May 8, 2012 Day 15 — Port Murray to Chester, NJ (15 miles)

Walking on Empty

I wake up famished. Full disclosure: I didn’t have dinner last night because to do so would have meant walking seven more miles round trip on top of yesterday’s fifteen. I guess I could call family and friends to the rescue, but that would be a little embarrassing. During the night I think I hear Oxfam dropping boxes of provisions by helicopter. This would certainly put Ralph’s King Size Motel (former name) on the map. I say to myself that fasting can help cleanse the body and bring about higher consciousness. So I decide to fast instead, as if I have a choice.

What I do not know is that today’s route is the “O’Cebreiro” (of Camino de Santiago fame) of this Camino de Nathaniel. The vertical climb is reminiscent of last May’s hardest day for me when I struggled uphill thinking I was too old (actually I was sick that day). Isolated today in rural New Jersey with no grocery stores, restaurants, or cafes in sight, I continue to climb up and up and up.

The higher consciousness thing is not happening. Instead I see mirages of Judy’s and Colette’s picnics around each corner, only to have them evaporate as I get closer. Maybe a Dunkin Donuts will miraculously appear. It’s 10:00 a.m. and a policeman flies by on his motorcycle. I think he may stop and check my pulse just to say reassuringly, “He’s not dead yet!” But he doesn’t even slow down, so I must look OK at 50 mph. But what about at 3.5 mph? By chance, a jogger runs by, but she doesn’t look any better than I do.

I pass three farms advertising fresh eggs. I imagine asking, “Can I buy a dozen and return nine in exchange for having three scrambled?” Probably not. So this is what walking on empty feels like. As I enter Washington Township, my prayers are finally answered. There before me appears the Dunkin Donuts I prayed for. To break my seventeen-hour fast, it takes me almost an hour to down two huge bagel sandwiches with eggs and cheese, a banana, a yogurt and three cups of coffee with cream. The next few miles into Chester are a breeze as I kick into fourth gear. I guess from here on, it will be all downhill to Manhattan. Still food-deprived, I stop again an hour later and refuel at Marilyn’s Cafe in the Chester Mall, just in case, with a huge Greek Salad. I munch away happily without realizing I am keeping the staff waiting past their closing time. Dinner and evening with the Decots (Lou & Gary’s friends in Flanders) will definitely top off the tank. I can’t wait. (Total mileage to date: just over 200)