Thursday August 16th Washington, DC

It is raining. We were surprised last night by our good friend Loni (real name, Jonathan Lewis), who took the train from NYC with his son, Yaniv, to see us and welcome us to DC. They are down at breakfast so I have hijacked his computer for some FREE wireless. There is a computer in the hotel but you have to pay by the MINUTE! I've never heard of such a thing. The nicer the hotel, the more they charge you for stuff. Anyhow, there is a library a block away so I can use the computer there too. We are also walking distance to the Mall and monuments, etc. and the Spy museum is across the street. The boys are still soaking up the fact that we made it and are in DC. Solomon said "I'm still trying to process that we finished....I'm still trying to process that Harry Potter is over....I'm still trying to process that I'm going to be in 4th grade." This morning he woke up and said "it seems like just a rest day...I'm can't really feel the difference of being done and just being on a rest day".
Yesterday was our last day and we were expecting an easy, low mileage day. We were off our maps and just winging it but we had the general route from Sharon's work on the Internet. Unfortunately we had to go off even that to find a place to sleep the night before (more on that later...THE SKANKIEST place yet...so bad that Yonah even took pictures!)
Anyhow, to make a long story short, instead of a 50 mile day we had an almost 90 mile day. We rode across the Memorial bridge just as it was getting dark, the Washington Monument was all lit up, the Lincoln Memorial was glowing, the Potomac was just sparkling...it was sooooo moving. Our total exhaustion added to the whole incredible feeling of having finally arrived at our destination, of having accomplished this amazing goal.
I'll write more on this later, as will Matt, and hopefully Yonah and Solomon.
Now, it is off to the Spy Museum.
Love,
Djina

August 15th Washington, DC

WE MADE IT!!! I'll write more when I'm on a computer that doesn't cost $1.00/min.
Love,
Djina
It is amazing here

August 11th Saturday Camp Bethel (near Troutville)->Lexington->Blueridge Pkwy (near Montebello,VA)

Oh my God-what a day. I had set my alarm for 5am so we could get out early and make it to the bike shop before it closed at noon. It was in Lexington and about 34 hilly miles away. If we didn't get there we would be screwed because Sunday it was closed altogether and we had the hardest climb of the trip coming up. But my alarm didn't go off for some weird reason and I didn't wake up until almost 6am. I skipped Yoga and made everyone oatmeal and hot chocolate and we were on the road one hour later..our fastest breakaway yet, despite this pesky chicken that wandered into our campsite and kept trying to eat the oatmeal. At one point Yonah looked calmly from the chicken, to me, to his oatmeal, and said in that newly mature way, with a knowing and subtle shrug..."Gracias Gallina". The timing and delivery were perfect and it just cracked me up. That, however, was the highlight of the day (besides the great soup I already told you about). I had two working gears by this point and a really *&%$#@'d up chain. It was really hilly, and my chain kept dropping gears with every 4th pedal stroke and I would lurch forward on the bike. A couple of times the chain dropped completely off the chain ring and I would fly forward and land on the ground with my bike on top of me. (no broken bones but lots of bruised and tears of frustration...plus a ton of "check marks"!) I rode like this for about 20 miles but then everything finally went to hell, my chain busted and I went flying and really hurt my hand and I just gave up. Luckily we were right near a gas station so I asked the store owner if he has a friend with a truck who wanted to earn an easy $20 driving me and my bike the remaining 16 miles to the bike shop in Lexington? So, I quickly got a ride from Johnny. He was this 60ish guy, Vietnam veteran, big wad of chewing tobacco he was spitting into an empty gatorade bottle between his legs, bad back, who figured that for $20 I should get the full guided tour. He told me about everything and everybody we passed along the way from the family history and dynamics of every homestead, to how the money you pay for your hunting license each year is used by the local government. The tour alone was worth $20. I got to the bike shop in plenty of time, got my bike fixed by one of these bike shop owners who seem to feel the need to practice their patronizing lecturing on you, and was just walking our of the store when the boys all rode up. Then we went to the Cafe that Matt already told you about and had our best lunch so far on this trip. The only thing I would add was that the spin teacher guy was really hot! I would have taken his picture for my calendar but #1-he wasn't Biking The TransAm...and #2 He was with his girlfriend and she was even hotter (actually, she kind of looked like you, Heidi, but with some very fetching freckles).
OK, that's it for now.
Next up....the mother and daughter on the porch.
Oh, I also have to remember to tell you about Raymond. Just as we were leaving Troutville, this really sweet guy who sort of looked and sparkled like Peter Foster, and is a mechanic (although not a bike mechanic) drove by us trying to fix my bike for like the 4th time, made a u-turn, got out of his truck, tried to fix the bike..which he did make it a bit better but not fix..and said "you all wanna let them boys jump in the pool?" It was 101 degrees and about 3pm and we were dying in the heat and humidity. We had just been calling around trying to find a public or hotel pool we could jump in, and even had the Shaved Ice lady calling around too. So when he said that I about kissed his feet. So we rode to his house, which was just about 5 houses away, jumped in his pool (which he had made out of an old coal car and then sunk in cement), drank perfectly sweetened ice tea, and admired his huge (like an airplane hanger)workshop, where he was building a "portable bathroom" to haul up to his 200 year old log cabin, that his wife and daughter didn't like to go to because it didn't have a "real" bathroom!!! I took pictures so you will see that this bathroom was far nicer than our bathroom in Davis (NOT the one Peter Foster built..the other one). He was a real gem.
Now I really have to go.
We picked the boys up from the movie (The Simpsons), took them for pizza and ice cream, came back to the library..and now we are going to Tom and Carmi's house!
Sharon has scoured the Internet for a route for us from Charlottesville to DC!
Love,
Djina

