My Bike Trip - Williamsport to Harpers Ferry

In the previous post, I put up a picture of a strange critter.  Those who guessed that it's an autonomous lawn mower were correct!  I was so amazed I knocked on the door of the house there, and a nice lady graciously answered my questions about it.  It runs all the time, though I'm not sure about when it rains, and it docks itself when it needs recharging.  It takes about a 1/8" off the grass blades as it rolls along, and leaves the cuttings on the lawn.  Here's a video of it trundling along...

I had a tasty breakfast at Bay Farms.  The nice young lady who owns it does a great job.  There was another lone cyclist there who is a writer, Jim Hodgson.  He has written books about mountaineering, like on Kilimanjaro.  His trip was similar to mine, and he also wrote a blog about it, Pittsburgh to DC: Riding the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Towpath.

I left Williamsport at about 8:30 AM and got to the Stonehouse in Harpers Ferry at 4:20.  As usual, lots of RR equipment and bridges to see, which I loved...

This was a tough leg.  The trail was good for a while, then went muddy for a couple of miles, and then was ok again.  There were also stony patches which I hadn't seen before...

I stopped at Shepherd's Town for some lunch, which means I was in West Virginia instead of Maryland for a little bit.  On the way I rode through the campus of Shepherd University, which was a treat.

But when I got back on the trail, it began to rain.  It wasn't bad at first, so I put on my rain gear and kept going.  I caught up with the nice group I'd met at Towne Hill, and rode with them.  It started raining hard and we all got soaked.  This would not have been too bad, actually - you get used to it - but my iPhone had gotten wet and stopped working!  😭  I borrowed other people's phones to leave a message for Laura.  Riding with the group helped a lot, taking my mind off the rain, and it was fun when they started singing.  I could join in on some of the songs, like Singin' In The Rain, but didn't know the words on some others, like Annie.  I introduced them the Grateful Dead's version of I Know You Rider!
I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train,
I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train,
I'd shine my light through the cool Colorado rain.

We all made it to Harpers Ferry, where I was staying at the Stonehouse B&B (gray house on the left in this photo, which came from Yelp)...

Of course, this photo was not taken on a rainy day!  

Harpers Ferry also has a famous RR tunnel...

(This is actually a painting of the tunnel, by Michael Flanagan.  He changed the name at the top - it really says "Harpers Ferry".  I like this because it depicts how the tunnel looked before part of it was ground away to accommodate new larger RR cars.)

I was able to have my soaked shirt and socks laundered at the B&B, and my soaked short pants dried overnight.  I also tried a suggestion from Rusty, to put the iPhone it in a zip-lock bag with rice to soak up the moisture, which often works - but not this time.  Major bummer.

I ate at the Rabbit Hole restaurant near the B&B, where a young waiter, Jacob, very nicely let me borrow his phone so I could send more messages to Laura.  I was also able to call Harry and talk with him a bit.  

Stonehouse is rustic and charming, and I could watch trains go by from the back patio.

A highlight of this leg was a Black Snake (Eastern Rat Snake) that crossed the path while I was riding by.  Other cyclists had told me they'd seen some, but I had not until now.  It made my day!

I also saw what looked like strawberries along the path, and some folks who know how to spend a sultry morning when living near the Potomac...