Day totals: 13 hrs, 25.6 kms

The Four Step Linear Hike

As in Casablanca Superhike, I'm going to be doing a lot of 1-3 day trips here in Pennsylvania in between my "big trips" . I'm eager to turn this into a Superhike. But right from the get go I'm faced with a predicament.

See, in Casablanca, doing a Superhike in many one day segments was pretty simple. You just walk all day, then at the end you catch a bus or collective taxi home. Then, next time you want to hike some more, you just catch a bus to wherever you left off. That way the whole thing feels like one seamless adventure.

But here in south-central Pennsylvania there are no buses, collective taxis or any sort of public transportation. Nothing. So how the hell am I supposed to get home at the end of the day?

Even before coming here I considered a couple of options. One was to hike in loops, and at the end of each day end up where I started. But this would involve retracing my steps a lot, which I hate to do, and it would be tediously slow in areas that aren't really interesting enough to be hiked through twice .

Another option was to have somebody pick me up. But I don't like to bother people or be dependant on others in order to live my adventures.

So I devised a third option, which I call the "Four Step Linear Hike". For this you need a car and a bicycle and here's how it works:

STEP 1: Drive to Point B with a bicycle in the trunk. Park the car.
STEP 2: Ride the bicycle to Point A.
STEP 3: Hike from Point A to Point B
STEP 4: Drive back to Point A and pick up the bike, and go home.

Sounds pretty complicated and time consuming. But it seems like it's the best option I've got. So today I'm going to give it a try.

Koshery in Chambersburg

I start in downtown Chambersburg, right where I left off last time. And I'm going to have to explore downtown all over again. Why? Today is Applefest Day, a sort of Main Street Street fair--one of the few times in the year when you see large numbers of Chambersburgians out and about . So, I can't miss this opportunity to soak in the vibe.

Main Street is lined with craft vendors, paintings--of course your typical fair snacks. It's quite a contrast seeing so many white people here on Main Street, which is predominantly Latino on any other day. There are a lot of Mennonites in their traditional attire... But there's a nice mix. In between a Mennonite family making apple butter on a steel drum stove and a couple singing some Southern Gospel is a Middle Eastern looking fellow serving falafel sandwiches and...

What the----? No way, no way...! He's selling Koshery?!

I never thought I would use Koshery and Chambersburg in the same sentence. But I peer into a customer's bowl. Yes, it's definitely Koshery.

See koshery is an exclusively Egyptian fast food, a mix of rice, pasta, tomato sauce, lentils and crispy onions on the top all dumped in a bowl--not exactly haute cuisine (Egypt is not exactly famous for it high culinary standards) . Koshery also happens to be the last thing I ate before I got horribly sick on my Egypt trip in 2011. Even now just the wiff of it makes me nauseous.

"This is amazing!" A customer tells the cook. Well, well, well... A Chambersburgian enjoy an foreign dish that I can no longer eat...!

I have to ask "Are you Egyptian?" I ask the fellow.

"No I'm from Chambersburg" He responds a bit stiffly. Sorry, I don't mean to imply that just because you're skin is dark that you're not 'American'--but, dude, you're making koshery!

Finally he explains "I was born in Pakistan and I grew up in Saudi Arabia. Egyptians there make Koshery as well. That's where I learned to prepare it"

I'd like to learn more of his story, but he doesn't seem to eager to talk, so I continue on my way. No, I do not order a bowl of Koshery . Once bitten twice shy.

I continue on to the fountain where there's a young band playing hard rock music. Not that I don't enjoy hard rock--but it just doesn't seem to go with the vibe here. There are different causes being promoted... church denominations giving out books... the animal shelter... selling baskets to help schoolkids in Ghana...

And the the fair abruptly ends, and the quiet streets of typical Chambersburg begin again. It was a nice start to my day.

Being and Individual

I want to do one more loop here in Chambersburg before continuing on. No rush to get out of this town. So I head south on 4th street towns Wayne Avenue, across from which is a large industrial/warehouse area where many of the Chambersburg jobs are. One little neighborhood catches my attention on the way. It's a row of townhouses, clearly all made by the same developer. But unlike most townhouse rows, here every house is different . Some with siding, some with brick--different style of roof... but clearly all one construction project.

Why? It's obviously a lot more work and expense to make each townhouse different. Well, I think it's a clue into American culture (even though most townhouses and apartment buildings aren't built this way). See, Americans like to feel they are unique, different from other people around. You see it in advertisements. Whereas in other cultures the ad might say "buy this car because everybody else is buying it" in America the ad would say "buy this car to express your individuality"

So here in this row of townhouses, every owner can step outside and feel proud looking at his house and saying to himself "Aaah... I'm not just like everybody else"

Soccer Moms and Dads

There's an all you can eat Chinese buffet right up ahead--which with one meal would take care of my eating needs for the rest of the day (my favorite choice here in the US when out on the road) . But I'm just not too hungry yet, so I duck into a dollar store a just grab a few snacks instead.

