back to the begining

With Pat in rehab, I'm slowly getting my life back. Plus I'm ready to get back to walking. Gonna prove that doctor wrong.

This weekend was planned long before Pat's hospital adventure. It is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Volkssport Conference.  There was a series of walks associated with it that are one-time only. I did the Manayunk walk a few weeks ago when we were testing directions. Today's walk was Plymouth Meeting. To be honest I thought Plymouth Meeting was just a giant commercial hub. I was wrong.

Plymouth Meeting was settled by the Quakers, and the town get's it name from the settlers town in England. The meetinghouse was the key building in the settlement. During the Revolutionary War, in May 1778, the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse served as a temporary military hospital. General George Washington, then at Valley Forge, learned that a British force intended to seize the area and cut off movement of the Continental Army. He sent Marquis de Lafayette and 2,100 troops to counter. They camped around the meetinghouse on the night before the May 19 Battle of Barren Hill. The next morning the British arrived with a massive force of 16,000, and tried to cut off any escape route. Lafayette instead took advantage of the Americans' knowledge of local roads, and escaped with minimal casualties.

Did I learn all that today? No, I learned it from Wikipedia. It's a beautiful town with a huge park, and expensive houses. And suburbs. The walk began at the LuLu Shriner's building and crossed the street into Harriet Wetherill Park. It's massive and included a butterfly garden. Most of the 5K was done in the park. I have no idea who Harriet was.  The 8K went to the airport and I believe Abolition Hall.

Then I went back to the hotel to (wo)man the LBW table. Tomorrow is the John Heinz Wildlife Reserve, America's only urban wildlife reserve. Then I'll be at the checkpoint at the 2K mark. I just realized that I did not pick up directions. I might have to stop in Plymouth Meeting on my way to 95. You can see the airport control tower from the reserve.

Miles/Steps:  5k
Weather:        upper 50s, overcast

These are the doors to the Phoebe where Pat is in Rehab. They are serious about Covid safety. You enter in the center door with your mask on, take your temperature and fill out the visitor log. The visitor log is like a spreadsheet.  Then walk clear across the building to get in her room. Tomorrow, I'm counting the steps. It's got to be at least 500. No therapy on Saturday so we went for two walks while I was there.