Goodbye Maryland.

I crossed the Virginia line around 4:00 today. State number 11. Crossing a state line is always exiting to me. I’m not sure why. I mean nothing really changes. It’s just a line on a map. I can’t even get exited about the states with cheaper gas prices. Haha

I was hoping to get a really early start. But Crisfield was a hard place to leave. In more ways then one! There were gale force wind warnings for the area and it was a head wind for me. I thought about the morning, a few months back when I was leaving Geneva on the Lake, Ohio. There was a gale warning for Lake Erie, but it was in my favor that day. Today it was against me but I only had about 20 miles to go before I would get on route 13. After that it would be a cross wind or possibly even a tail wind.

Yesterday in my travels around town I had passed a big, blue tarp covering most of the side of an unused building. I wondered why it was there and finally after passing it about three times curiosity got the better of me and I peeked under. It was a really neat mural. I thought maybe it was tarped to protect it from winter weather. This morning the tarp was gone! I wonder if someone uncovered it during night or if the tarp blew away. Either way I’m really happy I got to see it.

I made one more ride around the town and then headed out. The wind was so strong I struggled to maintain 7 mph on the flat road. I didn’t mind too much. It was really pretty country. I passed a lot of big chicken farms. There were huge fields of soybeans but that did nothing to block the wind or the smell.

I had originally wanted to get to a WS host 60 miles away but gave up on that plan within the first 3 miles. After letting the host know I wouldn’t make it today there was no pressure to try to maintain a good speed. It took me 1 hr and 38 minutes to go the first 8 miles. I did spend quite a bit of time changing clothes. The wind was cold but causeing lots of extra exertion. So finding the right combination of layers was difficult. I didn’t want to get too sweaty and then get cold.

I stopped at a gas station to get water, coffee and some breakfast around 10. After the gluttony in Crisfield I was determined to eat healthy and sensible. So even though I was in sight of a McDonald’s I got yogurt and had a peanut butter wrap with it. Also the yogurt was marked down to .50 cents. I purchased 4 but only ate 2. I’ll have the others with dinner or tomorrow.

I was almost to the Virginia line when a F250 work truck with three guys in the cab pulled along side of me. The one in the passenger seat put the window down and handed out a snickers. Im not sure what the joke was but they were all laughing. We were traveling at 12 mph and I half expected them to keep going faster every time I got close. But they didn’t. I thanked them for it and then asked if they would open it since I was wearing gloves. That made them all laugh even harder. The man opened it for me and handed it back, then as they were leaving he leaned out the window and took my picture. I hope he gets as much enjoyment from telling the story of our encounter as I did the snickers. Thank you guys!

I stopped at a visitor center right inside VA. I picked up a free map of the state. I don’t know why I always get them of every state. I never look at them. This one has already fallen into the pannier abyss and I probably won’t see it again until I’m 4 states away. Haha. At the visitor center they give visitors a packet of Virginia grown peanuts. I didn’t know they grew this far north.

The Eastern Shore has been wonderful. I hate to see this part end and I was sad to leave Maryland. 65 miles to Cape Charles. Actually this sign was 20 miles back.