Heading back up north, I have one last spot to visit: Chambersburg's main park. Nothing really special about it--just some ball fields and a swimming pool, but I figure it should be part of my tour of the town.

And today, even though it's a cold day, the park seems to be packed with people, all carrying lawn chairs and heading down to the fields.

Is there another festival going on today?

No. It's just another soccer Saturday. This is an ironic American phenomenon: although Americans are about the only people in the world who are apathetic about soccer as a professional spectator sport, they are passionate about watching their kids play. And this the first time I will observe this firsthand.

There are a total of 6 games going on simultaneously . Children of different age groups playing with a row of parents on the side shouting and cheering them on. During the Clinton years the term "soccer moms" was coined. But here I see plenty of fathers and grandparents as well. Fathers who prefer to be a bit more active serve as coaches, referees and linesmen.

I guess if I had seen this 10 years ago, I probably would have thought "big deal" But now, after seeing so much of the world, it strikes me how rare it is to see parents spending a Saturday cheering their kids as they kick a ball around.

In much of the world, being a "good parent" means making your kid study, study, study. Saturdays are for school or extra courses. It's all an obsession with pushing their kids have a good future. But here, these parents have absolutely no interest in having their kids grow up to professional soccer players. Here's its about fun--and developing qualities like competitiveness, teamwork and good sportsmanship . And there's that child parent bonding as the child hears mom and dad screaming themselves hoarse to encourage them--and I suppose it's a vicarious enjoyment for the parents, living out their own competitiveness through their kids.

I remember scenes from movies like "Hook" where it was depicted as the ultimate act of "bad parenting" to miss your child's ball game because you're so busy with work... Much of the rest of the world sees it the other way around: a "good parent" focuses on work so he can then provide well for his famiy.

I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong--but I will say that this is a beautiful sight to see. And another thing: almost all the teams here are multi-racial. So there's another benefit here: encouraging kids to work on a team with kids of different backgrounds.

And so, on this positive note, I finally bring my Chambersburg hike to an end.

On up Lincoln Highway

This next stretch of my hike is one I'm not particularly looking forward to: a long, sloppy section of Highway 30, lined with random businesses, used car dealerships and strip malls with parking lots so huge they will never fill up even a quarter of the way (I guess its cheaper to turn you leftover land into a field of asphalt rather than a lawn that you have to mow every week) . This is your typical American commercial sprawl--no order, attempt to make it cohesive or beautiful--or an area you'd want to walk around in. Just sell the land to whoever and let them build however they feel. The only rule: make it convenient for people in cars.

Sadly, the outskirts of European cities and towns are following this same model more and more.

Oh well... I suppose I should experience it in my Superhike, since after all this is American culture... And there is a bit of history buried beneath the asphalt, big signs and boxy store: this is the route the Confederates followed in the Civil War on their way to Gettysburg, the turning point in the war. Now there's just a plaque mentioning that.

As I pass Walmart, the Great-Destroyer-of-Main-Streets-and-small-businesses, I suppose I should make a confession: as soon as I arrived to America after 5 years in Morocco, I had a bunch of stuff I needed: a cell phone, a bicycle, some groceries, deoderant, a tarp strap, a computer, some shoes, and a desk . It actually really felt good to know I could find all of these things IN ONE STORE. Yeah. As much as I love the traditional quaint charm of a downtown shopping area, when it comes to actual shopping, I'll go for the convenience of an "all in one" store. Call me a hypocrite if you like...

What counts as a "town" in Pennsylvania

Finally the road divides into two: the main highway and the old Lincoln Highway which goes through Fayetteville proper, which I'm going to count as my first "new town" of 2014.


In Europe it was pretty easy to determine what should be a town or what shouldn't. All provinces are divided into communes or municipalities, each with a village or town with a central government and some sort of urban core (and usually a history that goes back hundreds or thousands of years). So I pretty much could go by the rule that, if it's officially a town, then it counts as a town .

Here in the US it won't be so easy. First of all, different states have different ways of dividing themselves up, and even the word "village" or "town" can mean something different from one state to the other. For another thing, there are many subdivisions that have no urban core, center of government or cohesion. Just a scattering of houses here and there.

So let' take a look first at Pennsylvania and see how we'll work this out.

Pennsylvania is divided into 67 counties, each with its own county seat. I think I'm going to try to visit at least one town in each county, since I'm planning to live here in Pennsylvania for a while. Then each county is divided into either townships (for more rural areas) and boroughs (more urban areas). I've pretty much decided that from now on I'm only going to count boroughs as "towns" in my collection, as townships don't usually have much substance .

