Viaduct?

Because sometimes the canal has to cross an obstacle. In this case the obstacle is the Monocacy River.

The Monocacy Aquaduct carries the canal over the river. Pretty cool; a canal over a river.

We're camped tonight about a quarter mile from here.

You're never far from history

Tuesday afternoon we crossed into the old confederacy on a ferry named the Gen. Jubal A. Early. We were reminded of the character Jubal Early from Firefly, who was a sociopathic bounty hunter. When we looked up Gen. Early we were a little surprised to discover that the ferry is named after such a devisive figure. Gen. Early never made peace with the post-war United States remaining an "unreconstructed rebel."

Despite all that, the ferry ride was peaceful, foggy and beautiful. Today we return to Maryland to continue our hike.

C+O Canal

It is a beautiful day on the C+O Canal.

We're on the march again and, blisters willing, we'll have a great week along the towpath.

Washington, DC test drive

We're about to head out for a test drive of Jenny's new-improved less blistered feet.

We'll head down to the National Mall, check out the East Wing of the National Gallery and then head up Rock Creek Park and see how those toes are doing.

It's raining in DC today. Tomorrow is supposed to be a fine day. Our plan is to get back on the trail tomorrow morning--heading out of DC on the C&O towpath.

Deb and Jason got our goat

Deb and Jason sent us this photo on April 1st. Now that we can post from our handheld, here it is!

Exhibit #1

Here they are--my poor toes...

Roberts-Weigert Blister Clinic

We're now in Silver Spring, MD at the world famous Roberts-Weigert Blister Clinic.

Dr. Sophie and Dr. Zach have prescribed an intensive course of Cosmic Catch. We're looking forward to Dr. Dave's opinion later in the day.

a port in a storm (of blisters)

We set out from Annapolis yesterday feeling strong, walking fast and with the wind at our backs. I felt a twinge or two on those dratted little toes, but foolishly ignored them. After almost four hours of walking I realized I was going to fall over soon from the pain. We cried uncle and called our friend Jane Willeboordse. I laid on the ground cursing while Rick gave directions to where we were stranded.

Jane took us home where she sat me down in front of the fire, soaked my feet in epsom salts and plied us with food and wine. Later we feasted on Jane and Eric's delicious chicken soup. Bella (12) and Paul (14) entertained us while we slowly recovered.

We ended the evening with a rousing game of poker. It turns out that Jane is a sharp; pretending not to know what she's doing while leaving all but Rick penniless.

Is this thing on?

Trying to blog from handheld.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Crossing Chesapeake Bay

We're waiting for ADT volunteer Pete Nelson who has generously offered to drive us over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which is not walkable. Pete will be dropping us off in Annapolis from where we will walk to Bowie.

We'll be staying with friends in Catonsville tonight and then hiking to Silver Spring, Maryland outside DC tomorrow where we'll also be staying with friends.

We have a bunch of errands to run on Friday. On Saturday we'll start up the C&O canal towpath which will be our route for the next 160 miles or so--all the way to West Virginia.

We love the Swains

What Rick failed to mention in yesterdays post is that we got a ride from Bridgeville to Denton - between 15 and 20 miles. Yesterday was an all day walk against a strong headwind. By the time we reached Bridgeville I had a blister the size of my big toe, on my little toe. We were windburned and winddeaf when we saw a gentleman in his late middle age flagging us down. "Are you the couple walking to California? Want to come in for some tea?" Rick said yes faster than I knew he could speak.

Sonny and his wife Astrid had read about us in the article Rick mentioned in his post yesterday, which had just come out in that morning's paper. The Swains were gratious and welcoming. We talked with Sonny about the changes in the Bridgeville he'd known growing up. On the first day, around Lewes, we had seen acres and acres of housing tracts built on former farm land. Most of the houses were unoccupied. It struck us at the time that here was an example of the very bust that had sent us on this walk. We mentioned this to Sonny as we waited for Astrid to come home and he talked about his childhood spent hunting the woods after school til sunset. The woods that are now housing tracts.

After a warming cuppa, and a pleasant and informative chat in their cosy home, Astrid offered to drive us to a hotel she knew of in Denton. We jumped at the offer. We're no die hards. News flash - we are old and out of shape. BUT getting stronger with every car ride and day off.

We hope we meet more wonderful people along the American Discovery Trail. The Swains have set the bar high.

Day 4 -- We're in the news

Not 30 minutes into the walk on Wednesday we were hailed by a reporter in Lewes. We spent a few minutes on her front porch answering questions. Here's the resulting article.

Today we crossed the Delaware/Maryland line and are in Denton, Maryland for the night.