As we left our motel room, we met a wonderful Korean family, Jeon Jin Won, Yun Yony Sook and their son Lee Ho cHeal, traveling from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland.  Much was lost in translation, but the enthusiasm of the father and this bicycle adventure was intoxicating.

For our first ten miles we enjoyed the last of the paved trail, before dropping back to the C & O.  Thankfully, the trail was in slightly better shape than yesterday’s segment, enough to make all the difference in our enjoyment of the gorgeous weather and stunning scenery.  Picture taking still required stopping, but that gave us the opportunity to meet Nanette and Nikki, also enjoying the day by bicycle.  We were pushing hard on the dirt path and by the time we took our first break in Williamsport our legs were tired.  The rest was scenic and wonderful as we watched a colorful field of happiness....life at it’s best!

The path was lined with huge trees,and at some places was quite narrow, but the day continued to be gorgeous, cool air, beautiful sunshine, superlative, superlative!  This paved path along the rocks was an excellent improvement, since our last trip on the C & O six years ago.  But the miles were stacking up, we were hungry and then to add insult to injury, we hit a seven mile stretch of really rough path.   Our lunch stop was much further away than expected, plus we had to climb up to a bridge to to cross into West Virginia.  By the time we found a place to eat (at 2:00), we were barking at each other.  A couple of turkey and swiss on homemade sundries tomato bread and a cookie brought our spirits back.  An hour later, we were back on the Maryland side of the Potomac and feeling much better with some nourishment, the scenery continued to delight.  The afternoon was getting long and we still had one more challenge to face, before we could stop.  Unknown to us when we planned this stop, our hotel was a one mile straight up climb with a quarter mile downhill finish.  Finally, we stopped pedaling just before 5:00.  We were so looking forward to a nice dinner and could see the restaurant across the street.  But it was a “family” restaurant that did not serve adult beverages; not to sound like lushes, but after 72 miles we were in the mood for an adult beverage (or two).  It was a beautiful evening and our porch had a great view of the Appalachian Mountains, so we bought a bottle of wine and had dinner come to us....it was perfect.

Our host, Dr. Singh, left us with a interesting word of wisdom.  “Bike is the only vehicle that man is yoked.”  Keep an eye on this guy, he’s brilliant and will go far.

Good Night!