A smooth but long flight.  Arrived at car rental only to discover that my license was expired! Huh?  Never got a notice to renew and never really looked at its expiration date.  So, no driving for me – just a white knuckle grip on the dash and constant reminders to Mike to stay on the left, but not so close that he sideswipes the opposite cars.  And don’t even mention the back-to-back roundabouts.  I swear they are a semi- organized free-for-all.  I am sure we would be mushed, or divorced, if we didn’t have a NAV system in the rental.  An absolute must for any future England trip.

Okay, so we have been caught up in life in general.  It’s now October 2025, and while we have continued walking in the UK, we have not updated our site.  In the interest of actually completing this record, we will just post a quick summary of each walk, with pictures.

Our last pre-COVID walk was in

After a long break due to family obligations (Mike’s sister Sandy had serious health issues which led her to leave her home in Maine and move in with us in Pa) and the absence of a solution to our dog conundrum (no good plan of what to do with our dog while we walked in the midwest for several weeks), we are finally getting back to walking, this time in England!  Heading out tonight for a week long “long distance walk” through the Costwalds.  Looking forward to 4 days of hiking on a 37 mile circular route.

We are getting better at listening to our bodies.  When Mike woke up feeling dizzy and nauseous, we decided to take the first day of our last leg off.  Walking 12 miles when you don’t feel good is just a poor idea.  So we strolled along the Cedar River Trail to explore the city of Cedar Rapids.  This is definitely an area that we could see spending some time getting to know in the future.

Day two conspired to keep us inside.  We have, and will, walk in the rain but there was thunder, lightning and severe weather in the area.  We got up early and drove to our end point.  After waiting a few minutes watching to see which way the storm was moving, we decided it wasn’t worth the chance.  So instead we found the St. Ludmilla Church kolaches festival.  The pastries only came by the half dozen or more so we chowed down on these interesting yeast buns topped with fruit jam.  We are hoping for at least one more day of walking before we stop for the spring.  Had another great dinner – this time in Iowa City in the Pullman Car Restaurant.  That’s our third good restaurant find in the area.

Yippee – we got back on the road on day three!  The weather was perfect – never higher than the mid-70’s, mostly cloudy and no gnats.  We did walk through brief periods of rain, hail and thunderstorms, but on the whole an easy day.  The only negative was the uniformly dull view – not much to see.  It’s bittersweet to be finished this spring walk – we are ready to spend some time at home with the boys but will have to put our cross-country walk on hold for the near future.  Stay tuned . . .

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Day one of the second leg, we are  back on track.  (Mike walked his 1.5 miles on our off day yesterday, while I kept an air-conditioned car nearby for each time he took a break.)  The weather today was sunny and hot but not too hot (high 70/low 80’s) with just enough breeze to whisk away the sweat.  After about 8 miles on Route 30, we pulled off on Old Lincoln Highway to walk through two charming towns – Lisbon and Mt.Vernon.  A very nice area which boasts lots of green space, some Victorian houses and Cornell College.  When we arrived at the end, we saw a police car behind our parked car and another approaching.  Both officers were quite nice.  We were slightly confused because when we said we hoped we didn’t cause them any trouble, they replied no worries and confirmed that it is legal to park on the street we were on.  We asked if they saw our sign that explained what we were doing, they said yes but they didn’t try to call our cell for more info.  Not sure why this needed two police responses – maybe it’s quiet in the town now that the college is on summer break.

Day two was a very pleasant hike from just beyond Mt. Vernon to just into Cedar Rapids.  A little too hot (upper 80’s and no clouds) but pretty countryside and wide shoulders.  Both Mike and I like the south east part of Iowa – lots of green open spaces and little towns each with their own character.

Day three was a perfect weather day for walking – starting in the mid 60’s and topping at upper 70’s, and overcast.  We started walking in downtown Cedar Rapids (a really interesting and pretty city) and ended on Route 30 for the last two plus miles (a four lane divided highway with not much to see).  The walking is getting more strenuous with rolling hills as we move past the Mississippi.  We had an amazing meal at Cobble Hill in downtown Cedar Rapids and are looking forward to exploring on our day off tomorrow.

