Trail of the Susquehanna

Getting Moving Again

2011-06-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

Life in the Brownsberger household is so busy. A few months ago, Ron celebrated his seventieth but there is so much going on. Both of us are heavily involved in theatre ( go to www.markhamlittletheatre.ca ) and on planning committees at the church ( go to www.springvale.org ) and Margaret frequently takes a turn at taking grandkids out for a day of activity. We are planning on resuming the Great Walk Around Lake Ontario by following Highway #2 east from the Pickering Ajax area where we left off last year.

Still Walking

2010-07-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Last fall we walked from Brighton, Ontario, to just beyond the village of Wellington in Prince Edward County. This spring we did the section from Kew Beach in Toronto along Highway 2 through Scarborough and into Pickering. Our plan is to walk around all of Lake Ontario (Ontario and New York State) in the next year or so in small bits. We'll keep you posted from time to time.

What a Trip !

2009-08-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

At the end of March, 2009, Ron Brownsberger with his wife Margaret set out to walk from southern Pennsylvania to Stouffville, Ontario, north east ot Toronto.

By doing the 443 mile walk, which took from March 30 to June 11th, 2009, Ron was able to raise almost $6000 for the Heart Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital.

Scroll down to March 15 to read the start of the story of this adventure . . and for those who like an armchair travellogue, there are over sixty pages of notes and photos from the trip for you to enjoy.

In late September and early October, '09, we intend to do a ten-day walk from Brighton, Ontario, through Wellington, Bloomfield, Picton, Bath and on to Kingston. - - Just for the fun of it; not a charity walk. AND, we plan, over the next year or so, to complete a walk around all of Lake Ontario.

Fund Update from Sunnybrook

2009-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just heard that the total donations from you folks has risen to $5653.

Thank-you to all doners. Way to go! It won't provide an artificial heart pump, but it will help to supply a guzillion clamps or whatever is needed by the Heart Centre.

Ron Brownsberger

What's normal?

2009-07-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

So, we're slowly getting back to normal, (whatever that is!) It's good to be back to our home town of Stouffville. Last night, we were with thousands who came out to see the Canada Day fireworks show at 9:45 in Memorial Park. It nice to know that this town is still small enough that many are within a half hour walk to downtown. And earlier in the evening we heard the excellent Blackboard Blues Band hammering out dozens of songs. The five-day Strawberry Festival started with a great concert the previous evening with the Men of Note chorus and recently honoured and amazing soloist, tenor Lloyd Knight.

Margaret is daily tending her perennial garden. We both do Thursdays with the grand kids. We've been on duty at the Snack Shack at Springvale this week. I'm back with the two bands I play keyboard or piano in. The MLT theatre club is gearing up for the next season with "Seven Stories" in September. Margaret is starting with her reading for the book club, and will also be helping to lead a group this fall at TLC at Springvale. And I have to start staining pine for the bookcases for the den.

We'll likely wrap up the Sunnybrook heart fund in a few weeks. For those of you waiting for one more pay-cheque before donating, there is still time. Go to http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.com/ click Trail.

Now, what do we do to this blog? Does it stay in the www forever for the world to see? What earth-shattering message would we want to send to those nice people in Australia? Were Bob Gass and Lorraine Gass reading it? Was Howard Corfield reading it? Al Arnott? We know that a few in Pennsylvania and Indiana were following, as were many here in Ontario. Some have said it was tricky to add a "comment" on the blog. I know that ron.brownsberger@gmail.com is still working.

Photos - - In Margaret's garden.

Winding Down a Bit

2009-06-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since we completed the walk. I'm still sort of amazed that it happened. But I'm sure it did. How else would I have gotten those 900 or more pictures on my camera, all taken at road level!

People ask about the shoes. I had three pairs - - a cheap pair of "Starter" running shoes from WalMart and two pairs of low cost Adidas from SportChek. I changed pairs each day at mid-day. By the time the 1.2 million or so steps were over, the wear on each pair was similar. And slight. They're all ready for another long hike.

And people ask about the feet. Very lucky there too. One small blister one afternoon, treated with salt water, gone in a day. Margaret was good about giving the feet a good creaming job once or twice a day. And I had 28 pairs of socks with us in the van. There were frequent changes especially on wet days. And I'm a regular at Stouffville Family Footcare. They do miracles.

People ask what I was thinking about while walking. After I got it straight in my little brain that this walking trip was actually underway, I would often see or hear something that would trigger a memory. For example, a miniature lighthouse on a front lawn - - times in Peggy's Cove, or Newfoundland, or on the Toronto Islands or up the road from Port Huron where I've seen a variety of lighthouses. Or an Adirondack chair for sale in someone's driveway - - would make me think for the dozens of chairs I repaired one summer at MBC in Huntsville. Or the sound of a bird - - memories of my mother's great interest in birds and how she taught me how to recognize many of them by their calls.

And we're asked about the fund-raising. Well, there's almost $5000 additional at Sunnybrook ready to help someone with their heart problems. (Not too late to donate!)

http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ click Events, click Trail, . . . .

Photo - - The Boardwalk, East Toronto

Boston Pizza, Stouffville, Monday Night

2009-06-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

It was great for us to see about a hundred customers at the restaurant tonight - - and more than half of them were people we knew, too! Community-minded Boston Pizza donated a part of their profits tonight to the Trail of the Susquehanna Walk - Schulich Heart Centre fund at Sunnybrook.

A few had wondered about the menu. And one couple was concerned about how loud the canned music was going to be. The place has a good selection of "heart smart" items on the menu. And conversation was easy with the music at a could-barely-hear level.

And we were happy to accept a dozen donation envelopes for the Schulich Heart Centre, too.

Thank you to everyone who came. From Ron and Margaret.

Local Newspaper and Web Coverage

2009-06-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the Stouffville Sun-Tribune for their four months of support - - front page again today - -and to the Markham Economist for their recent coverage of our activities.

Also thanks to http://www.guidingstar.ca/ for Grant Weaver's excellent article with photos.

For first time visitors to this blog, we have finished a two month walk for heart - - southern Pennsylvania to Stouffville Ontario - - see the first entry, March 15th, for the original news release.

And see http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ Events, click "Trail..." click to donate.

It was great to see our daughter Ann and others at the Welcome Home event reported on Rogers TV's York Region Local News last night. We're still waiting for some good Toronto coverage. The greater the audience, the greater will be the contributions to the Heart Centre.

Photo - - Fariba, owner of Hair Depot, presents a cheque for $400 from her customers' fund-raising.

And did you know that, for a few days, David Barthau contributed profits from watch battery installations at Barthau Jewellers?

Monday night if you are in the Stouffville area, have supper at Boston Pizza and bring a lot of your friends. They are contributing to the Heart Centre, 5 - 8 p.m.

Some of the Statistics

2009-06-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Total distance walked: About 443 miles or about 715 kms. About 8 miles a day average. 12.8 km. Total number of steps (estimated) 1,240,800 Margaret walked more than 80% of the distance

Cost of U.S. motels, gas, food, meals, etc., and buying a used mini-van for the trip, you wouldn' want to know.

Pennsylvania - March 30 to April 24

New York State - April 29 to May 12th

Ontario section - May 25th to June 11th

Total about 60 days on the road.

Breaks: four days Corning area Apr 25-28 and 12 days at home, Stouffville May 13-24

Highest elevation 2480 ft. ASL near Gold, PA. Lowest about 248 ' ASL along the Lake Ontario shoreline.

Funds raised by June 11th, somewhere between $4000. and $5000. Target was $10,000. Now $22,000 which will supply one artificial heart.

Places doing good media coverage: Niagara Falls, Niagara on the Lake, St Catharines, Oakville, Mississauga, and Stouffville and Markham

A GREAT article www.guidingstar.ca/Ron_Brownsberger.htm This site has done some super articles for Markham Little Theatre, too.

Google all of the following words to find news stories: Brownsberger Ron walk heart Pennsylvania Sunnybrook

Number of people who came out to the great "welcome home", about 92.

In the picture - - Steve and Donna McCorquodale from Etobicoke, our hosts for three nights, came in their "olde country best" to the welcome home event.

What a Welcome - Wow !

2009-06-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

We made the last dash to the finish line this afternoon, arriving at the farm at 3:59:30 p.m. What a crowd! A huge thank-you to at least seventy people who were there to welcome us home. Mayor Wayne Emmerson soon took the mic and offered congratulations and presented a citation and a beautiful leather-bound special edition Stouffville history book. Bob Flemming of Springvale offered congratulations and a prayer of thankgiving, Dr Helena Jaczek, MPP spoke briefly offering congratulations, John Storey of Markham Little Theatre presented a cheque, Fariba Nasirtzadeh-Marandy of the Hair Depot in Stouffville presented a cheque. And I got to say my own thank-you's - - no, I won't include the 300 word text - - and also offered the challenge to direct more funds to the Heart Centre.

And it was a nice touch for the Stouffville fire dept. to be there with their lights flashing.

Following the "formalities", at least four journalists grabbed me for interviews. For which I'm thankful. My appologies to friends that I didn't get a chance to speak to personally. By the time the journalists were gone, I looked around and there were only a dozen or so left - - the ones that had brought unbrellas. It had started to rain.

What an adventure! This will not be the last entry posted on this blog. Margaret has a few topics she'd like to add - - stories that haven't been told so far. And. We still have a lot of money to raise. I still want a bit more exposure in the Toronto area by the "big guns" in the media. (CBC, CFTO, CITY-TV, The Globe, The Star, The Sun.) A big thank-you to 680 NEWS who broadcasted a good news report today. Sunnybrook hospital serves Toronto and I'd like to get more Toronto dollars directed to the Schulich Heart Centre.

http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.com/ Events, click "Trail", "Donate now"

Room H366, 2075 Bayview Ave., Toronto, M4N 3M5 Cheques marked "Trail"

Also tell others about this blog. People say it's good reading.

Tomorrow We Finish the Walk !

2009-06-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe. Two and a half months ago we were traveling southbound to Manheim, Pennsylvania, scouting the walking route.- - do we go over that mountain or around? Then, after fifty-eight days on the road, we're about to enter Stouffville, Ontario.

Today we did the Markham section, walking from Milne Dam Road, past Markville, and up McCowan to 19th and over to 48. While on the road we did a phone interview with 680 News. Don't know when it airs. An appointment with Markhan Economist was another no-show. (Added later: But, using material from a previous Tribune article they did publish on Thursday, the 11th, complete with a coloured picture.)

The Stouffville Sun-Tribune has been absolutely wonderful.

So, tomorrow, the final steps. We're leaving Dixons Hill (n/w corner of 48 and 19th) at 3 p.m. planning to arrive at the Brownsberger farm just before 4 p.m. Join us for the last two miles if you wish. It is nice to see that there is new grass established beside road near the pond, a nice touch.

Into Markham

2009-06-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

The northern section of Scarborough is really rather beautiful. The subdivisions are filled with well kept private homes, while fifteen-storey apartment buildings cluster around the main intersections. Along the upper part of McCowan, the sidewalks are over twenty feet from the roadway and in many places the road property is quite nicely treed. I wish I'd had ear plugs while crossing the 401. Fourteen lanes of roaring traffic below, plus the traffic on the McCowan overpass. Quite loud!

By mid-afternoon we'd entered Markham. And crossing the 407 was SO much quieter. Note to those of you reading this in Australia: When built, the 407 Express Toll Route in south central Ontario was the world's first automatic toll road. Sensors read your transponder in the car or photograph the registration plate and the bill comes in the mail the next month. It's not cheap - - almost five time the cost of the Indiana Toll Road which I'm accustomed to. But even at the high cost, some use it every working day.

For you who live close by, remember the Welcome Back at the Millard bridge, east of Hwy. 48, June 11, 4 p.m. . . . And a welcome home party at Boston, Pizza, Stouffville, June 15th, 5 - 8 p.m. Some of the proceeds are being donated to the Heart Centre. Come. Tell your friends to come.

And to those who have pledged "by the mile", the number will likely be about 443. For others insisting on metric, the number is about 710 km. (Be sure to write your cheque in metric dollars.) All donations are appreciated.
Go to http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ Events, Trail, Donate.

A Quiet Day into Scarborough

2009-06-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

Lake Ontario is at 248 feet above sea level; Stouffville is at 901. A lot of the climb today was in getting over a number of old glacial lake shorelines. The hill on Fallingbrook in lower Scarborough is brutal.

We had hoped for a little media exposure while travelling through Toronto yesterday, but it's hard to compete with the closing the Gardner and the Parkway for a bike ride for charity. While walking along Kingston Road near Warden, I sensed someone watching. A store-converted-into-a-home had closed window blinds except for this little observer. I thought of holding up my "Trail" business card, but I doubt that the creature is old enough to read!

