More Miles in Maryland

Today was another biking day and it was spectacular! We drove north to the city of Salisbury where we parked the car in a shopping plaza lot and rode from there. We did a 47 mile (or 49, if you go by Jim's cyclometer) loop to the west and south of Salisbury, including 2 free ferry rides across the Wicomico River, a bit of urban riding and lunch in the town of Princess Anne. The temps started out in the mid 50's but were up into the mid 70's by the time we quit riding. Once again, we found great roads to ride on once we were away from Salisbury and Princess Anne.

After the ride we checked out one of the few remaining free zoos in the USA, the Salisbury Zoo. It was small, but fun and we enjoyed walking around (in the shade) and watching the river otters.

Once again, we are at the Snow Hill Public Library (thanks for the comment, Pat) and have our 30 minute allotment of computer use time.

Late yesterday afternoon we went to Assateague Island and walked along the beach for almost an hour. We watched a surf fisherman for a bit, but never saw him catch anything. We did see the wild horses while on that island-there were a couple in the campground and a few were on the volleyball courts!

From Assateague we drove to the Historic Downtown Section of Berlin, MD where we had dinner in the Globe Theater. This is restored, small-town movie theater that is now a restaurant with a stage and evening shows. Last night we listened to an older guy sing and play the guitar. He was pretty good, and played songs that were familiar to us. Our meals were great, including big dinner salads in pre-chilled bowls!

Have I mentioned how nice we have found Marylanders to be? Lots of people wave to us when we are on our bikes and yesterday, when we pulled off the road to read the map and get a drink, a guy passed in his truck, and slowed down to ask if everything was OK. A little while later, as we were riding down a rural road, a farmer was out plowing his field and he was creating quite a mini-dust storm that blew across the road. As we approached, he stopped plowing so we didn't have to ride through the dust! Nice is good!

Tomorrow we trade in our pedals for paddles as we are going canoeing on the Pocomoke River, which is the river we see out of our cottage window. There is an outfitter here in town who will drive us about 5 miles upstream and we will paddle down to Snow Hill. Around here it is optimal to paddle with the tide table in mind. We will be paddling as the tide is going out. Apparently, it is alot of work to go against the tide. That is something we don't usually think about when we go canoeing at home.

After canoeing we will head to Washington, DC, well, actually Falls Church, VA where we will meet up with Liz. We will have dinner some place in VA, see her new apartment and then maybe go into DC to walk around the National Mall at night. Jim had hoped to see the Pope, but is a day late and a dollar short!

Tomorrow we should have internet service at our hotel, so maybe I will include some photos in my entry.

Hope all is well.