After a filling lunch in Glenmont, we are on state road 520 for the next 8 miles. We turn on our safety lights and head for Killbuck. There is little traffic on the road and for the first 10 minutes or so, no cars pass in either direction. The route curves around the base of hills that remind me of Litchfield County, CT, which is near my house. Old barns dot the sides of the road and a shirtless fellow mows his expansive yard on a green John Deere tractor. We acknowledge each other with a wave.
We climb and coast on the road’s many knolls as a fertile valley opens up. The fields are well planted. Soon we reach the turnoff for Killbuck; only 8 vehicles had passed us in so many miles. We pull into Killbuck ready for ice cream; many stores appear closed including Snowside, an ice cream shop that we had hoped to sample. Dejected, we move on.
Amazingly, however, we find another ice cream shop just down the road: the Killbuck Sweet Shoppe. Opening the door, we are blasted by cold air and the shop is filled with customers having lunch and ice cream. We would not be denied.
Like many such establishments on our journey, the Sweet Shoppe is generous with its portions; Ted and I throughly enjoy our repast and with tummies full of ice cream get on our bikes for the last leg to Millersburg.
Like all of the other trails, the Holmes County Trail is impeccable. But no Amish. The Killbuck Creek is running high, though is at least 2 feet lower than previously. In some places it is very close to the road and is flooding much of the trailside trees and underbrush. To our right, water lilies and arrowroot are in evidence giving us the impression of biking though a swamp. While there should be lots of insects, we are not stopping to find out.
We soon near Millersburg and there is a nearby Wal-Mart that provides sheltered parking for Amish buggies and horses. Finally, the Amish.
But it was not to be. The shelter was devoid of the Amish, their means of transport and any indication that horses had recently rested there. Well-used shovels, garbage cans full of manure and clean stalls were the only signs of their presence. Perhaps the heat of the sun and lateness of the day has kept them in. Perhaps tomorrow.
