Days 2 and 3 – 6/30 to 7/1 – Miami Whitewater to Oxford, OH to Richmond, IN – 59 miles

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When one day is pretty easy and the next one is far more demanding, it’s easy to fall into an analytical mode, working to derive judgments about what contributed to each outcome. After all, clarity on the differentiating factors just might–if one were mature and proactive enough to apply that learning down the road–maximize the good days.

The first day, walking to Oxford, had some built-in advantages over the walk to Richmond. First, and most importantly, it was always going to be shorter. It ended up being considerably shorter. Second, it passed through actual towns. I was able to get breakfast at Country Barrel in the village of Okeana, and that always kicks the day off on the right note. The waitress there was kind, filling my water up for me and wishing me well (lots of dangerous people out there, she warned). Later on, I passed through equally tiny Reily. While I made it there far too early to hit the pizzeria, three very relaxed (and perhaps chemically assisted) young people were hanging out on their porch with three large dogs, and they similarly were happy to top off my water.

At the same time, though, I screwed up that walk in certain ways. Most of all, given that the goal was to free camp, I moved far too quickly, arriving in Oxford by 1pm. My plan had been to carry on a few more miles and find a spot in Hueston Woods to crash. I love hanging out in the woods, but sitting there for six or seven hours, trying to be inconspicuous, before settling into the bivy seemed kind of miserable. Free camping works so much better if you can transition from arrival to sleep pretty swiftly. Looking back, I didn’t need to leave breakfast so quickly. I could have chatted with the folks in Reily longer.

Nonetheless, I also made some smart choices. Most significantly, I paused to check out an old settler cemetery, complete with a brick church from ~1830, that was tucked away just off the road. It would be easy to miss in a car; I almost blew past it on foot. Nonetheless, it was worth the short climb, hidden in a thick grove of trees. Daniel Boone’s cousin is buried there, among others, and that history–nearly two full centuries–is rare to encounter in the US.

I also decided to overnight in Oxford, getting a cheap hotel room. And in this regard, I got lucky. Looping through town later that afternoon, I had to imagine what it would be like during the academic year, as student houses lined the walk into the center, each adorned with a different sign and name. Not surprisingly, many of the house names were associated with alcohol and partying, though some shifted more towards faith. A few straddled the line: Eat, Drink, Pray and Holy Spirits, for example. Given the summer season, I expected to find a ghost town; instead, the town center was lively, filled with people and live music. I quickly realized that people were lined up along a specific road, seemingly waiting on a parade. A local informed me that it was the annual 4th of July parade and it would begin in ten minutes. What stood out to me the most as I watched the parade roll past was how inclusive it was, celebrating a wide swath of the community’s members. The fire department got it started. Bus drivers rolled through. Boy scouts and girl scouts marched by. Little league teams on pseudo-floats. The Progressive Party (high in spirit, low in membership) had a banner. Some little kids pedaled furiously by on red-white-and-blue adorned Power Wheels. Some dudes rolled through on jeeps and in classic cars. And the Shriners absolutely owned the day, tearing it up in their grown-up Power Wheels. Nearly all of the marchers tossed candy at the crowd. It was an unceasingly positive community event.
By contrast, the walk to Richmond had some built-in disadvantages. The day ended up being around 34 miles because of the added distance caused by staying in Oxford and some route changes. There were no towns with services, and only one village of any kind–Fairhaven.

It certainly didn’t lack for virtues. The walk through Hueston Woods, around the lake, was thoroughly enjoyable, finally on a footpath, though hordes of buzzards lurked around every turn. A series of covered bridges along the first half of the walk made for a nice decorative element. The temperatures throughout the first two-thirds of the day were undeniably pleasant. And while the entire walk after Hueston Woods was road-bound, there was practically no auto traffic until the final approach to Richmond, so it was peaceful, easy walking.

Richmond itself didn’t offer the same kind of welcome that Oxford did. The town looks run down, with paint peeling from nearly every building. The heart of Main Street has some lovely buildings, but the street itself was torn up in a construction project. A man in some sort of distress marched past my place, shouting impenetrable statements. But, within that, it’s possible to see the efforts to recover and redevelop the old depot district, where I’m staying, and the construction on Main Street hopefully bodes well for better days there as well. Richmond also benefits from a lovely walk through the city, on the Cardinal Greenway, an oasis in the pavement. Ultimately, I set myself up to not be able to enjoy it better, arriving later in the day, worn down, and in need of an early bed time.

The reality is that I robbed Richmond to pay Oxford. And that was a good deal, a lucky deal. But it’s also the nature of a long walk–sometimes you have to, if not sacrifice, then employ certain days tactically to make others better