I woke up at Doug's place at around noon, and got on the road about 2:00. I was tired. Thanks again to Doug for letting me crash there, I appreciate it.
Let me pause here and say that I stayed with Doug Friesema in Charlottesville, and I am staying with my other friend Doug Scott in Richmond. From here on when I say Doug I am referring to the latter.
Back in the spring one of my training rides was to bike to Doug's place in Richmond so we could go to a gun show. It was sweet, and this coming weekend we will be firing that gun in the woods at inanimate objects. This gave me a unique opportunity to compare my fitness level now with what it was before the trip, because I would be biking the exact same route. I will say that I am in much better biking shape now (obviously). It took me less time to get there than the first trip, and when I arrived I wasn't completely worn out. It's nice to have evidence of physical benefit from the trip.
Doug was kind enough to cook me a tasty dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, which I washed down with a tall, cool glass of HBO on demand. If I had access to Entourage (an HBO original series that must have been created by Jesus himself) all the time, I would never get anything done. It is the best show ever. Doug and Kay (his girlfriend and also my friend from Roanoke) went to the gym, but I declined and instead stayed and watched more TV. It's good that I'm almost done because if I had more than 1 day left, I might just stay here for a week or so. I am currently enjoying internet access to update this blog and check facebook every 5 minutes.
Tomorrow I will be arriving around noonish in Yorktown, where I will get some food with Mike Awesome before starting my return journey to Richmond and then Roanoke. I'll be posting a joyous announcement via iPhone once I reach the beach. I'll also provide a picture so you know I'm not just making it up.
62 miles to go.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
James Days 39, 40, and 41 - Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Charlottesville
So I've been a bit slack in updating my progress, but I am back in familiar territory and the end is in sight. The past 3 days have been somewhat surreal because I've been biking through places that I know well, or have biked before. It feels a lot more like the training trips I did in the spring than the end of the trip. I've also had three nights inside with a bed and a shower, which is amazing.
The ride to Blacksburg was interesting. I was woken up at 4:00am by people driving into the park. I don't know why they were hanging out in a park 2 hours before the sunrise, but one of them drove off in the car down the walking path. It wasn't made for cars. One of them decided to take a nap on another picnic table in the shelter I was in. I was a little concerned. Thankfully I didn't get stabbed/robbed/touched in weird ways by them, and several hours later I left small country Virginia in the fog. The day was nice to ride in, it stayed cloudy for a long time so it never got too hot.
In Blacksburg I stayed with my friend Matt. He had to work that night, so I took a shower and then went and chilled at Red Robin until he finished. It's about as interesting as it sounds, so Ben (who was also working that night) let me borrow his book by Anthony Bourdain, which was actually really good. I'm thinking about buying it when I get back. Katherine came down from Roanoke and we all went out. The one thing I like about bars in Blacksburg is the 32oz beers you can order. Finally, I don't have to get up quite as soon to refill. While the night was fun for me, it probably wouldn't be as much fun to read about, so I'll spare you the details. It did end with taquitos from 7-eleven though, so you know it's good.
The ride to Roanoke is essentially downhill, so the next day was a pretty easy ride. There were a good number of construction projects that were new since the last time I was in town, so it was a nice day. Getting home felt really weird, because it was a combination of relaxing from the biking and doing chores around the house. That night I went to eat with my mom and grandma at the Homeplace. If you have never been there, you are missing out. The last time I ate there was before I took the MCAT, and I'm pretty sure it was the only reason I did well. It's family style dining, so you sit at a table and they bring the food to you. They have fried chicken, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and apple butter, green beans, coleslaw, fried apples, baked beans, and to wash it all down pitchers of iced tea and lemonade. The best part is it's all you can eat, so if you run out of something they will bring you more. I was in heaven.
