Thursday, May 6, 2021

020: Day 27: Holmesville to Centerburg OH: 61 miles today + 5 yesterday, 810 miles total (m213.0)

We ended our rest days at Little Rock Schoolhouse by cycling to Fredericksburg for a supply refill. The buggies were out everywhere and this is what we found behind the Market (store). 
In style we asked for a box for our supplies and cycled to a spot along the Salty Creek to have lunch - Amish-prepared chicken and wild rice soup. The box also held our evening meal of freshly baked Pretzel burger buns and freshly made chicken salad. 
While at lunch, we watched the world go by. It is totally different to what we became used to in Annandale VA - a young Amish mother was out pushing her two children while the buggies kept on clippity-clopping by. The way of life here is so totally relaxed. 
We said goodbye to Holmesville with many happy memories. The Holmes County Trail was beautiful up to here and we were looking forward to the rest of the trail. 
And it remained beautiful. What I liked about this part of the trail, is the width. The left side of the trail was specially strengthened for the buggies and horses while the cyclists tried to steer on the right hand side. 
The station building at Millersburg is neatly renovated. 
We were amazed to see how well the trail keepers kept the trail. This is one of the lookouts over a pond that we saw.
Christine, like I, could not stop taking photos. 
Look at this marsh. You can now understand how fugitives would disappear in these marshes. Where do you go looking for them?
Beautiful wild flowers.
At Killbuck we had to do some road cycling to Glenmont. This section of the Trail is partly under construction. We were happy to see the ongoing works and wish the County well in their endeavors to complete this part of the trail - actually a missing link on the longer Erie to Ohio Trail.
The rain also caught up with us and we had to adjust our clothing a little bit. Now it was cold and wet. 
Upon reaching Glenmont we immediately went to the market for coffee. These small towns are great. We paid $1.50 for two 12 oz cups of freshly brewed coffee. Shows you how much money others are making.
After coffee, Christine went back and got some of the good stuff for us. We shall certainly enjoy these further along the trail.
Interesting rocks along the trail.
With Christine having the moonshine, I was wondering whether we should also get a good wad of chewing tobacco. Not at this stage though. 🤑🤑
We came to the Bridge of Dreams. This is a beautiful covered bridge and we spent some time here just enjoying the surroundings.
We noted the dirt on our trailer and speculated that this must be from the wet horse droppings on the trail. It could not really be mud, as the trail is paved with asphalt throughout. 
The linking Mohican Trail was just as beautiful. At the start of the Kokosing Gap Trail we stopped for a quick lunch. This included Pretzel Buns with Amish salami and cheese. Even in the windy conditions they tasted great. 
The scenery remained great.
We also passed a number of larger bridges.
And we passed this stone arch at Howard OH. What was interesting is that the stone masons marked the individual rocks with their names/marks. 
At the old Gambier Station we cycled past this locomotive and tender.
Another beautiful bridge between Gambier and Mt Vernon where the Kokosing Gap Trail ended. 
As we cycled slowly through Mt Vernon, we came across this interesting fountain. 
The Happy Bean in SMain Street serves wonderful coffee.
The Heart of Ohio Trail starts at Mt Vernon and runs to Centerburg OH. The old station building is totally renovated.
Outside Mt Vernon we came to the glass factory site. Here the area around an abandoned glass factory was rehabilitated into a beautiful park. I was tempted to climb the stairs, but we had made arrangements with Dan and Jan to camp on their land and it was getting late. 
The scenery remained beautiful. We also saw a good number of Deer, rabbits and Ground Hogs today. 
We were very happy to see Dan next to the trail where he waited for us. After showing us to his 350 year old oak tree we pitched the tent. We were quite tired, as we did 61 miles today, but Jan invited us to share their hearty beef stew dinner with them. They went out of their way to make us comfortable and we continued chatting away over great home-made lemonade and amazing apple sauce. We talked about how we met and shared stories of our families. Jan let us read some of her prose and even gave us copies of two of her poems to read as we cycle across the US.  
We are so happy to meet such generous people and we can only pray that we would be as generous to others, especially people that we do not know at all. 
We had a coldish night but slept peacefully and with happy heats next to the old oak tree. 

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