Most of Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll be on McCowan northbound. Our destination is getting closer!

Downtown Toronto to the Beach

2009-06-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

* * *

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

We're walking from southern Pennsylvania to Stouffville for the Sunnybrook heart department.
See the first blog - - go to March 15th for the original news release.
See http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ click Events, click Trail for details.
Google all of Ron Brownsberger heart walk Pennsylvania Sunnybrook for several news articles.
Cell 416 835 2457 to speak to Ron.

* * * *

The forecasted rain never happened during the day today. Margaret helped with baby-sitting in Uxbridge while daughter Ann and I had a pleasant walk from Bathurst Street east to the Beaches. This was the first time Ann had had nine hours away from the kids since the third was born! Several beautiful large three masted sailing ships were docked in the harbour. During the lunch break, we watched the ferry boats going to and from the islands. On Queen Street, east of Broadview, we happened upon an art festival and wandered the park where about sixty artists were showing their stuff.

I used to think this part of East Toronto was a bit rough, but most storefronts were open and there were many coffee houses and restaurants serving the crowds. We continued to the Beaches, walked the boardwalk to Lee Avenue and then took the streetcar (a 50 min. ride) back to where we'd left the van. On the way back we saw a huge red ball stuck into the doorway of the old city hall. Later I found out that it is part of an art installation that started in Barcelona and moved on to Chicago and Toronto.

Just three days and a bit to go! Northeast through Scarborough, north through Markham and on to north of Ringwood to the farm in Stouffville.

^ ^ ^

A Special Blog to a Special Boy

2009-06-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

When we were walking on Friday I saw this creature in a large sandbox and decided to take a picture of it for you. It is located in a park beside Lake Ontario in the west end of Toronto between the Sunnyside Pavilion and Pool, and Ontario Place. To those of you who are reading this in Australia, these Canadian animals became extinct a long time ago.

P.S. folks. Just found out that all our photos on this site are click-to-enlarge. A quick double click will do it. Use the "back' button to return to normal. You computer types probably already knew this.

Into Beautiful Toronto

2009-06-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

Today's walk was from Royal York Road along the lake to Bathurst Street in perfect cool, sunny weather. I've never travelled this route before, even though I've lived in or near the city most of my life. New lands have been added to the shoreline, a butterfly refuge established, many high end high-rise condos have gone up, beautiful pedestrian bridges have been installed over Etobicoke Creek and the Humber River. Peeking through the trees we could see the dome of the flower building and the bandshell at the CNE. A number of sail boats were enjoying the light winds, and for the first time I saw an amphibious bus motoring along a lagoon at Ontario Place. For those of you reading this blog from Australia, just google some of the places above to get more info and photos.

We had three guests with us for today's walk. Edith, Marilyn and Keith are all avid walkers - - it must have been a pain for them to travel at my somewhat slow pace - - but we spent much of the time hearing about their many walking experiences. And, of course, they heard about ours.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that we've walked from southern Pennsyvania to Toronto! And with only a bit more than four days on the road, we'll be home. Saturday we rest. Sunday my daughter and I are walking from downtown Toronto to Kew Beach.

Our hosts for the past three days were Donna and Steve McCorquodale whose home in Etobicoke is less than a mile from our route - - so convenient.

For those of you recently reading this blog, our walk is for charity. See the first entry, mid March, for the original news release and go to www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca click Events, click Trail to donate.

Starting through Toronto for Heart

2009-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

We're still on the trail - - walked from Port Credit to Royal York Road today.
The poor van - - start, stop, start, stop all day - - needed a boost this aft.
I've had an OML or CAA membership for fifty years.

We had another interview at Port Credit this morning. We're grateful.
WE NEED SOME COVERAGE IN TORONTO Please phone the TV stations, the newspapers and talk radio stations, and let them know what we're doing and when and where we'll be. Our cell phone 416 835 2457

The timetable for the next few days:

Friday June 5th Lakeshore at Royal York Road, 9 a.m.
Sunnyside parking lot east of Ellis Ave., about 11:30 a.m.
Princes Gates, CNE, Strachan at Lakeshore 3:30 p.m.

Sat. June 6th resting

Sunday June 7th Queens Quay at Bay Street, noon to 1 p.m.
Kew Beach, The Boardwalk near Lee Avenue about 4 p.m.

Monday the 8th The Boardwalk at Silverbrich about 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday June 9 McCowan near the RT about 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday June 10 McCowan near Markville about 10:30 a.m.

Thursday, June 11, the big finish 4 p.m. Millard, east of Hwy.48, at the bridge.

AND . . . On Monday, June 15, come, bring your family, to Boston Pizza in Stouffville and order dinner. The Boston Piza is donating 10% of the gross to the heart fund ! ! ! Margaret and I will be there. Donations can be made that evening to the Heart centre.

A Million Steps for Heart

2009-06-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sometime yesterday afternoon, I did my millionth step from Manheim Pennsylvania. The entire trip to Stouffville will probably click in at about 1.2million steps. I guess it's OK to have a few hard spots on the foot bottoms or be a little stiff in the mornings. If there's anyone out there who wants to sponsor at a penny a step, I'm sure that the Hospital will be delighted!

Port Nelson, Bronte, Oakville

2009-06-03T03:57:00.000-07:00

The trail around Lake Ontario follows the old Highway 2, with its hundreds of "fine" homes. It is obvious that there are many well-heeled people living in this area.

I began rethinking the term, "The Golden Horseshoe". The area from Oshawa around through Toronto, Hamilton and the Niagara Penninsula has for a century been an area of great economic prosperity. Although the steel mills in Hamilton are almost at rest and the Canadian auto industry in Oshawa a somewhat shakey, the health of this area is still quite good in comparison to what we've seen in regions of western New York and the hills of Pennsylvania where some people have to drive twenty minutes or more to just get to their nearest food store.

Yes, it is a rough time, but when we have 10% unemployment, that also means we have 90% employment. Loosely quoting the recent words of a world leader, those of us who are coping well will need to learn to share, which means getting our old clothes off to the thrift shop, a little extra food over to the food bank, lending our extra car to a mom who needs it, being in tune with the needs of the people living on our block or in our town.

Into Burlington, Ontario

2009-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

For over forty years we have been flying over the Burlington Skyway bridges - - four lanes in each direction - - with no thought about what's underneath on the "old road". The narrow isthmus is home for several hundred homes and cottages along the Lake Ontario side. The footpath is wide and once again is the bed of a past electric and steam rail line that connected Hamilton with points north. The area was first developed in the 1870-1880 period and three original homes still exist. Several major storms and floods have bashed away at the shoreline but the people remain. Older tiny cottages are mixed with some more recent grand places. Signs by the path ask people to keep off the wild shoreline vegetation and along the other side there are numerous irises in full bloom.

Burlington has an absolutely beautiful waterside park on the north side of Lake Ontario with many footpaths and several dining facilities. Today's walking got us past the centre of town. We're now progressing north-east, bound for Toronto by Sunday.

CHCH news and the Hamilton Spectator had each expressed interest in our story but after a two hour wait for each of them, they had to be declared no-shows. Coverage earlier by St. Catharines and Niagara papers was excellent.

Hamilton Ontario

2009-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

We keep moving on. A stiff wind today added to the challenge. Whenever we were within sight of Lake Ontario, it looked wild with spray and serious whitecaps.

This morning I was able to speak for a few minutes at the earliest church of the Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in Canada, begun in Vineland, ON, in 1801. I was also able to meet friends of my parents, Reesors and Fretz's, still living in the area.

We're on a borrowed computer at the moment - - we'll get photos added to the last three blogs in a few days. Friends of ours, Donna and Bob Parker are hosting us in Ancaster for a while as we round the end of the lake. High recommended is "It's All Greek to Me", a little restaurant in west Hamilton.

We're still pretty well on schedule in these last weeks. See the March 31 post for the itinerary. And we still plan to meet with media on the days and places listed on the May 21 blog.

Another Good Day

2009-05-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect walking day; coolish and partly sunny and very little wind. At Port Dalhousie, part of St Catharines, Margaret and I met Monique and her photographer from the St Catharines Standard and did photos and an interview about the Trail of the Susquehanna and raising money for Sunnybrook. We also have been able to get in few extra miles to the west, so we're ahead of schedule again.

We've left rivers and fields and are now following Lake Ontario's shoreline. It was good to see the tiny Toronto skyline across the lake for a few minutes this morning. Home is getting closer! However we are on the North Service Road beside the Queen Elizabeth Way (6 lane expressway) so we're hearing the roar of transports rather than the chirping of birds. Local residents have insisted on high noise barriers in some places and they do work. I always thought they were made out of concrete, but on closer inspection they seem to contain recycled plastic. A web search revealed that the product is constructed of plastic and wood pieces, and made in nearby Hamilton, Ontario.

Tonight we celebrated our sixtieth wedding anniversay and also treated our hosts, Cathy and Reg and Linda to dinner at a ninth floor restaurant with a view of the Falls. The server after seeing my little business card about The Walk, came back and asked if she could photocopy it for others on staff. Seems they don't have long distance walkers coming in very frequently. And, I'll add, the garlic-red-skin-mashed-potatoes were excellent, too. (Sixtieth, you ask? Margaret and I were married five years ago but we celebrate our anniversaries monthly.)

The Trail of the Susquehanna continues along the edge of Lake Ontario for the next eight days. For those of you joining late, this is a walk for charity. Go to
http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ click Events, click Trail, click Donate.

Friends Join Us on the Walk

2009-05-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

It was good to have two cousins from Toronto join us for the day walking from Virgil's new "Silks Breakfast" over to the Welland Canal lift bridge and into St.Catharines. Both Isabel and Edith have had numerous experiences walking in North America and in Europe. We heard details of trips taken cross country From village to village in France and into Spain. On some of these trips walking is combined with bus transportation, and luggage is moved from one night's lodging to the next. My speed is usually just over 2 mph (under 4 km/h). Edith can do 6 km/h

This part of the Niagara Peninsula has fruit trees, vineyards, and tree farms. There is no wasted space. Orchards and grape vines push tightly against homes and barns. We saw a grove of fruit trees growing in the border lands of an expressway interchange. It seems that the farm businesses and wineries are doing fairly well in this region.

After being in motels for over 50 days, it is good to be at the home of a friend for a while. (Linda Mooney and I worked together in Markham 15 years ago.) While I am writing this blog, my wife is glancing through the Zoomer Magazine, June, 2009, page 34. She reads out loud that walking has shown to reduce the chances of dementia in seniors. So I guess this walk from Pennsylvania has an additional benefit!

Through Queenston

2009-05-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Forgot to tell you about the dog rescue that Margaret saw yesterday. Suzie had gone over the wall along the Niagara River, and the owner, some police all dressed in rapelling gear, and a Humane Society ambulance were all at there to rescue the animal. We assume successfully.

The Niagara Review did a great newspaper report about the Susquehanna walk.
Much of today was spent following an old electric rail line which meant gentle grades.
The bright yellow pansies at the Horticultural Gardens entrance were outstanding.
The Sir Adam Beck generating station when built in 1930 was the largest in the world.
Gen. Isaac Brock had lots of help from the Natives to win against the Americans.
We had both made bets about good General's outstretched arm. We both lost.
(He was actually holding a "baton", which might actually be a lightening arrester.)
The narrow trail down the 200 foot Niagara Escarpment is a slippery creek channel!
Queenston looks like a very healthy village but it has no stores, only a tiny post office.
An arranged media meeting in Queenston was postponed to Thursday morning
The next few days will follow through the flat fruit farms of the Niagara Peninsula

One of today's sites was the Great Floral Clock beside the generating stations. Around the clock, clockwise, are the letters ARASKRAPNIAG (Niagara Parks). About twenty minutes later I saw another garden with the ten hour clock. As most Americans know, this country went metric over twenty years ago. The new ten hour clock - - twenty hours in a day - - had a hundred minutes in an hour. The advantage of the ten hour clock was that many things could now be done more quickly. Google the phrase "metric clock" to get details on how it works.

Niagara Falls - Canada

2009-05-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

A wonderful sunny day of walking. Just north of Dufferin Island, the trail continued away from the road and close to the river and the raging Niagara current. Awesome! Photo ops at every turn. Twenty minutes later I broke through just above the falls and the Table Rock area. It was interesting to hear voices around me whisper phrases like "...All the way from Pennsylvania" when they read the T shirt.

