Day 28, August 6: The Final Leg

We left Wheeling, WV this morning and took the scenic route through the city and down US-215 to get onto I-68 at Morgantown, WV. The weather was a bit cloudy and foggy / hazy, but the scenery was still pretty good. It allowed us to compare driving through the Appalachians with our drives through the Rockies and the Cascades. It was certainly greener here than it was back west, but the mountains are nowhere near as rugged. Of course the elevations and switch backs couldn't hold a candle to what we encountered in the west. Of course, after Pike's Peak, everything is pretty tame. Most of this drive was through the panhandle (sometimes referred to as the "finger" of West Virginia. That area seems to be mostly farming, although, we did see one mine (probably coal).

Once we got to I-68, the going was pretty quick and the traffic fairly light. At the interchange with I-70, we went into Hancock, MD for lunch at one of our favorite family restaurants named Weaver's. We have eaten there before on bike outings. They are famous for good food and homemade pies. The pie of choice today was fresh blueberry a-la-mode. That will be our last meal out for awhile. The dieting and exercise starts now.

By around 3:30, we were pulling into our driveway after 28 days on the road. One of the first things each of us did after we unloaded the car was lie on our bed. It felt so good. No matter how good the beds are at many of the hotels we stayed at, there is nothing like laying down on your own bed after being gone for a long time.

So ends our epic journey. As many have said, it was a once in a lifetime experience. We would do again in a heartbeat. We enjoyed every bit of it. We were pretty tired the last three days or so, but we think that was mostly because of the dreary weather we were driving through and the fact that we were just driving. We weren't exploring new areas of the country.

I will try to do a summary tomorrow. I think we have some interesting statistics to relate.