Day 90: October 3, 2024 - Waynesville, NC, to Blacksburg, VA (by car)
End: Blacksburg, VA
Miles: 268 (by car)
I woke up knowing that I would be checking out of the Best Western this morning. A wonderful surprise was the email I received from the manager of the local Enterprise saying they were open.
I immediately headed to Enterprise. The fog was heavy and I wondered whether the person who named the Great Smoky Mountains didn’t know the difference between smoke and fog.
Earl Scruggs knew the difference.
There was no line at Enterprise so I quickly had a small car and with the help of the manager had my bike in its rear. Here’s the car parked in front of my room.
The previous night, Google Maps showed the route to Blacksburg to include some detours off and on the interstates, but now there were no such detours, indicating things were getting better.
I put all my things in the car and checked out. I was very lucky to have been stuck at this hotel rather than somewhere else. Here’s a picture of my room I took the night before.
Before heading to Blacksburg I drove to the home of the family that had offered to let me stay with them indefinitely. I thanked Joe and Gerri for their generosity. I would miss the experience of staying with them and helping with their clean-up.
As indicated on Google Maps, all the roads to Blacksburg were clear. Once in a while I saw trees down along the side of the road. The fall colors were starting to appear, and sometimes the names of towns on the signs were familiar from my ride through the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2019. I realized that I wanted to ride home from Alexandria, Virginia, rather than taking the train. I would need to study the weather in order to decide which way to complete my trip. I also thought that I wanted to someday ride the full length of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I spent the night at the home of Jim and his wife Lyn. Jim and I worked for a software company in Springfield, Virginia, in the early 90s and hadn’t seen each other since my big bike trip in 2019. Lyn prepared a delicious dinner and we enjoyed conversation into the night.
Follow my progress on this map. Click VIEW ALL and then pinch the map to see my progress from the start in Portland.
Follow me on Facebook here.
If my blog posts provide you with vicarious pleasure, please consider making even a small contribution towards the cost of my trip by clicking the GoFundMe graphic below. Every contribution helps!
Please share my blog with anyone you think might be interested.
If you post a comment, please identify yourself,
preferably by using your Google account.
Comments
Post a Comment