Day 47: Perry North/South

|Unique Streets Walked: 44

|Miles Walked: 4.71

|Street Names (italicized streets have been walked on another day): Millroy, Bothwell, Tretow, Catoctin, Viola, Watson, Talco, Venture, Perrysville, Chemung, Delaware, Orleans, Portola, Wayland, Sigma, Longfellow, Marshall, Norwood, Mount Allister, Glenridge, Oak Park, Harrow, Newland, Kilbuck, Kennedy, Leroy/Keokuk, Searles, Ellis, Mayfield, Quartz, Leland, Hawkins, Shelton, N Charles, Canter, Legion, Ellzey, Pusey, Veteran, Maple Avenue, Goshen, Sherlock, Daisy, Sonora, E Marshall

Today I returned to the land of the living after a sickness that rivaled Captain Trips from The Stand. Last time I went walking was Tuesday, April 2nd so on top of feeling like a bag of flaming crap, I felt guilty for not getting out there. My three-year-old was the source of the sickness so I had him to thank and take care of as well as myself.

It turned out that while I felt a lot better than I had for the last week, I was not 100% and probably shouldn’t have walked almost 5 miles today. Pardon me if any of my sentences don’t make sense. More on that later.

I was joined by my friend Amy and we set off towards the Perry North section of the city. We parked on Millroy which is one of the first streets you can hit if you’re coming from 279. Immediately, we saw a set of stairs and were planning on walking up them when we saw that Bothwell Street curved up the hill. When we saw a couple of turkeys hanging out in a side yard, we decided to take the forested route.

We saw the first two of many deer we would see on the corner of Viola and Catoctin.

We walked on Watson Boulevard and saw many grand houses.

We also saw a set of stairs named Sigma Way that didn’t appear on Apple or Google Maps but did appear on the Hopkins Maps.

As we walked we would smell blossoms before we saw them. Many flowering trees and bushes were at the apex of their bloom with little or no petals yet on the ground.

It was marvelous. We walked many cobblestone alleys and noticed some interesting backyard ornaments.

We saw an eccentric house of which every inch was artistically altered.

We could see the Observatory around almost every turn as we skirted the edge of Riverview Park. We crossed over Marshall Road and entered Perry South, a neighborhood that had streets no map creator cared to correctly identify.

We walked on a Leroy/Keokuk Way that was littered with trash and signs that said there was a $10,000 fine for dumping.

We found a “street” called Quartz Way.

We tried to walk on the Daisy Street Stairs that the map said would be there, but Google lied. Again. We talked about how much money I would have if I got paid every time I found a map mistake.

All around spring was apparent.

We got closer to the car when I noticed some squiggly lines in my vision much like what you see after someone takes your picture with a flash camera. I tired to shrug it off but more symptoms of my migraine onslaught appeared: I was unable to read the words on the map. I couldn’t form sentences. I rarely get migraines anymore (thankfully) and luckily the aura is usually the worst part. It lasts about 20-30 minutes and then a dull headache sets in for the rest of the day (or two days.) We got some lunch (hunger can be a trigger) and I took some Imitrex and a nap. I am writing this with a migraine hangover so like I mentioned above, please forgive me if some of the words are out of order.

Maybe I pushed myself too hard, maybe I was hungry, maybe it was all of the strong spring smells I could finally smell after a week of congestion. I’m not sure. I do know that I am going to bed.

If you want to see what a migraine aura looks like, check out this video (I didn’t embed it because if you’ve had one, you don’t want to see it.)

Relive ‘Perry North Walk!’

Check out all of my pictures from this walk on Google Photos.