Journalists from The Review met with us and they were able to collect the "Walk" story, without errors I might add. A couple of hours later, after checking with me by phone, they had the story on their website. Go to http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ for both video and text. It'll likely be there for less than twenty four hours.

Margaret and I had lunch at the Victoria Park upper restaurant with a gorgeous view of both falls, and then continued north. For half an hour the sound of the Niagara carillon filled the air - - American and Canadian patriotic songs and hymns. Beautiful. (Except when the tourist helicopters flew over!) At the Spanish Aerocar, now almost one hundred years old, we both decided to pass. I was on it once a few years ago, shamed into riding it by students!

Today's walk finished at a peaceful park around the other side of the Whirlpool, where we later returned for a delicious Coleman-stove-and-Chef-Margaret chicken with vegetables meal.

Getting Ready for the Final Push

2009-05-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

(Go to March 15 blog for the original news release.)

It's been good to have a week or so off from the great walk. We've had a chance to catch up with some family and friends. And Margaret has worked in the garden almost every day.

It was with sadness that we saw that "Da Classic Scoop" lunch and ice-cream establishment had been torn down. The building was the Ringwood general store back in the mid-1800's, and doubtless was visited every week by my ancester George Brownsberger or his son Samuel. The building needed to be moved for a road widening, and even though the Town offered it for free to anyone who would move it, there were no takers. The interior had the original tin ceilings, sort of a 1950's diner decor, and hundreds of pictures of old cars, especially Caddys. And my favourite was the old wooden fog horn hanging from the ceiling. When the place was opened as an ice-cream shop in the 90's, kids could be lifted up to pull the rope to get a long mournful wail from the contraption. (Soon the rope was removed - - I guess the employees couldn't stand the noise.)

Melanie Calandra and I have been working the main streets of Stouffville raising awareness of the walk, and yesterday I did another interview at WhistleRadio, CIWS 102.7 fm. (To those of you reading this in Australia, try www.whistleradio.com)

One more plea to all of you living close to Niagara Falls Ontario, St Catherines, Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, and Markham. Please contact your local radio and television stations and newspapers and let them what we're doing. We hope to be at the following places on time:

Niagara Falls, ON, Parkway at Murray, May 25th, 10:30-11a.m.
Lakeshore Bridge, Port Weller, May 28 4 - 4:30 p.m.
Lakeport at Lake, Port Dalhousie, May 29 11:30 -12 noon
The 1st Menn. Church, Vineland, 11- 12:30, Sunday, May 31st
Confederation Pk., Hamilton, June 1st, 3 - 3:30 p.m.
Hwy 2 at 16 Mile Creek, June 3rd, 4 - 4:30 p.m.
Hwy 2 at Etobicoke Creek, June 5th, late morning
Queens Quay at Bay St., Toronto, Sun., June 7, noon to 1 p.m.
McGowan near Markville entrance, Markham, June 10, about 10:30
Millard, east of Hwy 48, near the new bridge at 4 p.m.

If you live nearby, drop down to meet us.

To donate, go to www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca , click Events, click Trail.
Or write a cheque to "Sunnybrook Foundation - Trail" and mail to
H366, 2075 Bayview Ave., Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5

Margaret and I will be back on the walk starting Monday, May 25th.

People We Have Met along the Way

2009-05-16T19:55:00.001-07:00

We've met some interesting people along the road:
* In Strasburg we went to a restaurant called Good and Plenty - fine Mennonite cooking and served family style at long tables with 12 people sharing bowls of food. We met a chiropractor and an emergency nurse from Arizona but who had both moved to Atlanta. They have a bucket list filled with derring-do for each of their birthdays - hang gliding, para sailing and more. The two have been friends since childhood and team up for holidays. Another couple at the table was from Corning, NY. We told them that we were going to take a break from walking in late April by going to see the glass museum in Corning. They have never been.
* We met other hikers from northern PA who were in Lancaster for a conference. She does endurance hikes once per week. They hike wilderness trails together. They told us a hair-raising tale of hiked during the late winter this year. They have often hiked the route which involves a loop of about eight miles with a corresponding number of water falls. They are experienced hikers but on this trip they almost made a fatal mistake by not taking their backpacks with them. They spent more time than they expected looking at the ice formations made by the falls - the one the furthest out looked like a cathedral. They got caught in the dark and had to hike out in pitch darkness. They didn’t reach their car until 1 am. They said they won’t be so foolish as to hike without their packs again.
* Early in our walk we came across a ‘real country’ farmer who said ‘What are you doing there?’ as we were parked looking at a map near his driveway. We called out that we were walking to Canada. He says, ‘That’s a long way! You better park up yonder. Cars just keep flying over thet hill there. I don’t really mind who parks by the house. Nobody really lives there. The owner lives in New York. I just have the cows in the barn.’
* Ron asked for a tee-shirt be printed ‘WALKING TO CANADA’. He already has one that says more about raising money for the Schulich Heart Centre but wanted a simpler one for the US. The proprietor said, ‘It’s free. Anybody who is walking to Canada doesn’t have to pay.’
* Many hotels/motels include breakfast in their rates. That’s a great way to meet people. We met:
* Pipers from Edinborough, PA going to pipe at the state capitol
* A PhD student who had to work full time while studying. He stayed up until 2 am to write more of his thesis. He has to defend it in two weeks. His topic is the use of technology to communicate between faculty and students. That‘s one thesis I‘d like to read!
* Another pair of ‘former’ hikers. They are now in their seventies and have settled down a bit. In their younger days they hiked a lot including a 1000 mile hike. Then they said that we had some great trails up in Canada. Maybe we’d heard of one - the Bruce trail? (Truth told Ron and I celebrated my birthday in the first year we were dating by walking a very small part of the Bruce Trail.
* And the many, many wonderful people who have stopped to see if we had had a breakdown or needed help.

Itinerary Revised a Bit

2009-05-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Click the March blog file (below, right) to find the original itinerary. Both the New York and the Pennsylvania portions were a bit shorter than I thought they would be, so we're already at home in Stouffville, Ontario, having a break. Also we have completed walking the Fort Erie, ON, to Dufferin Island section. These four days slightly revised:

May 25 - Through Niagara Falls on the Niagara Pkwy., to about the Whirlpool
May 26 - Continuing north on the walking path toward Queenston
May 27 - West through St. Davids and beyond
May 28 - North west to Port Weller

May 29 to June 11 - plans as previously shown in the March 30 blog.

June 11 - - Meet Ron at the new bridge on Millard, east of Hwy 48 at 4 p.m. for and End-of-the-Walk reception. Rain or shine!

We need publicity if the Heart Centre is going to benefit from this exercise. It would be great if you would call up your local television stations and newspapers and let them know what we're doing and when we will be near your town. Media can contact us by e/mail ron.brownsberger@gmail.com or perhaps use the cell phone number 416-835-2457

I would like to offer special thanks to Melanie Calandra for her work on publicity.

Donations are slowly coming in. A one-minute speech at Stamford Church last Sunday yielded about $600. Some donations have been arriving at the Foundation website www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca click Events, click Trail, click Donate, and I've heard rumours of a few pledges. Cheques made out to Sunnybrook Foundation, and marked "Trail", can be mailed directly to the Sunnybrook Foundation, H366, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5

For those of you who have pledged "by the mile", you'll be happy to know that the estimated total distance is more likely to be about 470 miles rather than the originally estimated 520. If you insist on donating by kilometer, then the number is about 750.

It is good to be home for a short while. Margaret is pleased with how the flower beds are coming along, and we have neighbour Kyle to thank for the excellent condition of the indoor plants and the lawns. And after fifty nights away, it's good to be back in our own bed!

Niagara River Historic Plaques

2009-05-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

The words of all the plaques located along the river's edge are on the following sites:

www.niagaraparks.com/heritage/plaques.php

www.niagaraparks.com/heritage/plaques-south.php

The one at Netherby Road (south site) is of special interest to us because it tells of the migrations from Pennsylvania and Upper Canada. Ron

Niagara Parkway South

2009-05-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today was spent appreciating the many fine, beautiful (expensive!) homes along the Niagara river. Many of these places appear to have been built recently, probably replacing small homes and cottages that were eighty to a hundred year old. One wonders why a couple with perhaps only two adult children needs six thousand square feet or more of living space. One home, ultra modern, looked more like a corporate headquarters for business! On the other end of the spectrum, it was nice to see how a few grand homes of the past, perhaps the early to mid-1800's, are being kept in mint condition.

We had our lunch and mid-day rest at a pullout beside the river. Once again it was so beautiful to enjoy the peace and absolute quiet in the area. The quiet moving river, no winds, a few birds, and no traffic noises for minutes at a time.

We continue to learn more about the history of this area. At one place, we read information about an electric suburban trolley company that took passengers from the Buffalo and Lake Erie steamships from a wharf near Chippewa down to Queenston to board the ships bound for Toronto.

A field south of Chippewa was the site of several battles between the American and the British during the War of 1812-14. It has been recently discovered that over 800 bodies (from both sides) are buried in this field. Of all the events at the site, the American almost won only one of these battles. The British usually benefited from alliances with Indian warriors.

At one point, we witnessed a killdeer frantically screaming and running along the grass in front of us. We obviously had travelled too close to its nest. The bird kept up the performance for several minutes before flying off in a wide circular route back to the nest.

When we finished the walking today, the mist from the Falls was on the distance horizon.
Pictures:
The mega house

The 'corporate' house

The well-kept house from the 1800's - For Sale if you are interested.

A little in the bank

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

The schedule was to go back to Stouffville for a break, but instead we're doing some of the walk north from Fort Erie. The trip north up to Niagara is mainly a walking/bicycle trail following the Niagara Parkway. It was a pleasure today to be on a paved trail - - full view of the Niagara River - - no noisy transports whizzing by.

There's a lot of history in the area. Plaques report the movement of escaped slaves before the American Civil War, the skirmishes between the British and the Americans during the War of 1812-14, the numerous ferry boats that crossed the river from after the 1790's. Did George Brownsberger take Bertie's ferry from Buffalo across the river? There were apparently seven ferries running across the river in the 1820s.

We had a great moment this afternoon when we saw about 35 little goslings being escorted by three or four baby-sitting geese down to the river while the rest of the parent birds were flaked out on the grass.

It was good to get the chance to speak for a minute about the walk at Stamford United this morning. This is the church where Margaret's father (now 100 years old!) was assistant minister for 24 years and continued to assist with services from time to time until five years ago.
Pictures:
Ron starting the Canadian leg of the walk

The plaque about the Bertie Street Ferry

The goslings and their caregiver

American Section Completed ! ! !

2009-05-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

At a total of 302 miles, the U.S. part of the long walk is done! Today started out nice, sunny and warm in West Seneca, but by noon the weather was cold, extremely windy and blowing rain. When that started, we just happened to be at Main Street and Swan in downtown Buffalo so we treated ourselves to a free street-car ride. I love trains and trams - - we've done street-cars in San Diego, San Francisco, Amsterdam and other places. By the time that little break was over, the blue sky was again in view. Walked through the central round (I was going to call it the central square, but in Buffalo it's round.), gingerly walked past a huge crane that was swaying in the wind, and by 3:30 we were at the bridge and into Canada. Margaret's a bit like me. We like the States and its people, but, we do sing a few phrases of O Canada when we return.

And for the first time in 48 nights, we're not at a motel. Instead, we're in the home of friends. Margaret's sister and husband are at a place on the Niagara River near Queenston Village. Pleasant, quiet, relaxing.

Margaret occasionally asks me if we're writing a book after this thing is over. What we've posted on this blog is only a tiny fraction of the stories we could tell. And, I have more than five hundred pictures on file to help to bring back the memories. I'm also on my second trip diary so..., maybe.

Pictures:

A buffalo in Buffalo

The streetcar at Swan and Main

The Peace Bridge - did it look sweet!

To East Aurora and West Seneca

2009-05-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

The walk continues - - partly in rain, partly in sun. Today was quite sunny and was as warm as we have experienced. As of tonight, we are less than 15 kms. from the Peace Bridge, so the New York state portion of the walk will likely be completed late tomorrow afternoon. Once again this is a bit earlier than I had planned. The routes I chose for walking are not always the routes that MapQuest might suggest - - often the expressway routes are longer as they circle around towns and cities.

Highlights? A beautiful old school house converted into a wood craftsman's showroom. A tavern built in the 1830s on the site of an Indian trail used by pioneers. Several more concerned people asking if we need assistance. Signs in front of several homes shaped like a dove and reading "PeacePrints". Many trees in full bloom. Sidewalks.