It was hard to get up the next morning, but I had to get to Charlottesville. I took the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way there, and it was probably one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. The temperature was perfect, and even though there was a lot of uphills, I think it was one of my favorite days of biking. Charlottesville was packed full of people I haven't seen in a while, so it was a blast to come back. Doug was kind enough to let me stay at his place, which worked out well because it was on the way out of town for Richmond. We all went out to Boylan that night for flip the dealer and table shuffleboard. It used to be that you flipped a coin, and if you guessed right draft beers cost 25 cents. Unfortunately, it's now $1 if you win the flip instead. I felt a little cheated. After I had had enough 'carbo loading' at the bar, we made the obligatory trip to Little Johns for subs. As per usual I ordered the largest sub there, but was only able to finish half of it because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. The good news is that I then could finish it for breakfast in the morning, along with the stale chips. Only two more days left!
The ride to Blacksburg was interesting. I was woken up at 4:00am by people driving into the park. I don't know why they were hanging out in a park 2 hours before the sunrise, but one of them drove off in the car down the walking path. It wasn't made for cars. One of them decided to take a nap on another picnic table in the shelter I was in. I was a little concerned. Thankfully I didn't get stabbed/robbed/touched in weird ways by them, and several hours later I left small country Virginia in the fog. The day was nice to ride in, it stayed cloudy for a long time so it never got too hot.
In Blacksburg I stayed with my friend Matt. He had to work that night, so I took a shower and then went and chilled at Red Robin until he finished. It's about as interesting as it sounds, so Ben (who was also working that night) let me borrow his book by Anthony Bourdain, which was actually really good. I'm thinking about buying it when I get back. Katherine came down from Roanoke and we all went out. The one thing I like about bars in Blacksburg is the 32oz beers you can order. Finally, I don't have to get up quite as soon to refill. While the night was fun for me, it probably wouldn't be as much fun to read about, so I'll spare you the details. It did end with taquitos from 7-eleven though, so you know it's good.
The ride to Roanoke is essentially downhill, so the next day was a pretty easy ride. There were a good number of construction projects that were new since the last time I was in town, so it was a nice day. Getting home felt really weird, because it was a combination of relaxing from the biking and doing chores around the house. That night I went to eat with my mom and grandma at the Homeplace. If you have never been there, you are missing out. The last time I ate there was before I took the MCAT, and I'm pretty sure it was the only reason I did well. It's family style dining, so you sit at a table and they bring the food to you. They have fried chicken, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and apple butter, green beans, coleslaw, fried apples, baked beans, and to wash it all down pitchers of iced tea and lemonade. The best part is it's all you can eat, so if you run out of something they will bring you more. I was in heaven.
It was hard to get up the next morning, but I had to get to Charlottesville. I took the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way there, and it was probably one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. The temperature was perfect, and even though there was a lot of uphills, I think it was one of my favorite days of biking. Charlottesville was packed full of people I haven't seen in a while, so it was a blast to come back. Doug was kind enough to let me stay at his place, which worked out well because it was on the way out of town for Richmond. We all went out to Boylan that night for flip the dealer and table shuffleboard. It used to be that you flipped a coin, and if you guessed right draft beers cost 25 cents. Unfortunately, it's now $1 if you win the flip instead. I felt a little cheated. After I had had enough 'carbo loading' at the bar, we made the obligatory trip to Little Johns for subs. As per usual I ordered the largest sub there, but was only able to finish half of it because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. The good news is that I then could finish it for breakfast in the morning, along with the stale chips. Only two more days left!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Alive, Well, and Super Lazy
Hola chicos!
For your information, since I know you're dying to know, the RLPT is still alive and doing great. Better than ever even. We even picked up a celebrity guest in Abingdon! However, we are too tired and lazy to deliver a quality update, so we decided that instead of giving you second-rate reading experience we'd hold out until Charlottesville to give you the multisensory explosion that is our standard write-up. Lo siento. At least the map is up to date!
By the way, we'll be in Yorktown on Thursday, July 2 at approximately 12pm. Get ready to rage like never ever before.
Spread it on!
