Escape from Baltimore, part 1 − 13 June, 2007
I took my new digital camera and left Baltimore. My wife was tied up in meetings all day; I'd see her again for dinner. In the meantime, I did some exploration.
All I did was get the roadmap and look for green areas -- state or national parks. One caught my eye, not too far from Baltimore: Catoctin Mountain Park, in Maryland. I had no idea what it was, but it was the journey that was important, not the destination.
I traveled out of Baltimore on I-70, then turned north at Frederick, MD on US 15. That brought me to Thurmont, MD, where I had lunch.
Now, I had lunch at a Certain Popular Sandwich Franchise. Before I left, I visited the restroom. Something struck me as funny in there, so I actually took my first photo of the day using my camera phone (better yet, I sent the image to my wife). Have a look the Almost Haiku! photo, below.
For some reason it cracked me up. Notice, if you just add two words, it turns into a perfect haiku:
Please do not put a
Paper towel in the toilet
A clog will result
I don't know why these things strike me as funny when they happen -- I've been a fan of accidental haikus ever since I found the listing of haiku error messages at the GNU project. My favorite:
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
OK, now that my temporary insanity is out of the way, on to the parks.
Catoctin Furnace
Photos bmc001 to bmc010a, below, are from the first park I found in Thurmont, MD. Part of Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Furnace was a short hike, maybe a half mile round trip.
I looked at my road atlas when I got back and realized I was near two things: either to go on to Catoctin Mountain Park, still in Maryland, or to cross over into Pennsylvania. As any cow will tell you, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence ;-) so I traveled north on Maryland 550 into parts unknown.
Appalachian Trail
My destination was a big green area in Pennsylvania, marked on the roadmap as the "South Mountains." Now, after I left Maryland, let's just say the roads were marked very creatively.
I'm a much better navigator than my wife. Somehow, I never get turned around. I see a sideroad, a bend in the road, an intersection, and immediately I can find it on the map (so long as I know my context -- where I was, what direction I was heading in, etc.) Usually, when we do complicated trips, my wife drives and I call out directions.
Well, I was alone this time, going around mountain curves, and it was no time to be looking at the roadmap.
However, this was not a rush. I had plenty of time, so if I needed to look at the map to make certain of my progress, all I had to do was stop. It was on one of these stops I found something interesting.
If you look at a map of Pennsylania, you will see a place where the Appalachian Trail crosses an unnamed road near a place called Glen Forney. Photos bmc011a and bmc013 are from this place -- not even a park, but still beautiful.
Caledonia State Park
OK, now on to a segment I'll call "shame on the mapmakers." The Rand McNally map I was using had Caledonia State Park at the intersection of US 30 and PA 234. It wasn't. The park's website agrees with me -- it's at US 30 and PA 233, about 3 miles further west than shown on the map.
Now, Caledonia was the bonanza. There were so many hiking trails there that I could have spent the entire rest of the day there. If you're ever in the area, you can visit the places in the photos below (bmc017 to bmc025) -- they are from the "Ramble Trail."
Back to Baltimore
I made it back to town just in time to meet Hannah and go visit my niece, Navasha, and her family (bmc032). If you read the earlier article, you know I went to Navasha and James' Wedding back in 2002 -- it was one of the events that inspired me to get my own band together. Together, they run Blackout Studios and the group Fertile Ground.
Spending an evening with them was fun. Every time I see Navasha, I'm always amazed by what a fundamentally good person she is -- it seems like she's out of some different series of novels than I inhabit. I feel kind of like I live in a Stephen King novel; Navasha, on the other hand, would be happy in Narnia.
All I did was get the roadmap and look for green areas -- state or national parks. One caught my eye, not too far from Baltimore: Catoctin Mountain Park, in Maryland. I had no idea what it was, but it was the journey that was important, not the destination.
I traveled out of Baltimore on I-70, then turned north at Frederick, MD on US 15. That brought me to Thurmont, MD, where I had lunch.
Now, I had lunch at a Certain Popular Sandwich Franchise. Before I left, I visited the restroom. Something struck me as funny in there, so I actually took my first photo of the day using my camera phone (better yet, I sent the image to my wife). Have a look the Almost Haiku! photo, below.
For some reason it cracked me up. Notice, if you just add two words, it turns into a perfect haiku:
Please do not put a
Paper towel in the toilet
A clog will result
I don't know why these things strike me as funny when they happen -- I've been a fan of accidental haikus ever since I found the listing of haiku error messages at the GNU project. My favorite:
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
OK, now that my temporary insanity is out of the way, on to the parks.
Catoctin Furnace
Photos bmc001 to bmc010a, below, are from the first park I found in Thurmont, MD. Part of Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Furnace was a short hike, maybe a half mile round trip.
I looked at my road atlas when I got back and realized I was near two things: either to go on to Catoctin Mountain Park, still in Maryland, or to cross over into Pennsylvania. As any cow will tell you, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence ;-) so I traveled north on Maryland 550 into parts unknown.
Appalachian Trail
My destination was a big green area in Pennsylvania, marked on the roadmap as the "South Mountains." Now, after I left Maryland, let's just say the roads were marked very creatively.
I'm a much better navigator than my wife. Somehow, I never get turned around. I see a sideroad, a bend in the road, an intersection, and immediately I can find it on the map (so long as I know my context -- where I was, what direction I was heading in, etc.) Usually, when we do complicated trips, my wife drives and I call out directions.
Well, I was alone this time, going around mountain curves, and it was no time to be looking at the roadmap.
However, this was not a rush. I had plenty of time, so if I needed to look at the map to make certain of my progress, all I had to do was stop. It was on one of these stops I found something interesting.
If you look at a map of Pennsylania, you will see a place where the Appalachian Trail crosses an unnamed road near a place called Glen Forney. Photos bmc011a and bmc013 are from this place -- not even a park, but still beautiful.
Caledonia State Park
OK, now on to a segment I'll call "shame on the mapmakers." The Rand McNally map I was using had Caledonia State Park at the intersection of US 30 and PA 234. It wasn't. The park's website agrees with me -- it's at US 30 and PA 233, about 3 miles further west than shown on the map.
Now, Caledonia was the bonanza. There were so many hiking trails there that I could have spent the entire rest of the day there. If you're ever in the area, you can visit the places in the photos below (bmc017 to bmc025) -- they are from the "Ramble Trail."
Back to Baltimore
I made it back to town just in time to meet Hannah and go visit my niece, Navasha, and her family (bmc032). If you read the earlier article, you know I went to Navasha and James' Wedding back in 2002 -- it was one of the events that inspired me to get my own band together. Together, they run Blackout Studios and the group Fertile Ground.
Spending an evening with them was fun. Every time I see Navasha, I'm always amazed by what a fundamentally good person she is -- it seems like she's out of some different series of novels than I inhabit. I feel kind of like I live in a Stephen King novel; Navasha, on the other hand, would be happy in Narnia.
Almost Haiku!
bmc001
bmc002
bmc005
bmc009
bmc010a
bmc011a
bmc013
bmc017
bmc023
bmc025
bmc032
