Charlottesville, Virginia, to Ruckersville, Virginia -- 17 miles

We woke at 6:30 am and were out by 7:15 am. We biked out to Route 734, the road we were taking north to Ruckersville. The route would have been fine except that it was rush hour and there was a procession of cars that kept us on guard. After a certain point, the traffic trailed off to almost nothing and we could once again relax and take in the beautiful scenery. The hills were rolling, and the landscape alternated between pasture and farm to wooded forest. 

We were going off route today to see Lenny’s godfather and his wife. Lorraine had asked Lenny a few days before if he knew where in Virginia his godfather (Tony Zarillo) lived. He said he didn’t know but would find out and called his dad. His dad was delighted, as Tony is his closest and dearest friend. Lenny told Tony if we arrived on Friday, we would only be able to visit for a couple hours as our schedule was tight. We came to a home where the owner was outside and asked where Cordelia Drive was. He told us and we arrived at 9:30 am on their doorstep! 

Tony and his wife thought we were coming on motorcycles, not bicycles, and were amazed that we made it across the country. We had breakfast of eggs, toast, fries, bacon and ham. We talked for some time and then Tony convinced us to stay overnight. We could tell it meant a lot to them, so we agreed. Besides, it was nice to get a break from pedaling! We asked them to take us down Route 33 tomorrow to get us back to the route. We would miss about 35 miles of the TransAm and pick up the route in Mineral. Tony is 87 years old, and his wife Louise is 71. Tony has known Lenny’s dad for more than 75 years. He affectionately calls Lenny’s dad “Lenny-boy” and started calling Lenny the same. Louise has two daughters by a previous marriage, Dale and Karen. They also have a daughter, Roseanne, who was born just about 6 months after Lenny. She came by the previous day to meet us, as there was confusion as to when we would be there. Tony and Louise have been married for 47 years. 

Tony took a nap in the middle of the day, so we took the opportunity to rest, catch up on the journal and watch TV. Their kitty Lara was very upset by our presence, and when Lorraine tried to pet her, she scratched and hissed at us! We had a delicious dinner of ravioli and meatballs. Later, we sat on the back porch and talked. To our surprise, Tony ordered Domino’s Pizza at 9 pm, then we listened to some Jewish and Italian comedians on their record player. We went off to bed at about 10:30 pm.