Friday, June 26, 2009
James Days 37 & 38 - Salyersville, KY & Richlands, VA
I left Bob's place without much enthusiasm, as I go longer had home cooked meals and soft beds ahead of me. The day was nice again though, which helped motivate me.
While originally I had planned to go to Prestonsburg, this was not deemed acceptable by the weather gods. About 40 miles out, I stopped at a gas station and was pinnned down by a severe thunderstorm for over an hour and a half (hail, lightning, etc.). Finally the lightning died down and I biked 20 miles to Salyersville, but didn't have enough daylight left to get to Prestonsburg. The icing on the cake was when the power went out on the block with all the fast food and gas stations, meaning I couldn't buy anything because all I had was a debit card.
The next morning I slept in a little (past 7:00) but again had a pleasent day to greet me. I made it past Prestonsburg, an soon was greeted by a glorious 'welcome to Virginia' sign. It feels amazing to be back in my home state, and finally I feel like the end is in sight. I felt so good that I made it the 115 or so miles to Rochlands, Va, which had been my goal after Prestonsburg anyway. When I got to the park in town I met a couple families that were having a picnic, and they gave me half a pizza, a 2 liter of coke, ad a bag of ice. It felt like Homecoming.
This is also the last night I'll be camping out. My schedule is as follows:
Saturday 27th: Blacksburg (Ben and Matt)
Sunday 28th: Roanoke (my house)
Monday 29th: Charlottesville (if you're in town holla at me)
Tuesday 30th: Richmond (Doug)
Wednesday 1st: Yorktown
After I arrive in Yorktown I will be turning around and biking back towards Richmond, and Doug will give me a ride to Roanoke. Then I will celebrate our nation's birth by getting rowdy over the 4th weekend.
While originally I had planned to go to Prestonsburg, this was not deemed acceptable by the weather gods. About 40 miles out, I stopped at a gas station and was pinnned down by a severe thunderstorm for over an hour and a half (hail, lightning, etc.). Finally the lightning died down and I biked 20 miles to Salyersville, but didn't have enough daylight left to get to Prestonsburg. The icing on the cake was when the power went out on the block with all the fast food and gas stations, meaning I couldn't buy anything because all I had was a debit card.
The next morning I slept in a little (past 7:00) but again had a pleasent day to greet me. I made it past Prestonsburg, an soon was greeted by a glorious 'welcome to Virginia' sign. It feels amazing to be back in my home state, and finally I feel like the end is in sight. I felt so good that I made it the 115 or so miles to Rochlands, Va, which had been my goal after Prestonsburg anyway. When I got to the park in town I met a couple families that were having a picnic, and they gave me half a pizza, a 2 liter of coke, ad a bag of ice. It felt like Homecoming.
This is also the last night I'll be camping out. My schedule is as follows:
Saturday 27th: Blacksburg (Ben and Matt)
Sunday 28th: Roanoke (my house)
Monday 29th: Charlottesville (if you're in town holla at me)
Tuesday 30th: Richmond (Doug)
Wednesday 1st: Yorktown
After I arrive in Yorktown I will be turning around and biking back towards Richmond, and Doug will give me a ride to Roanoke. Then I will celebrate our nation's birth by getting rowdy over the 4th weekend.
James Days 35 & 36 - Lousiville & Lexington, KY
The past two days I have had good motivation, as there were houses, showers, and beds waiting for me at the end. The heat has also calmed down a bit, it's now in the upper 80s instead of the upper 90s.
About an hour after leaving Haubstadt, I started running into bikers going the other way. There were probably about 100 of them spread out over the next 30 miles. I talked with some at a gas station, and they were with TRIRI (Tour Riding In Rural Indiana). It's a group thy organizes multi day tours through parts of Indiana, providing places to stay, meals, and other bikers to go with. They didn't have to carry anything on their bikes, though.
