My better half and I took a trip to Western Maryland this week. Allegany County to be specific. It’s quite the contrast to the Maryland Eastern Shore trip we took last week. The thing they have in common though is they are both beautiful.

The colors were out on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad we took on Wednesday. It’s very near peak season for the trees to change.

The contrast of the lower eastern shore’s recent visit accentuated the height of the mountains we traveled on our way to Cumberland.

One thing I love about the eastern and western parts of the state is that they are rural. There are open spaces. Well Ocean City itself hasn’t an inch of open space but everything on the way there is.

I know we will be heading west again, probably in the spring. They do have a Winter Express train which sounded nice but driving out there in the dead of winter won’t be as pleasant as this ride was this week.

We stayed a night at Rocky Gap Casino Resort and Golf. No, I didn’t play golf. I did casino and resort though. Some nice firepits outside at night, beautiful views of the lake, and surrounding grounds and state park.

This was the second train ride I’ve taken this year. I like it.

It rained, misted, and was mostly overcast the entire day with a few precious peeks of sun. But it was a very nice day and ride, one we will take again. I’ll make sure to do one in the summer when the ice cream stand at the top of the station will get some of my business.

I’ve got some more pictures I’ll share later.