ch... cha ...changes on the irt

 file photo of the limestone kilns

I met Angels family at the IRT at 4:30 for my second walk. The three adults could walk the 5.5 miles with ease. The tween, however, would be a different story. Since we were doing the loop I offered her two choices. We could turn left, and past cool stuff, and then have a long boring walk back, with an uphill at the end. Or we could turn right and have the boring part first and the cool stuff at the end.

She picked right. I knew she would. She did fine for the first half and then asked, how far we were. Right on cue.

At about the halfway point there is a little picnic area and faded display. There is also some wheels and chassis from a train. Just in the nick of the time. Tween was interested again.

Then, we arrived at the new bridge. It's open now. It's beautiful. But from the amount of graffiti we saw on the trail in the area, it's opened up a big can of worms. Town kids can now access the trail, with spray paint cans. Before, it has limited access from trail head, pretty much in the 'burbs. There was basic ugly graffiti, there was quotes, there was a tiny bit of art. Some were done in chalk, most were in paint. It was, disappointing.

But on the up side, the graffiti kept the tween occupied for a while. When we reached the white wall she asked again how much further. Since this is the turnaround for the 5K, I knew it was about a mile and a half.  But this is also where the mural is, more railroad leftovers, Sharon's stairs, the tree growing over the sewer pipe, and the other things to keep her occupied.

We finally reached the kilns. "Why is there a fence around it?" I was explaining the concept of penny wise (don't do maintenance because of budget cuts) and dollar foolish (let it crumble before fixing it) when we saw what we thought was scaffolding. New scaffolding. And a Spillman Farmer Architect sign on the fence. Then, there was a sign on the lawn. Could it be?

It was! They didn't wait for the kilns to crumble. Thank goodness. The work is being paid for by a grant from the Saving America's Treasures and the county. But it looks like it's just one tower.  Eight more to go.

The next time the tween asked about distance I told her it was less than a half mile. I pointed to the red caboose in the distance. That's the finish line.

She made it. Piece of cake.