Later, after lunch, for the first time on the trip, I was truly scared I was going to be hit by a car. I found out later that there was some sort of delay on 64 East, which meant eveyone got off and drove down the single lane road I was biking on. I had tractor trailers passing me with inches to spare, while cars and truck were compng the other direction. And there were no shoulders. There was a creek to one side and a rock wall on the other. It sucked in a big way. This was all but forgotten later at Andy's house. Shower, clean clothes, good food, and a nice bed can do wonders.
The next day was really nice. Rolling countryside, sunny, and only 70 miles to Bob's place. I passed bikers again, this time it was Bike And Build people. Weak. If I had been biking for over 20 days and was only in Kentucky, I would be really depressed.
I had another great dinner, courtesy of Bob's mom. Since it was the opening night of the new Transformers movie, we went to see that later in the evening. I loved it, but it may have been because Megan Fox was in it, I don't know. Two nights with a bed have spoiled me, the next couple days will be a pain.
About an hour after leaving Haubstadt, I started running into bikers going the other way. There were probably about 100 of them spread out over the next 30 miles. I talked with some at a gas station, and they were with TRIRI (Tour Riding In Rural Indiana). It's a group thy organizes multi day tours through parts of Indiana, providing places to stay, meals, and other bikers to go with. They didn't have to carry anything on their bikes, though.
Later, after lunch, for the first time on the trip, I was truly scared I was going to be hit by a car. I found out later that there was some sort of delay on 64 East, which meant eveyone got off and drove down the single lane road I was biking on. I had tractor trailers passing me with inches to spare, while cars and truck were compng the other direction. And there were no shoulders. There was a creek to one side and a rock wall on the other. It sucked in a big way. This was all but forgotten later at Andy's house. Shower, clean clothes, good food, and a nice bed can do wonders.
The next day was really nice. Rolling countryside, sunny, and only 70 miles to Bob's place. I passed bikers again, this time it was Bike And Build people. Weak. If I had been biking for over 20 days and was only in Kentucky, I would be really depressed.
I had another great dinner, courtesy of Bob's mom. Since it was the opening night of the new Transformers movie, we went to see that later in the evening. I loved it, but it may have been because Megan Fox was in it, I don't know. Two nights with a bed have spoiled me, the next couple days will be a pain.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day 36 - Watch out for them Crazies! - Madisonville, KY to Munfordville, KY
Distance - 120 miles!
DAANG! I know what you're thinking America, 120 miles is FAR! You are right, and we are tired. And by tired I mean our bikes are tired, we don't get tired. But speaking of deceiving roads, we tacked on some extra distance this morning when Madisonville tricked us into taking a wrong road. Our sharp, inherent genius manstincts quickly led us to correct this mistake, and be on our way. Madisonville and we aren't speaking any longer.
We stopped in Central City (which is in fact not in the center of the State, Country, County, or any other entity we could discern), because Sam has an addiction. It is similar to my addiction to gambling, but his is to 32 oz gatorades. He has between 30 and 40 gatorades a day, and sometimes he hits me. I've started drinking gratuitous amounts of 32 oz gatorades too so he will like me more. Help.
In Beaver Dam we stopped at a Dollar General because there was an add for a six pack of Mountain Dew(dragon) for only $1.50. And it's not like we needed 3 Mountain Dews each, but come on this is a once in a lifetime deal.
We cruised along the "Kentucky Scenic Byway" until lunch, which I'm not so sure was particulary scenic, but I have to say there is significantly less roadkill than in Missouri, which is where all the turtles and armadilloes go to die in the road. We ate in Rosine at the general store, which claims the origin of bluegrass music. I'm not extremely educated on the history of bluegrass music, so I don't want to offend anybody with the claims of Rosine, but bottom line is that bluegrass is a big deal there. And the town has like 50 people. And a delicious cheeseburger. We consumed a healthy amount of pistachios from the Townsend care-package, and turned green.
After lunch we passed through Do Stop, Kentucky, but did not even think about stopping. This is a protest tour, not a do-what-the-city-tells-you-tour, gol. In Leitchfield Sam cured the craving with 32 more ounces, and I rigged up the bike saddle 4.0.2 with a shamWow and a shirt rubber banded to my seat for extra cusioning. Come on I've been sitting on that seat for 36 days now, gettin a little sore!
