A Journey of 3000 Miles

  Brrrr, wintry temperatures and a cold, biting wind were the order of the day here in Connecticut.  Nothing to do for that but to get out walking!!  I'm going to miss these days of sweatshirts and hats once the hot, humid, buggy weather arrives. Today we picked up on the Hop River Trail portion of the East Coast Greenway right where we left off on Saturday, at the Steele's Crossing parking area in Bolton, with our sights on Bailey Road, Andover, 1.2 miles to the east. Above, it didn't take long to cross over into Coventry, where we enjoyed walking between the rugged cliff walls of the railway cutline, below. Above, I'd be interested in finding out the story of this cross,  made of railway steel.  (There were actually two fairly close to each other.)  Perhaps railway workers who died during construction?  Or later on the job?  Seems unlikely it's anything too modern, given that there are no indications as to what they represent. Below, as we cross...

  After walking the first 2 miles of the Hop River trail in Bolton on Saturday, we drove down to Willimantic, checking roads that the trail crosses/intersects with to see where there are parking lots for planning future walks.  When we finally found ourselves near where the Hop River Trail meets (and ends at) the Airline Trail, we decided to walk the last piece down to that junction, and continued on to the CT Eastern Railroad Museum so we could check off an additional mile on the East Coast Greenway, bringing our total for the day to 3 miles, and overall to 16 miles. Above, and for several more below, despite existing in a fairly urban setting, this portion of the trail is serene, following the pretty Willimantic River closely. Above, there are many signs and plantings designating the trail as Windham Garden Club's "Pollinator Trail". Below, a found painted rock in the Pollinator garden. Above, the junction of the Hop River Trail and the Airline Trail.  Turning right tak...

    (I see that 8 people clicked over to view my last post from the link I posted on the book of faces.  I may wind up just texting people who are interested directly, or maybe even just set up a private Facebook page.  I've joked before about starting an account called "Shelley and Maybe 5 Friends" and I'm thinking that might not be a horrible idea.  Still ruminating on that...) In any case!  Saturday was a beautiful day for a hike through the woods, so The Map Man, the girl child and I set out to explore the start of the 14 miles of railtrail known as the Hop River Trail that occurs on the East Coast Greenway.  We walked a little over 2 miles on this portion of the trail, and then, after a short snack and bathroom break, jumped to the end of the Hop River trail to walk some more (but that will get it's own post, maybe tomorrow). We started out at the commuter lot near Bolton Notch State Park, above, and headed West on the greenway along Route 44 to B...

  Thursday was a windy day (seriously, what is up with the wind this spring?), but we set out to fill in our final gap in the 13 mile stretch from Forbes St in East Hartford, Connecticut, to the commuter lot near Bolton Notch State Park in Bolton.  This little leg is not even a mile long, but we walked a big loop on Manchester streets after leaving the trail to bring our walk to 3 miles. Above, our walk began in the lovely campus woods, but soon took us along I-384, before curving back to follow the campus boundary.  Below, looking at the MCC campus across one of the college's banks of solar panels. Above, the trail descends a long hill curving off the campus property, before, below, turning onto Bidwell Street. Above and below, we recently studied coniferous trees as part of the girl child's Ecology lessons, and one of the houses we passed on the trail has multiple exotic pines and cedars planted, affording us the opportunity to take a closer look at some non-native coni...