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Detailed Itinerary-day by day / Leave us a Comment /

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Day 42 - Wednesday, July 30th Abingdon, VIRGINIA

Our first day in Virginia! It is so bizarre that we are truly here. We saw some gorgeous country today. There were places where hundreds or thousands of vines covered everything we could see in the forest - climbing up trees, over rocks. Made us feel like they'd cover us up if we stood still too long! I would have taken a picture, but we had worries of our own about then.

It was SO steep. The RV could barely make it up. We were in 1st and 2nd gear frequently, sometimes getting to go all the way to 3rd!! We felt SO bad for Don. It was a brutal day. We stopped and left chalk messages up the mountain trying to encourage him to keep going. This was even worse than Glacier, Shawn! Makes Glacier look friendly. He went up 4000 feet elevation in the space of about 40 miles. UGH.

We were so happy when we finally hit the freeway and could go 55 instead of 25!! It was so windy, long and steep. Did I already mention that?? =)

We got to our campsite and worried even more as there was no cell phone coverage and the skies opened up and just dumped rain for a couple of hours. I was feeling like I should drive back and see how Don was doing, expecting him to pull in by 7pm or so judging by the road. But before I knew it, here he came, smiling and pumping th0se chicken legs!! He was soaked from head to toe. Said the rain was not too much of a problem - it just cooled him down but did make it harder to see because it was such a downpour. Good thing he did not forget to take his raincoat today even though it was a gorgous sunny morning.

It is really different here. There were LOTS of mobile homes along the road. The majority of what we see from the freeway are old mobile homes. Many were very old and worn down. They lack yards - front or back. They sit 20 to 40 feet off the highway. Then, every now and then, there would be a beautiful house set back off the road - the kind of home you think of when you think East Coast - brick, wide veranda, columns, gorgeous! Makes us wonder about the economy over here and how everyone is getting by.

The good news is, since we hit Virginia, we've met many friendly people. It still feels really different here and we're looking forward to getting a little further into the suburbs. It's very much like the movie Fried Green Tomatoes! Pretty cool - just really different from home. Also reminds us of just how very "white" Spokane is. There are, obviously, lots of African Americans, but there are also lots of Hispanics. We knew Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida (shall I go on?) had lots of hispanics, but Iowa? Missouri? Illinois? I mean, Kentucky? We thought that was Americana through and through. Having grown up in Mexico, I love Mexicans as much (OK, more) than the next person. But I've been surprised at the number of hispanics - makes me that much more aware of what a big deal the whole immigration thing is right now and what far reaching conequences it will have either way the vote goes.

Don's riding notes on Breaks to Riverside Campground (65 miles, 4100 ft elevation)

What a day! I started out leisurely late because the heat and humidity are not as bad as getting up early. I rolled out of the Breaks Campground into a gorgeous morning. There was still a fair amount of mountain fog hanging around with the sun shining through. The first few miles were all downhill and screaming. Then right around Haysi, it started to climb and man did it climb. It was totally steep and relentless. So I make it through that climb and it levels off for about 20 miles along the river. Very lush and pretty, but pretty scary neighborhood. Then it starts to climb again and it was brutal. Teri stopped the motorhome three times and wrote encouraging notes on the pavement. I climbed 4100 ft in about 40 miles. At about 45 miles into the ride, a wall of storm blew into me. It was a torrential downpour for about 30 minutes and then it settled down into a steady hard rain. I decided to go the highway route instead of following the ACA route. It was a good call because the road was a lot flatter, but there was also a lot of traffic. I finally rolled into camp about 6pm

Day 43 - Thursday, July 31st Mt Rogers, VIRGINIA

Elsie and maybe Annie are riding with Daddy today along the Virginia Creeper Trail, a bike trail that we are told is fabulous. James is probably sitting out as he fell off the top rung (he wants me to emphasize how high it was) of a play structure yesterday and really tweaked his back. Jonathan tried to get a piggy back ride and James was in tears trying to get him back off. He's OK - he swam lots yesterday and even played some basketball. But he's sore and rest is probably a good thing. He wants to ride, however, as we are down to Don's last 6 day s of riding! We can't believe he's already almost done. Don's been telling the kids how anything can be accomplished if you just set your mind to it (and if your wife is willing to back you!). We hope it's a lesson they remember forever. It's not that Don's the biggest or the strongest - he just had a dream and made it happen. One day/mile at a time.

