Walking, biking, paddling across Virginia [Video]

It’s not a trail guide, not autobiography and definitely not campaign literature, but instead Sen. Tim Kaine‘s new book, “Walk Ride Paddle: A Life Outside,” released last week, is about a lot that doesn’t seem to have a lot to do at first with politics.

Like what he calls the “joy shock” on a rainy day, the second day of the first of three cross-Virginia treks — hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia — moving slowly enough on what he called the “Roller Coaster” between Harper’s Ferry and Ashby Gap, to spot orange mushrooms on a tree trunk, a fiery red salamander, the rustling of leaves as a bird flits by.

What Kaine writes about, in addition to a love for Virginia, friendship, an enduring marriage, nature and getting older is optimism — or to be …