Author: Layne Rodney

Trains and Walks are a great combination for me.  Stamford has many great walks and I enjoy walking throughout Stamford. However, there are times I want to try new walks, and this is where trains come in. Last summer when I walked along the Connecticut Coast, I realized many things.  One: there are lots of great walks throughout Connecticut. Secondly, it is possible to start the day trip by train then walk and take the train home. One day I took the train to Old Saybrook and walked to New London 24 miles in total and still made it home the same evening. The nicest part of the trip was sitting at the dockside restaurant and having a drink while waiting for the train back home.

The Stamford Train Station is our starting point.  It is not the most elegant station. However, it is functional.  You can take a train as far St Johns Vermont or Norfolk Virginia without changing trains.

Come join me as I discover all the great places that the Stamford Trains will take us to.

Our First Stop New Canaan Connecticut known as “the next station to heaven”

The other day I went to the La Rouge Chocolate store in Westport, CT. I had the most delicious hot chocolate there. It had to be at least 600 calories or more.

I wasn’t too concerned about the number of calories.  I had taken the train to Westport and walked to the store. The round-trip walk was 80 minutes and according to experts, every hour of walking burns 200 calories.

This is one of the benefits of walking many miles every day. You don’t have to watch every calorie you eat.  When I started walking at least eight miles a day during the lock-down. I lost five lbs bringing my weight to under 170lbs.

Now that I am averaging ten miles a day, I can have one of those delicious sins without gaining weight.

Plus, my doctor tells me I am in great physical shape from the walking.

Time to go walking. Talk to you later.

Wintertime arrives for me when we have cold weather and snow on the ground. Last week was cold and Friday morning we had snow that is lasting.

I was able to walk yesterday after the snow. High Ridge Road has a bike lane, and I was using that where the sidewalks were not cleared.  The good news is most of the sidewalks where I walked were cleared.

Yesterday and today Saturday January 8^th I was able to walk over nine miles each day.  I did walk in the Stamford Mall for part of those miles. If you walk from one end to the other four times in the Mall you will have walked almost a mile.

Next week will be the challenge.  They are forecasting two days where the temperature won’t get out of the teens. I have made contingencies for those two days.  I do expect to walk at least nine miles each day.

I will let you know how I make out next week

You might have noticed I haven’t posted lately.  That’s because my wife and I celebrated Christmas in Switzerland with my oldest daughter who lives there.

Switzerland is a great place to visit.  It is expensive. Gasoline is over $7.00 a gallon. Traveling by train is very nice and expensive.

One of my concerns was would I be able to walk a lot in Switzerland. The answer is yes, I was able to average nine miles a day for the two weeks I was there.

It was unnerving to walk there. When pedestrians cross the road at crosswalks, they just cross without looking and the cars stop. I could not get use to just crossing without looking.

I was in Liechtenstein for a few days.  This picture is the view of the Rhine River and the Swiss Alps

While I was walking along the river. A person on a dogsled drove by.

I will be working on lots of new topics for the new year

This morning’s walk was down High Ridge Road to Downtown Stamford. At Oaklawn and High Ridge Road there is a delayed light on the North bound traffic. As I crossed Oaklawn a car started off going north. They had been watching the other traffic light and never realized they ran the red light.

Then on Bedford Street a mini motorcycle was driving on the sidewalk. Between bikes, electric scooters, and now mini motorcycles it is getting hard to walk safely on the sidewalks.

This afternoon I traveled to Greenwich by train. I had a new pair of shoes, and I did not want to walk too much in them. I walked from the train station to the top of Greenwich Avenue and back again.

The train ride back to Stamford allowed me to see who was faster, trucks or trains. I spotted two trucks on I-95 at Cos Cob. There was a lot of traffic on I-95. Usually, the trucks would win as the train still had two stops to make and goes slowly into the Stamford Station. As I left the train station, I saw both trucks. So, it was a draw.

It was surprising that I-95 was that busy on a Monday. By the way. The train station parking lots are still very empty these days.

Today I had two goals. I needed to buy another pair of walking shoes. At ten miles a day I am lucky to get three months out of a pair of shoes.

I found a nice pair of walking shoes at Johnson & Murphy. Unfortunately, they did not have my size. However, they offered to have the correct size mailed to me. I took up their offer and I should have the shoes early next week. I then went to the train station and bought my round-trip ticket to New Canaan.

My second goal was to walk from Downtown New Canaan to Darien by taking Route 124.

After lunch my wife drove me to the Springdale Train Station, and I took the train to New Canaan. The train took ten minutes to arrive in New Canaan.

The nice thing about the station is that it is right in the town. Walking 100 feet you are on Elm Street with lots of shops and restaurants.

I did not linger as I wanted to get to Darien before it got dark. I walked by Mead Memorial Park. You should visit it if you are in New Canaan. It is less than a five-minute walk from the train station

 On my walk I crossed over the Merritt Parkway and traffic was moving slowly not bad considering it was the day before Thanksgiving.

Arriving at the Darien Train Station at 3:30 I saw that my train the 3:42 was going to be 15 minutes late. I ran over to the bus stop and caught the bus to Stamford.

So, the train ticket I bought was never used. The conductor on the ride to New Canaan was not able to get to me to punch the ticket.