We'll be out of touch for a couple of days as we truly are in the middle of green lush country and not many cities. Internet? What is that again? Here's hoping the library has it sowe can sent the last three days' updates. It's been hard finding a place to post. Sorry about that, Mom! I know you worry when you don't hear from us. We're OK, just in different country.

Am at the library and a nice gentleman just walked up to me, told me he recognized me from the website and handed me some money for gas. How sweet! The people in Abingdon have been really friendly and it's a beautiful town with old brick buildings and lots of beautiful greenery.

Don's riding notes on Riverside Campground (Abingdon) to Grindstone State Campground (Mt. Rogers) 47 miles with 2300 ft elevation)

The kids rode with me today. I rode alone from the campground to the Abingdon Library, where the family was waiting. I had to ride on a busy highway and it was raining hard the whole time. Elsie and James rode 15 miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail. It rained for the first hour or so and the kids were real troopers. We were completely soaked and they didn’t complain at all. I was the only one with fenders, so both kids had a healthy amount of mud up their backs. I got a great picture of Elsie with her face totally wet and big splotches of mud on it too. James crashed on the trail a while later when he tried to stop for Elsie and me. He is riding on slicks and I guess they don’t do real well on mud and gravel. It skinned up one knee pretty good, but he handled it well once Daddy-O doctored it up and got a band-aid on it. When we met up with Teri, James called it quits and Annie got to ride for a while. It was awesome. The rain had stopped and she had a nice ride. After I left them, I had about 25 more miles up into the mountains. Nothing too brutal, but definitely a good climb. Virginia has been really tough so far and by the looks of the map, it is only going to get worse. It seems like I have the toughest part of the entire ride during the last week. I feel sorry for the people that do it East to West. I bet a bunch of them want to quit, or do quit.

Now the kids are all out playing with the fire. Mom is showering and dad is snagging some time on the computer.

Day 44 - Friday, August 1st Radford, VIRGINIA

Is it Friday already? It was just Sunday yesterday. The days are flying by faster than we can believe.

Had a slow morning at the beautiful campsite in the mountains at Grindstone Campground. It was quiet and secluded but friendly and clean, too. Played some Rummicube with the kids then hit the road. When we arrived at Wytheville around noon, we hit our typical Walmart stop for groceries, bought some more flip-flops at Old Navy (we're going through them!), got a big cheese pizza at Little Caesars and headed for a laundromat. We called Don right about then and found out that he was in Wytheville, too, just about 2 miles away! Felt some guilt at having eaten a big hot pizza all to ourselves while he was eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches and working hard. Dealt with the guilt. Don joined us at the laundromat and we finally got to wash his one pair of riding shorts that haven't been laundered since the trip began! ICK. He does wash them off in the shower often, but it felt good to disinfect those babies!

Don took off in his fresh shorts and we all finished our game of Settlers of Catan then headed for Radford. Found a beautiful park with about 70 acres of grass, walking trails, riverfront, play equipment, etc. James, Jonathan and Annie found a couple of friends to play tag and frisbee with while Elsie and I took a bike ride around the bike trails. After spending some time wading in the river and catching water bugs, Donny showed up and we headed for our campsite. Ate a bunch of nachos and were thrilled to turn the lights out!

Day 45 - Saturday, August 2nd Natural Bridge, VIRGINIA

It's Saturday and I should be out garage saling with Brenda or Michael. Get the good stuff for me, ladies!

Had planned on sleeping in but the campground had other plans. They began digging with a bulldozer 5 feet from our RV around 7am. You've got to be kidding!! So we're up. Don is out emptying the gray water from the RV and the kids are at the playground (except for James who is pretending to be asleep buried under about three blankets).

Went to Roanoke, Virginia. Had to see it as we were so close. Went to a downtown market and got fresh veggies - yay - missing our GreenBluff stuff right about now! Then off to the library to post this. Next we're headed to the top of a hill that has a star - apparently you can see three different states from there and it's gorgeous. We'll get pictures if we can find it!

