From Somewhere in VA

Why I’m Looking Forward to August 2013  (Not necessarily in order of importance)

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-sleeping in one spot for more than one night

-fixing and eating something besides pasta and salad for supper each night

-being able to use the bathroom without leaving the house

-being able to flush, knowing there is always paper, not having to check for bugs, not having to stand in line, 

not having to find the nearest gas station

-knowing the shower is clean, not having to wear flip-flops, not having to check for bugs, having a little room to spread out towels, clothes, etc., having the shower ventilated so that you can breathe

-missing the symphony of tent and sleeping bag zippers during the night and early in the early morning

-not being awaken at 5:00 a.m.

-not having to listen to the deflation of air mattresses at 5:00 a.m.

-worrying about the guys during the day especially on windy, hilly roads and during hot or wet weather

-packing the tent up each day, sometimes wet

-being left alone in city parks and other strange places

-seeing friends and relatives

-clearing out and cleaning the van

-not having to shop almost every day for buy peanut butter, jelly, bread, bananas, pasta, sauce, salad and beer

-feeling clean and not having to keep track of how clean the clothes are

-not living with three guys in their biking shorts

-not looking for a campsite or sleeping in city parks

-not following maps and directions

-not having to remember what city you are in or looking stupid when someone asked you where you were 

yesterday and you can’t remember

-just being home

The Sounds of the Night

We camped last evening at the Mallard Duck Campground in a (tongue in cheek) suburb of Lexington VA.  It was a challenge to find but when we did it passed our (tongue in cheek) tough standards.  Things were fine until bedtime.  My first problem was that I went to bed before I was really tired.

Then there were the noises –

-dog across the road barking literally all night

-sound of beanbags hitting the corn hole platforms

-music being played on the other side of the campground

-music being played on our side of the campground

-traffic on the road close to the tent

-community of old men, which I thought was kind of cute at first, getting progressively louder and crazy

-trains passing by, at least 4 that while laying on our air mattresses you could feel the ground vibrate

-another dog howling in the distance

-lightning and thunder on the other side of the mountain which made for a hasty trip to the bathroom before it started raining, which it never did

-snoring coming from my tent mate telling me he was sleeping through all of this

-a bird thinking 4:30 was a good time to welcome the morning

The only sound I missed was the Sound of Silence……

July 28

Thanks to the rain and prediction of high winds, large hail and flash floods we did not camp in the city park last night.  We stayed in a motel in Daleville.  The same one I stayed in when I visited Jerry on the AT back in 2010.  All is well.  It did rain all day yesterday but the severe weather did not materialize.  They came in looking like very wet little puppies.  The forecast is for t-storms again today but the guys have a short day today and should beat the weather.  Question is will we be in a campground or motel again tonight.  I hate spoil our record of so very few nights in a motel but then I also don’t always like the idea of sleeping in the tent with lightning and thunder all around.  We all ended up packing up wet yesterday and it would be good to have a chance to dry things out today.  We’ll have to see it that happens. 

Not much to report on.  We’re moving on to Lexington VA today.  They are positioning themselves for MT. Vesuvius on Monday.  Not sure that is the official name of the mountain just the name of the town it is near.  It is the last reportedly huge mountain.  It is all downhill from there I’m told, although they are on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while.

I’m just hanging out in the motel room for as long as I can so that I don’t have to hang out on the street corner in Lexington where we’re to meet.  Maybe Jack will even beat me there.  He is the speed demon of the group – up and out early.  In the beginning they talked about riding as a group/team, that didn’t last long.  They all fell in to their own rhythm.   I just wish they could look out for each other a little better.  But, it is almost over with and it will be history soon.  One more thing checked off the bucket list.

Hope all is well where you are.

And the rain...

July 27 – Saturday – 9:39 a.m.

“And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down.” W. the P.   It started about 2:30 this morning and kept it up pretty steady until about 8:00.  That is when the men decided to get up and head for the road.  It is now a little later and raining again.  The campground host just stopped by and said that it was suppose to start up any minute again and sure enough while we were talking it started.  I managed to get the tent down although things are packed up wet.  ‘Packed up’ this morning means shoved in to a plastic bag until the sun comes out again.  Somehow I’m seeing a motel in our future tonight.  We were planning on another city park tonight.  Not my favorite place to be but as I keep telling them, they make the decisions and I follow.  We’ll see what happens.

Normally I would be following the guys on the route but lately there have been so many twists and turns on narrow county roads, and so many route changes that I’ve taken to I-81 and meeting they at their destination.  I’ll do that again today but then backtrack until I find them to make sure all is okay since it is raining.

My hat is off to anyone who drives alone in new and different territory.  I find it very difficult to watch the signs, watch the traffic, read the map and enjoy some of the scenery by myself.  To say I sometimes pull off a lot to check the map, etc. would be an understatement.

We had a first last night.  Jack decided that he wanted a campfire.  He bought the wood from the campground host.  He stacked the wood very ‘boy scoutish’.  He lit the fire.  The kindling burned very nicely.  That was about it.  He worked hard but it difficult when the wood is so very green.  What seemed to give it life were some pistachio nut shells.  We had the nuts in the car since the beginning of the trip but I guess their mission was fulfilled last evening.     Did I mention that it was about 72* last evening when Jack made the fire?   Jerry, Jeff and I enjoyed it from about 10 ft. back.  Jack insisted that it was cool enough to watch it up close.  Oh, Jack…!   

