Blue Ridge Parkway

Today was our first laundry day, oh boy. I decided to get it done this morning before we left the KOA outside of Charlottesville as we weren't sure where we'd be staying tonight and Chris' clean bicycling garment supply was about to run out (yes, it's mostly spandex). It occurred to me as I was hauling three loads of laundry and one squirmy blond up the hill to the campground laundromat that it was entirely possible I was working harder than the person bicycling up the Blue Ridge Parkway. But, we made it and I have a new rule that when possible we should always do the laundry in the evening when we are both around.

Then we packed up and headed out towards our destination of Troutville, VA where Chris had a meeting set up with a Cub Scout pack and robotics students. Typically my drive takes us on interstates as the shortest way. The ultimate traveler's dilemma - do we take the shortest route to minimize the time August has to be in the carseat, or do we take the scenic route? As much as I love meandering, I love giving August time to play like the happy kid he is, so I usually am fine with taking the interstate. Because of the direction we headed out of Charlottesville, we actually ended up taking back roads most of the way today. It was rolling Virginia farms at their finest, and it took a while. I had my first taste of windy mountain driving. It wasn't bad, but it might be tough to get used to inconveniencing everyone behind me by going half the speed limit.

It was an extra long day of bicycling for Chris, and we met up with just enough time to get dinner before meeting the Cub Scout pack at the Troutville Town Park. They talked about Chris' journey, and about robotics. The kids asked questions like "How many bikes do you need to get across the U.S.?" Chris said, "Uh, one - unless it gets stolen." Most of the kids seemed to be middle school age and they had a junior leader who I would guess to be about 15 or 16. I quite enjoyed hearing him pepper the troop with preparedness questions, like what to do in case of lightning, whether you should bring a towel on the upcoming canoe trip, and whether you can get sunburned when it is cloudy outside. They were adorable, and I wanted to take them all home with us in the RV.

Tonight we are boondocking again, and it has been raining most of the afternoon and evening. There are a couple of Appalachian Trail hikers at this park tonight as well. We feel pretty smug having an RV instead of their tents, ha. This is an area where both the TransAmerica Trail and the Appalachian Trail come through, so this town of 430 people is well acquainted with having hikers and bikers come through looking for a place to stay. The park here has a sign that reads "Call 555-555-5555 for 76 cyclists and AT hikers for instructions on camping". It is really inspiring to see so many people pursuing their big journeys, and even more so to see the communities welcoming them and giving them a free and safe place to stay for the night.