This evening we'll catch up with Don at Natural Bridge, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It's a really high bridge made by God. Thomas Jefferson owned it and I believe George Washington signed it. Has lots of hiking and other cool things around it. Then off to Walmart for the night - we're trying to save a few extra dollars in our budget for when we get to D.C. and New York. But I'm kinda scared to save up - every time we start to get ahead of our budget and I think, "yeah, we'll get to do something extra now" we have a crisis of some sort. But thankfully, this little RV has run like a champ. 100,000 miles and she's still doing great! Gotta love Toyotas. We are getting the 18mpg that we were promised by her previous owners. And we found gas yesterday for $3.56!! Yes, you read that right. Now, tell me why it's so much more expensive to get gas in Washington than in Virginia. I smell a rat!!!

Day 46 - Sunday, August 3rd, Lexington & Charlottesville, VIRGINIA

Ah, nothing like waking up in a Walmart parking lot. Geepers we're gonna miss that! Don headed off really early to get a LOT of miles under his belt today. We've decided to go all the way to Charlottesville today as we all want to stay in a hotel and our best bet on priceline is to get to a bigger city. SO, off he went while the kids and I tried to find a church in Lexington. After many attempts, it was getting late, so we headed right downtown and walked into three different huge churches, trying to find one that would work. The first big beautiful church that could have housed about 500 people only had about 5 old people in it. So wisely we continued on. The next one looked full but was just ending. Continued up the street and found a church that was just getting started. Decided to stay and just hope for the best. It was a very traditional, liturgical service. The people were super sweet - we felt very out of our element. James afterward commented that those kinds of churches are what make young people not want to go to church. It felt more like routine and tradition than actually connecting with God. But the church was beautiful and the people were very warm and friendly, much more welcoming than the church we went to before that we loved - but where not one person took the time to get to know us. If the church could just get it right and be both friendly and genuine!

Then went to Charlottesville. What a gorgeous town! Old brick buildings, beautifully kept. Library was closed but the internet worked outside the building, so got a priceline hotel. Don caught up to us at the Holiday Inn and spent the night swimming and watching TV. No Disney again. What is with these hotels not having the Disney channel? Grr!!

Day 47 - Monday, August 4th, Charlottesville, VIRGINIA

Don did double miles yesterday so we could have a rest day today. So spent a leisurely morning at the hotel and then headed off to Monticello, the house that Thomas Jefferson built. It was beautiful. We did the kids and family tour so it was actually interesting. The kids learned a lot (and some of what I taught them last year actually sunk in this time around) and I felt like a good homeschool mom.

Don only has 2 days left of bike riding and he'll have made his goal!! Unbelievable. Then our family is back together and summer will begin for real. Yes, I realize I am spoiled having a teacher husband who is usually home all summer!! That's what makes not getting a huge salary worth it all - family time. well, most of the time. =)

Don says he hurts all the time. His knees. You wouldn't know it to look at him and he rarely says anything but it's there. I asked him if he will be disappointed when it's all done. He said it's been weird. You have this huge dream all your life - and then you do it. It hasn't been like he expected. He has yet to find a single person to bike with and our kids usually stayed with me, so he pretty much has spent the summer alone on his bike. There has been a lot less companionship and probably a lot less encouragement along the way than he expected. It hasn't felt as "big" as expected. He just day by day gets out there and whittles away at it by himself and now here he is, with a 25 year old dream almost accomplished! Your comments and encouragement along the way have been hugely important. Thank you for that!!

Day 48 - Tuesday, August 5th, Richmond, VIRGINIA

It's 8:00 am and Don is just about to head out for the day. As usual, the kids are all still asleep. Don't know how they sleep through him packing up, making breakfast, etc. in this little RV - but they do!

Don just told me today is the first day that he actually really struggled with wanting to go back to bed. I reminded him he has to get going because "George" is out there waiting for him. Don told me the guy's name is Bubba, not George. Whatever, this is the guy that I'm pretty sure picks Don up every day after he leaves us and drives him to the next city. Cause Donny almost always shows up happy and fresh and I keep telling him there's no way he's biking all of this!

