2009 May 15th: I was slow getting up this morning. I had a long ride ahead of me, but I had plenty of time. I had everything packed up and I left around 8:15 and hit the road.
The GPS surprised me this morning with some very interesting country roads. It tried at first to take me down a dirt road, but I went around and was rewarded with some very nice curvy roads. I was able to catch up with the route and we ended up at George Washington’s Birthplace NP.
This was a very cool farm or plantation where he was born. The actual building doesn’t exist any more, but the foundation is still in place and so is most of the farm. This park is a very relaxing place to visit. It was very enjoyable to wander around and take pictures and just imagine what life must have been like growing up during those times.
I was kind of on a tight schedule so I needed to get back on the road. I continued on and found myself on more curvy country roads. I must have gotten real close to Washington DC as I past an entrance to Quantico, the military training facility. I also went by Dulles international airport. I went through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania today. When I was in Maryland I stopped at a visitor’s center and was able to get maps for Maryland and Pennsylvania. So far I have maps for every state that I have been in except Mississippi and Alabama.
My eyes were bothering me, so just after I crossed into Maryland, I stopped to clean them. It turned out that I had a piece of grass in one eye and a bug of some kind in the other.
While I was stopped, my phone rang. It was my good friend Ernie calling me. I had to ask, how did you know that I would be available to answer the phone? He just laughed at me.
I worked with Ernie for many months when we were building a hospital. We were always good friends and it is just a treat to see him and his wife again.
I told Ernie that I still had several hours of riding to go before I would get there.
I wasn’t in Maryland for very long, but I sure did like the old country farm houses and the rolling hills of grass and trees.
I went through this town and I could sure tell that I was in a New England community. All of the houses lined the streets and were very colonial looking. The churches were plenty and all built from stone. It was easy for me to imagine horse drawn buggies running up and down the streets.
I went over the Allegheny Mountains a couple of times before I got to Ernie’s house. When I arrived I didn’t have cell phone service, so I had to ask someone walking down the street if he could send a text message to him for me. I saw him standing in the street a few seconds later. He was waving and shouting at me. I had only missed his house by a couple of doors.
We got the bike unloaded and put in the garage and we went into the house. We lost all track of time talking and carrying on. Before we knew it, it had gotten late. I am having a hard time staying awake as I’m posting this.