Freedom Walk 2016

This year's walk (#4) combined the best of year 1 and year 2.

In year 1, I left from my house and walked straight down Baltimore Pike/Avenue; took a left at University City and a right down Chestnut Street.

In year 2, we left from the Media train station and followed the Leiper Smedley Trail along the blue route into Nether Providence; through Swarthmore and Morton on to Providence Road and through Cobbs Creek Park and eventually connecting to Baltimore Avenue. the Leiper Smedley Trail is nice but it added more hilly miles to the walk. Cobbs Creek Park was boring and added miles as well. Seeing the Aldan Borough Parade setting up was a highlight however.

This year we started at the Swarthmore Train Station. Septa Regional Rail is not running between Swarthmore and Media for the summer due to construction related to the Crum Creek Viaduct work.

Sara, Mike and I left Swarthmore Station at 8 a.m. 

A bathroom break at The Coffee Station in Morton.
No idea who this is but the sign said take a selfie so I did. 

Sara found a fork in the road
(but no Muppets)

Having cut out the distance on the Leiper Smedley Trail
We arrived in Aldan around 9:15 a.m. so no parade the year.

Still miles to go...

After lunch at Mix Brick Oven Pizza we arrived.
It was super crowded and the man who took the
photo couldn't get back far enough to include
the tower. Trust us it's still there.

Note the guy in the background. Perched precariously on top of the Declaration of Independence. I guess he drew the short straw this morning.

Once again we had a nice walk. Humid and overcast but not terribly hot. All three of us were quiet this year. We walked for blocks on end without saying a word. And that was just fine. I liked that we didn't feel the need to fill the air with conversation just because.

If you are interested here is a link to our route. https://goo.gl/hGTzNX

Save the date for next year (July 4, 2017 in case you are not paying attention). Barring any road or train issues we'll be leaving from Prospect Park Train station; walking through the Heinz Wildlife Refuge and on through Essington over the Passuyunk Ave Bridge and through Southwest Philadelphia to Independence Hall. It's just under 13 miles and includes a walk through the Italian Market area.

2017 will be year 5!! I think we should do t-shirts. :)