Date: 2011-06-18
From: (82) New York City

To: (83) New York, Morning in the City
Miles today: 0.0

I awoke the next morning to the sound of passing feet. I had done it! I had made it through the city at night, an experience that I feel I will never be able to effectively do justice in telling. Why some actually choose homelessness is beyond me. Sleeping in the streets was nothing like sleeping in the woods, not in any way whatsoever, and I felt dirty having done it.I set out to see the last place on my list: Central Park during the sunrise. It was beautiful. I started at the top towards North Meadows and meandered my way down though the entire park. From lakes to open fields with skyscrapers in the background, I saw it all.After the park I found myself back at Grand Central Station (at this point I no longer needed a map to find my way around, having criss-crossed and circled the entire city several times) but decided I wanted to go back and get a fedora hat from one of the street vendors before I left the city. For some reason everyone in New York City wears fedoras (I had seen like 50 of them yesterday alone), and I wanted one. Fedora hats are clearly what¢s happening in NYC, and they crack me up (They would look especially good with my Amish style beard). I remembered seeing a stand past Union Square that sold them, so I set out for yet another long walk through the city. It was an average walk, another day in The Big Apple¢¦Allow me to summarize:6:18am ¢ Walked by Trump Tower6:26am ¢ Passed a homeless man who was talking excitedly to himself, the brim of his hat pulled over his eyes.6:30am ¢ Walked out in front of traffic. Got cursed at in a classic fashion by a stereotypical New York taxi cab driver (Oh you¢¦). 6:35 ¢ Hungry!6:40 ¢ Breakfast at McDonald¢s6:41 ¢ Hungry! Ahhhhh!!!!6:52 ¢ Went into Subway for a snack6:52 and 12 - Wrong kind of ¢subway¢7:20 ¢ Found vendor and bought lightweight straw fedora. Sweet!7:21 ¢ I look ridiculous in my new straw fedora.8:21 ¢ Walking back on Broadway, is crowded this time of day.8:30 ¢ A lot of the people walking by are eyeing my pack, fedora, ripped sleeves, short shorts, and red beard. I can¢t say I blame them¢¦ not everyone can make it look this good!8:32 ¢ I look ridiculous. Damn society and its.... standards¢¦ 8:50 ¢ Hungry!9:21 ¢ Eat Chinese food at Grand Central Station9:45 ¢ Riding Amtrak back to Peekskill.When I got off at my stop in Peekskill, I received a text from Bud Heavy saying that he could not pick me up until 7pm, so I had the entire day to burn. Though many paths of action lay before me, I picked the most obvious choice and took a nap in a nearby park.When I woke up music was playing and people were setting up tents to sell food out of. Apparently a church was throwing an event, and I was surrounded by hundreds of people. I walked around and saw that the American Red Cross had set up under a pavilion, so I decided to have my blood pressure and cholesterol taken for free. They recognized me as a thru hiker immediately and asked me lots of questions while they checked me. The lady there took my pressure and then looked at me and said, ¢Well, I guess that is normal for you¢.¢Yeah¢¦I walk a lot¢ I said.I scored ¢Ideal¢ in everything, despite my diet of snickers bars, McDonald¢s dollar menu, and Mountain Dew. I guess eating fatty foods isn¢t that bad as long as you actually burn off what you take in. For example, eating a 210 calorie candy bar is normally not healthy, but if I am burning 6,000 calories a day it is essential to keep me standing. Therefore, I conclude that exercise makes you healthy (Now where is my Nobel Prize?). The rest of the day I spent sitting on my sleeping pad in the midst of the event. I made instant mashed potatoes on the spot (that caused a few funny looks), and charged my cell phone in the outlet of a light post. (Oh, and I wrote this trail journal)When Bud Heavy picked me up he had Cactus Jack with him (who was back from his girlfriend¢s house, also in New York), and the three of us headed back to Bud Heavy¢s house for the night. I had no plans for the morning, but was thinking about sticking around for a little longer.