Late this afternoon we went into town (Buffalo) enjoyed a coffee in the Elmwood Village area and later went up to Hertel and stopped in at the Shadows Lounge for dinner and jazz. The grouper was excellent, the spinach dip was amazing, and out on the patio a jazz group - - Jim Bohm on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Dave Calire on keyboard (with bass) and vocals. Talented twosome. Well done.

Pictures:

The outside of the schoolhouse, now an artist's workshop

Blooms

The jazz group we heard tonight

Chaffee to Holland

2009-05-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Each day has its own variety. This morning was sunny and got to comfortable warm quickly. Certainly makes walking easier. It's great to see the countryside dappled with apple blossoms and now the lilacs and cherry trees are in bloom. And, er, what was that smell? The farmers are of course fertilizing their fields but the smell was worse than that. Then we saw it. Garbage mountain with trucks steadily taking more in. At the top there was a digger and some trucks were adding soil. One wonders what folks will think of our middens a few hundred years from now!

We had more ups and downs today. Ron was able to benefit from the down hills moving toward Buffalo. I got a few up hills as I walked to meet him. When that happens I repeat a mantra to myself that goes something like - 'another muscle on, another pound gone'. It seems to work.

Anyway by mid morning we were ready for a break at the Zider Zee Restaurant. We tried for green tea but tea was fine. Ron asked if I'd noticed the clientele. I said, 'All guys, why?' He said, 'Now look at the two waitresses.' (They were rather comely ladies - - boldly displaying their womanliness (Ron says!) - - in their late twenties, early thirties.) I do love the twinkle in Ron's eye. Now in fairness there was ample parking for trucks and this is a busy trucking route.

Our afternoon walk was mainly through Holland. Ron kept looking for a windmill but there is only a small one in the town park. This weekend is their tulip festival. There will be a parade and a breakfast - typically for a small town you have to know where it is, rides and a BBQ and dance behind the fire hall. Lots of tulips are out and waving prettily in the wind.

Once again we are impressed by the kindness of people. Today it was warm and safe enough for Ron to wear his 'Walking to Canada' tee shirt. A couple in a car had not seen the slogan but saw us walking on their way to and from breakfast. They stopped to make sure we were OK. Later a teen in a car did see the tee shirt. He wound down his car window and asked if the slogan was for real. We told him what we're doing and he said, 'Cool!' That kind of reaction is great.
Pictures:
Margaret climbing a hill

Ron climbing a hill

The town windmill

The Fifth of May

2009-05-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

We walked more than eight miles in Sandusky, Arcade and Yorkshire, NY. Lots of sidewalks now with towns quite close together. Some of the features of today included getting Toronto area radio stations in the van, Toronto TV stations in the motel, and stopping at a Tim Hortons. A local church is offering free oil changes to single moms on Saturday morning. Great idea!

This afternoon we headed to Lewiston - - we don't usually go over 190 kms. round trip for dinner but this was another anniversary. At The Silo a diet Pepsi. The Silo is an old coal storage unit (round, 40ft high) used back in the days of the Lake Ontario steamers - - does anyone remember the original S.S.Cayuga? An entrepreneur converted the top if it into a restaurant/snack bar with a view. We enjoyed chicken 'n pasta and beef dinners at The Landing, right across the river from Margaret's sister's place near Queenston. Drove around Lewiston a little and through Artpark. Cute town with lots of changes since I was here the last time. Then off the the American Falls. I'd never done the U.S. side before. (Margaret had.) Quite impressive especially when viewed from close up.
Pictures:
A beautiful historic railway station in Arcade. It is in use with an historic train

The Silo in Lewiston

The American Falls

The Last Week in the States

2009-05-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

We pushed past Rushford Lake today and made it to mid Sandusky NY. Those of you following on the map can see we're about halfway through New York State toward Buffalo and the Peace bridge. Today some hills, then mainly level walking along side rivers and abandoned rail beds. We've moved from Rte. 243 to 98. There aren't many motels in the rural area, so we're spending the week at a clean EconoLodge in Blasdell, just south of Buffalo. Margaret is particularly pleased that 'Buffalo' is being used in more of our conversations!

Rural western New York is much more populated and has more farmland than what we experienced in Northern Pennsylvania. There are still some very small, somewhat dead, towns where people must travel long distances to buy food. Some of the towns we have gone through have a large 'mini-mart' which will have a limited range of products. There are so many empty buildings along the road, evidence of many broken business dreams. On the other hand, we often pass a home or small garage with a sign ouside saying people are plugging along with a sucessful small business. Like "Dave's Used Books"- - a single car garage near the highway loaded with an estimated 5000+ titles. We have to remember that 9% unemployment means 91% are still working.

One interesting building we passed this afternoon was Salem Little White Welsh Church erected in the 1850s. It was built on a dry stone base with no mortar between them. It reminded us of the Mennonite Meeting House in Altona which I help to maintain. In fact there were two ladies there this afternoon giving the building its spring spruce-up. Like the Altona church this one is not in regular use but this building has been designated as an historic site.

Since retiring I've had an interest in buses. While working for Transtario, I got to drive four types, two of which were beautiful up-to-date models. Walking along the roads for the past weeks, I've seen many old vehicles in varying stages of disrepair. This afternoon there were two near the road - - the one looked like a parts source, and the other the probable mobile home for a country singer. If these vehicles could talk, there would be some interesting stories to tell!
Pictures:
A lake near Freedom, NY

A former railway bridge. Much of the old track area is a snowmobile track

Two old buses

A Busy Sunday

2009-05-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

We usually try to squeeze in a church visit each Sunday but perhaps today was a bit ridiculous with three!

The tiny of village of Houghton probably has a population of less than 200 without the college counted in. The only church in town, Houghton Wesleyan, has three services each Sunday morning. The first one is at 8:20 (for the convenience of people walking across the state, of course.) The three hundred seat place was more than half full, the band was excellent (piano, flute, guitar, bass, drums, and vocalists), the speaker was good, and we were out and walking along Rushford Lake before ten.

Early afternoon, we headed back to St. Patrick's hall in Belfast and enjoyed a community roast beef dinner. Bowls on the table; pass and help yourself. Some conversation with couples from nearby Rushford lake. The lowest-sugar pie was the pumpkin which was real good. A treat I've frequently seen in Pennsylvania has been peanut butter pie, (Margaret wouldn't let me touch it,) but today on line I found a low-sugar version which I must try when we get home.

After a rest at the inn, we returned to the church across the road to attend part of an organ recital. A number of talented musicians each played one or two pieces on a new and very impressive instrument - - built in Montreal, by the way. And, we still got in some more walking in before supper.

Other highlights? - - We saw a field of vultures this morning and Margaret saw a couple of deer near the edge of the woods this afternoon. And we have each lost 10 pounds so far!
Pictures:
The church organ we listened to this afternoon

The Inn we are curretly at

Vultures in a tree

Half-Way Home!

2009-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

For those just joining us, we're walking from southern Pennsylvania to Stouffville, ON, Canada for Sunnybrook Hospital Heart Centre. Go to the March 09 blog files to see the original news release and the tentative 2 1/2 month itinerary. Go to http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ click events, click "Trail..."

Hey! Today we celebrated half-way home! That is, if the trip is about 500 miles, we just completed 249 at Caneadea. Close. For those who are following the route, the only change we've planned is that after East Aurora we intend to follow Route 16 right into the middle of downtown Buffalo and then we'll take a couple of city streets to the pedestrian entrance to the Peace Bridge.

Another beautiful day to be on the road. For a short time I was able to follow a trail, a former railway bed, that parallels Rte. 19. It's signed for snowmobiles but looks like it's been used by hikers, cyclists, and horseriders during the spring. I imagined being in a coach car of a steam train in the early 1900's looking out over the Genesee River, which we have been following for the last five days.

At another point we saw a large number of tall trapezoidal pillers. New York State's own Stone henge? Possibly the footings for a massive high-level railway bridge. The hills on each side of the valley were about a hundred feet high!

The pattern continues. Margaret lets me off, drives ahead about 2 kms. and finds a safe place to park the van. She walks back to meet me, therefore doing almost as much walking as I do.
We keep in touch with a pair of 10 mile range radios. After I had started walking on one leg this afternoon, I get a call, "I've found a peaceful place to park." It was the Oramel cemetary. Peaceful, yes. But still the roar of the occasional passing traffic. In the grave yard, Jimmy James lasted only 53 years 1950-2003 but his marker is a chainsaw art bear instead of the standard marble. There must be a story.

There are differences between PA and NY. In northern PA there were 'POSTED' signs everywhere and in fact it was difficult at times to 'step into the woods'. In NY there are still 'POSTED' signs but there are also access signs posted to allow anyone to reach a river and fish. 'Tis the season as they say and we have seen lots of fishermen in hipwaders trying their luck.

Pictures:
Ron at the half-way point in Caneadea

The walking trail

The bear memorial

A Conestoga Wagon

Belmont, Belvidere and Belfast

2009-05-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Great walking conditions again today - - fairly level and weather a little cloudy with occasional sun and a brief cloudburst mid-afternoon.

The frequent plaques tell us that this area was settled in the 1850s. One sign indicated that the first townhall meeting was held in the Willis home in 1852. We're supposing that our forebears used the now Hwy 15 route and cut across country closer to Rochester. Too bad they didn't know this route. Most of the route for the past two days has been very level. Also we are surrounded by farmland rather than the wooded hills we had in northern Pennsylvania.

During the cloudburst this afternoon we took a detour into the historic village of Angelica. There are some lovely old houses, a library and cute little stores. The town square is round with - - count them - - five churches in the circle. (Ron says that Circular Quay in Australia is square.) There are lots of hiking and bicycling trails around the town as well as evidence of a small artistic community. There will even be a Murder Mystery event (family friendly) at the local inn next weekend.

My least favourite part of the day was seeing a snake slither away from the road into the grass - black, about two feet long and about an inch in diameter. Ron reassures me that it was only coming to the heat of the road but I continue to dislike things that slither. Ugh! Ron's worst moment was when a loose dog barked and ran circles around him. He doesn't trust any dog if the owner isn't right there. And talk about heart rate! We try to avoid moments like these.

Tonight we are at a newish, clean inn in the little village of Houghten right next to Houghten College. We were delighted to find internet access which
we hope to have until we reach the border.
Pictures:
A lovely covered bridge

The Genesee River

The main street in Angelica

My 59th (month!) anniversary flowers

On the Road Again

2009-04-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we started the New York section of the walk - - a fairly level road ahead, and a river on the left and the forest on the right, light traffic, and the birds singing - - back to reality. The roads so far in NY are a bit rougher than PA, the paved shoulders often broken up in pieces of asphalt - - have to watch not to twist an ankle. We're not complaining. Level roads are good!

One thing we've noticed is that almost every town has the row of beautiful large homes built in 1890 to 1910 period. Many are still obviously being looked after by their owners - - clean, fresh paint, straight porches, clipped grounds. That period in history must have been a very successful time.

Tonight, we're in the "Creative Arts Centre" in Wellsville. On the main street of town a converted hardware store is now a large 60 seat coffee shop/wine bar that has arts and crafts programs during the day and some music almost every night, and art on every available space on the walls. Tonight is open mic. The stage has held blues and folk singers mainly, and even yours truly got onto the old 1950's Hammond B-2 organ for a few songs.

The two guys at the next table were ready to solve all the problems of the world, install a government with Palin as President and McCain as Vice., recount the 9/11 event, describe the oil boom in southern NY State in the early days. The first oil in America was found in nearby Bolivar, NY.

Pictures:

Genesee River

A grand house in Wellsville

A performer at the Creative Arts Center

Corning, Watkins Glen, Hammondsport, Wellsville

2009-04-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our "vacation" continues. On Monday mid-morning we headed up to Watkins Glen and had lunch in a little GermanSwiss winery high on the slopes overlooking Seneca Lake, and then toured around a bit seeing two of the beautiful waterfalls in the area.

Today we vacated Corning and in Hammondsport saw the excellent Glenn Curtiss Museum. Curtiss teamed with Bell and McCurdy on a number of aerial experiment including the silver Dart at Baddeck. In Hammondsport he started the Curtiss Co. which at its peak had ten thousand employees in the U.S. and Canada. building Curtiss JN-4's . On display were two recently built replicas of planes of over ninety years ago and it was fastinating to watch videos of these two planes taking off, flying, and landing on nearby Keuka Lake in 2006 and 2008. Curtiss was a man of speed and made records for the bicycle in his teens, and held the record for the fastest man on earth with his motorcycle in the twenties. The AAA listed museum also has beautiful boats, motorcycles and dollhouses on display and an interesting collection of Civil War artifacts. I give it a ten.

