It was one of those days where there were two distinct halves. I awoke on my makeshift campsite at just about 5:30 am. I could have slept longer; however, there was a creek nearby so thanks to the wildlife, it was like trying to fall back asleep with the TV on loud. Either way I was excited to get back on the road.
I made it from Mechanicsville to Louisa VA. I stopped at a country store for lunch in Bumpass, received many thumbs up from passing cyclists, I got one middle finger, and I was chased by a dog for couple driveways. It was a well rounded ride, maybe about 65 miles.
While in Bumpass I searched for campsites ahead. I came across smallcountry.com, which is a website for the campsite owned by Bill and Ruth Small. I couldn’t have made a better decision to go there. A note to cyclists traveling the TransAm in the area, while the campground appears to be 12 miles off the route, it is really along the way, just a different way. After looking at the map I won’t be adding miles to the trip, I will just be working around a slightly different path. Bill was willing to give me half off and he mentioned that he would do the same for any other cyclists. On top of all that Bill and Ruth were kind enough to heat me up some hot dogs and give me a ziplock bag of ice for my legs.
The place is really beautiful. I’m sleeping in an open air pavilion of sorts right on the lake. There are electrical outlets and I get 3G out here so it’s a win win.
Within 5 minutes of getting to my spot the rain came. Maybe a dozen or so dogs and their owners as well as Susan, the owner of Aahhtt.com came into the pavilion to finish the dog seminar she had been giving. The dogs were rambunctious animals that these owners were saving from being put down, training, and then matching to new owners. Susan travels all around the country, hailing from Montana (a state I hope to be in this summer), and gives these seminars on how to train dogs. I don’t own any dogs but I have never seen anyone so in control of the animal. She really is good at what she does and I got a free peak at the seminar.
While rambling around the grounds, I met Glen, a retiree who has traveled the world and now travels the country by RV with his wife. He was a very interesting man and as we spoke for maybe a half hour. I found out he has lineage to both Stonewall Jackson and a signee of a bill to abolish slavery (interesting conflict there). He plans to photograph some of the battlefields Stonewall fought on this summer to put together a slideshow for the Jackson family reunion.
You just never know who you’re going to meet or what’s going to happen out here. Tomorrow might be a short day as I arrive in Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia. I’m thinking about renting a motel room to prepare my body for the 3,000 ft climb up the Appalachians in two days. I’ll keep in touch, especially now that I have a full cellphone battery.
