Week 5: Gunshots, free subs, and hills (May 13, 2001)

The Walking Fool rested for three days in Youngstown, OH. Partly due to exhaustion, partly due to cold rainy weather. While there he ate lots of fast food (attempting to keep to the healthy stuff), roamed the mall, played some video games, and rested. (Actually, he didn't play video games.)

While in Youngstown he also made a journey to a Federal Express shipping depot, to pick up a package that his trusty roommate Jeff sent him, which turned into a strange little adventure. The FedEx place was a bit off the beaten track - being at the intersection of Salt Springs Rd. and Salt Springs Rd, in a remote office park or somewhere like that, and so Mark journeyed forth - luckily with directions from the FedEx guy. Unfortunately it started to rain, but he was eager to get his package. As he was walking past and above a gully beside the road, he heard gunshots. He looked down into the gully, and there were two guys crouching behind a car. As he watched, they stood up, and casually held up their hands, as if they were "giving up" - to somebody. Mark didn't stick around to see if they were giving up to him or to someone else, but instead ran as fast as he could (while wearing his big old pack) the rest of the way to the FedEx place. (That's all that happened.)

After leaving Youngstown on Wednesday morning, he walked through Braceville Ridge, and made it to Hudson by Thursday night. Friday found him in Brunswick, where he feasted at the local Pizza Hut, and entertained his servers with tales of his blisters. By Saturday he was in Lagrange, and by Sunday night he had made it to Norwalk, OH, which is just three miles from Thomas Edison's birthplace.

FAST FOOD BONUS! After he chowed down at a Burger King in Brunswick, and told the employees about his trip, the they pooled their money, and gave him about $2.50. Then another woman in the BK came over the gave him $5.00 and blessed him! And in Hudson the manager of a Blimpie sub shop gave him a bunch of coupons for free subs. Unfortunately she didn't have a map of all the Blimpies so he could plan his journey to take advantage of them. BUT maybe Mark can use the "Blimpie Store Locator" on the official Blimpie Website, next time he hits a computer at a library or Kinkos.

THE SLOPE REPORT: The Fool has discovered that Ohio is NOT as flat as advertised, or as he had been warned. He ran into a 17 degree slope (uphill) in one spot, which nearly killed him. Just in case you are curious, this is a 17 degree slope:



THE FEET REPORT: The Fool managed to get a small case of poison ivy on his feet - inside his shoes. How, you ask? Well, he took off his shoes and socks to get into his sleeping bag one night, and then walked around a bit while taking care of his bedtime duties. Voila.