Altogether I walked twelve miles today. Tomorrow being Thanksgiving I will be hard pressed to walk six miles.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

I thought my afternoon walk would be the usual. Six miles of walking up North in Stamford.  Maybe seeing an interesting animal or bird. The walk turned out to be most surprising.

The walk started at Planet Appliance on High Ridge Road where we had just bought a stove.  They had it in inventory, and we will get it next week. Nice Surprise. The salesperson mentioned thundershowers later in the afternoon. I thought probably just a chance.

I caught the bus up to Stamford Nature Museum and started walking up Scofieldtown Road. At the park I decided to go right on Sunshine Road instead of Rockrimmon Road. As it turned out that was a very good choice.

My next surprise was I saw a nun jogging on the road. She was very nice and blessed me as we passed each other.  I assume she was from the convent at Villa Maria. Another nice surprise.

The weather was starting to get ominous.  I reached High Ridge Road and turned North on the road. The rain was getting stronger, and I made a dash for the last bus stop on High Ridge which has a shelter. Got there just before the torrential rains came.

It was nice watching the thunderstorm pass by.  Lightning strikes were close by. Usually less than two seconds when I counted.

After 30 Minutes I was able to start walking again.  This time south on High Ridge. As usual I found some change on the road.  I am always mystified why people throw money on the road.

Then my last surprise I found a wallet on the road.  I picked it up. Usually if I find something like a wallet it is empty and has been thrown out. This wallet had no identification. It did have a half-torn credit card and cash in it.  Why would someone throw it out on the road? Why empty it but leave cash in it? The finding of this wallet is a complete mystery and quite a surprise.

Today’s walk is one of the reasons I enjoy walking. You never know what surprises are waiting for you.

That is how my journey on Thursday October 7^th felt

I started the walking part at Old Saybrook and ended the walk at New London. When I crossed the Connecticut River, I decided it was time to leave the old route, the Post Road and walk a new route Rt 156. Finally, I broke my old record of walking 19 miles in one day and set a new record that day of 23 miles. I hope that I never break that walking record ever again.  23 miles is more than enough for one days walk.

The days journey started at 6:30 at the Stamford Train Station. The first light of day was starting to show.  Sunrise that day was around 7:00 am. It took two trains to get too Old Saybrook.  Stamford to New Haven and New Haven too Old Saybrook. The train left Stamford at 6:40 am and I arrived at Old Saybrook at 8:55 am. I was able to look out the front window of the train to Old Saybrook the entire way. It was quite a different perspective from usually looking out the side of train.

The walking part started at 8:56. I followed the Post Road to the Connecticut River where it joined I-95 to cross the river.  I have driven over the bridge many times, walking over the bridge gives you an idea of how big the mouth of the Connecticut River is.

After crossing the bridge, I chose the new route. The post road was going to go north of the I-95 and I wanted to see more of the shoreline.  My phone GPS told me it was fifteen miles to the New London Train Station.  However, I knew it would be more as the road meandered quite a bit. If I knew the walk would be 23 miles that day I might have turned back.

The road was less traveled.  I did see the waterfront from time to time. The Amtrak train line would intersect with the road in spots. Mainly it was just me and the road.  I did see some small signs off fall on the road.

Finally,23 miles later I arrived at the train station in New London

My Journey on Wednesday started at the Union Train Station in New Haven. The best way to describe the journey is, urban to suburban to rural in ten miles.

After leaving the train station the Post Road goes under the giant I-95 I-91 interchange. It was quite noisy walking under all the concrete.

It was nice seeing all the tugboats working in the New Haven Harbor.  I assume New Haven is where most of the gas and diesel for Connecticut is off-loaded.

The next two miles the Post Road parallels I-95 but then it veers to the south of I-95. At this point we left the urban and started with the suburban and entered Branford.

It took a long time to walk thru Branford. When I was south of I-95 there were many stores.  Once I crossed over the I-95 the stores disappeared and it was mainly a few houses with lots of open space.

I am not sure when I crossed into Guilford but all of the sudden there were farms and of course pumpkin Patches.

I have discovered that Dunkin Donut’s is the fast-food store to Connecticut.  I must have seen at least seven today on my walk.

Total mileage for today’s walk is 17.6 miles and 65 miles  for four days

The first day of the journey is done. I started at the Government Center in Stamford at 8.15 am. I have walked the route thru Stamford many times but always the other way. It was a pleasant surprise going East instead of West.

The first day ended at the Southport Train Station 17 miles from the start. My total walking milage Saturday was 19.9 miles far and away my longest walk ever.

The towns I walked thru Saturday were, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport and Southport. The Post Road is the major commercial artery thru these towns, and I was somewhat disappointed. Mainly just stores and commercial space.

I stopped at Stew Leonard’s for lunch. Stew Leonard’s is a private Grocery Store and is a fabulous Place. They know how to market and sell great food.  I had a hamburger, fries and soda for under $7.00 dollars.

It was a little tough to start the trip after lunch.  I had walked ten miles at that point. However, I was able to put my tiredness aside and continue my way.

My last seven miles was uneventful.  I had to cross the street many times as sidewalks would just come to an end.

The first day’s journey ended waiting at the Southport Train Station.  It was very nice riding the train home to Stamford. My total mileage that day was 19.9 miles