Don loved Richmond as he got to ride through the beautiful suburbs west of town- we felt differently. He spent the day in the beautiful areas with incredible homes, etc. We spent the day downtown driving in circles, trying to find somewhere to park so we could go to the White House of the Confederacy and other important places. We were SO glad when we finally got Don in the RV to drive to a Walmart for the night. Picked one Walmart - didn't feel safe there. So drove a bunch of miles the wrong way so we could find something safe. I am so thankful for my husband. Even though it added more miles to his next day, he was willing to drive until we all felt comfortable for the night.

Day 49 - YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA

This is it! The last day. Guess what? He made it!!! It was quite a day. We said good-bye as Donny headed off this morning from Walmart. We then headed in towards Williamsburg. I got really teary eyed as I saw the signs to Williamsburg and Yorktown. It finally hit home what my husband and even we as a family had accomplished. We walked around Colonial Williamsburg for awhile. It was so hot and we were too cheap to buy tickets to go into houses. So we were pretty bored. Headed off instead to the Victory Center in Yorktown. Kids loved it. While we were there, Donny called to say he had arrived in Yorktown and would wait for us to get there to drive to the ocean.

So we wrapped it all up and headed off to the beach with the signs the kids had made for him earlier. God was gracious enough to give us parking right on the beach, a very rare thing, and we cheered Donny in as he rode up to us. Pretty cool. He dipped his tire in the Atlantic Ocean as we all cheered.

We packed his bike onto the back of the RV - a very strange emotion for all of us. We then walked as a family down the beach to a Ben & Jerrys. We were going to splurge for ice cream for us all to celebrate. But when we were telling the owner who had come out, Robert, what Don had just done, he said ice cream was on the house!! Don indulged in a very high calorie milkshake (he's lost 8 pounds on the trip). It was a great way to top off a great day.

But the day wasn't done! We had to get to Washington D.C. still. So off we drove for about 3 hours. Got a hotel through priceline for crazy-cheap and had a blessed night sleep.

Note from Don: The last two days have been great riding days, 76 miles yesterday with about 2,500 ft elevation gain and about 62 miles today. The weather was also wonderful.

Yesterday's route was mostly along little country roads through beautiful Virginia forests. Some of my days the miles came slow and hard. I would ride and ride and look at my computer and see that I had gone like three miles. Yesterday I just rode through these cute little towns and the next thing I knew I had gone 50 miles. The last 10 miles was on either highway or really busy Richmond streets. As I rode on the highway eating a sandwich with one hand and talking to Teri on the cell phone with the other, I realized that I had gotten pretty comfortable with traffic. It will be nice to get back to little Greenbluff roads where cars are a little more considerate.

Today's ride started in the city of Colonial Heights, a suburb south of Richmond. I got lost once and stopped to ask directions of some total gang-bangers. I asked this guy if he could help me with some directions. I smiled a lot and was really friendly and just hoped they wouldn't shoot me. When I got done asking, the guy just stared at me for a while like he didn't speak English. Then he was so helpful and repeated his directions three times. I thanked them and rode off. As I was leaving I heard him tell one of his crew, "Now that guy has the official bike..." I loved it.

I have to comment on how people treated me along the way. Basically it was incredible. They were curious, friendly, and inquisitive. I really only had one negative encounter the whole trip. Over and over, I had these great conversations with the most amazing people. I wish I had eaten more meals at gas stations and rest stops instead of just by the side of the road. Pretty much every time I hung out in places that people could chat with me, they sought me out to talk. Unfortunately, I usually ate in lonely places out in the middle of nowhere. Something to remember for the next time. :-)

When I pulled into Yorktown, it was a funny feeling. I was thrilled to be finishing my ride, but also sad that I was going to be done. Tomorrow I would get up and just be a normal guy again. While I was doing the ride it felt really amazing to get up every day and know that I was doing something unique. What a privilege it has been for me to do this!

Day 50 - Thursday, August 7th, Washington D.C.

Well, we're here and we can't believe it. We walked and walked today. We are absolutely exhausted. By the time we got home, several of us - OK, me - could hardly walk. So begins the journey towards home.

We're here through Sunday then off to Gettysburg. Next comes New York, Boston, Maine, Niagara Falls, Chicago and finally home. We'll try to do another update along the way for moms and dads who are interested but it will be sporadic as we are pretty much in Walmarts all the way home, thus no internet.