The Village of Hammondsport is a quiet, restful little place and the central square is not unlike Niagara-on-the-Lake though much smaller. A very busy railroad used to bring tourists here for boat tours of Lake Keuka.

This afternoon we scouted NY Rte 19, the route for the next three days of walking and were happy to find very few hills. Tonight in Wellsville. Recent weather? Two days ago record highs of over 90F, tonight down to the mid 30'sF. Tomorrow low 60s are predicted - ideal again for walking.

Pictures:
One of the beautiful waterfalls near Seneca Lake

An early airplane model at the Curtiss Museum

A moose outside a chocolate shop in Hammondsport

Itinerary Revised

2009-04-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

Back at the end of March we posted the tentative itinerary.
We've made some changes in the dates.

The PA part of the trip ended early on Friday, April 24
The Corning area vacation break is now April 25 to 28
The NY part of the planned trip is now April 29 thru May 13
The Stouffville break will likely be May 14 thru 23rd
The Ontario part of the walk will hopefully start May 24th

Final moment is still June 11th, 4 p.m. Millard bridge, Stouffville.

Corning Holiday

2009-04-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

The first time I came to Corning, years ago, there was a major rain storm. I was on my way home from Washington D.C. and thought it would be a good idea to check out the Outlet store to see if the rain abated. I pulled into the parking lot and ran through a couple of inches of rain on the lot to the ?entrance canopy. Someone opened the door and I went in to warmth and to escape from the torrent. Then I started to explore and had one of those magical moments when one discovers something special - in this case, the Corning Museum of Glass. It was only when I went out the in door that I discovered I had to pay and by then I had totally lost interest in the 'outlet stuff'.

Ron had been to Corning before in his bus driving days but had never done the museum. What a wonderful time we had watching a gaffer make a beautiful glass piece in the Venetian style. We did have some fun shopping for our two girls and then went off to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. The latter is not to our taste but it was well done. Ron did try to find some live music Sat. evening but it was not to be.

Sunday found us at the Horseheads Maranatha Alliance Bible Church - interesting, but between pastors. In the afternoon we drove through the historic portion of Elmira where there are dozens of quite large old homes. In the same area, over 13,000 civil war prisoners were housed in 1864-5. We tried to see the Mark Twain Room at Elmira College but it was Sunday and everything was shut up tighter than a drum. We did see Samuel L. Clement's gravesight. Then on to Ron's fantasy - the National Soaring Museum at Harris Hill. Ron has not yet tried gliding - but did enjoy the replica model gliders and two opportunities at simulation.

Tonight we had another of those magic moments. Ron phoned and found some live jazz. We ended up back in Elmira at Green Pastures - a jazz club serving chicken and collard greens. Howard has run the place for 75 years and introduced us to his son who now runs the place. They had been to Toronto twice when Howard Jr was a child. We did hear jazz but from a juke box which has CDs of all the performances ever done in the club. The group who was supposed to show never did. Instead we were treated to a gathering of regulars who included us in their conversation. A neat time.

Pictures:

Margaret heating glass in 'the glory hole'

The crystal table and boat made for the World Fair in 1904

Ron in the simulator

The jazz club

Pennsylvania Completed!

2009-04-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, April 24th, at 2 p.m., we reached the New York State line. Took the pictures. A total of 214 miles in twenty-seven and a half days. Yesterday, feeezing cold (40F) with headwinds; today, sunny and warm (65F) with tail winds. Quite frankly I wasn't sure I'd get this far. And we're a bit ahead of schedule, not because of faster walking, but rather my previous estimates from paper maps and Google Earth, were a bit pessimistic.

Our last two nights were spent at Oak Hall in Brookland, PA. What an experience! The place is over a hundred years old, was the country estate of a rich lawyer, then from 1947 - 74 was a school for boys, and recently after 2000 is a ten room B&B The place is huge. Ten bedrooms with bathrooms on the second floor; a great room, several dining-rooms, kitchen, huge porches on the main floor. Lots of antiques and glass from the original family and from the present family - - son of the school headmaster. Breakfasts were fruit plates and veg omlettes a la Martha Stewart. Yummy.

Scenery around here was gorgeous. From the top of hills you could see forever. Those who live in this area are hardy though. The trips up and down hill are steep!

Yesterday we were at the highest point of land on the trip: 2480 feet asl. Water from the triple watershed goes either to the Mississippi and the Gulf, the Atlantic in Virginia, or to Lake Ontario and the St.Lawrence. We started at 361 feet above sealevel in Manheim. Needless to say it will be much more downhill walking from here to Buffalo.

We're taking a break in the Corning area for three or four days.
Pictures:
Oak Hall B & B

Ron at the highest point of his walk

Margaret cheering the arrival at the New York border

Galeton to Genesee

2009-04-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Ron had an easy walk west from Ansonia through Gaines and on to Galeton. The weather was clear and cool - great walking weather and a nice change from the rain all day yesterday. He walked across a bridge on Hwy 6 where the railing was visibly crumbling. A plaque on the other side of the bridge said the bridge had been built in 1924. Ron hopes that the underpinning of the bridge is in better shape especially when 30 ton transports rumble across it.

This area appears to be filled with lodges and holiday homes. The road follows Pine Creek whick leads into Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon and was once a Seneca Indian trail. One old place along the highway was beautifully restored and is a restaurant and inn.

A trip like this brings a new form of intimacy to a relationship. Good thing we're married. Each of us could give detailed descriptions of the other's feet and any changes in them in the past 24 hours. This is actually a very necessary part of each day's routine.

We're getting very excited at this point. After yesterday's walk we drove the next twenty miles to the - ta da!!!!- New York state boundary. We will be in New York state on Friday evening. Now there's a sense of accomplishment.

Today it an almost level road with wide shoulders, but after a couple of miles the rain started. We're warming up with green tea in a old-home-now-restaurant internet cafe updating. The poncho keeps the rain off but Ron's shoes get soaked. This place is furnished with old oak dining room table and chair sets - - quite homey. The next few days we'll be in the bush again: Brookland, Gold, Genesee, and then the New York State line three or four days early !

Pictures:

The bridge

The bridge plaque

Ron at the Internet Cafe in Galeton

Wellsboro

2009-04-20T16:20:00.001-07:00

We have been staying in Wellsboro for the past four nights. We've found that it is easier to go ahead of where we are walking to plan the eight mile segments better.

When we were in English Center we had an interesting chat with a highways superintendent. We were commenting on how good the roads are - no potholes. He said that truck drivers complained that Pennsylvania roads are the worst in the country. (They obviously haven't been over Rupert or Elm in Stouffville recently!) The gentleman indicated that they don't get the frost upheaval that we do but that there is a lot of erosion on road edges often near guard rails. Maintenance would be difficult.

The walk has been mostly downhill from a major drop of 6 kilometres before English Center to more 'flat' portions. Although we are in very hilly country we are also in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The canyon is just to the west of Wellesboro. When we visited the observation point in the Grand Canyon Park we were at a height of 1833 ft and looked down 1000 feet to the river below. Apparently at some points one can see for 100 miles. The view really was spectacular. We got some close up sightings of either turkey vultures or osprey eagles. The park is also a habitat for bald eagles. The lookout points were built during the Great Depression as a make-work project and were very well done. There are extensive hiking trails taking one to the bottom of the valley. Somehow the thought of all those stairs didn't appeal to Ron or me.

Wellsboro itself is a pretty town of about 3400. It was a major regional centre for shipping and trade. The houses in the centre of town reflect that heritage. There are attractive gas lamps all down the main street and interesting sculptures in the town park. These days the town is still the county seat for justice but the focus of commerce has shifted more to tourism, hunting and fishing. We actually had to change motels after two nights because our first place was filled for the weekend. Fishing season and wild turkey season for adolescents opened on Saturday. People on the street have asked us if we are here for the fishing. Um, is that the Ron or Margaret you know??

Ron had a little treat on Saturday night. He's been hoping to find some local musicians doing bluegrass. At an establishment ten miles west of town Hemlock Project - banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and bass viol, cranked out an evening of honest-to-goodness down home bluegrass music (every song in the key of Bb, by the way!)

We have passed beyond Wellsboro now headed out on Rte 6 west. Ron is walking. I'm taking a couple of days off with swollen feet - no not cellulites but I'm not taking any chances. We may be out of internet range again soon but - good news! We have checked the original plan and we appear to be about four days ahead of schedule.

Pictures:

Reflection north of Morris

The PA Grand Canyon

Thumptown??

Bluegrass night

Oh, Technology - How Wonderful when it Works

2009-04-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

It's April 20th - - we're still walking - - Wellsboro area - - but we're having trouble posting any wps files on the blog.

Larry's Creek

2009-04-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

Note: For the original news release see the March archive. We will be in and out of internet range for the next two weeks.

The Susquehanna is a long river with several branches. One branch starts in north western Pennsylvania and runs into the Chesapeake Bay. It isn’t navigable by large boats because although it is wide it is not very deep. For a time it factored in American history as the dividing point between north and south. For the Brownsberger story the river offered a path to go north. Like us they would have been looking for a route that would not take them up and down too many hills.

At the moment the river and its tributaries are flowing swiftly with winter run off. We have been told that it has been a dry spring though and you can see that the river can be a great deal higher. There are water marks along the bridges to prove that and there is evidence of flood plains in several places. All along the river in Sunbury there is a wall which protects the low lying town from flood. On the west end of Williamsport there is a river diversion with very high earth and rock dykes which protect far more than the two ball parks known as the home of Little League baseball. Just west is the town of Jersey Shore where another wall has been built around a factory to protect it. Further west at Lock Haven the Piper Airplane factory employing 30,000 people was flooded out in 1972 and never rebuilt.

About ten miles west of Williamsport we turned north onto Rte. 287. The Susquehanna is behind us but we are now never far from its feeder streams. There is much less traffic on this road so it is possible to listen to the water and the birds - very pleasant. Emily Dickinson’s poem “ How still it is here in the woods’ came to mind. Ron’s geography background is now coming into play. Although I much prefer the rock formations around Muskoka it is neat to see how the Alleghenies were formed. The rock is slate - sedimentary rock which has been pushed up with tremendous pressure. All along the rock you can see rivulets of water and moss working away at its layers. There are signs cautioning falling rock and you can see where the next weakness is developing.

We are right out in the bush at the moment. After yesterday’s grumpy man we came across a cairn built in memory of a doctor who was killed by a black panther near English Centre in 1846. At a village store the locals don’t think there are any more panthers around but they did mention bears. Needless to say I did not drive the van very far from Ron today (Wednesday).

We had lunch today in the general store/restaurant in Salladasburg. After we told the proprietor about the walk, she said, “You must tell the boys.” Ron moved to another table where three men in their sixties were having lunch. The one tucked his foot long beard into his T shirt before eating. His father is still living at age 99 - - many in the local families have lived into their nineties or past one hundred. These guys were prepared to solve all the problems of the nation including going to a flat tax for all. They indicated that in former times many locals worked at the Piper factory or at Bethlehem Steel in Williamsport. There are not so many jobs now. But on the bright side, fishing season was opening up this weekend. We passed several hunting and fishing lodges on the road today.
Pictures:
2 views of the rocks and moss

The dyke we passed on the west side of Williamsport

A billboard advertising the Piper Museum

Into the Bush

2009-04-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

(Several days without internet service.)
What a relief to get rid of the noisy roads with constant trucks and Jake brakes and speeders. It’s Tuesday, the 14th , and we’ve turned north onto Rte. 287, a road leading in the direction of Wellsboro and eventually toward New York State. Many times today, we would have three or four minutes with absolutely no vehicles in sight and only the sounds of birds and the rushing waters in the nearby rivers and streams. Very pleasant!

Sunday we descended from Bald Eagle Mountain into Williamsport, enjoyed an extremely well-played Vidor Toccata on the mighty organ at a Lutheran Easter service, and had a huge (for us) Easter brunch in the crowded restaurant at the hotel. On Monday we headed west out of Williamsburg to past Linden - - city streets and then noisy four lane highway.

