A Slice of Maryland

Wednesday, May 17…

On the road again – east to Hanover (which is close to Gettysburg). I was minorly excited to be in Hanover b/c I’ve been munching Snyder’s (of Hanover) Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzel Pieces (boy that’s a long name!). Turns out…   (Oops, I just did quick google to check a fact and it turns out the whole premise of this anecdote is false. The pretzel bites are good, though.)

Up... slowly.

After our budget-busting turnpike experience Sunday, we decided to stick to regular highways today. Lots of elevation changes. The Allegheny Mts aren’t very high, but they are extensive. Also lots of green, lots of farmscapes... streams... twisty roads... scattered homes, churches & small stores comprising rural communities. Not a hint of city or suburb.  We dipped down into Maryland for awhile, paralleling the PA line and hoping for cheaper gas (which we found, but on the wrong side of highway w/ no reasonable access). We intended to check out the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) Canal, but missed the exit. So I researched it. Intended to connect the Ohio River and the Chesapeake Bay, the canal proved so costly that only the eastern half - DC to Cumberland MD - was finished (and those 185 miles took 22 years to complete). The canal includes 74 locks, cost $11 million, and was primarily used to haul coal from the Allegheny Mts (where we are now!). Today the canal is a Nat'l Historic Park; you can hike or bike a trail that follows the old towpath.

C&O Canal: Paw Paw Tunnel in Allegheny County
(Had we stopped, we might have seen this.)

Local farm in soft focus.

Also lots and lots of churches!

BlogThoughts... I may have already mentioned that state & county parks cater more to weekend campers w/ tents or small rigs. And frequently the nearby roads, though paved and well maintained, are just barely 2 lanes.  We were on one of those today, almost at the entrance to the campground, when a dump truck approaches. We're both legal size, but it's gonna be tight and both drivers pull just slightly to their respective rights. Unfortunately, there's an over-sized, heavy plastic mailbox mounted literally at the edge of the asphalt. We see it, but the choice is mailbox or truck, and the long scraping sound lets us know we've hit our mark. Fortunately, although the entire side of the MH appears scratched, it's actually just shards of plastic that can be rubbed off. And, when Greg checks the mailbox the next day, it appears unscathed.  All's well that ends well.