Winchester, Virginia 3-28-02

I got into Winchester today and the weather was beautiful. Spring has finally arrived. It was a nice warm shorts-and-tshirt day, around 65 or so. On monday I left Romney and walked to Augusta, where I stayed inside the Methodist Church. Karen brought me a plate of spaghetti and some chocolate pudding with oreo crumbs and gummy worms in it, and a friend chewed her out for serving a guest "dirt & worms"! On tuesday morning, the preacher and his wife fixed me a great breakfast and sent me on my way, where I headed to Capon Bridge and spent the night at White Rock, a Girl Scouts Campground. They gave me a couple of t-shirts, a hat and a scarf with the Girl Scouts logo on them. It rained most of the day on tuesday, and I had 2 tough hills to climb. At the top of one of those hills, it was really foggy, and I knew the traffic couldn't see me. That was kindof nerve-racking The hills out here in West Virginia are pretty steep grades. I've climbed several that have a 9% grade, and on that day, for the 2nd time in the last week or so, I saw an 18-wheeler with a heavy load that wasn't able to make it up that hill. When the truck passed me it was just barely creeping, and when the driver tried to shift gears it died on him. Right there, right in the middle of the hill, with no more umph. Completely stopped. I saw the same thing happen several days ago near Mt Storm, and both incidents really stressed me out! I didn't hang around to see what happened next, but I always wondered how they got out of that predicament. One of the trucks couldn't make it up a 2 mile climb at a 9% grade, and yet still ahead of him was another 6 mile climb up another 9% grade! I worried about that one all day! Anyhow, walking to Capon Bridge was a cold, dreary day, and I was glad to get to the camp where I could clean up and warm up. The groundskeepers were wonderful and made me feel right at home. From Capon Bridge I headed to Hayfield, where someone paid for a night at the motel there. The motel was old, but the room was very clean and tidy. I walked down to a restaurant half a mile away, and the waitress asked me if I was the lady walking across America. I said yes, and she told me to help myself to the buffet and that the meal was free. Later that day, Catherine and Karen, 2 ladies from the Church of the Brethren in New Creek, where I stayed a few days ago, drove by and we all headed into Winchester to do some shopping and browsing around. I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with them. Then today, (thursday,) I headed into Winchester, where I'll spend Easter weekend at. Karen, the lady who served me "dirt & worms," contacted her mother Jean here in Winchester, and she said I could stay with her. So I'll be here for a few days and then head out for Bunker Hill, WV. On friday Karen & her husband Bill are going to take me out to Harpers Ferry to do a little bit of sight-seeing, and then on Sunday we'll tour a little bit of Washington DC and see the cherry blossoms in bloom. I'm really looking forward to that! Y'all take care and have a great day and a nice Easter. KB