After enjoying a quite nice hotel in Williamsport for several nights, we did a low cost place ($39.) for Monday. Ya git wachoo pay for! As I was registering us Margaret was treated to the sight of a long-term rotund resident trying to extract pop from the machine. She was unsuccessful and called for Charlie to help out. He rushed out wearing his girth and long black trunks to retrieve their purchase. At least the location was clean. Tonight we’re in a nice clean ski resort lodge with a stove! - - we’re the only ones here. Relaxing. We’ll have some serious mountain work for the next few days.
We’re on the back-road 287 because U.S. 15 is being converted into I-99 where no pedestrians are allowed. We figured we’d be possibly dealing with bears, but so far none have been seen. Our only “encounter” was with Mr. Noisy Grumpy in Salladasburg. As we returned to our van at the side of the road near his home, he yelled at us, “You can’t park here! You can’t park here!” I was able to close the door of the van before his large noisy black dog reached us. A few minutes later, when I had restarted walking, the same man drove up and asked if I was trying to fish in “his” river. I explained the walking-to-Canada thing to him, but I don’t think his mind was able to comprehend. Margaret drove the van up behind him and thereafter kept the van within sight of me for the next few miles. Before the afternoon was over, a trooper stopped to ask us if we needed any help - - the same sort of courtesy that we’ve been experiencing for three weeks.

The weather is still unseasonably cool. Margaret points out that the benefit is no bugs and the carrion doesn’t smell. Warmer temperatures are to start tomorrow. Blooms continue to be abundant. There is a lot of periwinkle around here and there have been some patches of a white crocus-type bloom opened flat in the woods. Leaves on the forest scrub are out and tree leaves are just waiting for a warm day.

Pictures:
Ron and Margaret at lunch on Easter at the Genetti Hotel

The Lutheran church where we attended Easter service

Mr Grumpy's taste in art ain't so bad!

We're in bear country. (This was a flag!)

Climbing Bald Eagle Mountain

2009-04-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania has some roads, E I E I O.
And on them roads there are some hills, E I E I O.
With a hill hill here, and a hill hill there,
Here a hill, there a hill,
Everywhere a hill.
Pennsylvania has some roads, E I E I O.

I’m sure there’ll be more verses. Today we did the stretch from Allenwood to the top of Bald Eagle Mountain. It was quite a hilly approach (both up and down) combined with a stiff north wind. 15 to 25 mph. My face may thaw sometime tonight!

One of our rest stops was at Hidden Creek. A nice sized pond with some huge overfed ducks was surrounded with vintage trailers and shacks. I think one has to own an old pick-up in order to qualify for residency. It was the best version of hillbilly Pennsylvania we have yet seen.

Margaret was a bit concerned about me being a pedestrian while passing the Allenwood Federal Prison but I didn’t see anyone running, or any officials with machine guns.

A few comments about infrastructure. In Ontario it seems that most rural roads have gravel shoulders and a sizable ditch. Beside most of the roads we’ve experienced in PA, the shoulder is paved varying from 12 inches to ten feet wide and have no ditches. Mostly there is level grass beside the road and in many places the fields are ploughed and cultivated to within inches of the pavement. Only in the hilly parts, the roadway is down to two lanes and little or no walking space beside. This might a problem next week when we’re in the bush for a while.

Despite the cold there are many flowers and flowering shrubs/trees in bloom. Some tulips are out. In fact in one garden there were tulips that looked like peonies. The best displays are still daffodils and magnolia trees.

One of the parking spots today was right by a chocolate factory outlet that was doing a brisk business for Easter. We weren’t customers. Margaret said no!

Tomorrow’s Easter - - - Happy Easter to you all.

Pictures:

A neat garden swing at agarden centre

The pond with the big duck

A highway sign

Over 100 Miles Completed

2009-04-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Note: Go to the March archives for the original press release.
Today we are over 100 miles along on our trip back to Ringwood. The milestone feels good. The territory covered today was from Milton (home of Chef Boyardee), through Watsontown to Allentown. We are now following the west branch of the Susquehanna and are enjoying break from all the hills. We’ll be back to that tomorrow.

We have some silly fun along the way as our pictures indicate. It continues to be interesting to follow the historical backgrounds of the places we pass through. There are so many plaques to tell one about the background. Your fact for the day was that we passed Eagle Grange - the location of the first farmers co-operative in Pennsylvania. It was set up after the civil war as a means of driving down prices of supplies for farmers.

Now that you are wiser here is the fun part. Ron made up the sign to mark our 100th mile. We drove back to the sign in the picture because this sign is prettier than the one at our exit end of town.
Ron also notices interesting things. There have been a number of interesting characters decorating barns and houses. When Ron saw the mail box he had to strike a pose.

The other group of pictures show some old farm machinery including the base for a wagon that would have been used in pioneer times.

Today was Good Friday so the traffic was quite quiet. We wish all of you a very Happy Easter.

Pictures:

Mile 100

The pose

An antique wagon base

An antique tractor

At Williamsport - Again!

2009-04-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

The “Trail of the Susquehanna” Walk goes on. It is gratifying to find out that Melanie Calandra, wife of Oak Ridges rep Paul Calandra, is on board and is helping with the publicity at home. This walk has two main features - - - our feet hitting the pavement, and people in Ontario contributing to Sunnybrook.

We walked as far as Milton PA today and have booked ourselves into the historic Genetti Hotel in Williamsport. It was a very cold morning (0 - 5C), but pleasant sunny afternoon along mainly level roads. (Rtes. 147 and 405) At noon we enjoyed our bowls of chili in a diner with a view of the river near Lewisburg.

This long walk is not in any way a “religious” event, but, because of the varied past of both Margaret and me, we have taken in visits to a number of churches during this trip: The LOUD and joyful service at LCBC Church near Lancaster where we saw 15 people being baptised; the quiet gathering at Hernley Mennonite, near Manheim, where we were challenged to get The Message out to the community around us; the visit to a Methodist church in Millersburg, where the able pastor spoke passionately from the Bible with no “sermon notes”; and tonight participating in the Maundy Thursday liturgy at Trinity Episcopal in Williamsport.

Margaret has done the arithmetic and reports that we are 16.92 % finished. That means, by my calculation there are only 114,084 steps to go. It doesn’t always get easier. Joints ache when it is cold - and it has been, especially in the morning. Every day one of us has something that acts up. Fortunately a few hours of rest has made most of those things go away. Also it is encouraging to be spending the night at the same hotel we stayed at on the way down and to be hearing such positive news from our friends at home!

Pictures:

One of the gorgeous old mansions along the way

A hedge in the shape of Hershey kisses

Margaret cooking

Along the Road

2009-04-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well it’s ten days down and two months to go! Today’s forecasted southwest winds were in my face no matter which direction I was walking, which was mostly north. And the temperature ranges from 36 - 47F max - - about 2 - 7C. Cold!

So how does it feel to push a sixty-eight year old body along the Pennsylvania roads. Occasional sore knee, or sore calf, or sore hip, frozen face, as well as monitoring the heart rate on the hills. So, to all you folks who are sitting in your warm home enjoying our blogging, I hope you’ve made your contribution to Sunnybrook and are getting all your friends and associates to join in. Go to www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca click Events click Trail.

Today’s first rant is about car parts. It is incredible the wide variety of car parts and truck parts that are found along the shoulder of the road. Nuts, bolts and washers, metal brackets, pieces of body (fenders, bumpers, grills,) lights, rubber parts, fan belts (whole and shredded), wheel covers, - - it’s amazing that some cars make it to their destinations. And the bungies! Whole bungie cords, broken bungies, and hundreds and hundreds of S hooks. If these bungies were supposed to be holding down loads, one wonders whether the loads made it.

My second rant is about keeping the vehicle between the lines. Many, or shall I say, most drivers cross the white line on a right curve. On one sharp curve, yesterday, it seemed that all the approaching cars and trucks were driving where we were attempting to walk. This is not just an American problem. I remember noticing one day a while back that all the vehicles I could see ahead and behind me were driving on the shoulder on the ramp from Stouffville Rd. W to 404 South.

Today we walked through Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Thomas A. Edison set up his first practical demonstration of electric lighting in a hotel in this town back in July of 1883. Also, the town has obviously suffered from the Susquehanna’s flooding, for the entire town is protected by dikes and seawalls.

Across two bridges was the town of Northumberland. Here Joseph Priestley lived from 1794 to 1804. He was the British scientist who discovered of oxygen.

As I write this, my wonderful partner is filling the motel room with the magnificent aromas of our next culinary delight. Oh, and how cold was it outside? So cold that frost formed on the propane tank as we were doing supper.

Hazards and Huzzahs

2009-04-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Note: Go to March archives for the original news release.
Today we walked from Herndon to almost Sunbury. Snow had been predicted but we just had a few light flakes. At the northern end of Herndon there are two points of interest - one a former Indian path which was used to carry peace wampum from Syracuse to Philadelphia, the other the location of a log trading post built in 1702 that became a tavern catering to travellers and missionaries. The current stone house was built in the early 1800s. The location of the tavern was the beginning point for the first Pennsylvania road north.

As we stop along the side of the road we often are a curiosity. So frequently people stop to see if we are alright. It is so kind. People are quite surprised when we tell them about Ron’s project. The really funny times we have been stopped is when we are assumed to be locals (we’re walking after all) and are asked for directions. Actually the questioners luck out because Ron has studied maps so carefully that he is able to give excellent directions.

At other times we have a few concerns:
With winter runoff and recent rains we do have to watch where we walk. Road allowances sometimes cave in.

When we first arrived I wandered about all the vultures flying around. It doesn’t take long to find out. We have come across a lot of road kill, particularly possums, two small deer, groundhogs and squirrels. The vultures have a real job to do!

We get the odd toot of the horn and Ron often waves at railroad engineers but we continue to hope that more than 99% of drivers really don’t want to kill pedestrians. It can also be a challenge to find safe places to park in the allotted walking distance parametres.

The edge of the road can also have some interesting garbage. I hope I don’t drive over broken glass. The roads in Lancaster were remarkably clean but highways have their usual junk. I was surprised at so many half filled pop bottles with yellow/orange liquid in them. Ron looked at me and said they had to do with long distance truckers.

Sounds of gun shots and a spent shell by the side of the road are disconcerting. Ron says the shots were from a shooting range in a state forest. I’d combine that with a passionate conversation I heard in the grocery store between two teen males about the merits of a particular gun. What is it with guns and Americans? Two hundred and forty million guns (U.S. ownership statistics) is almost one per person.

Dogs can also be a concern. It's great when they are on chains or behind a fence. Often the dogs are lose and we wonder if they are friend or foe. There was only one that came quite close but we hope it won't happen again.

Despite the cool weather, we continue to be delighted by wonderful displays of spring flowers. White and pink magnolias, forsythia and all the flowers are so cheerful they make us smile.

Pictures:
Plaque about the 1702 tavern and Indian trail

The house built on the site of the tavern

An imaginative mailbox

Ron's favourite barn

Right hand drive U.S. mail car

A Typical Day

2009-04-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

Note: Go to March Archives for the original news release.

Some of you have asked how our day goes so here is a ‘typical’ day. This varies according to the weather and terrain.
.We normally get up around 7
.We breakfast and pack the car. In many places we have stayed so far breakfast has been provided and we find it interesting to meet others on the road. Ron gets lots of comments if he is wearing his ‘Walking to Canada’ shirt. Inevitably someone has a hiking story.
.We aim to be at our start point between 8:30 and 9. As time goes by we’re finding it easier if we start our day early.
.We make sure that we have our telephones with us and our walkie talkies turned on. Initially we walked with water bottles too but we find it better to walk without. A drink is something to look forward to at the end of one leg of walking. We take a hot drink with us just now because it has been quite cool.
.Ron starts walking while Margaret drives 1 mile or 2 ahead depending on the conditions and weather. Margaret walks back to the point where she and Ron meet and then turns around and walks back to the car with him. We don’t have a set time limit for the distance. We just use a comfortable speed.
.We have a break whenever we reach the car - the length depends on how hard the walk was.
Snack at the end of the second mile, usually consisting of some fruit and yogurt in the morning and Ron loves his peanut butter and crackers in the afternoon.
.Back to walking one/two more miles.
.Then mid day lunch and a big rest (an hour nap or rest for Ron on the bed in the car while Margaret reads.)
.Another round of walking and snacking and breaks happens in the afternoon. Our goal is to walk a total of eight miles per day.
.We usually try to end ‘the trek’ between three and four.
.Then it’s off to our hotel to rest, do laundry, shop for food.
.About every three or four days we go to a park and I use the stove to cook enough healthy food to last for three or four days. I am very lucky. Ron’s favourite food is leftovers!
.In the evening we do e-mails if the internet is available and write the blog. We are usually ready to head toward bed between 9:30 and 10. Sometimes there is something interesting that takes us into the town we are staying in - in Harrisburg, for example, we went the their Art Museum to see an exhibition of modern art (a bit slim but they did have two Lichtensteins).
Anyway by tomorrow we may well have walked in all kinds of weather - snow is predicted! Tonight we are in Shamokin Dam where we will stay for three days while we walk the area.

