Okay, so my early planning has perhaps left something to be desired. I was so worried about getting to Folwerville — even though I had a place to crash lined up in Fowlerville — that I neglected to think much about the next day. I figured I’d just stay at whatever hotel I could find in the next town up. Well the “next town up” was Bancroft, Michigan, and it really *was* just a speck. Much moreso than Fowlerville.
Chris made me breakfast and we ended up sitting down to watch Smokey and the Bandit and so I didn’t hit the road until almost 1 PM. Fowlerville soon gave way to snow-blasted wheat and snow fields. The wind was sharp, but I’d by-and-large left the hills behind, so I thought I was making good time. There wasn’t anywhere to rest, but I didn’t really want to stop since I figured the exercise was keeping me warm. Although I wouldn’t have minded a gas station for a bathroom break in there somewhere… fortunately, I hadn’t hit the coffee too hard that morning. It felt pretty bitter cold to me (even if it was in the upper teens) but I didn’t really start to get worried until it was getting dark out, and I had no idea how far I was from Bancroft.
I picked up the pace as quickly as I could, but it got dark fast and there weren’t any streetlamps to speak of, just floodlights out on the occasional barn and farmhouse. This was country. Then again, it was startling and lovely to see and feel, having those open spaces drop away on either side into a purple empty… and farms stripped bare by the winter just to be replanted in a few months. I got into Bancroft a little bit after six, and didn’t find much there… no motels, and not really much by way of restaurants or gas stations. The downtown was a strip of five or six buildings, many of them empty and boarded up.
The police let me use their bathroom, though, and told me that the nearest hotel was in the next town up the road, Durand. When they asked why I was in Bancroft without a car looking for a hotel I told them part of the truth: that I wanted to see the world, so I was walking from my mom’s house in Arkaic to my friend’s house in Kearsley outside of Flint.
“That’s sixty miles!” said one of the officers (I learned his name was Bert). Actually, it’s more like 65.
They were kind of puzzled that I’d even want to take a trip like this, and especially in the dead of winter, but they were nice about it, and gave me some coffee, and since it was a slow night (I imagine most nights are in Bancroft), Bert offered to drive me to the Quality Inn in Durand. Hey, I’m not going to be a purist about this… I’ve already walked about 35 miles in two days. I’ve still got plenty of walking ahead of me. I said “yes.”
I was happy for that the rest of the night was uneventful. Durand was only another five or six miles, but it was nice to rest my feet and get in before it was completely late. I checked into the hotel without any trouble, and after thinking for a few minutes about going out to explore Durand, I decided to stay in and order a pizza. Evidently there’s some cool stuff to see and do in Durand and the last leg of this walk (Durand to Kearsley) is about 25 miles, so I’m going to take tomorrow off and explore around here. I’ll start up again on Friday, and plan on getting into Kearsley on Friday night. Anyway, I don’t know exactly how much money Dr. Galitz has left me so I’m going to have to be carefully I burn through it if I don’t want to be left in the lurch. It’s only been two days and I’ve already spent almost a one-fifty, including my supplies.
What is this?
It’s an experiment!
Not too long ago I finished compiling a multiyear project: a list of the places I’d like to live before I die. Now I’m busy here in Flint raising a family, keeping a house, and launching a writing career; there’s no way I’m going to have the chance to visit most of these places. So instead, I’m sending one of my characters on the trek for me. Crystal Galitz was a character from my unfinished novel Urbantasm which I drafted in 1996-1997. I’m still working on Urbantasm sixteen years later, but that can’t stop me from drafting Crystal to explore the world and report her findings. Let it be known that Crystal set out from her childhood home of Arkaic, Michigan on January 2nd, 2012. She’ll share her discoveries and adventures through the power of technology and the magic of imagination. We’ll see what she has to say.