Day 62, July 28

Palmyra to Ashland, VA
80 miles

I hit the road very early since I needed to put down in a fairly high number of miles and wanted to be done before it got too humid and hot.  It was the first time I had to run my headlight, even if it was only for the first 20 minutes or so.  Below is the sunrise somewhere between Palmyra and Kents Store.

The roads continued to flatten and traffic was getting more dense and drivers more aggressive, even on the backroads of this area.  I think the shot below as taken as I was making the turn from 603 onto 605 in the town of Tabscott.

Assuming the location of the shot above is correct then the picture below as taken just outside Mineral.

I don't know the name of this tree but it is extremely common here.  A local told me it is the state tree and/or flower of Virginia.

Lake Anna:

Just past Lake Anna I stopped for a break at a convenience store in Bumpass and got into a conversation with the gentleman below.  His name is Dwight and when he was 16, back in 1962, he bicycled from North Dakota to San Diego ON A SINGLE SPEED BIKE.  I honestly can't imagine how that could be done without a lot of walking up hills.  He left home with $100, $50 of which his mother had given him as a gift, and stopped and worked on ranches/farms every few weeks when he needed more money.  If I remember correctly he signed up for military service upon reaching San Diego (I don't recall which branch).  He is now a coin collector and runs a website which sells rare coins.  The business takes him to trade shows in Europe several times a year.

Another historical marker a bit past Coatesville:

After eating linner in Ashland I checked into a KOA-like place just East of town.  It had been a KOA but is now run by some other company (camp america?).  These places never quite know how to cater to cyclists, hikers and the like and usually do one of two things: 1) grossly over-charge, asking for the full rate that a 30ft motorhome would pay, or 2) give us everything for almost nothing.  Thankfully here it was the latter.  I paid $11 for a spot in their tent area.  Along with the camping spot that got me a free spaghetti dinner and free breakfast, free showers in an air conditioned bathroom and access to a physical fitness center (as that is clearly what I needed at this point).  They also gave me a bottled ice tea and ice cream bar for free.  The cashier in the store had closed up for the evening and when I came to the counter with those items she told me to just come by and pay in the morning.  When I came back in the morning to pay she told me not to worry about it that anybody who rides across the country on a bike deserves to have it for free.

The storms that night were intense and I woke up with my tent in 3" of water and absolutely everything in my panniers drenched.  I only stayed dry in the tent because I was sleeping on top of a several inch think inflatable mattress.  All around it were small puddles of water in my tent.  I ended up spending the morning sorting through my gear deciding what to toss and what to keep before throwing all of the keep stuff in the dryer.  Since I knew I would be done in a few days there was a lot of "toss".