My lovely bride and I just got back from a beautiful weekend trip. Our first stop was Havre De Grace, MD which is a very sentimental place for us since its where we met for the first time eight years ago. The Lighthouse Diner on Rt40 is a must stop for us each time since that was out first "dinner date".

Saturday morning we headed up Rt222 into Pennsylvania and Lancaster County. We had been able to load latitude and longitude coordinates into our GPS on the location of the various covered bridges (thanks Wikipedia!) and it worked like a charm. The sun was bright, the temps just warm enough as we cruised the back roads of the Amish countryside. This is like taking a trip back in time as there are no gas stations (fill up before you leave the highway)...no roadside stores or anything that smacks of commercial development. Just rolling farmland dotted with barns and silos, rail fences keeping in the horses and cattle and of course, the occasion horse drawn cart. Encountering other cars was fairly rare and the relief of no "traffic" was a pure joy.

We were very surprised to find that the GPS even recognized some dirt and gravel pathways as legitimate roads, thank goodness it recalculates if you miss a turn, even if its on purpose. I suppose the Amish carts dont much care if the roads are paved or not.

While all the covered bridges share the similar construction and the same color scheme, their individual charm and serene settings remind us of a time gone by when life was filled with hard work but much more uncomplicated. I suppose that part of Amish life does still have its appeal, yet when you finally reach Rt 30 (Lincoln Highway) and over to Rt340 (Old Philly Pike) you find the whole "commercialized" area of Amish country and with that came bumper to bumper traffic. We strayed from this area as much as possible and to be honest, I'm very surprised with the advent of GPS in so many vehicles these days that people will just sit in traffic like lemmings instead of turning off on a side road and seeing some of the "road less travelled".

I think the spirit of the Cruiser begs to travel like this, to roam the almost infinte backroads of rural America, to see the striking beauty that this great land has to offer... a land unspoiled by WalMart and land developers. If I had the money and the time, I would love to take a lap around America and never hit an interstate highway, Route 66 style! Let the GhostHawk spread his wings and soar!

We took a western loop back home, "Cruising" down hi-way 11, thru Carlisle and some other small PA towns. Once back in VA we picked up Rt522 for some more top-down miles and stopped for dinner in Culpeper at a little local spot called Dee Dee's (great Bar-B-Que)...shortly afterward we said goodbye to the sunset, put the top up and motored on home.
The PT averaged 24-26mpg which I was very pleased with considering the hilly terrain we covered and the occasional "happy pedal" passing on two lane roads.

Here is a gallery of pics I shot of the GhostHawk over the weekend. As soon as my wife finishes editing her photos (I shoot the car, she's the resident photographer) I'll post a link to her website for other pics of the trip, but for now this is all I got

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v217/thunderbat/CoveredBridges08/

guest password is "lookhere"

Sounds amazing...maybe someday I will remember where I ate with my girl for the first time and go back and visit it when were married... lol applebees...

Thats why my girl always gets mad at me about stuff like that because I don't have a good long term memory.

Sounds like fun t-bat!

It's sooo cute!
LOL
That bike in the first pic is the shiznit.
You just go up and down on it and it rotates the back wheel and you go forward!
Saw a dude with a sweet costume on it once.
Two person, but one person.
Had a baby on the back of this adult. The baby was the guys head, and his legs were in the adults body. Was awesome.

actually the bike in the first pic is like an overgrown skateboard with handlebars...The Amish dont let their kids ride anything mechanical. Its just a flat platform between the two wheels and you use one foot to get yourself rolling...the only thing "mechanical" on it is a hand brake.

Blasphemy!