Lums Pond

Delaware – Tuesday, October 23

One of the nice things about camping is being able to go on a long walk first thing in the morning without having to drive anywhere! My campsite last night was right near one of the access points for a 7.5 mile trail around Lum’s Pond. This pond is Delaware’s largest natural pond, but I don’t know they call it a pond and not a lake – it looks more like a big lake to me! When I set off, I didn’t know if I was going to do the whole walk, or walk partway and turn around. But the trail was nice, and it was pretty out, and Tula and I ended up walking the whole way around! It took all morning, but what a fun way to start the day – especially when I was able to catch up with one of my instructor buddies from the studio on the phone! The range of cell phones is amazing – whether that’s good or bad. For me on this journey, it’s a good thing.

While I was out walking, I was thinking more about the Northern Delaware Greenway that I was walking on yesterday. So I read more about the project when I got back and learned that Delaware Greenways is the “parent” organization for several greenways in Delaware. The various greenways are community efforts to preserve open spaces and increase opportunities for walking and bicycling. The trails are maintained by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. Obviously I am a big fan of good trails to walk on, so today’s donation goes to Delaware Greenways.

With most of my walking done, and my donation for the day taken care of , I was very happy to sit in the car for a bit. It was time to head south, and since Highway 1 is a toll road at this point, I got on a smaller road to the east. I detoured to the town of Delaware City, hoping to go to Fort Delaware State Fort, which is on an island and has boat service. But the state park was closed for the year. Delaware City was another nice old colonial town, and normally I would have gotten out to walk a bit, but Tula and I were both a little low on energy after the long walk this morning. We continued rambling south through the east side of the state, through some more small towns, until I got down to Dover, which is the state capital, and one of the places I wanted to see. I wasn’t positive at first that I had found the Capitol Building, because it didn’t have a dome – not that they all do, but it does does distinguish them from other buildings! This one had something that looked more like a tall cupola. I went in, and it wasn’t a very big building. Two floors – with the state senate room on one side, and the state representative room on the other side. I didn’t even see a governors office! Aside from the security guard, I only saw 2 staff people, and 4 other tourists. Very, very quiet, and it was only about 4:00 in the afternoon! It didn’t take long to walk around. Then I walked back to the car and got Tula out to walk around the town some more. We covered a mile and a half, which finished up my walking for today, and made up my mile from yesterday. There still weren’t a whole lot of people out and about, which seemed strange at the end of the day. We walked all around the central part of town, and all the old brick buildings were interesting (former taverns and inns – now law firms and bail bond offices), and there was a town green, but it just seems to be missing some basic people activity…some life! It was time to move on. (And I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many law firms in a few square blocks – and come to think of it, I know I’ve never seen so many bail bond offices in one area! Kinda makes one wonder what goes on!!)

Since it was still nice out, I wanted to camp again. Cape Henlopen was another state park with a campground, right on the ocean, and that’s where I headed. I picked up a salad for dinner, and had a wide choice of campsites, and got set up. I’ll have more trails to walk on in the morning!