The long and winding road.

Well it was an interesting night last night in our rustic retreat, but not one I plan to repeat anytime soon. Chris had his feet hooked over the end of the mattress (gives some idea how long this bed was) while I clung to the side like a limpet. One of us turned over and the other was likely to fall out. It was also boiling hot ( no fan or AC) so sleep was limited and it was quite a relief to get up. Today was the only day that breakfast wasn't included and we were waiting to be royally fleeced for cereal and toast. First of all there was no cereal, apart from sugar coated kids cereal, and toast was $2 per portion. We discovered that a portion was two slices and given the small loaves the yanks typically use we ordered 3 portions between us. The waitress said she was sure an extra slice on our portions wouldn't matter (Alan Sugar won't be hiring her anytime soon) and she eventually returned with 2 plates piled high with toast, about 6-8 slices on each!  We were only charged $4 in total, which must make it the bargain of the trip.

We headed off along Skyline Drive in warm sunshine, trying to make as much ground as possible before it got too hot, eventually stopping at Elkwallow for cold drinks and a snack at around 11.30am, or lunchtime as the Americans call it ( I begin to understand why so many of them have dinner at around 4.00pm). We met a bunch of Sunday cyclists on their flashy lightweight bikes and they were fascinated to hear what we were doing - for our part we were fascinated by how unprepared they were for anything to go wrong.  Straight after this stop we climbed 1,000ft, being passed by three of these riders, only for the heavens to open at the top in a short but torrential downpour. Waterproof jackets on we headed down, passing them on the way as they were so cold they couldn't handle the bike - they seemed to think our jackets were some miracle new invention!!!

As quickly as it started the rain stopped, the sun came out and it got progressively hotter and more humid. The day overall was 57 miles with 4,000ft of ascent but 7,000ft of descent. It still felt hard, but the last 10 miles were good. We are staying in a good motel tonight - AC, two 5ft beds in the room, a shower with a decent flow of water plus tea and coffee on tap in the lobby. The only downside is that the only place to eat within a sensible distance is MacDonalds (or Dunkin Donuts), so we had to do battle with another single figure IQ employee.  It proved impossible for her to subtract 4.69 from 6.89 and after many attempts she went from over-charging us to under-charging us until I finally gave her the correct money as my final offer.

Last night there was a local event that we are sorry to have missed - The Doggone Safe dog bite seminar. This consisted of a slide show followed by role play and skits. I am desperate to know if you were allowed to be the dog in the role play and go around biting participants you didn't like, throws up endless possibilities.  The local paper here (here being Front Royal) has a wonderful section on recent indictments and the Crime of the Week - featuring lots of things being done unlawfully and feloniously! 

Anyway early start tomorrow to beat the heat, so off to pack up the panniers.

Currently top of the fat and sugar hit list is Mrs Freshly's carrot cake - you read it here first