trail that parallels 42 all the way to London.

Let the pain begin

I'm sitting at the Yellow Springs station right now (8:00 AM), ready to walk at any time, but not in quite a hurry. Gonna try to walk at least 21 miles today to get halfway home. You may remember it took me 4 days to walk from home to Yellow Springs 8 weeks ago. Now I'm going to try to make it back in only 2 days. It'll be tough, but I think I can do it. I just sent Duke a TXT message, asking him to direct Miss Pathfinder to this blog if he sees her. I think she WAS on a date when I saw her last night, but it didn't look serious. It doesn't matter anyway, though, because I just want to meet her. I'll probably want to date her if I meet her, but right now I just want to meet her. So if you see this, Miss Pathfinder, I hope to hear from you soon.