Wafts of cool, mountain air swirl over the Victory Cross Country's short windshield in a near perfect dose. It's not enough to be buffeting, yet just enough to be invigorating. For Kathy, this is our journey's last leg. But for me, well, I'm already home.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided."Abraham Lincoln 1858

Soaring 186 feet above the Chesapeake Bay, on its 4.3-mile namesake bridge, our motorcycles seem to have slipped the surly bonds of earth. Enormous ships glide silently below and seagulls follow our exhilarating descent onto Kent Island, MD. Another bridge crossing and we'll arrive on a rural and historic peninsula of land that's claimed by three states: Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Nowadays this land is known by its acronym: Delmarva. And like our European ancestors, we're here to discover the essence of this place.

Road building in eighteenth-century America had always been a local responsibility, but an Act of Congress in 1806 called for a federally constructed road that would connect the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to those of the Ohio River.

The Appalachian Mountains, once reaching Himalayan-scale heights, are among the oldest on earth. Erosion-resistant sandstone sustains their rounded green shoulders, while limestone undergirds the verdant valleys. Yes, there are many attractive features in the western highlands of Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; but the most appealing of all has to be the sheer abundance of winding two-lane roads.