Pictures:

Ron walking in the rain

Ron walking in good weather

Ron writing in his diary

Margaret making dinner

Millersburg

2009-04-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

Note: The news release for the blog is at the beginning of the blog archives.

What a terrific hiking day we’ve had today. The wind was high - gusts between 25 and 30 mph but the sun came out; the terrain was quite flat and we covered about 9 miles. Quite a change from yesterday!

Today our focus was on the Millersburg area. The town was founded in 1807 and still has an old town centre with market square and monument to the GAR - Grand Army of the Republic from the Civil War. What really capture my attention, however, is the ferry that was in existence from about 1825 to 1879. What I imagine is that ‘the family’ crossed the Susquehanna River here - this could just be poetic imagination because this is the only operating ferry still on the Susquehanna. For a time it was replaced in the 1880s by a paddleboat.

The current ferry operates only on weekends and in season and I love the sense of humour of the operator. A sign directs you from the main street to the ferry site. There a sign indicates that you should open the door (attached to nothing) to summon the ferry. The ferry is now, and was then, operated by a person poling across the river. I guess what makes it work is that the river is relatively narrow at this point.
The town itself does not look to be overly prosperous. A few shops are closed and there appear to be many pizza shops and nail/tanning emporiums. But the town has charm. One cause is that each home has a different style sidewalk. Some are clay brick done in a herringbone style. Others are new cement and thick. Still others are concrete but heaved up by weather and broken. Ron’s favourite spot was the gazebo in the main square built in 1891 for a cost of $164. The gazebo was built to be a centre for culture, probably for bands.

Tonight we are staying out of town at a motel on a golf course. The scenery is gorgeous - great high blue hills, beautiful farms and daffodils everywhere. We cooked over our Coleman stove but had to find a sheltered spot to do so. We’re enjoying the sunshine while we can. At the moment the winds are whistling around the door but the sound is quite pleasant to listen to, maybe getting us ready for what's in store. The weather forecast calls for snow showers on Tuesday. Who hires these guys?

Good news! The hike is claiming pounds from both of us. Why is it that men lose weight from the bottom up and women do so from the top down?

They'll be Coming around the Mountain

2009-04-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Note: The news release for this blog is at the beginning of the archives!

Yesterday was not my favourite day on the road. As we were travelling to Manheim Ron had investigated alternative routes in three places. The choices were to go over a mountain or around it. Just above Harrisburg there is such a choice. We agreed that going around the mountain was the better option but it certainly was not ideal.

The first part of the walk involved me dropping Ron off at the entrance to an expressway where the speed limit is 55 mph. It is also a bike route so it is acceptable, if not desirable, to walk on the road allowances. Ron wore his visibility vest for the first

time. I drove ahead the agreed distance and started to walk back to meet Ron. I got about half a kilometre to the underpass of a bridge. The road allowance where I would have to walk was two feet wide and the road was very busy with transports and cars. I chickened out. What really bothered me was that I could not reach Ron on the walkie talkie because of the road noise. He made it and didn’t even see me at the other end of that tunnel until he reached the end.

The next stretch was fine. It involved walking on a service road beside the expressway. Then we were back on the expressway. When I first started walking back someone stopped to see if I had car trouble and drove off rather quickly when I said that Ron and I were walking to Canada. As I got onto the expressway road allowance I was yelled at by someone from a transport. It could have been the same transport that tried briefly to run Ron off the road. The most interesting part of the walk was when a freight train started to come down the tracks by the highway. It went very slowly. The engineer waved at Ron. One of the pictures here shows the train going along beside the expressway. We were walking between the two.

Another picture shows the mountain we avoided in the background. What I’m delighted by is that Ron assures me that we won’t have a similar day again.

The good thing about yesterday was that the weather was perfect walking weather - enough to bring the bugs out, big flying ants.

Today we were back on more rural routes but there was lots of rain and hills. The countryside is beautiful with a particularly lovely area outside Halifax that is lined with gorgeous trees. A local said he thought they were a form of ash tree. This man had come up to Ron as Ron was resting at the end of a driveway. ‘You OK?’ he asked. Ron explained what he was doing and the man said, ‘Me too!’ The man had also had bypass surgery and he makes a point of walking regularly the four miles to Halifax filling a shopping bag with roadside litter. He dumps the garbage at the grocery store and then buys his groceries placing them in the same bag to return home. Two other folks stopped to see if we were alright today, too. It was a good but tiring day with too many hills and too many starts and stops because of rain. We’re glad to be resting tonight!

Pictures:

'The Statue of Liberty' in the middle of the Susquehanna

The road before the expressway/service road divide

The expressway and service road side by side

The mountain to the right is the one we avoided

We walked between the traffic and the train on the road allowance

Reaching the Susquehanna

2009-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

As Ron was planning the trip he tried to make the route as authentic as possible. The information available was really not that detailed but we do know that the family travelled along the Susquehanna River. We reached that point of our walk by a soggy but fairly level route yesterday.

The Linglestown Road or Route 39 took us west from Hershey through what would have been Indian country when the Brownsbergers arrived from Germany. We walked past a series of signs that located frontier forts built to protect the settlers. We are staying in Rockville for three nights. Here there is a park on the site of one of these forts. There are models of Iroquois wigwams and drying racks as well. We enjoyed our first evening here by cooking dinner in the park.

The area is interesting because it shows the stages of the development of this country. By the time the Brownsbergers took route for Upper Canada, the canal age had begun here. We’ve walked past a number of examples of now abandoned canals that would have allowed for easier trade between the 1820s and 1880s when railroads took prominence. Our motel is close to a double railway bridge that appears to have plenty of traffic. Beside it is the ruin of an earlier bridge.

The next development would have been roads and these have gradually become more sophisticated. The winding two lane roads that I remember from the 50s have given way to busy expressways. In the American style much of this development is documented by roadside plaques. When one is walking one can read every one!! We have included some for your enjoyment.

This is April and so there will be showers/rainfalls. We gave up walking for two hours yesterday because it was so wet. Then Ron said, ‘Let’s go!’ The rain had stopped and he was determined to finish the eight miles. Our muscles are getting used to the exercise but, as SouthLake Rehab suggested, we take frequent breaks. It helps!

Pictures:

An example of an Iroquois wigwam

Plaque for a frontier fort

Site of Fort Hunter - now a park where we ate

The raiway bridge over the Susquehanna

Spring has arrived!

The Day to Day Itinerary

2009-03-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today we are staying right by the Susquehanna River on the north side of Harrisburg.

The plan below is only a plan. On nice days we might cover ten or twelve miles. On rainy or stormy days we might explore a local museum or art gallery or rest in the motel or B & B. We did start from the farm on March 30th but had walked four miles each day for the previous three days. This puts us temporarily ahead of schedule but the forecast for tomorrow is rain.

March 23 – 25 Stouffville to Manheim area – scout the route in reverse
March 26 – 29 Manheim & Lancaster area – tourist stops, relatives, etc.
March 30 Start walk 10 a.m. from homestead - - 1605 Shumaker Road
March 30 Past Mastertonville, PA
March 31 past Lawn, 341 to almost Deodate
April 1 743 north past Hershey
April 2 39 north past Rte 81
April 3 39, past Linglestown, to Susque. River near Rockville
April 4 Fort Hunter, Dauphin, 225 up the hill to before Matarmoras
April 5S 225, 147 past Halifax, PA
April 6 along 147, Millersburg, Paxton, to about Dalmatia
April 7 147 (find shortcut), 147 past Hernden
April 8 147 to between Fishers Ferry and Sunbury
April 9 Stay on 147 just past Northumberland
April 10 147, 405, to between Chillisquaque and E Milton
April 11 405 to Watsontown
April 12S 405 Dewart, to Montgomery
April 13 54, 15, up the hill (?) to before S Williamsport
April 14 15 (?) to before Williamsport
April 15 220 to beyond Williamsport
April 16 220 to Rte 287 north, Larryville, north a bit
April 17 287, between Sellinsburg and Brookside
April 18 287, near Brookside
April 19S 287, about English Center
April 20 287, between English Center and Morris
April 21 287, beyond Morris
April 22 287, beyond Knapp
April 23 287, about Wellsborough
April 24 west along 660 to 6, beyond Ansonia
April 25 6, to beyond Gaines
April 26S on 6, skirt Galeton, 6 to almost West Pike
April 27 6, then 449 to almost Brookland
April 28 448 to beyond Gold
April 29 448 to about Genesee
April 30 448, cross into New York State, Rte 19
April 30 – May 4 short break Corning, NY area
May 5 start the New York State portion
May 5 along 19 to Stannards or Wellsville
May 6 19, to Scio
May 7 19, thru Belmont to about I-86
May 8 19 to almost Belfast
May 9 19, Oramel, Caneadea, then 243 to Balcom Beach
May 10S 243, pass Rushford, near Farmersville Station (98)
May 11 98 , skirt Freedom, 98 to Sandusky
May 12 98, then 39W, Arcade, Yorkshire, n. on 16, to before Chaffee
May 13 16 just past Holland
May 14 16 then, then (?) to before East Aurora
May 15 16 then 20A west cont. to before Orchard Park
May 16 cont. west and north-west into city (city streets)
May 17S cont. north-west, city streets, downtown to before Peace Bridge
May 18 cross Peace Bridge to Canada, then . . .
May 18 – 23 short break in Stouffville
May 23 Niagara Pkwy trail, north to College Road - - May 23 – 27 Ferland’s ?
May 24S to Black Creek
May 25 to beyond Chippawa, near the Falls
May 26 thru Niagara toward Queenston
May 27 west to Virgil - - May 27 to 30 Linda Mooney’s
May 28 north west to about Port Weller
May 29 west to about Port Dalhousie
May 30 to near Beamsville - - May 30 – June 2 Bob and Donna Parker’s
May 31S waterfront trail, west to before Winona
June 1 west to before Burlington Skyway
June 2 north and into Burlington, Ontario - - June 3 & 4 ?
June 3 along Hwy 2 trail to near Oakville
June 4 continue to near Lorne Park
June 5 along 2 near Harbourfront - - June 5 to end, at home
June 6 break, at Doors Open Springvale Church
June 7S waterfront trail thru Harbourfront to Kew Beach or beyond
June 8 Warden, Danforth Rd., up McGowan in Scarborough
June 9 McGowan to Markville
June10 McGowan and 19th toward Dixon’s Hill
June 11 afternoon, up 48 to the Brownsberger farm, n of Ringwood
June 11 4:00 p.m. arr. at the bridge on Millard near Brownsberger farmhouse

Leaving the Family Farm

2009-03-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

We left the original Brownsberger farm, 1605 Schumaker Road outside Manheim, at 10 am this morning. We were sent on our way by Jay, the associate pastor of Hernley Mennonite Church, and by Darryl Sensenig, the 11 year-old son of the current residents on the farm.

The walk is off to a good start. So far the project has raised over $1,000 in donations and pledges.

Ron continues to hand out business cards to interested people here such as the two Mennonite ladies who stopped their car today to see if we had car problems. When Ron responds, ‘No, thanks. We’re walking to Canada.’, we get some interesting replies. ‘Oh my!’ is common. Anyway just to remind people, Ron’s goal is to raise $22,000 for an artificial heart. The site to donate is www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca. Then click Trail of the Susquehanna.

The weather today was challenging. A weather disturbance went through this area very quickly yesterday causing temperatures to drop, bringing hail and two tornadoes. The result today was that we started walking at a -5 degree temperature. As the day went by that temperature moved up but the winds were so high that the wind chill was high. We stopped a little early to warm up.

The countryside is beautiful - lots of rolling hills, lots of rolling hills, up and down, up and down. But, even though it was cool today, daffodils and crocuses are out, along with forsythia. Magnolia trees are starting to bloom and some tree leaves are starting to unfurl. Brrrr!.

Tonight we are in Hershey, yes, the chocolate place. Hershey is a real company town. Wikipedia reports that ‘Hersheypark is an amusement park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, close to the Hershey Chocolate Factory.

Hersheypark was opened in 1907 as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company, an American confectionery company. Later, the company decided to open the park to the public. Today the park has over 110 acres (450,000 m²) and over sixty rides and attractions.’ There is a Brownsberger connection to Hershey. Ron’s maternal grandfather, Isaac Wambold, was an itinerant translator for the Mennonite Publishing House. When he travelled to Hershey he met Elizabeth who became his first wife. Unfortunately she died in childbirth. Harriet Brownsberger whom we met at Lancaster County Bible Church was also a Hershey. And, nope, we didn’t go to the Hershey outlet store!

