I had a low-level headache much of yesterday and woke up with it this morning. It went away after a few minutes of riding. I have noticed the same thing when cycling to work. If I feel queasy or headachey when I get up, it's often gone by the time I get to work.
Today I passed through the border town of Bristol into Virginia. I stopped in Abingdon VA to check out the historic old town and visit the Barter Theater. During the Great Depression, starving actors performed there in return for food from cash-less farmers. You can still pay for your admission with produce, but most customers these days find money to be more convenient. The gentleman in the lobby was kind enough to let me peek in on a performance in progress.
He recommended a nice restaurant down the street called the General Store (?) which has a patio section at the rear where I didn't feel too out of place in my cycling clothes and could keep an eye on the bike. I ordered and ate two lunches, which impressed the waitress.
There had been an accident on the freeway that re-routed all north-south
traffic through town for an hour or two. A lady in a shop asked me
what was going on and allowed that this was the most excitement they
had seen for weeks.
The Adventure Cycling (aka BikeCentennial) TransAmerica route matches mine for some sections of route 11, so I expected that I might see some other cycle tourists. Sure enough, today I met Ray, who is also on a cross-country tour. Ray told me that I would probably meet his friend Van, who was a few hours behind, since Van would probably stay at Hungry Mother State Park where I planned to stay.
I mentioned before how few nasty car drivers I have encountered. In the couple hours I rode with Ray, we twice had people yell something undecipherable from passing cars. Perhaps it had something to do with the pink bunny Ray has sitting on the top of his rear rack.
While at a supermarket buying food for dinner I talked to Dave, who saw my bike and stopped to talk about touring. He's a cyclist himself and, like a lot of people I have met on the tour, is envious of what I am doing.
When I got to the park, they told me that someone had phoned with a message instructing me to go back a mile to the commercial campground I had passed on the way because there was a campsite already paid for. I was mystified by this. I thought maybe Van was there and wanted to share a site, but how did he find out about me? Maybe he saw me ride by.
It turns out Dave is a native of the area and knows the campground owners.
After leaving me at the supermarket, he drove up and paid for my campsite!
I've met a lot of people on this tour who have gone out of their way to be
helpful, but this was really beyond the call of duty. He had already left
by the time I arrived, so I didn't even get a chance to thank him.
Fortunately I have his address.