Day 318
7 hrs, 18 .8 kms
Day totals: 15 hrs, 32.8 kms

I need to pick up the pace. Time to cross the Potomac into West Virginia.

West Virginia is the butt of many jokes about backward, uneducated people who marry their cousins. There is some truth to this: West Virginia has always been poorer than the surrounding states, and there is still a lot of rural poverty here. But I'm determined to explore this state with an open mind.

I cross the bridge with a sign welcoming me to West Virginia. There are abandoned houses on both sides of the highway, a broken sign, and trash strewn alongside the road.

Ah... West Virginia... I'm trying not to judge thee...

The trash doesn't go away. There's trash by the road for my entire hike. Apparently the "adopt a highway" concept where businesses volunteer to clean up a mile of road in exchange for a sign acknowledging them hasn't caught on here . Lack of government initiative? Or just a lack of sense of community?

There's a mix of houses along the road. Some old run down farmhouses alongside some newer houses as well. And here I also see for the first time some aggressive home construction going on. Random developments all along the highway--even though the housing market is still depressed nationwide.

The reason? One word: Washington DC. This is one place where there are lots of government jobs that didn't suffer doing the recession. And living in or near DC has become extremely expensive as a result. So now people are commuting to DC all the way from West Virginia.

I wonder how the native West Virginia folk feel about these new city folk moving to their area, littering the landscape with houses. At least there's more density these days in home construction. Rather than that typical American setup with a houses surrounded by a big yard, these are 2 or 3 storey townhouses, squeezed together tightly--but still each with a private yard . I like that... I hate seeing so much land being wasted and used to grow America's number one (and useless) crop: grass. Now if only they could just create real towns instead of just splattering the countryside with random, soulless developments.

I pass through a short stretch of forest, and then a couple or really gnarly, dirt road trailer parks. Some of the people I pass just glare at me warily... But not every one. Several times fellows spot my guitar and start a conversation about music with me.

One fellow stops me, "I'm putting together a band--all I need is a guitarist. Do you want to join?" He's dead serious. He even takes me to his run down garage where he's got his gear and drumset set up (and a big Confederate flag on the wall).

We exchange numbers... who knows? I can't really see myself driving down to West Virginia on a regular basis.

Finally I reach the outskirts of Martinsburg, just as it starts to snow a bit, and I begin my long bike ride back to Funkstown.

It's been an amazing day, with multiple discoveries, and a record breaking 5 interesting encounters. And I thought this was going to be a dreary highway hike.