Maryland - Day 2

Pocomoke River State Park
Saturday, 2 February 2019

Happy Groundhog Day!

Apparently Phil is saying we'll have an early spring, but I have my doubts, given that it was 12° when I woke up this morning.  But the sun came out beautifully and the dogs and I have had some nice snowy walks around here.  There's a nature trail right behind this part of the campground - lots of snow, but that's why God made rubber boots.

Maryland must have the oddest shape of any state in the union.

Look at it.  It's split in half by the Chesapeake Bay, and technically the eastern and western parts aren't even connected because the Susquehanna River flows down from PA into the Chesapeake and bisects them.  There're 2 bridges across the Susquenanna to connect the 2 sides, and there's one more bridge farther south that connects Annapolis with the Eastern Shore, and that seems to be it for connections between the 2 sides.

The part of the Eastern Shore that's bordered by the Atlantic Ocean is smushed between Delaware and Virginia. 

The southwestern boundary follows the Potomac River and look at the way it winds around.  Virginia is up against most of the western side, but West Virginia forms the whole northern part of that side, and West Virginia is also what forms Maryland's far western boundary. 

And see that area in the panhandle that's squeezed between West Virginia and Pennsylvania?  In one place it's only 1 mile wide - even narrower than the Oklahoma panhandle, which is 34 miles wide.  The Florida panhandle is practically spacious at 50 miles wide. 

Most other states are bigger overall - MD ranks 42nd in size - but I can't think of one offhand that's quite as geographically split.  Well, Alaska and Hawaii both are, but nobody else in the Lower 48.

I noticed all this as I've been trying to figure out what I might be able to see this month.  The towns in each area aren't all that far apart, but each area is distinctly separate from the others, so I'll have to find places to stay in each one.  And if the weather's really bad, then I'll be limited.  But we'll see what happens.

The sun's been out all day and it warmed up, relatively speaking, this afternoon.  The snow on the roadway has melted, but there's still a fair amount of snow in my campsite, which seems to be more shaded than some of the others.  I'll hope to be able to look around the area a little tomorrow, but it'll depend on whether it keeps warming up as promised.

Still, the dogs and I had some nice walks today, which I for one appreciated.