Pictures:

Ron and I at the farm lane at 10 am

Schumaker Road sign

The farm house on the site of the original farm

A Mennonite lady hanging laundry next door

Lancaster and Surrounding Area

2009-03-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

‘Lancaster was named after Lancashire, England, and its symbol is the red rose, from the house of Lancashire. In the period from the 1760's through the early 1800's, this was the largest inland town in America, and it was larger than most inland English cities as well.

Lancaster was our nation's capital for one day when the Continental Congress met here in September 1777. The colonial government had withdrawn from the capital in Philadelphia to escape the approaching British troops, and stopped here for a day before moving on to York, Pennsylvania.’
http://www.800padutch.com/lancastercity.shtml

Both the towns and surrounding area are attractive. Because the area was established before the American Revolution there are some interesting British connections - King and Queen Streets rather than Lincoln and Washington Roads. Much of the older architecture is Georgian and a delightful practice of putting (electric) candles in the windows of homes (a practice dating back to an 18th century Quaker story entitled ‘A Candle in the Window’) is charming.

Our focus in the area was to bring Brownsberger information to the Mennonite Information Centre, meet members of the Brownsberger family, and publicize the trip. We attended the Sound and Light show, Behold the Lamb, at the Millenium Theatre in Strasburg where over 2,500 people were in attendance. There is similar attendance at two or three performances a day. The incredible energy and amazing 300 foot wrap-around stage made for a very impressive presentation of the Easter story. The journey into Amish country brought the delightful images of horse and buggy, fields being fertilized by a farmer with six mules. Ron keeps me entertained with tales of the Mennonites doing service in modern vehicles for their Amish neighbours. And it takes an insider to understand the nuances of different colours of cars and forms of dress.

On Friday night we dropped by a downtown jazz club for about an hour. We were seated right by the piano. Wow! There was a piano player who had tremendous energy. He beat the time with his foot on the floor and it shook!. There was also a flugelhorn player who occasionally played a gourd accompanied by a base player. Good sounds.

We attended a service at Lancaster County Bible Church and observed some of the 61 candidates for baptism this weekend give their witness. We met Earl and Harriet Brownsberger there. Unfortunately Earl had a stroke two years ago and cannot talk but Harriet did a great job of telling us about family. Their family descends from Jacob Braunsberger who emigrated in 1850 with either three sons or grandsons. We saw a family crest and heard tales of a family castle near Konigsberg in Germany. (I can see another trip on the horizon!) Harriet arranged a family reunion for family in the area in 2006 and about 50 attended. She and Earl attended reunions in Missouri where about 200 Brownsbergers were in attendance. Ron didn’t know about this branch at all but now has more addresses to pursue. On Sunday we attended Hernley Mennonite Church outside of Mannheim and had a message from another Brownsberger family who have spent the winter in Florida.

We are now ready to start the walk in earnest. The walkie talkies work. The weather was terrible late today - hail and a possible tornado close by, but promises to be sunny and cool tomorrow. More from the Brownsberger farm tomorrow…

From the top pictures are:

Penn Square, Lancaster

The Mennonite Infromation Centre

A clock at the Centre like the one taken to Upper Canada in 1826 and like the one Ron made for our front hall

Amish farmer harrowing his field

Amish buggy

Manheim

2009-03-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

As part of Ron’s publicity campaign he set up a meeting with Stouffville’s mayor, Wayne Emerson. Ron asked for support from the town for his fundraising campaign and also for a letter of introduction to the mayor of Manheim. He hoped for some local newspaper coverage and support from the local historical associations (there are three). Sometimes amusing things happen.

Mayor Emerson had given us a Stouffville town flag and buttons to present in Manheim. We arrived at the town offices to receive a bewildered look from the receptionist. When we asked for the mayor she replied, “Well, he has a job!” It turns out that we had to go to the police station around back to find the mayor. However, as a police constable, the mayor had asked us to excuse him from our visit. Turns out he was busy assisting with the transport of two prisoners who were being released from custody that morning. We’re flexible. We gave the greetings to the mayor’s secretary and went on our way. Similarly we left copies of Ron’s press release with the different historical associations. Here’s some background.

See http://www.manheimpa.com/history.html
‘Founded in 1762, the town of Manheim rightfully belongs in that select list of Pennsylvania towns which antedate the Revolutionary War. Of additional interest historically is the fact that the land on which the town was laid out has a close connection with the family of the colony's founder, William Penn. Explicitly, it was in 1734 that this tract of acres in Donegal Township (1741 in Rapho Township) was given as a gift to Penn's faithful secretary, James Logan, by Penn's widow, Hannah, and her sons. In 1762 this same tract was purchased from Logan's granddaughter, Mary Morris, by Henry William Stiegel and his two business associates, Charles and Alexander Stedman.’ The town was a prosperous place that built it’s reputation on the making of glass.

Specifically Ron’s family came from an area now around the Holland/German border around 1750 and were part of the group seeking to escape religious persecution in their homeland. We understand that the original family of Braunsberger immigrants was likely not Mennonite but did convert sometime in the 1800’s. The Brownsberger farm (sold in 1826) is only three miles from Manheim on the Shumaker Road. The farm is not large and is on hilly land.

The area around Manheim is an interesting mix of the modern ‘country houses‘, ‘English farms’ and Amish or Mennonite farms. It is a pretty area that looks very civilized without many fences and with fields coming right up to the road allowances. It made me think of a favourite poet, Robert Frost, writing ‘Something there is that does not like a wall.‘ It is not uncommon to see horse drawn buggies or mules pulling machinery for the Amish farmers. And where else would you find the town named Intercourse right next to places called Paradise, Blue Ball, Virginville and Fertility? It’s also easy to see why there was an exodus from here for Upper Canada. Even now small farms typically house grandparents, parents and children and are often without electricity. On the positive side one can feel a real sense of peace while driving along these peaceful country lanes.

Days One and Two

2009-03-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Williamsport at Dusk

We are amazed at the kindness of people again and again. We don’t need three vehicles and a friend of Ann’s agreed to take the Toyota off our hands, at least short term.
Day One was as smooth as could be. Perhaps because Monday was the first work day after March Break the traffic was very light through the greater Toronto area. The customs officer going to Buffalo could not have been nicer. He was a little sceptical about walking back from Pennsylvania but when he saw the newspaper article he softened totally. He never did ask about the food we were bringing over, just about whether we had
more than $1,000 with us. (We didn’t!) Then he wished us well and sent us on our way.
We had been concerned about a safe trip through Buffalo - too many family trips as kids for both of us when car windows had to be wound up tight. We have been through Buffalo as grown-ups but we were pleased by the selection of road we made to follow later. Sidewalks are wide and smooth and the route will be quite direct.

Now the weather is another issue. We chose the end of March to start because as a heart recoveree it is better not to walk in the frigid temperatures of winter or the heat of summer. We have sufficient layers of clothing with us to keep us warm but really! It is sooo cold that I had to wear socks to bed last night. There has not been a lot of snow even on the hillsides as we have driven south but we have been happy to have the heater on in the car.

This morning, Day Two, I was delighted to see a Tim’s and collect my favourite extra large French Vanilla coffee. We learn things every day. First, my Tim’s enthusiasm caused us to miss a turn and, second, French Vanilla here is coffee sort of with a hint of vanilla. Next time my choice will be a cappuccino. The coffee was warm anyway. We are trying to be more observant as we move along the route. We have this habit of focussing more on our conversation than on our route and have frequently gone out of our way. Something we have been doing ever since we began dating. Now I am driving and Ron is navigating so we should be fine.

We made good time and reached Pennsylvania by noon. The object here was to check a route to see whether to go over a mountain or around it. We chose to go around. The grades are much easier and the shoulders are wide. Most of the route is less desolate than we thought. Much is farmland. There are two long hills to be considered on the way back. Ron will try them and if they are too much he will walk down the hills rather than up them. The distance is the same. (Thanks for the idea to Charles Wilkins in ‘Walk to New York’.)

Tonight we are in Williamsport in an old once grand hotel.

Preparation

2009-03-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

The walk project began early last fall when Ron asked what I’d think of walking from Pennsylvania to Ringwood. Did I think it was crazy? Nope. You have to be kidding. After working through the recovery from heart bypass surgery he was feeling well enough to do this. Fantastic! So the more we talked about the idea with friends and family the more real it became.

Where to begin? Well, we read books about the immigration of Mennonites from Pennsylvania to Ontario - like The String of Amber and Trail of the Conestoga. We contacted family members from the Manheim area. We looked up the rules and discovered that we can’t walk on interstate highways and therefore must choose rural routes. We walked the route through Google Earth using maps from Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario. We figured out where we would be every day at a rate of eight miles a day and factored in some slack for weather and trip fatigue.

Ron at Whistle Radio in Stouffville

talking about the trip and supporting

Sunnybrook Foundation

We kept talking to friends who started to ask if we were raising money for a cause and decided to do so for the Sunnybrook Foundation. Ron set up all the arrangements with Sunnybrook and carried out a one-person publicity campaign to ensure that money is raised. We planned the means of transportation looking at mileage costs, need for rest and storage and settled on a second hand van with a clunk. People have been amazing. Peter at Bruce’s Auto in Stouffville analyzed the clunk problem - for free! and sent Ron to Jim at Automatic Plus on Red Maple Street in Richmond Hill. Jim spent twenty minutes making adjustments to the van and, like magic, the ride was smooth - again for free! (Thanks, guys.) Ron went to Patty Lynn Interiors to purchase a carpet for the van. When she saw him, Patty asked Ron if the carpet was for the trip. It was and Patty contributed the carpet to the cause. (Thanks, Patty!) Finally we packed the van. Ron built a bed including cushions from a neighbour’s recycling. We’ve put in bear bells, walkie talkies, a propane stove (birthday present to Ron), a 12-volt fridge (on loan from Carol), cooking pots and dishes, cooking basics, pills!!!, band-aids and creams, clothes, three pairs of running shoes each along with many pairs of socks.

The last day of packing was a little frenetic. We each climbed the CN Tower going up and down our stairs. A bathing suit and makeup were lost short term but eventually found. Ron remembered to build a potty chair for the most rural section of the trip and was delighted to re-use the green toilet seat from our recent bathroom renovation in this project. What food could we take? No oranges or meat or fresh veg but surely no one would mind some olive oil, herbs and dry pasta. What will the border guard say?

Finally the start date of March 23rd. We’ll take three days to go to Manheim testing several routes along the way, checking out places to stay and medical options (Be prepared!). We’re off! The adventure has begun.

Heart Recoveree walks for Charity

2009-03-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

PA Walk News Release - Updated March 15th, 2009

This spring, Ron Brownsberger of Stouffville, Ontario, plans to replicate the migration of his great, great grandfather from Manheim, PA, to Ringwood, ON, Canada. Georg Braunsberger, along with his wife and six children, left Pennsylvania after April 6th, 1826, from a farm three miles north-west of Manheim and travelled to Canada arriving in Ringwood, Ontario, before June 22nd of the same year.

Ron and his wife Margaret presently live within a few hundred feet of that Ringwood farm. The 520 mile route will follow country roadsides through Pennsylvania and New York State and along walking paths in Ontario beside the Niagara River and around the end of Lake Ontario to Ringwood which is about 25 km. north of Toronto.

Brownsberger will be accompanied by his wife who will drop him off at his starting point each morning, drive two miles ahead and return to meet him as he walks to the car. Averaging four two-mile walks each day, the trip will likely be completed in about 65 days.

The pioneers did the trek in less than 75 days, probably with the help of several horses and oxen. Accounts of the travels to Canada in the early 1800’s relate experiencing torrential rains and having to take apart the wagons to traverse swamps or to build bridges where fords could not be found to cross rivers. Ron and Margaret will be at the homes of friends or relatives in Ontario, and in B&B’s in the States making the trip vastly more comfortable.

He plans to leave the Manheim homestead, 1605 Shumaker Road, on Monday morning, March 30th at 10 a.m., and arrive in Ringwood on June 11, at 4 p.m. on the Millard bridge near the Ringwood homestead.

The walk, which Brownsberger is calling “The Trail of the Susquehanna” Walk, is in support of the Schulich Heart Centre at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He would be delighted to raise $25,000 or more for new equipment for the Centre from contributions to the walk. Donations and pledges at, for example, $1. per mile from fifty people or groups would achieve this goal. Go to http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.ca/ and click Events, click “Trail…” for information on how to contribute. No funds raised will go to trip expenses.

For more about the Trail of the Susquehanna Walk, see the March 7 issue of the Stouffville Sun-tribune, or contact at ron.brownsberger@gmail.com .