Thursday, June 21

We started off bright and early, leaving Carlisle about 4:20am. We headed towards Morehead, where we caught I-64. This eventually took us into WV, a state I know well because I lived there for 5 years and two of my sons, Andrew and Michael, were born there. It was nice thinking back on those days as we drove along. We had a beautiful sunrise about 5:55am.

Around 7:30 we stopped for gas and I took over the driving while Jeryl got some rest. We are traveling in her new Kia Soul and I am really enjoying it. It handles really well and we got about 32 mpg today. The cheapest gas we saw was 2.99 and the highest was 3.49.

About 11 we stopped at a rest area for lunch near Harrisonburg, Virginia. On our trips, we mostly eat at least one meal at a rest area because we enjoy that and because it saves on our budget.

Around 1PM we were in the DC area and the traffic was pretty bad for a weekday. I think it took us, at one point, about an hour to go 5 miles. We never did see any reason for the slow traffic, but that's usually how it goes. We didn't see any of the monuments but will be heading back to DC on Sunday for our next stop and we'll have 2 days to look around. I'm excited because I haven't been to DC since 2000.

We made it to Salisbury, MD around 3:30 and checked into our Days Inn. We will usually be staying at KOAs but there wasn't one in the area and we wanted a reasonable hotel so we are staying about 30 minutes from Ocean City, which is the eastern most point of Route 50.

Just down the road from the hotel we discovered a Ross discount store. For those of you that know Jeryl and I, you know this is one of our favorite stores because of the good bargains we always find on shoes and other stuff. Ross stores are not found in KY so we have to wait until we go on a trip to stop at one.

We did find some nice sandals for Jeryl's mom at only $15. When Jeryl looked them up online, they normally sell for $85.

OK, so then we stopped at Wal Mart for some necessities and then back to the hotel to eat supper in the room. Turkey hotdogs, warmed up in our room microwave, boiled eggs, string cheese, chips, and juice to drink. Yes, we are both aiming to eat healthy on this trip and not gain weight. We also plan to walk as much as we can in the evenings, no matter where we are.

About 6 we headed to Ocean City, a drive of about 30 minutes. Once there, we drove along the main blvd for quite awhile but never got a glimpse of the ocean so we decided to park and walk along the boardwalk. Parking is very hard to find but we finally found a pay lot. Funny story: if you used a credit card, there was a sign saying to put in the card as far as it would go and them remove quickly. Well I couldn't get the card to go in at all, it kept acting like it was too big to go into the slot. Finally I realized there was a little plastic door you had to raise up and then put the card in the slot. I felt foolish but then Jeryl said she didn't see the door either and wondered why the card wouldn't go in. So I felt a little better.

Finally we walked a block and saw the boardwalk, bustling with all sorts of people, and beyond that, the majestic ocean. We both immediately decided to walk to the beach and stick our feet in the ocean, instead of walking along the boardwalk. It was great fun and we stayed about 2 hours.

The sculpture was created by some guy who apparently makes them all summer long. He said this one took about 6 hours to create.

Now we are back in our room and ready to get some much needed rest. Thanks for reading my blog and keeping up with our trip. More to come each night, if I have Internet access and the time. Leave me a comment, if you like. Mark W, thanks for yours, you were the first one. Hope life is treating you well in Louisville.

Happy Trails!!