Thank you all for your incredible support. Having such amazing friends means more than we can say. We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon! Hopefully Donny will put an update below on how the final day went from his perspective. He had a dream - and he did it. We are proud.

Day 51-53 - Friday - Sunday, August 8th-10th, Washington D.C.

Saw tons of stuff in D.C. We've seen so much along the way that it is getting hard to impress the kids. Kind of like getting too many Christmas presents at once. After awhile, you just kinda keep opening them but the excitement is gone. For example, "Look kids, it's the White House!" Response? "Yep. Looks a lot like Monticello. Are we ready to go on?" Hah. So, we kept it short and sweet and the m useums. Museum of Natural History? Been there, done that at other places. And so on. We did love the Capitol building. And the highlight for James and Elsie was the International Spy Museum. They got to go on a special mission and loved it. Meanwhile, Annie, Jonathan and I braved the subway alone and went back to the hotel to watch Disney. Not a bad way to spend an evening - lying in bed!!

We were going to go to the National Cathedral on Sunday. But decided not to. Arlington? Just another cemetery. We have Gettysburg in a couple of days anyway. And we just saw the Custer Battlefield recently. And so on!! Pretty sad over here! =)

So Don led a short church service in the RV, we sang all of Jonathan's favorite songs - Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children and Soon and Very Soon. Then off we went to the Holocaust Museum. The kids enjoyed Daniel's Story. After about an hour in the "big" museum, the girls leaned over and said they were done. They'd seen enough.

We then went to the D.C. Tour by Foot. It was really fun and good, just like Trip Advisor had said. We ended our time in D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial, which was a fitting ending spot. We sat on the stairs staring out at the Reflecting Pool like everyone else who has ever gone to D.C. and took a moment to reflect on all we've seen over the last 7 weeks! After about 30 seconds of that =), we headed back the long walk to the metro and then hopped in the R.V. and off to Gettysburg we went. We were going to stay in a campsite but decided we'd save the $20 and go out to Arbys instead. It was a good decision. Found a quite Walmart to spend the night in. It was actually chilly outside! So we slept beautifully. OK, too much information, I know!

Day 54 - Monday, August 11th, Gettysburg, PA

Woke up early and headed off to see the Gettysburg area. Cute town. The museum was really well done. We had studied the Civil War in school a lot last year so it was great to put a place with the events. Then went off to Hershey, PA, to chocolate world. We got to ride on this cool "Disney-type" ride through the factory. Elsie said it was the favorite part of her trip so far. Sigh. Got free samples, bought some cupcakes that we didn't finish! Now, that's pretty rare for us. But we have been chocolated out today. Then off to our campground. Tomorrow we head to Philadelphia to see Independence Hall where the Second Congregational Congress met, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written and signed and on and on. George Washington was made general there. Should be good. For at least 5 minutes!

I must admit we have started counting down the days til we get home. The kids are SO anxious to see their friends and animals, not necessarily in that order!!

Day 55 - Tuesday, August 12th, Philadelphia, PA

Today was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Pretty amazing to stand there where it all happened. Betsy Ross' house, the beginning of our country.

Then off to New York. We couldn't find the 95, only the New Jersey Turnpike, so we took the 1 instead. We drove and drove and then drove some more through lights, neighborhoods, etc. Kept seeing signs to the New Jersey Turnpike. After a few hours of this, figured out that the 95 and the NJ Turnpike are basically the same thing and we could have cut our time in half by taking it. ARGH. Now we know!! So arrived in to town late. Tried to priceline a hotel but our piddly offerings were rejected. So we stayed in Walmart instead.

Day 56 - Wednesday, August 13th, New York, PA

Well, we did it! We survived Walmart in New Jersey! It was actually a nice spot and we felt pretty safe. We're heading to the Staten Island Ferry in a minute and then into Manhattan, Times Square, etc. Back to Walmart tonight and then we have to be at the Statue of Liberty by 8am tomorrow morning. We'll spend the day at Ellis Island and then drive to Boston tomorrow night. Hopefully they are a little more desperate and willing to let us stay in a hotel for cheap there! But I must admit that we are LOVING the nights in the RV now. It is so cool to be all together in this small space, all hugging and being together and loving on each other. We've (the kids, even!) decided we'll have to have family night in the liiving room every now and then with a big sleepover.