After the break we pressed on the last 30 miles to Munfordville, and panicked when we realized it was getting too dark, so we sprinted the last 13 miles and no cars could catch us and we were fine. Sam pointed out that we could have made it to Munfordville earlier if we had jetskis for the Green River. We are considering getting jetskis and strapping our bikes to the back for the future. Then when we're not on the water we'll strap the jetskis to the back of our bikes.
Munfordville was closing down when we rolled in, but we scored drinks and food at an IGA that was still open (with a righteous deal on Powerades), and settled in the city park. There were at least 4 raccoons vandalizing seperate trash cans in the park when we got there. One gave me the stink eye. I threatened him.
After we finished making dinner in the picnic shelter, a lady rolled up in a truck. She asked us if we had seen her ex-husband, becuase she was stalking him. We gave her all the information we could, and she gave us a pack of baby wipes and 3 pre-soaped paper towels, and her phone number "in case we needed her to pick up anything from town for us". How bout that Southern hospitality? She also told us to watch out for the Klan, and the crazies, and left us. Uh oh.
Now when people ask us where we're going and we say Virginia, we have to specify that we've already come from Seattle, so we don't look like whimps. We're getting extremely excited for the homestretch and all the hospitality waiting for us just past that sweet Virginia state line!
Our schedule for the remaining days:
6/25 - Somerset, KY
6/26 - Hazard, KY
6/27 - Abingdon, VA (!)
6/28 - Blacksburg, VA
6/29 - (around) Buena Vista, VA
6/30 - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
7/1 - King William, VA
7/2 - YORKTOWN!!!!!
ShamWOW!
Love, Aaron
DAANG! I know what you're thinking America, 120 miles is FAR! You are right, and we are tired. And by tired I mean our bikes are tired, we don't get tired. But speaking of deceiving roads, we tacked on some extra distance this morning when Madisonville tricked us into taking a wrong road. Our sharp, inherent genius manstincts quickly led us to correct this mistake, and be on our way. Madisonville and we aren't speaking any longer.
We stopped in Central City (which is in fact not in the center of the State, Country, County, or any other entity we could discern), because Sam has an addiction. It is similar to my addiction to gambling, but his is to 32 oz gatorades. He has between 30 and 40 gatorades a day, and sometimes he hits me. I've started drinking gratuitous amounts of 32 oz gatorades too so he will like me more. Help.
In Beaver Dam we stopped at a Dollar General because there was an add for a six pack of Mountain Dew(dragon) for only $1.50. And it's not like we needed 3 Mountain Dews each, but come on this is a once in a lifetime deal.
We cruised along the "Kentucky Scenic Byway" until lunch, which I'm not so sure was particulary scenic, but I have to say there is significantly less roadkill than in Missouri, which is where all the turtles and armadilloes go to die in the road. We ate in Rosine at the general store, which claims the origin of bluegrass music. I'm not extremely educated on the history of bluegrass music, so I don't want to offend anybody with the claims of Rosine, but bottom line is that bluegrass is a big deal there. And the town has like 50 people. And a delicious cheeseburger. We consumed a healthy amount of pistachios from the Townsend care-package, and turned green.
After lunch we passed through Do Stop, Kentucky, but did not even think about stopping. This is a protest tour, not a do-what-the-city-tells-you-tour, gol. In Leitchfield Sam cured the craving with 32 more ounces, and I rigged up the bike saddle 4.0.2 with a shamWow and a shirt rubber banded to my seat for extra cusioning. Come on I've been sitting on that seat for 36 days now, gettin a little sore!
After the break we pressed on the last 30 miles to Munfordville, and panicked when we realized it was getting too dark, so we sprinted the last 13 miles and no cars could catch us and we were fine. Sam pointed out that we could have made it to Munfordville earlier if we had jetskis for the Green River. We are considering getting jetskis and strapping our bikes to the back for the future. Then when we're not on the water we'll strap the jetskis to the back of our bikes.
