Highway from Ohio, then onto 62 once we crossed the state line. Familiar scenes rekindled my respect for this state. The roads we ran were heavily wooded and took us over and around the Allegheny Mountains and down into valleys as we skirted the river. Together we watched as blue herons and ducks entertained us at our picnic on lake Wilhelm in Goddard State Park.
Hermitage, PA, offered a unique attraction. Seeing a sign for The Avenue of 444 Flags, we were drawn into the town. An impressive driveway into the Hillcrest Memorial Park hosts 444 American flags, many with names and pictures of veterans buried there. Why 444? The idea for the avenue was conceived during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. A flag was flown for every day that the Americans were in captivity. An impressive patriotic display commemorating a difficult moment in America's history, we were silent with emotion.
We turned east on 666, which I have named the "devil road". The last time we rode here, it was pouring and potholes and cracks in the asphalt tried us at every turn. Today , an improved road, dappled with bright sun gave us a sweet ride. Through elk country, we saw only one deer watching us from the woods and two dead land urchins on the road.
We ended our day on route 6, a favorite of motorcyclists. Perfect weather and a road that kept giving saw us riding later than usual. We did not want day 60 to end.
A few days retreat at Mink Pond in the Poconos , where we will reunite with our family, and then home. That will be the actual end to this journey.
Every day on the road has been a celebration of life. Wind in our faces, highway under our wheels and God's Country at each turn, gifts were given that have no price. For sixty days Jules and I have been attached to each other on Magic as we soared through a lifetime of experience as one. Never closer, our time riding America has given us the greatest gift of all . . . each other.
Welcome home (sort of). :)
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