The National Road

The drive Friday was different, but equally stunning!  Our travels have not taken us to these routes before, and it was fun to experience the different scenery.  Not as winding as the day before, but now some serious 6% grades that made for warning signs for trucks to check brakes and equipment, and runaway truck lanes.  I consider us nearly equal to a truck, so follow the guidelines set for them, and use the right lane for slow traffic, as we were definitely that many times throughout the days drive as we went up and down and up and down! Where I could pass a lot of the trucks on the previous day, I was sometimes slowed to 40 MPH.  That is a steep grade!  And going down is no less hairy, as we “roll”!  I passed a sign for the Pennsylvania Alps, and breathed a sigh of relief when I realized we were not going in that direction.  We had driven in that area some years ago, and while it was beautiful, and did cause me to sing “Edelweiss”,  I sometimes had to adhere to the posted truck speed of TEN MPH going downhill!! 

A stop along the road for lunch in the shade. 

Loki has suddenly become what I call "the supervisor"!  Never having ventured out before when the coach was moving, he how comes out apparently when he senses we are stopping, watches us, then expects a treat!  Notice how the twists and turns have rocked the rug and pillows free!  

We had intermittent rain throughout the day, which brought cooling relief, and fog drifted upward through the  mountains, which was very  pretty.  A rest stop welcoming us to Maryland had a great view of a lovely river gorge, and marked the beginning of the National Road, the first highway created in US by the Jefferson administration, linking the Cumberland and Ohio rivers, and marked as a scenic trail, which indeed it was. 

We pulled into a pretty cute campground called Western Village for an overnight, and walked in the now cooled off weather.  How nice to have clean fresh air!  Overnight temps actually dropped into the 50’s, and it was quite chilly when we got up this morning.  A check of the places we have been sweltering shows it has broken for them as well, though perhaps not as cool overnight.  

So another day on the road today, and we shall see what it brings, though I believe we will once again cross into known roadways, as we are approaching our next stop in Massachusetts.