More hills

Having arrived in Breezewood too early to check into any motel and finding the only campground closed, I'm considering pushing on to the next town. I lean over the hand rail of the cart and gently stir my sleeping friend who's been enjoying the coolness and peace of the old Lincoln Highway from his portable perch. 'These hills have left a knot in my back, Bud.' You think you could do a bit of walking now?'

Buddy yawns as if he hadn't heard a thing I said; then, with an intently focused gaze, he points his nose toward the eastern hills we've yet to climb and the sun which is beginning to rise and abruptly hops out of the cart.

This next stretch of road throws several more arduous passes our way, but we take each one in stride, breaking often to replenish fluids. It's evident that my canine compadre has had enough of this up and down game, and by late afternoon, I find myself wishing for the flat plains once more. My own strange take on a familiar Scorpions song spontaneously begins to play and its improvised lines escape between each laboured breath:

'Almost some..where..ere..ere. Miss you where I've been. Drat! There's another hill to go up again. Almost some..where..ere..ere miss you where I've been. I'd rather be walking the prairie again.'

For whatever reason, I find this rendition helps motivate me more. Sorry Klaus.

Sunday morning was a bit misty

By the late afternoon we've made it to McCullensburg and both me and the pup are pooped. There doesn't seem to be any place to hold up for the night, and I'm draggin' bad. How fortunate that a fellow we meet at McDonald's offers to let me pitch a tent in front of his trailer. Storm shows us the way to his place where we catch a few Zs, and man can I use 'em.

Storm gets on Buddy's good side

Around 21:00 we say goodbye to a new friend and, after a couple cups of coffee and a few conversations at the Sheetz station, set off again to conqueror the last of the high passes on our final push toward the sea.

From Cambridge, OH to Chambersburg, PA there must be close to two dozen of these hills.