July 17

Hey, y'all,



We're in the mountains. We didn't get much farther after lunch yesterday-- sketchy directions and a flat tire. That plus afternoon Charlottesville traffic was enough to call it an early day.



Last night was at another KOA campground, this one a bit south of Charlottesville. It rained earlier that afternoon, so things were a bit damp, but we had some nice neighbors in tents next to us. I joined the conversation a little late and missed their names, but they were from Ontario and heading to Outer Banks on two Suzuki motorcycles. I also talked with John and Beverly Mueller, from Annapolis, MD, for a long time while waiting for our clothes (we were all breaking the laundry-closes-at-10-pm rule, and they the no-dog rule (with a very gentle Portuguese water dog) which the yellow-shirted and mustachioed KOA man was a bit snippy about).



Everyone we've talked to so far has been really nice and very interested in what we're doing. I'd imagine that a lot of them think we're crazy, too, though they've been polite enough not to mention it. At any rate, we're having a pretty good time with things, even if the trip is getting harder.



And we've just begun the hardest part of our ride--the next six or seven days will be pretty tough. Right now, we're stopped for lunch at "Carter's Fruit Stand/ Ed's Collectables and Antiques", which is closed. Matt, Michael, and Brian rode a really steep 25 miles before lunch, and they've got about 35 ahead of them, which they'll probably start soon.



Hope everything is well back home! Thanks again for keeping up.

Will