#71 Mound City to Allegheny Snow

April 19, 2007

329 miles

Moonshine
Day 8
Thursday

The day starts out overcast and even though I have hopes of the sun breaking thru, it never makes much of a showing today. The heavy, low clouds are with me all day though. The high temperature of the day (65 degrees) was right here where I start the day at Chillicothe, Ohio.

click to enlarge

Whose arm is that reflecting in my glasses? Oh, it's the photographer I carry around with me when fleetering. The Hopewell people lived in Mound "cities" along the Ohio valley long before an Europeans stepped foot on American lands. They were named Hopewell after Capt. Hopewell, owner of the farmland where many of the mounds were located.
Back on US23 north toward Columbus, Ohio.

Could this be a sign that we're in corn country?

This was one of the first clues that I was now on the National Road. The National Road was the first federally funded interstate highway. It was built 1811 to 1834 as a trans-Appalachian byway to connect Baltimore, Maryland to the Ohio River and then on to Vandalia, Illinois. US40 mostly follows the original route, but Interstate 70 took a straighter route and only occasionally runs along the original National Road.
From Ohio, came Wheeling, West Virginia then ... poof! You're in Pennsylvania.

Wonder if I would get a "special" welcome here?
My next targeted stop is Friendship Hill in Pennsylvania.

To get there, I go through some small towns such as Masontown.

And then I fleeter along some back roads of Pennsylvania and along the Monongahela River (pronounced [məˌnɑŋ.gəˈheɪ.lə], also known as The Mon...no doubt!).

The Monongahela River is one of the few US rivers that flow north.

click to enlarge photos

Next stop is 24 miles away at Fort Necessity National Battlefield. This camp was built in 1754 as

the first military engagement of the French and Indian War (known as the Seven Years' War outside of the United States). It is also the location of George Washington's only military surrender.

Crossing over the Allegheny Mountains and into Maryland on US49...the weather seemed to be getting cooler and cooler.
It didn't just SEEM cooler. It WAS cooler. I started seeing snow along the highway. Who would have known?!
I decided to find a place for the night along I68 in Maryland. It's 43 degrees out here and getting cooler. No sun, no electric liner under this jacket... and it's getting later. GPS Jill says there are several places up ahead between Frostburg and Cumberland, Maryland. I take a promising exit that has 2-3 motels and check them out. No motel coupons for this area...darn. I follow Jill's directions and we find the Best Western in La Vale. A nice, unique motel next to a restaurant.

Decent price at $62 for all that they offer. Sold. I sign up for a room and go next door for an open-face chicken sandwich.

Fleetering life is good!

But tomorrow... Time to fleeter on home.