The flats of the coast have been left to the east and the rolling hills have introduced themselves!

Day 5
3/11/2006

Started: Just beyond Whitehall Rd. Annapolis, MD.
Finished: Intersection of MD 450 and MD 197, Bowie, MD.

Today's ADT Miles: 24.3
Total ADT Miles: 118.6

Can we put our order in now for more weather like today's? How beautiful! Just make sure you remember to put sunscreen on ALL exposed body parts! Randy has perfect white "straps" on his wrists from where his hiking poles sat all day. When we hit the trail at 6:50 or so this morning, just over a mile west of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, it was already close to 50 degrees. The terrain today made for a sweat breaker. The flats on the coast were left east of the Chesapeake Bay. The west side of the Bay would fit in to the rolling hills category. By the time we reached the Severn River and it's amazing view of the renowned U.S. Naval Academy we were sheading layers, hiking most of the day in shorts and short sleeves. The campus is truly impressive and definitely part of what makes Annapolis such a neat city. The hike from the east to the west side of the city shows off Annapolis' wide range of economic diversity. Because it was such a beautiful morning we decided to "smell the rose's" a bit. Although there were not really any rose's in it, the Tawes Garden at the Rowe Natural Resource Building was still a nice place to check out. The gardens attempted to replicate some of the ecological systems found throughout Maryland. After visiting the gardens we walked past an empty Navy Marine Memorial Stadium and then headed for the police station where we picked up the Poplar Trail. The Trail, named after the trees found along it, was a nice relief from traffic. The traffic break was short lived though and after turning off the Poplar Trail we were back on the streets. We cruised by the Annapolis Mall and then found ourselves on a four mile stretch of MD 450. The cars just kept coming and the shoulder was sloped enough to make us feel like we needed a V8 to even back out. The scenery off the road was nice though, we passed the tidal waters of the South River and enjoyed a nice lunch by the river bank. After lunch we continued on in the rolling hills. We can definitely tell we're leaving the coast behind due to the geographical changes. We found the farms changing as well, less chickens and corn, and more horses. We entered into Prince Georges County by crossing a cool looking old bridge over the Patuxent River. At first we could'nt decide if we were just tired and moving slower than we thought or if our trail guide was incorrect when we noticed it had taken us almost 30 minutes to cover a distance listed as .3 miles. We found our answer when we covered the next 3.4 miles on the guide in about 30 minutes as well. It all washed out in the end. The WB&A Trail was a nice hike in Bowie. It meanders parallel to roads that would otherwise have us hiking in traffic. The footbridge over U.S. 50 was cool and the off the road trail went by Foxhill Park and Lake where soccer practise was going on. Just past the park, at the intersection of MD 450 we were picked up for the night by Janet Parsons. We were taken to her home in Rolling Hills Estate, a beautiful neighborhood that once again reinforced our new terrain. Janet and her husband John have been long time friends of Randy's Sister and Brother-in-law. Friends are priceless when on trail. We can't thank them enough for their "magic", John's a musician so he had a Saturday night gig, but Janet was beyond an "Angel". We will once again get a great nights rest and tomorrow smell like "Surf" instead of dirty hippies thanks to the Parson's Laundry facilities. Tomorrow we are off to the west, so tonight we're off to sleep.

Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri