No one ever said that this hike would be easy, but we will always search for the silver linings.

Day 4
3/10/2006

Started: ADT Shelter Tuckahoe State Park, MD
Finished: Just beyond Whitehall Rd, Annapolis MD

Today's ADT Miles: 26.6
Total ADT Miles: 94.3

Today started great! The threatening clouds that hung over the ADT Shelter in Tuckahoe State Park quickly cleared and the warm sun broke through. There were multiple signs of the warm weather today, we sweat more today than the last three days combined, we needed multiple applications of sunscreen and we saw a snake catching some rays trailside. The first half of the day was mostly Maryland farmland. We hiked about 12 miles from the ADT Shelter with a dwindling water supply that we had stocked up on yesterday in Ridgely. We had walked past a number of hoses attached to the houses in the "villages" between the farmland, but never saw any residents. We saw a tree farm called Tuckahoe Nursery and decided we would try the office for a fill up. Inside we were greeted by a worker who was on the phone, and without even a pause in her phone conversation she looked at us and then pointed to the water cooler. We stocked up and mouthed "thank you" as we headed back outside, she never missed a beat of her business as she mouthed "your welcome" back to us. Just up the road from the nursery a motorcycle flew by and then hit the brakes and pulled a u-turn back toward us. The bike pulled up to us and stopped. The driver was dressed in a full bodysuit that matched the bike perfectly. Even with his legs straddeling the bike he easily stood six inches taller than Randy. He started the conversation by saying that he couldn't help but find out where the two people dressed even funnier than himself were going. As he talked through his helmet it gave his voice a cool echoe. He stepped off his bike to give us "the official welcome to Maryland", as he handed us a card and said, "Maryland State Police at your service". His card identifies him as Corpral Aurthur Lohman provider of "Homeland Security with an Attitude". When he took off faster than a speeding bullet Sheri said, "I think we just met a Super Hero!" We were reminded of the Captain America characters you would see at Universal Studios.
Our hike continued into the really nice town of Queenstown, our favorite town yet. We stopped at a delicious sandwich shop that was part of the Queen Anne Inn, a Bed and Breakfast. The local crowd inside pretended not to be bothered by our hiker smell as they all showed interest in our journey. After lunch we saw Corpral Lohman again, this time he was joined by his wife who was riding as fast looking a bike as his. He pointed to the Queenstown Fire Dept. and told us he was the F.D. Chaplain. He offered to say a few prayers for our journey and wished us luck as we continued west, our "super hero" was a realy nice guy. Before we reached the Chesapeake Bay we hiked through Graysonville. While in the heart of town we came upon a gentleman wearing an Appalachian Trail hat who introduced himself as "Candleman", a section hiker of many trails. He reminded us how unknown the ADT still is due to the fact that he had no idea he was even on a recognized trail. He was in town visiting his daughter and just felt like taking a walk, little did he know he was section hiking the ADT. The west side of Graysonville borders Kent Narrows. With Marina's and seafood restaurants there is no doubt the Bay is close. The bridge over Kent Narrows put us on Kent Island and the beautiful Cross Island Trail(XIT). The XIT goes right through the athletic fields at Kent Island High School where all the spring sports Varsity and JV teams were practicing. The facilities were rather impressive, some colleges don't have as many nice fields. Just past the highschool we came upon the grand Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The bridge was our first "no pedestrian" obstactle. Fortunately the super kind father/son team of Jeff and Kenny pulled over when they saw us and offered a shuttle across the wide and deep Chesapeake Bay (Happy Birthday Kenny). At this point in our day we had already hiked over 25 miles and we couldn't wait to get off our feet. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be easy, not that anyone ever said this hike would be easy. After walking all the way to the back of Sandy Point State Park in search of the "camping" that our trail guide listed, we were approached by two park officials that informed us that camping is only available to youth groups and that the park was closing so we needed to leave. The Rangers were nice enough to tell us our only real sleeping option would be a motel near the Bay Outlet Center. Our trail guide listed the Outlets at only 0.3 miles farther west so we headed out of the State Park and over U.S. 50/301. We were now on the outskirts of Annapolis and the ADT parallels the highway in this section so we didn't find anywhere that would have made for a decent tent spot. We soon realized that our trail guide had once again deceived us. The Outlet Center was actually more like 1.2 miles from the State Park. We didn't want to spend such a nice weather night in a motel, but after 26.6 official miles and a couple more miles strolling through the State Park anywhere we could lay our heads was what we needed! In our search for a silver lining.....being the optimistic people we are..... we did get a good view and a nice picture of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from the beach at the back of Sandy Point State Park. The Rangers also said that they would be sure to contact the ADTS about the lack of camping, so future hikers don't plan to rely on the Park. The pillow under our heads is nice too, so we should awaken refreshed and ready to "discover" more tomorrow. With over 94 miles east of us life is good!

Your Friends on the ADT,
RANDY AND SHERI