Day 10: Lexington, VA to Buchanan, VA (30 miles)

Tony with pigtails?

Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 (rest day)

After yesterday's long night bike riding home from a late dinner, we of course woke up late. We ate breakfast next door at the Waffle House and had some amazing waffles. I don't know what they do to those things but we couldn't stop eating them. We were on the road around noon.

Riding on country roads is fun because there is very little traffic... until you come across an accident between a tractor and a tow-truck.

Anna and Aaron have a habit of pulling over and resting in the middle of the street. This morning we pulled over on a slow country road, right before a bend, on the opposite side of the street at a little gravel driveway. While the rest of us were off the road, Anna was stopped right on the street, in the path of oncoming traffic. She didn't worry since it was a quiet country road. But suddenly a car came flying around the bend and had to swerve to avoid hitting Anna! After that scare, hopefully everyone will rest on the side of the road instead of in the middle of it.

White fluffy mystery bug.

Our original goal was to make it to Troutville or Daleville, about 40 miles away. That would leave us only 40 or so miles to go the next day to get to Christiansburg, VA. Christiansburg has been a goal of ours for a while now because it is the last city on our first map. In total, there are 12 maps that make up our cross-country trip. The first map is from Yorktown, VA to Christiansburg, VA and is 360 miles long. Our unofficial goal was to reach Christiansburg by day 7. Now we were hoping to arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, which would be the 11th day. Oh well... it's about the journey, not the destination.

Unfortunately, leaving at noon doesn't make that an easy goal. Our overall traveling speed, including breaks, is around 5 miles per hour. Not too impressive! Leaving at noon, at 5 mph, for 40 miles means we'd arrive at 8pm. To make matters worse, Anna hasn't been feeling well. She thinks she has a sinus infection, and her legs are completely worn out from the Skyline/Blueridge climbs. So, we decided that our best option would be to set our sights on Buchanan, which is almost 30 miles from Lexington. This is not the mileage we were hoping for. It's hard to plan in advance a trip of this magnitude, and if you don't keep an open mind and accept changes to your plan, you will end up disappointed. This is what happened to me this day when I realized we would only travel 30 miles. I was disappointed because it was below expectations. In hindsight, that is the wrong attitude to take on a trip like this. When this happens, adjust your expectations. If people need to rest, then so be it.

A couple of miles from Buchanan we passed by the Red Mill Bed & Breakfast. We stopped to check the price since it looked quaint and we were already there. The man who opened the door, Chip, informed us that the B & B is no longer in service, but talked with us about our trip for a very long time. He told us about Natural Bridge, which was only a couple of miles away. Natural Bridge is a bit of a tourist trap, but probably well deserved. It is a natural bridge (not just a clever name) formed over time from erosion. Thomas Jefferson liked it so much that he bought a huge plot of land containing the bridge from the British and built his home on it (we're still relatively close to Monticello). At least that's what Chip told us. We didn't visit it because we just wanted to get to the motel and call it a day.

Anna, Chip and Aaron.

People in small towns are either very nice or very bored (maybe both) because he talked with us for at least an hour and made some phone calls for us to find out if the Train Car Inn was open for the night. This is a train car that was renovated as a 1-room inn, which sounded pretty cool but unfortunately the person who runs the place was out of town. So instead we got a room at the Mountain View Motel and ate at the restaurant next door. We decided that if Anna was overworked and needed to rejuvenate, a rest day would be the best way. So, we are taking a rest day tomorrow at the Mountain View Motel. More Dharma & Greg I guess! Ironically, I have watched more TV on this trip than in the past few years combined.