Sore Feet, Soaring Heart

Last evening's walk was glorious, but I ended up with a case of sore feet (no blisters, though). I have to confess that this five mile (8km) stroll was the first long walk I've taken since the COVID-19 outbreak. My friends and I met up at 7:30PM in front of the Tarrytown train station, where free parking is to be had on the weekends. If I were to undertake this hike on a weekday, I'd take the 25 bus from an intersection three blocks from my home to the Yonkers train station, then take the glorious Metro North Hudson Line trip to Tarrytown. At the train station, we caught a free shuttle bus to the West Nyack trail head, and the journey began.

The Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge, like it's predecessor, the Tappan Zee bridge, spans the widest section of the Hudson River, named by the Dutch for the indigenous Lenape people. It might seem counterintuitive to build a bridge across the widest section of the river, but the site was chosen because it was about as close to New York City as could be while outside the purview of the New York/New Jersey Port Authority, being under the New York State Thruway Authority.

The bridge itself has always consisted of a superstructure close to the eastern bank of the mighty Hudson, with a long causeway forming the western portion of the bridge. There are high barriers on the sides of the bridge to forestall despondent people from taking swan dives:

The actual pathway is divided into a four foot wide pedestrian lane and an eight foot wide bicycle lane:

Along the span, there are six wide areas which double as observation posts and rest stops:

All along the watchtower causeway, the central superstructure beckoned like a... uhhhh... beacon:

As night fell, the view of the superstructure became more and more breathtaking (or maybe that was the upward incline), especially when contrasted with the view of the river below. Passing cars, though, made focusing the camera a pipe dream:

A plaque on one of the towers of the bridge eulogized the late, great governor of New York State:

There were quite a lot of people walking across the bridge, and the atmosphere was pretty festive. It's impossible to be in a cranky mood when the view is so gorgeous, sore bodies notwithstanding. By the time we reached the eastern shore, we were fairly tired, what with the distance traveled and the heat, and we had approximately a mile's walk remaining between the eastern visitors' center and the Tarrytown train station. We arrived in T-town just at the tail end of their COVID-19 related closure of Main Street to allow outdoor dining. I was able to hit a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that was still open for some tacos and a restorative horchata. It is said that hunger is the best sauce, but La Perla Poblanita's food needed no additional embellishment.

I parted with my friends in order to go to work, and as soon as I arrived, I took a couple of aspirinas. Yeah, my feet, between balls and arches, were still a little sore. As I confessed, it had been a while since I'd taken a long walk like this, which means that I need to get back to a routine in which such beautiful expeditions are... uhhh... routine.