Almost Heaven

Day three of our journey saw us off early from Emmitsburg, Maryland, and onto Route 77 through the Catoctin Mountain Park. Mountain is the operative word here, and the remainder of the day we spent climbing up and braking down Mountains through western Maryland and across West Virginia. One 16-mile section of Route 50 was solely a series of tight ess-curves with ab 8 and 9 percent grade, up and down. I thought the roads spectacular, if challenging, until I discovered the hulk of an 18-wheeler headed down right behind me.

We travelled on two historic roadways today. The first, Route 40 a/k/a The National Road, was established by Thomas Jefferson as the first roadway west. Route 40 went from Washington to St. Louis, Missouri, the gateway to the west in Jeffersonian days. Parts of the roadway have been incorporated into Interstate 68, but Route 40 is marked there, too. The original Route 40 exists in sections, and we travelled on some of these roads today.

Route 50 is known as The Lincoln Highway, and it was a coast to coast road created with public and private funds in the early days of the automobile - in part, to facilitate travel by automobile and promote the automobile industry. Out west, Route 50 follows the old Pony Express route from Grand Junction, Colorado, to Sacramento, California. Route 50 starts in Baltimore, and heads west through Maryland and through central West Virginia before continuing west through Ohio.

We motored some 300 miles today, with much of it winding or climbing. We lunched at a diner on Old Route 50 near Clarksburg, West Virginia. I had the house Cheeseburger Special, with chips, for $2.50, and Dennis had the meatloaf special. Our arrival drew some interest from the regulars, who came right out to inspect our car and find out where we were going. Today, a simple route plan kept us on course, and off the road in the late afternoon. Tomorrow, we head for Lexington, Kentucky.