These Knees Were Made For Walking

One of the unexpected fun things I have come across are trains. Of coarse. The C&O Canal was being built to get goods to Ohio at the same time the Iron Horse was being built to get there. It was a race to see who would arrive first. Sadly, the Iron Horse beat the canal by more than 10 years. But the canal still took coal and other things up river for 90 years, closing in 1924.

So trains ran right along side the canal. The first time we heard (and felt and saw) them was at McCoy’s Ferry. Of coarse, the ear worm that came into my head was “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash. For days. Sorta got tired of it but couldn’t seem to get rid of it.

Another unexpected treat is looking at all the houses and homes. GPS takes me through a lot of different places and, also, because I am in an area for a few days, I go through the neighborhoods. In Deleware, there were farm houses and developments. The area that I was in was fairly flat. There were several farms that were for sale as development properties. It was sad to see.

Washington, DC, was URBAN. I loved it. I miss the urban environment. Lots of different neighborhoods, houses and people. Definitely not what you see anywhere in North Carolina, I would say.

Cumberland, Maryland is an old town. I think I had noticed before all the different materials used for building houses before I got there but it was very apparent in Cumberland. Rocks, brick, wood, cinderblock. Slate. And the variety of colors was stunning. Going through towns that have been around for a couple of hundred years makes me want to move. Sort of. Not really. But I can imagine it.

And, no, I didn’t take any pictures. But I will endeavor to do so from here on out.