Sep 9. Lessening Hills and a Flat Tire

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102473781
  Today dawned slightly foggy but no rain in the forecast. We had a lovely sunny day with pleasant temperatures and lower humidity.  A lot of our time was spent on roads where trees grow very close to the road and often the edge of the road wasn't mowed.       
   We got some fried chicken livers for lunch at Miller Grocery Store in Mineral, VA.   It was interesting to see the different people coming into the store.  It  seemed like most were lower income but friendly,  and it seems like more men around here have long white beards. 

   This afternoon we stopped at Mt Olivet Baptist Church to have a snack. As a car was parked outside we asked if we could use the  restrooms, which we smiled about as they contained a shower.  While we were eating our snack, a car went driving by slowly with a flapping noise and pulled into the parking lot.  It had a very flat front tire.  We asked the lady and her grandson if they needed some help. She hadn't been able to find her cell phone that morning so had left without it.  So we first  texted and then called her daughter who was near by.  We would have changed the tire as she had an inflated spare, but there was no jack as she had loaned that to a relative.  

   Options for tonight were either primitive camping at 50 miles or motel at 74 miles.    Because today had less hills and pleasant weather, and we had made it in good time to the first option, we decided to go onto the motel.  We are staying in Ashland, Virginia, whose nickname is "center of the universe." It is home to Randolf-Macon College which we had never heard of before.  A railroad had developed it as a mineral springs resort in the 1840's and gave monthly passes to Richmond to people who bought lots.  The president of the railroad then built a racetrack with railroad funds, and after the hullabaloo, moved to South America to establish railroads.  Many trains run right through town on the double tracks right down the center of main street with car lanes on each side.   

Comments

  1. Bill and PennySeptember 11, 2022 at 5:47 PM

    You are seeing and receiving so much cool history that I have never heard. Love it!

    ReplyDelete

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