Date: 2012-07-14
From: AT railroad station, NY Route 22 

To: NY Route 52
Miles today: 14.8

SOS was up and off earlier than usual today! He was on the trail by 7:30 and would have been there earlier but did a circle tour and ended up back at the hotel!! (He put the wrong location in the GPS) There were two hitchhikers at the start spot...it turned out to be Boots and Melody..a young couple of teachers from Switzerland. They wanted a ride to the nearby train station so they could go to NY City. I gave them a ride and some water and treats to take with them. We also gave them some money to buy subway passes. They were very excited to see the big city! On the way back from dropping SOS and the kids off, I stopped two times and did U-turns for photo ops (see them in photos). Back at the room, I organized (a never ending job) crocheted (I got inspired by talking to my grandson, Isaac, who was crocheting when I called)read more of my David Baldacci book (wish I could remember which ones I have read and which ones I haven't!)and got a call from SOS saying..."come meet me for lunch" So, of course, I did. We drove to Whaley Lake (this reminded me of my good friend Kris and her sibs who have the last name Whaley) and parked looking at the lake. A realtor walked over to the car and talked to us for a little and then came back with a "power" drink she suggested we try...I guess we looked tired! Back to the trail for SOS and the room for me. SOS was done early..about 3:00! He showered and we headed for Hyde Park...about 20 miles away to see FDR's home and grounds. On the way, we passed the Culinary Institute of America but it was closed for summer break. We had wanted to eat there after friends Joe and Mary's daughter graduated from there and told us about the great restaurants they have. On to FDR's visitor center where we discovered we had missed the last tour by 10 minutes...striking out all around! We did get to see the excellent film with some footage from long ago of FDR and his wife Eleanor speaking and being with family. It was very enjoyable and we learned some things we didn't know...always a good thing! We found a diner to eat dinner and shared meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and veggies with a salad and cherry pie for SOS. We then went to the Walkway over the Hudson State Park which is just a long (1.25 miles) bridge over the Hudson River. We walked from one side to the other and back again for a total of about 3 miles with the access to the bridge. Along the way, there are pictures of the history of the bridge. You can dial a number on your cell phone and then the number on the picture to find out more information. It was a great walk with fantastic views even though it was HOT....not as hot at 8:00 as at 3:30 though when a sign there said it was 123 degrees on the cement on the bridge! Glad we weren't there then. Last stop of the day was at McDonald's to write the journal for today. The WIFI at the hotel is iffy at best and too slow for the pictures to download very fast. Road Name of the Day: BRIGADOON ROAD I knew this was it the minute I saw it because that was the play SOS and I attended the evening before our wedding day..on July 10, 1976.SOS here:Today was international day on the trail. Hikers I shared the trail with today were Boots & Melody from Switzerland, Manfred from Germany, Spot from Canada, Trekking Pole from Poland & Shito from Japan. I met Boots (that's right hiking buddy Boots) and Melody from Switzerland. I had met them before. They were at the Appalachian Train Station NY Route 22 attempting to hitchhike to Pawling NY to take the train into NYC. Boots was so excited about seeing NYC for the first time his eyes lighted up just talking about it. Trail Mama gave him a ride to town. They are expecting Trail Mama and I to come and visit them. They told Trail Mama they had a small apartment with only one bedroom because Switzerland is so expensive. They said they would find us a place to stay with a friend or they would give us their bed and sleep in their tent. Now that is radical hospitality. Trail Mama got them off to the train and we gave them $20.00 to take 4 subway rides each. I hope we see them again and see what they did in NYC.When I met Trekking Pole from Poland I had started hiking again before I realized the play on words in his trail name DUH. He also invited Trail Mama and I to visit him in Poland. He said he lives in the mountainous part of Poland about 2 hours south of Krakow.I passed Spot on the trail from Canada, but did not introduce myself. I had heard about him from Tagnlong and Headnout. His wife is also following him all the way from GA to ME in an RV. Hopefully, I will pass him again today. I realized it was him when Trekking Pole told me he was just ahead of him on the trail and I read his name in a shelter registry indicating he had just stopped there. It was a great hiking day and a wonderful afternoon spent off the trail with Trail Mama.The littlest Christian to influnce my life was our granddaughter Larissa. Larissa was born with a genetic disorder SMA. She appeared to be a healthy baby when she was born, but the family became concerned when she did not develop muscle tone - this was caused by her genetic disorder. Because of the genetic disorder Larissa was like a quadrepeligic. Larissa except for the inability to move thrived under her loving parents, our daughter Amy and Son-in-Law Richard (Dino to the family).<Larissa spoke with her eyes because she could not draw in enough air to speak. We could see the love of God in her eyes. I observed Larissa love life and everyone around her with her eyes. Larissa was a bright and happy girl. She tusted her parents and her doctor. Her doctor was also a gift from God in that moment of our families life. He was so special in that when he was in the room Larissa, our granddaughter. was who he focused on and she loved him.What is amazing is Larissa was wise to God and life and lived to be only 8 months old. We, Trail Mama and I, often wonder how many lives she would have enriched had she lived to be older. We know she enriched all who knew her before she went to be with Jesus. Minutes after she went to be with Jesus, we saw how she touched her personal doctor's life. When Trail Mama thanked him for all he did for our granddaughter Larissa - he cried tears of pain for his and our loss of such a beautiful soul.I hope I touch lives the way Larissa did. I also hope, if I am ever dealt a terminal illness, I can face it with such dignity as our eight month old granddaugher Larissa did.Our children Amy and Dino trusted God so much that when they had their second child, who did not have the genetic disorder,they gave her the name Faith. (Every child born to them has a one in four chance of having the disorder.) Trail Mama and I now have 14 grandchildren. The youngest is also Amy and Dino's, a son Caden Dean, who was born just 10 days after we started our thru hike. God is good - All the time even during the rough times in our lives.Trail Mama and I have fourteen precious gifts from God.That is why we are doing this thru hike to raise funds for our UMC youth camps. Please pledge today to modernize our youth camps at www.rightfuture.org. THANK YOU!