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Today is our 26th wedding anniversary, and the first day of the next leg of our walk.  We started in DeWitt, Iowa and ended just outside Calamus, Iowa.  We were on Route 30 the whole way – it was mostly farms and a few very small towns.  We got up at 7 a.m. in order to avoid the hottest part of the day.  Still a little too warm at the height of our walk (low 90’s) but enough of a breeze to make it bearable.  It is nice to be done walking by mid-afternoon.  There is nothing like a nice cool shower and an afternoon nap after a long, hot walk.

On our second day, we started even earlier – out walking by 8 a.m.  The majority of the walk was uneventful except for the stinking gnats, which assailed our faces continuously – up our noses, in our ears and in our mouths.  On the plus side, we had a nice chat with a trucker who pulled over as he went by to say he had seen us walking yesterday and today and wondered what we were doing.  I appreciate people who are curious and make an effort to find out more info.  He was genuinely interested in what we were up to.  At mile 10.5 of 12, the heat (well into the mid-90’s by that point in the day) got to Mike and he was too overheated to continue.  I continued on to the car (leaving him lying by the side of the road) and swung back to pick him up.  Not surprisingly, a woman stopped to make sure he was okay.  (Mike walked the final mile and a half on our off day, so he is all caught up.)  Tomorrow is predicted to be high 70’s/low 80’s – fingers crossed!

What a difference a day makes!  Day three was absolutely perfect weather for the first half.  Overcast and high 60’s, with enough breeze to banish the pesky gnats.  Much to our distress, the clouds moved out and the second half of the walk was sunny and up to the mid/upper 70’s.  Hot but bearable.  A nice way to end this leg.

On our drive back to the hotel I had to stop at the Hound Dog Rock Shop in Clarence.  What a great find.  I met a really nice couple – he was a real estate broker whose hobby is rock collecting and she was a hair dresser who makes jewelry.  About two years ago, they left their jobs and opened a new wave crystal, rock and jewelry shop.  We had a wonderful time learning about each other, I bought a really cool geode for Adam (which they helped me pick out and cracked while I watched) and some jewelry for me to mark our reaching the Mississippi.  They gifted me a beautiful crystal native to Iowa as a memento.

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Today we reached the Mississippi River.  What a huge milestone.  It represents many, many footsteps since Atlantic City – some pleasant and others difficult.  But we did it!  We continued walking through Clinton, Iowa.  Our walk went through both some depressed downtown areas and some really beautiful biking/walking trails on the outskirts of town.  We ended up, again, in the cornfields.  It’s up in the air whether we walk our last two days.  The sole of Mike’s left foot is raw and they are calling for severe thunderstorms both of our remaining walk days.  It will be a game day decision tomorrow.

We decided not to walk on day two and drove to Davenport to look for new hiking boots for Mike.  He was in too much pain to chance more damage to his feet.  It turned out to be a successful trip – we got new boots and got a rare opportunity to do sightseeing off of our planned walking route.  The Quad Cities area is beautiful this time of year – everything is in bloom and green.  Surprisingly, several of the towns have a Victorian/New England vibe, and equally unexpected when you think of the cornfields of Iowa, around the Mississippi there are acres of real swamp land.  Who knew?  Tomorrow we will attempt our last walk.

What a nice way to end our second trip.  May 12 had near-perfect weather, wind at our back, good walking surface, and new boots for Mike.  Our route led us to the nice little town of DeWitt.  We ended up walking at a fast pace to beat the threatened thunderstorms (that never arrived) and are looking forward to two weeks rest.

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After a day of doing our laundry and resting, we were back at it.  A little too warm and sunny, still not much to see, but Route 30 is flat and has wide shoulders so walking was easy.  We literally walked within a block of our hotel – fortunately need the end of our 12 miles so we weren’t too tempted to take a detour.  Had a great dinner and are hoping for cooler weather tomorrow.

Day Two – walked through the rest of the town of Rock Falls (a nice town) and then back out to  farm land.  A nice walk except Mike’s feet are really bothering him, despite being covered in bandaids.  Time for new hiking boots.

