Travelers return to visit residents who offered care and assistance
From the October 26, 1994 edition of The New Castle Record
Jean Bradley has a great testimonial for her spaghetti sauce. “I rode a bike 13,000 miles for this sauce,” said a cross-country traveler recently.
Really, she did. Hagit Cohen, has been on a long and grueling trek, but she found something special in the Level Green area of Craig County last year.
Cohen said this country has an enormous wealth of beauty, and an abundance of good people. She should know; in the last 18 months she has seen more of it than most people ever know is out there, hiking the entire Appalachian Trail and bicycling the perimeter of the country.
Actually, what Cohen and hiking companion George Hupka found last June was Ralph and Jean Bradley, or is that the other way around? It was June 27, last year, the Bradley’s anniversary. They were riding along Virginia 42 as they frequently do, when they noticed two people who needed help. They were hikers from the Appalachian Trail, and they needed to get to a doctor. Cohen had Lyme Disease. That requires medicine and rest, so the Bradleys opened their home for a week to the two hikers.
“One day we had to get off the trail to get to a town to get a doctor,” Cohen said. “We stood for 40 minutes and nobody stopped, then these two angels came by. We asked them to give us a ride to the closet hotel. They were kind enough to insist we stay at their home. For four days we ate food we never had before.”
Including the now famous spaghetti sauce.
As Hagit recuperated, the Bradleys and their guests became fast friends. When the hike was resumed as part of her 15,000-mile journey through the Untied States, the Bradleys were in the hearts of Hagit and George. And so was Jean’s spaghetti sauce.
Now, as the journey nears its end, Hupka and Cohen made appoint to return to the Bradley’s farm and enjoy that sauce, and the friendship, one more time.
A 15,000-mile journey is not for the light of heart. It is what Cohen wanted to do when she was living in Atlanta the years prior to 1993. An Israeli native, she has been in the United States 12 years and has travelled extensively throughout the world. She operated two businesses, a neuromuscular therapy clinic and an art studio, and earned the money to hit the trail. After embarking on her journey from Georgia to Maine along the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, she met Hupka. He was on a hike of a few days with three other friends. A Pennsylvania resident, Hupka decided to stay on the hike with Cohen after his friends left the trail.
She had contracted Lyme Disease before setting out, but did not know what was causing her fatigue and aches, so she hoped it would go away. They made it to Virginia before she could go no further.
Just the Beginning
The Appalachian Trail portion of the journey was us the first leg. Cohen had a plan to finish the trail then bicycle around the perimeter of the country, although originally, it was meant to be a solo trip. She and Hupka did finish the trail last October. After sitting out most of the winter, she went to Richmond in February and set out on her bike, once again by herself. February was not kind, even though she went south. There was snow in Florida and violent storms. She was riding with about 40 pounds of gear, her tent being the only home she had.
She crossed Florida, the gulf states and Texas. She stopped in national Parks along the way for extended periods of time to study the native plants and animals.
The sand storms on Arizona were unbelievable. She had to put her head down and ride as best she could, saying when she tried to get in her tent, sand got in everything and she was blown across the ground.
Then it was up along the California Coast. That was a chore. Cohen said she was battling a strong headwind—often 45 to 60 mph—nearly the whole way.
Finally, in Washington, on May 27, Goerge was waiting on the beach with a bouquet of flowers in hand. He also had a bike, so from there, he was part of the trip again.
“When we biked and hiked, we concentrated on the history of places—the geography and the natural life there,” Cohen said. “We really did try to be a part of the community.”
They took part in Native American Pow Wows, canoed in Minnesota.
“We wanted to learn anything we could about the different symbols and cultures, and we paid a lot of attention to the philosophy of cultures,” she said.
They biked east, through Glacier and Yellowstone national parks and across the northern plains and into the upper Midwest. There, they decided to head south and see the world’s largest cave, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. And as long as they were in this part of the country, might as well ride along the Appalachian Trail again and visit some old friends.
The Bradleys couldn’t have been happier.
Thursday, Cohen and Hupka set off to complete their journey. The final destination is the White House, although they could only hope to see the President. They estimate arrival in Washington D. C. to be Halloween Day.
The Next Step
This journey was for more tan a tour of the Untied States. While on the road, Cohen has sot about 4,000 slides. She intends to use a slide show to instruct people , especially poor kids from the inner city and slum areas, that there is ore to life than poverty. She wants her trip to show them another way and to give them hope.
Cohen set up a non-profit foundation in California which will help abused children. Part of the profits from her slide shows and other creative ventures stemming from this trip will go to that foundation.
“With a slide show, we wish to show teenagers and kids who are hopeless that instead of getting high on drugs, they can get high on an adventure and life,” Cohen said.
“The land in America has a special beauty. People have much more goodness that what we realize.”
They have been in touch with international magazines which are buying stories and slides from the trip. There is thoughts of a book and possibly a movie.
The message Cohen wanted to get across to people when she conceived the trip is, enjoy life and be happy.
“We’ve seen hundreds of people on this trip,” she said. “Very few are really smiling during the day.”
Cohen and Hupka have learned the secret to being happy—do wat you want to do.
“A rich person is not really rich with money. Money is wonderful, but money can’t buy love or friendship or happiness.
“When you do something you really love, it’s amazing how much internal power human beings have,” she said. “We experienced obstacles on the way that were constant. The journey was very, very demanding.”
It was the next stop that pulled then along; the next mail call as they had their cards and letters sent general delivery to a post office along the way.
“Letters from friends gave us a lot of energy for a few weeks,” she said. “I don’t think people realize how much they gave us.”
What the Bradleys gave Cohen and Hupka were worth more than mere money. And the giving goes both ways. They are both far richer for the experience, they say. Which is why it was important for Cohen and Hupka to make another visit to the farm at Level Green which sits along the Appalachian Trail.
“We started the journey here, and we felt it was very important to end the journey here,” Cohen said. “They deserve that.”
Although the farm is not the official starting or finishing point, it’s close enough to both that the 13,000 miles in between fell like the entire adventure.
And, just as importantly, this is the only place in the world where the weary travelers could get a serving of Jean’s spaghetti sauce.
Prepared by Shelly Koon
