Wednesday July 9th 54th day Near Georgetown DE to Severna Park MD with automotive help. About 60 miles of riding.

I was up and off pretty early. With no shower facilities I was starting off with well salted skin and clothes from the previous day. There is something called the American Heritage Trail that may run all the way to California on back roads for the most part. It is marked in Delaware and I followed it except when I lost it, which was about three times. Nonetheless it took me to the Maryland border where a couple of electric power linemen advised on how to proceed. The Delaware riding was very pleasant - quite flat. Some of the people of southern Delaware speak with a distinct drawl. Temperature and humidity were both pretty high, but mitigated by the wind. In Maryland I eventually passed from quiet rural roads to busier stuff, but with good shoulders so it was not scary. In the mid afternoon. I got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which I knew I could not cross. My friends Bill and Carol McLay live just across this bridge and Bill had volunteered to come and pick me up and take me home. I called and he came.

Not counting my brother, Bill is the friend of longest duration of those I have visited and in fact now of all whom I know. We met as freshmen at Queen Anne High School in particular playing freshman basketball. He is my last high school buddy. Carol was two years behind us so she is second longest of people I now have contact with. Bill's work took them out of Seattle right after college and eventually deposited them in Maryland where they have raised three kids, now married with children and living very near their parents. I asked them about the point when the east coast became their homeland. They thought it was once their kids reached high school and formed their identity in this area. This all matters to me because of Meredith and Paulie's place of living and working.

A hearty meal of steak, baked potatoes and local corn on the cob sustained us though an evening of remenicing, updating, and catching up on mutual friends. The McLays are doing fine in their early years of retirement. Bill's mother recently passed away at an age beyond 100 and they faced the task of emptying and selling a house that had been built by Bill's grandfather in 1905. A portion of the contents, mostly Bill's train collection is pictured below. They moved a few years ago from a home that I recall as perfectly adequate and when I asked why they had done so Bill said it was to have a basement for his train set up. He says it is coming.

A shower that removed two days of road grime was pretty nice too.

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