There are also "CDPs" or "census designated places", these are kind of like towns but without a central government. I'm not going to count these as "towns"

Well... except for Fayetteville.

After miles of sprawl this CDP does have... well... a line of houses along the road... a couple churches... a sandwich shop... a couple schools and a really nice park... Aww, all right, I'm going to count you as town number 1810. Welcome to the club.

The Birthday Party

In the park, it's nice to see people again (people on foot that is). Here there are a couple retire railroad cars on display and even a mini-train for kids to ride (only on Saturdays--donation based). As I do my official Fayetteville video clip with a railroad car and grain silo in the background, a young fellow comes up to me. "What kind of guitar is that?" he asks. "I was going to bring my guitar--it's my sister birthday party, so I decided not to" he continues .

"You can play mine" I offer. He strums for a bit, then I play a song. This reminds me of Morocco, where carrying a guitar would often lead to an interesting encounter with a a stranger.

Collin left--then a few minutes later came back.

"Could you play happy birthday for my sister's party"

Certainly can't turn down a request like that. I approached the picnic area where the whole extended family was gathered. As it turns out, Collin is from a very musical family, and his grandfather was especially happy to have the chance to chat with a fellow musician.

He tells me of his years playing with a band, traveling around the region--of how music has changed in this region over the years. Lately he's had difficulty playing the guitar, but that passion is still there.

"I'm stoked--meeting a musician like you ." he tells me "I'm going to go back home and pick up the guitar again"

I must say I shared the same sentiment--not just meeting a fellow musician, but to pass by as a stranger and be invited to be a part of a family celebration and have glimpse into their lives. Brings back memories of crashing a family reunion in Zifta, Egypt... or joining Christmas celebration with a family in Coria, Spain...

But I must continue on, so after enjoying some cake and soda, I head on my way.

Playing at a coffeehouse

My original dream, way back in the late 90s was that I could just travel the world... show up in a random town and tell people I'm a wandering minstrel. People's faces would light up and I would be immediately asked to play at a local venue... the word would spread... people would come to listen... In the end I'd make enough money for food, lodging and to continue on my way.


Well, things have never quite worked out that way . In 1,800 towns I've played music in, I've only been given an on-the-spot paid gig once (Puteaux, France in 2009) and even then I was given only 20 euros--not even enough for a bed at the hostel.

But now that I'm back in the US, I do want to take on the challenge of doing organized performances, not just laid back park bench performances (which will only rarely involve having an audience).

But for this I have to do a bit of planning--which I already have. Yesterday I looked up on one of my favorite websites openmikes.org to look for an Open Mike near my hiking route. I found one in Waynesboro, just a few miles from where I plan to end my hike.

So from Fayetteville, I continue east a bit more until I almost reach the forest then turn south. I wish I had time to continue to the Appalachian Trail to follow it to my destination, but I'm short on time, so I'm just going to follow the road . It does wind through the forest a bit, so I can enjoy the colors of fall. I think fall might actually be my favorite season here in Pennsylvania, with that cool, crisp feeling and the forest alive with colors. I even do another video clip with a pond and the trees in the background.

Finally I reach my car--just as it starts to rain. This really must be my lucky day...

And so my hike for the day officially ends--but since I'm going to play music, I'm still officially in "Adventure Mode"--which is good. Many times playing gigs and Open Mikes can be a forgettable blur--but since memories of this gig will be linked to a day of hiking, I know I'll remember it forever.

Jerry runs this Open Mike. He's an African Amercan former navy guy from New York (he incidentally loves country music and feels very much at home here in Waynesboro!) He says it's just me and him and he doesn't have much of a repertoire, so I can play for as long as I want .

And so I start off on my first full gig in 6 years. It's more of a dinner crowd, which is nice, as I don't feel the pressure of needing to hold everybody's attention. If they want to listen, that's fine (and some of them do--very attentively) but if they want to focus on their dinner that's fine too. I sing for about 45 minutes, letting each song flow into the next--occasionally pausing to give a little of the story behind the song. Finally I let Jerry have a turn.



Mike Blubaugh, a friend from when I was here in Pennsylvania before, and his wife come. It's a heartwarming feeling to hike through unfamiliar territory, and meet up with an old friend at the end of it.

I go back to play another set, singing a total of 23+ songs... all without losing my voice or seriously messing up. Chat with some of the customers (who tell me about some of their trips overseas) ...

And so I've done it, I combined a day of Parkbenching/Superhiking with Coffeehouse Performing. It's been a great 2nd Adventure Day back in a region where years ago I thought there were no adventures to be had...