End of Trip

Well, Bubba and I toured the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond on Wednesday, which we both highly recommend. Bubba said it was the best Civil War museum in the country and I definitely believe it. We walk down town and find a little hole-in-the-wall called City Dogs, which has great brats and the now famous Devil's Backbone 8-point IPA from Roseland, VA. We leave for Raleigh and hear from Jerry and Kevin that they are both home. Bubba and I check into yet another Hampton Inn with a sports bar next door (which, oddly, has NO local beers) where we uninterestedly watch the Yankee's unfortunately crush the Red Socks.
In the morning, we replace the truck wiper blades so Bubba can see to drive it back to Tallahassee. Bubba leaves and I am left to fend for myself at the Hampton until friends can pick me up Friday to start the FSU - NC State party. And so, another Sloth trip comes to an end. When we all get settled back in, I will add a post-trip entry and upload some of the better pictures.
John

Day 8 - The Yin for yesterday's Yang

About 3:30 AM the rain starts. Since it never subsides, we decide to break camp, pack up everything wet, skip coffee and breakfast and get an early start on the 44 mile slog back to Cumberland. Bubba thinks he will have troble dragging the Bob through the mud, and we hit on a plan where he will stay at the campground guesthouse while the three of us head to Cumberland, pick up the cars and come back to Rockwood to pick him up. As we head back up to the Divide, we see an apparition ahead on the trail and it turns out to be Bubba, having changed his mind. He has only one request, and that is to stop in Myersdale, PA for a cup of coffee. We head down Main Street and find the G.I. Dayroom Coffee Shop, where the cook was standing outside. Bubba steps in ahead of us and says, "It was just like and old western where the gunslinger steps into the bar and everone goes silent and looks at him." But they all smile and welcome us in and are just the nicest, friendliest group of folks you'll ever meet. In fact, as Bubba headed in ahead of me, I asked him to get me a cup of coffee, black. Before I know it, the cook is returning with cup of coffe in hand! We order breakfast sandwiches and the highly recommended home fries. Since Meyersdale is known as "Maple Town" and they pride themselves on their maple syrup, the cook brings us each over little "smiley face" pancakes just so we can try the maple syrup. Just a great place with a wonderful small town vibe and just what we needed to propel us back to Cumberland. After reaching the Divide again, we have a 24 mile gradual downhill and make it back to the vehicles around 1:30. We have decided to pack up and head to a motel in Raleigh, where Bubba and I will visit the Civil War museum there and Kevin and Jerry can get an early start to Tallahassee.
John

Day 8 - Now this is more like it!

We break camp at the Y under a threat of rain, but it turns out to be a spectacular day as we head up the Great Allegheny Passage towards the eastern Continental Divide. Finally, we get some beautiful vistas and some variety along the trail. This is probably the best day of riding of the trip and we realize, in hindsite, that we should have started in Cumberland and just done the GAP trail out and back. We stop in Frostburg, MD for some sandwiches and a cold Fat Tire before continuing across the Divide and then down to Rockwood, PA under a renewed chance of rain. We manage to set up camp dry and head across the river for the requisite cold beer.

Day 7 - On to Cumberland

Alan and Dick leave early as planned and head home. The remaining four take a leisurely breakfast and head back to Mt. Vernon via the Mall. After a brief tour around the Mall and viewing some of the monuments, we head to Mt. Vernon, load up the bikes and drive to Cumberland. We find a YMCA with an area to camp and set up under the shelter to avoid the potential overnight rain.

Down to Four

The social fabric of the group unravels and Dick and Alan decide to head back to Mt. Vernon early Sunday and then back home. The remaining four will stick to the plan of picking up the remaining cars in Mt. Vernon and drive to Cumberland to ride out to the Continental Divide via the Great Allegheny Passage trail Monday, camp, and then ride back on Tuesday. Mac and Kevbo will head back to Tallahassee from Cumberland on Wednesday, while Bubba and I head to Raleigh to camp a couple days and do some day hikes. Bubba drives back to Tallahassee on Friday while I stay for the game and then fly to Syracuse on Sunday. There will hopefully be a final blog entry Tuesday or Wednesday to see if we could stick to the latest plan.
John

Day 6 - 17 miles to Georgetown

With little distance to cover, we get a leisurely start towards Georgetown. A spectacular fall day and everybody in the Metro area is jogging, walking, riding, walking dogs, teaching kids how to ride bikes, well, you get the picture. This may have been the most dangerous riding of the trip! We make it to the Embassy Suites in Georgetown around 1:00, grab some showers and head out for some lunch. We find this funky little place called Bread and Brew where we find out the waitress was from Shephardstown were we stayed a couple of days ago. The sandwiches are terrific and the local IPA's are even better. Now in the hotel doing laundry, updating the blog and getting ready for the complimentary happy hour and then watching the game in either a sports bar or the rooms. Tomorrow, we have all agreed to ride to Mt. Vernon to get the cars, drive to Cumberland, MD, and then ride the Great Allegheny Passage trail out and back for two days. Then some head back home ans the "joys of work" while others head to Raleigh and the FSU-NC State game. GO NOLES!

Day 5 - White's Ferry and beyond

After packing up a bunch of wet gear, we head out on the trail towards White's Ferry. Of course, the steady rain all night makes the towpath somewhat muddy, and we spend the morning dodging puddles and each others rooster tails. With an early start, we reach the great little restaurant at White's Ferry for our second round of killer breakfast sandwiches and burritos. After much discussion, we come to a consensus to stay on the trail, due to the narrow shoulder-less road up to Leesburg and the potential for some dicey road crossings as we get closer to Washington. Sufficiently fueled up, we head another 20 miles or so to Swain's Lock campground, where we had stayed the 1st night out. Since we are now practically locals, we set out stuff to dry and Kevin, Jerry and I head up the 2 miles to Potomac for provisions and cold beers. At this point, there is much desension in the ranks, with everybody wanting to do something different. Cooler heads (and colder beer) prevails and we decide to head to a motel in Georgetown the next morning for hot showers, a laundermat and the FSU game on ESPN. But, another nice day on the Potomac River and everything dries out for a peaceful nights sleep with only the sounds of Canada Geese instead of the trains.