Christianburg, Virginia, to Fincastle, Virginia -- 59 miles

We woke at 6:15 am and packed up camp. We spoke to Leonard Keegan and Michael Washburn, men in the military who were taking a 4-day trip on their Harleys. They rode from Alabama to Pennsylvania in 2 days, which they said is called hard riding. They laughed and said it doesn’t seem so hard compared to what you two are doing!

We began biking at 7:45 am. After we left town, the route turned to winding country roads. We stopped in the town of Ellet to get food and use the phone. Lenny was taking lots of pictures of the scenery. The rolling hills were steep in some spots, but fun to ride past the countryside. We ate lunch in Catawba, and Lorraine had ice cream. Lenny called and made arrangements to meet his godfather on either Thursday evening or Friday morning. We stopped in Troutville to buy groceries, and ate dinner at Greenwoods Restaurant. Lenny had roasted 1/2 chicken and Lorraine had crab cakes. We camped at Camp Bethel, a beautiful secluded spot for kids and groups that also accommodates individual campers. We heard a strange noise outside our tent, like an irate duck, and when Lenny looked outside, it turned out to be a squirrel in the tree above. We guessed that he was protesting our presence! There was a group of developmentally disabled campers in one of the nearby buildings. They were outside enjoying a campfire, and we could hear them carrying on until way after dark!