Munfordville was closing down when we rolled in, but we scored drinks and food at an IGA that was still open (with a righteous deal on Powerades), and settled in the city park. There were at least 4 raccoons vandalizing seperate trash cans in the park when we got there. One gave me the stink eye. I threatened him.
After we finished making dinner in the picnic shelter, a lady rolled up in a truck. She asked us if we had seen her ex-husband, becuase she was stalking him. We gave her all the information we could, and she gave us a pack of baby wipes and 3 pre-soaped paper towels, and her phone number "in case we needed her to pick up anything from town for us". How bout that Southern hospitality? She also told us to watch out for the Klan, and the crazies, and left us. Uh oh.
Now when people ask us where we're going and we say Virginia, we have to specify that we've already come from Seattle, so we don't look like whimps. We're getting extremely excited for the homestretch and all the hospitality waiting for us just past that sweet Virginia state line!
Our schedule for the remaining days:
6/25 - Somerset, KY
6/26 - Hazard, KY
6/27 - Abingdon, VA (!)
6/28 - Blacksburg, VA
6/29 - (around) Buena Vista, VA
6/30 - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
7/1 - King William, VA
7/2 - YORKTOWN!!!!!
ShamWOW!
Love, Aaron
Day 35 - Well, We're in the Kentucky Lottery Jurisdiction at Least - Carbondale, IL to Madisonville, KY
How do I get almost all the state lines? Whatever, I'm over it.
Distance: 179 km
The RLPT left Carbondale in high spirits, mostly due to the marvelous hospitality we received there--thanks again Nicole! After rolling out of the home of the SIU Salukis, we followed 13 east toward the state line and passed Marion along the way. Until this point, I found that for better or worse, most of the towns, villes, burgs, and opolises we'd seen were fairly unique in some manner. Some were clearly meant for tourism like Cody or Osage Beach. Others were progressive college towns with their own particular flavors like Bellingham and Missoula. Others like Norris or Rock River were unique in their sheer almost non-existence. However, Marion was the kind of place I've seen a gazillion times, fast food and gas stations lining the main drag spreading out from under the interstate. Not that I don't appreciate the convenience of such a selection of services (especially after the vast nowheres in the west), it's just interesting to see a very different approach to the aid of the traveler...this is the east.
Back in Realityville, Aaron and I continued moving toward Kentucky and stopped for lunch just short of the state line in Shawneetown (home of Arthur J. Frondflinger*, the King of the Hobos). We hit a Dollar General and had a super healthy meal of:
Sam- Half gallon of OJ, block of cheese, pack o' trail mix.
Aaron- Full gallon of sweet tea, PB w/ bagel and beef jerky, but mostly that dang tea.
So as you can imagine, we felt RAD starting up again. Good thing the state line was only three miles away!
Not that you would have known it. We crossed another huge bridge, this time over the Ohio River which makes IL/KY border, but there was no state sign. There was a county sign, a mileage marker (which by the way, Kentucky does by county, not by road. You could easily see 'Mile 13' a dozen times on the same road. I could make a joke here but I will refrain from saying anything hurtful regarding Kentuckians inability to count over the number 20), but no state sign. We weren't 100% sure we were there yet until we saw a lottery sign. Come on Kentucky, get your act together!
But seriously, Kentucky has been good to us--mostly. We moved on through Sullivan toward Providence (our original destination) and hit up a CVS where I found the shining dragon once again. Aaron and I spent at least an hour perusing the "Love" section of the greeting cards and decided on purchasing enough so our girlfriends can get at least four love letters from us every day for the rest of the summer. Haha yep.
