Free and Easy down the Road We Go

*I'll post pictures when I get a chance*

Saturday, August 7, 2010 / Sunday, August 8, 2010

When driving across the country, time passes abnormally. So long as you’ve got good company, good music, and a good attitude, you’re OK.

Lindsey and I left Maryland at 5:00 A.M. Saturday morning, travelled through Maryland to West Virginia, where we crossed the Appalachians and made it down to Kentucky by 4:00 that afternoon. The scenery was very beautiful. Before exiting Maryland, we visited an old abandoned settlement called Twiggtown. I know a man in Idaho with that last name, and he told me about that settlement, started by his ancestors. Apparently, the Twiggs were so numerous at one point that they feuded over a certain house. The Twiggs on one side of the pond warred with those on the other side. It was easy to tell who was on which side; the blue-eyed Twiggs fought the brown-eyed ones. No, I did not make that up. When we reached Twiggtown, though, there was nothing. We were back in the sticks, and saw trashy trailers scattered here and there. We had hoped to find the house that was fought over, or some tumbled-down cabins. Finally we asked a man about it, and he said there wasn’t anything, but there was a Twigg that lived down the road. We didn’t have the time or guts to go knocking on some stranger’s door at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, so we simply left.

Before leaving Maryland, we went through Cumberland (very close to Twiggtown; we saw a Twigg’s Auto Shop). The historic section was very nice. There were about six large, beautifully constructed churches that appeared to be in use. One had a banner trumpeting its 200th anniversary this year.

We hit Kentucky around 4:00 where we stayed with friends, enjoyed their company, and especially enjoyed getting to know Lindsey W.’s new boyfriend. We, being such good friends, did our best to break Aaron in. He took it well. We had a blast with all of Lindsey’s family; she is the second of ten children, and most of them were there the whole time. We brought them two dozen ears of Maryland sweet corn in exchange for a night, and that was a good deal. Mrs. W. and Lindsey fixed dinner, breakfast, and packed us an excellent lunch to take the next day. Because their church service didn’t start until 11:00, Lindsey W. found another church with an earlier service. We three girls went to the 8:30 service at Walnut Memorial Baptist Church, where Aaron joined us.

We left directly from the church for Kansas. We travelled through Kentucky to the toe of Indiana, into Illinois, passed through St. Louis, and crossed the Mississippi River without even knowing it. In St. Louis, we saw the famous arch, some lovely stone churches, and the Cardinals’ Stadium. There’s something different about the land further South and West. When we reached Kentucky, we commented on how similar it looked to Western Maryland, and yet how different. We couldn’t figure out what exactly is different. We think it’s that the land begins to open up and flatten slightly. It seems wider, but not overtly. We’re passing through Missouri right now, and here the difference is very noticeable. There are still lots of trees, but they’re not so dense; the fields are larger. This is due in part to the increasing flatness. I think the lack of rivers also has a lot to do with it. Our area of Maryland is chopped up by rivers, creeks, and ponds. There are ponds and creeks out here, even rivers, but being so far from a major source of water like the Chesapeake, they’re much smaller.

My turn to drive.