Growing up, most people only knew of King of Prussia as the place where a mall was. And i think it's still the same way. I had to laugh the night before when i realized the hotel was situated directly across the street from the King of Prussia Mall. Since shopping and consuming (anything other than a large meal after walking) was the last thing on my mind, it was surreal to be forced in to the mall to find something to eat. It felt like a virtual reality ride or a 3-d reality tv show—just a few steps away from being a real experience. Or, i was becoming so accustomed to carefully observing my surroundings at a walking pace that i was actually seeing the experience of walking in a mall for the first time.
I had no desire to go back so spent most of my day in the hotel room, trying to relax and rest. There was a fine view of the turnpike from our balcony. The view indoors on the television wasn't much better but at least i could catch up with tennis on TV. It ended up being my saving grace as i lay sleepless that night. Apparently, if i'm not moving around a lot during the day, it's nearly impossible for me to sleep. I started to realize why i was so restless after working an entire day in an office. My mind was also consumed with the idea of how and where we would start the next day for the final long walk in to Lansdale. When i had reached the end of the trail in Valley Forge, there was a sign that said "bridge access to Schuylkill River Trail". The issue was getting across the river. I couldn't figure out how it was possible without walking on the turnpike or US highway—both very dangerous and illegal. The sign seemed to solve the problem but after the experience of accidentally illegally trespassing on an abandoned mental facility plus many other contradictory signs and scenarios (a crosswalk crossing a US highway next to a no-pedestrian sign, trails that started without pedestrian access and the hotel that was literally unreachable on foot) I was a little paranoid. We already would be getting a ride back to the Valley Forge trail but what if the bridge didn't exist and we were stuck again? The anxiety I had before the night of our extra-long walk was back and I was learning to trust these feelings.
I eventually managed to drop off to the repetitive rhythm of a Rafael Nadal match on ESPN. Sometimes TV can be a good thing.
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