Having been fueled with the dragon once more, we went to Madisonville, a good-sized town with a Subway! This is important because the rents bequeathed a ton of Subway dollars to us, and so we ate our faces clean off. Thanks M & D! So that was just jolly! Before we left we stood outside the restaurant discussing our plans for sleeping when some rather sour-looking folks of the, ahem, non-University of Virginia variety began giving us the stink eye. It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out how the average redneck feels about two young males clad in tight colorful garments that show off our talent and personalities, so we decided to just book it and figure it out later.
Fortunately, we found a YMCA across the street and inquired about staying there. The kind fellow at the front desk told us that this particular YMCA couldn't do that, but he did give us soap and shampoo to take showers and let us hang out in the game room until we went to sleep right beside an outdoor shelter on the property. Props to him, I regret not remembering his name.
Anyhoo, twas a solid day, and we're finally caught up on our posting. Have a HARDCORE DAY!!!
*not his real name because I don't want the railroad bulls finding him out but mostly because I forgot it.
Distance: 179 km
The RLPT left Carbondale in high spirits, mostly due to the marvelous hospitality we received there--thanks again Nicole! After rolling out of the home of the SIU Salukis, we followed 13 east toward the state line and passed Marion along the way. Until this point, I found that for better or worse, most of the towns, villes, burgs, and opolises we'd seen were fairly unique in some manner. Some were clearly meant for tourism like Cody or Osage Beach. Others were progressive college towns with their own particular flavors like Bellingham and Missoula. Others like Norris or Rock River were unique in their sheer almost non-existence. However, Marion was the kind of place I've seen a gazillion times, fast food and gas stations lining the main drag spreading out from under the interstate. Not that I don't appreciate the convenience of such a selection of services (especially after the vast nowheres in the west), it's just interesting to see a very different approach to the aid of the traveler...this is the east.
Back in Realityville, Aaron and I continued moving toward Kentucky and stopped for lunch just short of the state line in Shawneetown (home of Arthur J. Frondflinger*, the King of the Hobos). We hit a Dollar General and had a super healthy meal of:
Sam- Half gallon of OJ, block of cheese, pack o' trail mix.
Aaron- Full gallon of sweet tea, PB w/ bagel and beef jerky, but mostly that dang tea.
So as you can imagine, we felt RAD starting up again. Good thing the state line was only three miles away!
Not that you would have known it. We crossed another huge bridge, this time over the Ohio River which makes IL/KY border, but there was no state sign. There was a county sign, a mileage marker (which by the way, Kentucky does by county, not by road. You could easily see 'Mile 13' a dozen times on the same road. I could make a joke here but I will refrain from saying anything hurtful regarding Kentuckians inability to count over the number 20), but no state sign. We weren't 100% sure we were there yet until we saw a lottery sign. Come on Kentucky, get your act together!
But seriously, Kentucky has been good to us--mostly. We moved on through Sullivan toward Providence (our original destination) and hit up a CVS where I found the shining dragon once again. Aaron and I spent at least an hour perusing the "Love" section of the greeting cards and decided on purchasing enough so our girlfriends can get at least four love letters from us every day for the rest of the summer. Haha yep.
Having been fueled with the dragon once more, we went to Madisonville, a good-sized town with a Subway! This is important because the rents bequeathed a ton of Subway dollars to us, and so we ate our faces clean off. Thanks M & D! So that was just jolly! Before we left we stood outside the restaurant discussing our plans for sleeping when some rather sour-looking folks of the, ahem, non-University of Virginia variety began giving us the stink eye. It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out how the average redneck feels about two young males clad in tight colorful garments that show off our talent and personalities, so we decided to just book it and figure it out later.
Fortunately, we found a YMCA across the street and inquired about staying there. The kind fellow at the front desk told us that this particular YMCA couldn't do that, but he did give us soap and shampoo to take showers and let us hang out in the game room until we went to sleep right beside an outdoor shelter on the property. Props to him, I regret not remembering his name.
Anyhoo, twas a solid day, and we're finally caught up on our posting. Have a HARDCORE DAY!!!
*not his real name because I don't want the railroad bulls finding him out but mostly because I forgot it.
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