Trip to Harpers Ferry

After picking up Sonic- a rare treat for a DC area resident- we checked into the hotel on the Maryland side of the border. The hotel looked wheelchair accessible from the photos online, but turned out to be unquestionably not accessible. The receptionist told us that he constantly complained to upper management to bring the hotel up to code but his pleas evidently fell on deaf ears.

We set out on a walk to Harpers Ferry, which was supposed to be about a mile and half away. My plan was to take a short walk to the C&O Canal path to a pedestrian bridge that would cross to Potomac into West Virginia. It seemed pretty simply on Google maps.

The walk started off bizarrely. We walked along the highway, Candace in a wheelchair, me pushing an unwieldy behemoth of a twin stroller, and Bug bringing up the rear. We must've appeared like a menacing gang to any onlookers. We reached  a bridge that had a very narrow walkway and Candace had trouble getting the wheelchair through the narrow opening. The width of the stroller also posed a problem, so I was tasked with jogging over the bridge to see if it was the right way. I have a big fear of heights and bridges make me especially anxious because my real fear is plummeting to a watery grave.

The view from the bridge was stunning- full trees climbing up the rolling mountain above the smooth current of the Potomac River- but the chain fence disappeared and I realized that it was possible to trip and fall to a watery grave in the Potomac.

I went about halfway and cringed at the thought of pushing the stroller over this long bridge on the off chance it was the right way. So I came back, but I did manage to see the C&O path way far below us.

We decided to head back to the hotel and ask, but Candace saw a sign that said "River Trail" with an arrow pointing left. So we- wheelchair, stroller, and all- decided to run across several lanes of highway traffic to follow the sign. Turns out the sign said "River & Trail" and seemed to be for a store, rather than an actual trail.

We crossed the highway again and went back to ask the receptionist how to go to the trail. I half-listened to his explanation. We piled into the van- no small task- and headed in the right direction until I determined that we should turn on Sandy Hook Road. The receptionist didn't mention anything about Sandy Hook Road and the name didn't seem like a good omen, but I decided it was the right was to go based on the map on my phone.

Sandy Hook Road turned into a curvy mountain road that we had to inch forward in some stretches in order to avoid a head-on collision. We eventually drove by the pedestrian bridge I had seen on Google Maps and saw that it wasn't wheelchair or stroller accessible. We turned back, went through the winding road again, and finally found a good spot to park (which happened to be where the receptionist had told us to park).

From there we walked the C&O Canal path. It was a gravel path, which made for a bumpy ride for Candace and the babies. Bug was hopped up on sugar and she and Candace, who was not hopped up on sugar, took turns insulting and threatening me, which they found very funny. There was a pool of algae covered water under the railroad tracks. We reached a few openings in the path and got a glimpse of the view, which was worth crossing a couple highways for.

Along the way, Bug grabbed a weird looking fruit, peeled it and ate it. I was sure she was going to die when Candace also took a bite. They both marveled at how sweet it tasted, so risking death I took a bite too. It tasted like a mango- which I like- crossed with a banana- which I don't. Turns out they're called paw paws. None of us are dead yet.

We walked all the way to a spot under the first bridge and turned back. Bug and I were aching when we made it back to the hotel, exhausted from pushing the stroller, carrying my chubby little son, and an ill-advised sprint on the bridge earlier in the evening.