July 25

Today we woke up in the Methodist Church and are now sitting on the porch of a hostile that is operated by the Baptist in Troutdale VA.  We have great weather and a wonderful view of the mountains.  All is well.

The guys left at the usual time this morning.  I sat in the church a little before I hit the road – praying for good roads and little traffic.  About a mile down the road we passed some cattle farms and then hit the mountain.  Oh, my goodness!!!  The hairpin turns, the drop offs, the oh so narrow road.  I really do not know how two cars could have passes each other on most of the route.  I guess my prayers were heard, at least partially.  There was little traffic coming towards me and when I did meet them I was able to pull over enough to let them by and there were no cars behind me.  I think if things had gotten any worst I’d be headed home by now.  I was actually shaking.  Wish I was able to control that fear.  Believe me I have tried.

So, I made it to Damascus.  Met up with the guys for pancakes.  (should have had a drink along with them)  After that I left route.  I was not willing to attempt another  mountain on another county road.  So I branched out and took a little longer route around.  I was able to relax a little and enjoy the scenery-it was beautiful.  Met up with the men about noon.  And here we sit – on top of the world. 

Tomorrow’s route looks a little confusing so I think I’ll stick to the interstate when I can.

Jeff is cooking tonight.  Yeah, Jeff!  Apparently he has one master dish that I missed the week I spent at home so he is repeating it for me.

July 24

I always heard that you should hem your day in with prayer – so does waking up in a Baptist Church and going to bed in a Methodist Church count?   It is wonderful that some of the churches on the route open their doors to bikers.  Usually there is a church hall that we sleep in but a lady stopped by today and told us to sleep on the rug in the church being that it is more comfortable.   So I have my mattress laid out right in front of the piano.  I’m looking forward to some revelations in my dreams tonight – maybe, finally, that blueprint for my life….

We woke up to rain beating on the roof of the Baptist Gym building.  Not exactly a gentle rain but no lightning and thunder.  Jack took off anyway, Jeff and Jerry gave it a few minutes to lighten up.  As usual I brought up the rear.  Nothing too eventful today.  I met up with Jerry a couple of times.  We were looking for coffee but never did find any.  We did meet a guy from China, So-I. He came over to do the route ‘just for fun’.  He wasn’t exactly fluent in English and he was traveling solo.  Takes more guts that I would have.  There were a couple of mountains today.  One was called Big A, aka Big Ass.  Driving the mountains wasn’t near as bad as yesterday – thanks be to God.  We met a friendly manager of a grocery store.  She took a break and talked to us for some time.  Good people along the way.   

So once again tonight, a roof over our heads, AC, kitchen facilities, indoor plumming and three hungry guys.  Gotta go fix supper…..

July 23

The day started out good….

We woke up in the Buckhorn Campground-same place we went to sleep in- that’s always a good thing!  Yesterday Joan, David and Jay joined us for the day and night.  The day was so exciting – after the bikers finished and when Jay, Joan and David pulled in, it started to rain, so we sat under the shelter (Thank you God) for most of the afternoon trying to decide if  were going to camp or head for the lodge on the other side of the lake and try our luck there.  About 3:33 the rain stopped enough for us to decide that yes, in fact we could set up camp.  The tent pads were gravel so they were not too wet.  We ended up with a double site so we planted 5 tents.  David and Joan win the award for the most deluxe tent.

After the tents sprouted, David fixed supper for us (Thank you David!).  It was wonderful, so nice to be served – spaghetti, bread, salad, beets from Jay, cookies (Joan said that they were almost homemade.)

The cyclist were up bright and early this morning.  Everyone else thought they should get up to see them off (yea, I did that to the first couple of days) anyway I got up this morning.  Had a cup of tea and some bread that Jay brought.  Early start to a long day….

Jay left by about 7:00.  Joan and Dave were on their way north about 8:00.  I pulled out of the campground by 8:30.

The first part of the day way fairly typical.  I even met up with the guys at a Dairy Queen in Hindman (long i—try to drill that into Jeff and Jack’s head).  Plan was to finish at Alice Lloyd College at about 52 miles.  We were all there by 11:00.  It was a cooler than normal, a great day for cycling so, on they pressed to Lookout KY, a total of 96.5 miles.  Over hill and dale would have been easy but the mountains of Eastern KY are high and mighty.  Today was my hardest day by far.  I do not do well on windy, steep mountain roads, especially where there are no guard rails and I’m driving on the down side of the mountain.  Those of you who know me that that is a totally true statement.  So the first mountain to fit that description was a stretch for me but I made it.  The second one I found terrifying –steep, windy, no guard rail, downside of the hill and…one lane.  Really for two cars to pass each other was quite a challenge.  I usually just moved over as much as I could, came to a crawl and prayed.  Luckily, there was no one following me-that’s when I’ve been known to cry.

But, I made it.  We are now sitting in a Baptist Center in Lookout KY, in the AC.  We have a kitchen to use tonight and a roof over our heads.  Who could ask for anything more.  (Well, maybe God, gentle rolling hills for tomorrow with shoulders and guard rails—Let me thank you in advance for that, please.)   

--A little later in the evening ---oh, here’s something else I could ask for, the spaghetti sauce that I thought David put in to our cooler – somehow it ended up in his cooler and is now back up in Park Hills.  That’s okay, as plan B I cut up the hot dogs that Jay left and put them in to the canned spaghetti sauce.  Needless to say, the guys were thrilled (not!)