On Day Three, we started in the corn fields and walked through the pretty little town of Morrison.   The area between the Rock and Mississippi Rivers is more lush and green.  And the cherry trees and lilacs are in bloom – every once in a while we got a nice whiff of lilac as we passed by.

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What a difference two weeks makes in terms of temperature.  Today was in the 80’s and, for the most part, sunny.  My one complaint (which Mike heard for at least 2/3 of the way) was that the wind was fierce – sustained 30 miles per hour in our faces.  I swear I was bent double just to move forward.  Not my favorite scenario – but it’s another 12 miles done and a valuable lesson learned: always put sunscreen on my face because the wind causes my sun hat to morph into a useless tri-corner wind sock.  On the plus side, our feet appear to have toughened up.  Many fewer blisters!

Our second day included nice walking weather (low 70’s, mostly sunny and a slight breeze), more interesting scenery and almost no traffic.  In fact, on the last half of the walk we had a country road all to ourselves – not a car in sight.  My feet are blister free but Mike has PTT (prototypical tootsie trouble – a “Mike”ism – this is what he spends his walking hours thinking up).  We had two different cars stop and ask if we were okay.  Friendly country folks in this part of the country.  The severe thunderstorms have held off until we were safely back at the car both days, for which we are most grateful.

The third day was the best weather so far this trip.  Temps in the high 60’s, sunshine and just enough wind to keep us from getting too sweaty.  Today we had four encounters with Illinois natives – the Lee County sheriff, two road maintenance men, a farmer, and a guard dog.  All were very friendly, just checking to make sure we were okay, and provided a nice break to the monotony.  We have rejoined Route 30 – a quieter, more walkable 30.  The best comment of the day belongs to one of the road maintenance guys who told us that we were the oddest thing he has ever seen.  He might have been referring to the fact that we were lying on the side of the road soaking up some sun during our lunch break, or he might have been commenting on our unusual walking attire.  Either way, made me laugh.

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Today was perfect walking weather!  Sunny, high 50’s/low 60’s, and no wind.  We ditched the coats and gloves – trading them for sun hats and sunscreen.  We walked from one town -Plainfield to another – Oswego.  The road was flat and open but nothing much to see.  For the first time ever we met other walkers – a couple doing their daily 4 mile walk around their neighborhood.  We had a nice chat which helped the last 1/2 mile fly by.

Day two started badly – warm but twenty mile an hour winds at our faces.  We had a devil of a time keeping our head gear on!  Also lots of traffic, narrow shoulders and virtually unchanging open fields.  However, a little more than halfway, the traffic decreased and the wind died down making the last few miles much more bearable.  To end the day, we had the best meal of our trip at Millhurst Ale House in Yorkville.  Very good bar food, lots of beer on tap (which we regrettably could not sample given the fact that we are walking again tomorrow).  Nothing beats a good burger after a long hike.

Our last walking day of this first spring trip was pretty much more of the same.  Same road, limited scenery and cooler weather.  Fortunately the rain held off until we reached the car at the end.  Now it’s home for two weeks to catch up on errands, check in with the kids and dog, and rest our battered feet.  Overall, our stamina is good but our feet were pushed to the limit this time.

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After a rest (and laundry) day, we began our second three day walk.  Day One was still unseasonably cold (in the morning it was below freezing) and we are battling persistent blisters.  However, it was sunny and much less windy – we found several sunny spots to take our breaks.  Overall, we are starting to get into a routine.

Day two was perfect weather.  Cold but no wind and sunny.  And we had the luxury of sidewalk/bike path most of the way.  While that might not sound exciting, it truly is.  Not having to dodge cars and navigate narrow shoulders is much more relaxing.  The only down side is that Mike and I continue to develop new (or expanding) blisters.  Mike’s feet are pretty battered – he’s up to 8 separate bandaids.  We should purchase stock in bandaids – we go through boxes like crazy!

Day three started with us brushing snow off our cars, but because the temperature was above freezing it melted quickly and basically disappeared before we began walking.  Most of the walk was cloudy and cold but not freezing.  Not much in the way of scenery, but for the third day in a row, we came upon a fast food place to take our long break so we could warm up.  Walking was difficult for Mike because of feet issues but we made it.  Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

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