Day one of the final three days of our spring walk was warm but not unbearable.  Relatively easy walking on “Old” Route 30.  Walked through Plymouth, a nice town, and then back to open fields and not much to see.  Interestingly, so far, Indiana seems to have less farming than Ohio, and more factories.  We thought that there would be more farming as we go further into the Midwest.

Despite predicted high temperatures, Day Two was warm (mid-80’s by the time we were done) but low humidity.  Plus we spent half of the walk on the main Route 30 which is fairly breezy with all the tractor trailers going by and open fields on both sides.  At the beginning of the walk, we moved into the Central Time Zone.  Another first!

Our good luck continued on Day Three.  The projected excessive heat and humidity didn’t materialize.  We got a mostly overcast day with temperatures only reaching the mid-80’s.  All of our twelve miles were on the main Route 30.  Not much to see but two very nice people stopped and offered us a ride.  We love the reactions when we politely decline and explain that we are walking on purpose across the US.  Today we got a “that’s great,” and a perplexed look and a “God bless.”

This trip for the first time, I feel like we are making real progress.  Don’t know if it’s the fact that we walked for nine days this time, or the fact that we are exploring new places I’ve never been, or the fact that we have changed time zones.  Whatever the reason, it feels like a legitimate adventure.

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Our first day of the next three day walk was near perfect – sunny, windy and low 70’s.  We walked the entire time on the main Route 30 – a four lane divided highway.  Lots of truck traffic and not much to see.

On Day 2, we veered off Route 30 to walk through Warsaw.  The downtown area is dotted with sculptures (created by J. Seward Johnson, who is from our neck of the woods) of people in everyday activities – everything from a mailman delivering mail to a mariachi band.  Really interesting.  After Warsaw we shadowed Route 30 on a smaller, less traveled route.  The most interesting thing we saw was a Mennonite man driving a sulky behind a horse up and down the same one mile track of road.  They passed us four times.  No idea why but gave us something to look at.

On Day 3, the temperature and humidity ratcheted up.  To combat this, we started walking earlier in the day and made all of our half gallon fluids Gatorade. An occasional breeze and a mostly-cloudy day made it bearable.  Mike and I always walk as far on the side of the road as possible and most people go out of their way to make sure that we have enough room. Today, for the first time, we had someone aim for us.  Not even a close call but still obnoxious.

On the plus side, our good luck with dining continued – found another good family restaurant in Warsaw – The American Table.  Nice home cooking and an amazing homemade bread pudding with vanilla sauce.  Mike was in seventh heaven.

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Our first day was rain, rain, rain.  Mike declared it “refreshing” (again) but I would characterize it as “drenching” (to give you an idea of how much water we are talking about, after we returned to our car and drove to the hotel around 4 p.m., the next morning the seats that we dripped on were still soaking wet).  On the plus side, we both found Fort Wayne charming (we had no idea what to expect).  During our walk through the city, it was clear that it is loved – we saw lots of unexpected charms (sculptures, interesting buildings, and pedestrian bridges).  And we found a treasure of a restaurant: “Sara’s Family Restaurant,” which had some of the best food we’ve had in our wanderings.

Day two was near perfect.  Low to mid 70’s, partly cloudy and windy.  An easy walk -for the most part straight highway.

Day Three was hot – it reminded us that we need to get out early in the spring, otherwise we are dealing with low 80’s by the time we are done.  Walked through the small town of Columbia City (on business Route 30) before returning to the main Route 30 (a four lane divided highway).  Apparently, Columbia City is a “golf cart friendly” town.  Never knew there was such a thing – didn’t see one golf cart while we were there.

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