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Published: October 2nd 2008
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The day dawned overcast and definitely cooler than yesterday.Seems the jetstream from Canada had changed overnight and the air was so much cooler.At least there was no rain as we headed out to explore historic Hagerstown.Filled up with gas at a new low price of $3.35gal so its taking less to fill the tank.
Downtown wasnt that interesting as many of the historic buildings have been torn down and replaced with a parking building etc etc so didnt spend too much time doing the walking tour.
Instead headed west on MD-40 in this narrow little piece of Maryland squeezed between Pennsylvania and West Virginia.Gretchen had plotted a route that would follow the old C&O canal which was constructed in the early 1800's and was quite a feat for its time considering the territory in which the canal was constructed.The canal follows the Potomac river and was used for commerce before railways took over.For a considerable part of the distance there is a bicycle path which follows an old railway line no longer used.
We stopped for lunch alongside the Potomac and next to an aquaduct which was still in pretty good condition for its age.The canal itself is now dry and
overgrown much of the way although every so often you can still see where it used to be.
The road seemed to be very remote from the interstate and at one stage we hit an unsealed patch for a few miles.Workers were putting a seal down and we slowed to negoiate the work.I had to stop to let machinery clear in front of us and when I accelerated the car I spun the rear wheels mucking up their new surface much to the disgust and anger of a couple of the workers.
We passed thru some quaint places like Orleans and Oldtown which were just hamlets with a few houses.
Although we searched a couple of side roads we didnt get to view any of the locks used on the canal and the brochure we had did say that much of the structures were crumbling or had disappeared.
Soon we reached Cumberland a town in a valley which reminded us of Pittsburg so naturally we wanted to be out of there asap !!!
We headed further west on I-68 until turning south on MD-219 which was a very scenic road.All along the road had climbed in altitude and the leaves on the trees were in the process of changing to yellows,tans and browns and looked very picturesque.Small towns rolled by and the road climbed and fell as we entered West Virginia.Just after a small town with a lovely river flowing thru called Thomas we climbed to the highest point around and before us were a number of wind turbines gracefully doing their thing.Whoever said these things were a blight on the landscape.Mind you out here in the semi wilderness they would bother no one.
The colours on the trees both close up and from a distance when viewing a hillside in front of us was spectacular and we are looking forward to the next week as we travel the Smokies.
We finally reached our target for the night of Elkins and checked into a Super8 which was the only options where we could use our discount voucher.The weather was now quite changeable and cold(we were both dressed for more summery conditions) so it was a quick trip to the supermarket to get dinner and top up the larder for the next day or two on the road.
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