Wednesday August 8th Damascus->Rural Retreat->Wythville

I was granted an 8 min. reprieve so I'll use it to play catch-up.
This was a great ride. Hilly, as beautiful as ever, fields of Vetch that smelled like sweet peas. This is the land of tics! Solomon found two on him at once.
We are stinky beyond belief...I stink, my clothes stink, my whole family stinks...
Here is a little trick I invented on this trip to deal with the nasty smells of many of the hotels we stay in. The first thing I do is make a pot of coffee (this is assuming there is a coffee maker in the room). Even if I'm not going to drink it, I make it and leave the lid off.
OK, times up.
L,
d

The Petition Lives!

I've only got 10 minutes (whoops 9) on this library computer that is only slightly faster than smoke signals, so I will relate a single episode from two days ago. We arrived in Lexington, Virgina. (bonus question: What Civil War generals are buried here?) We came to a nice looking cafe where a guy sitting with his girlfriend asked about us. We told him we were about to go up Vesuvius. Apparently it is a grade slightly steeper than the one Sisyphus rolled that rock up. He told us as much saying, "I teach a spin class, and I can tell you, you'll be walking those bikes." Well, I didn't want to walk the bike because we've made it this far without having to do so. He gave us a different route. We took it and it was terrific. But the anecdote isn't this. It's this. The owner of the cafe comes out, sees our laden bikes and says, "How about a fill up for your water bottles." We tell her we want lunch. She asks about the trip. We tell her about the global warming petition and she takes it to every single patron in her filled cafe. They all sign. Probably they thought they'd get a free piece of cheesecake or something. But the sight was awesome. We could barely eat our food for people were streaming over to our table to sign. If this scene were to happen in Hutchinson, Kansas or anywhere in Kentucky then I would know that the battle was won.

Times up. I'll close with this. We have conquered 4 giant mountain ranges and have ridden 3,600 miles. All we have left is 125 miles of flat land to D.C. I cannot believe that we have actually traveled across the entire USA from coast to coast on bicycles. Bonus question 2: What has been our average rate of speed? Hint: Yonah is the fastest at about .3 miles per hour faster than me.

Matt

Monday August 13th Charlottsville!!!!

We are taking rest day here in Charlottesville. We DID finish the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was spectacular. We are out of the mountains. We went to Monticello with the boys this morning. I've never been and it was just amazing. Now the boys are at the Simpson's movie and Matt and I are blogging. I have only 11 min. left. I wanted to go back to where I left off because so many things happened but I won't get far on 11 min.
We are staying with some friends here in Charlottesville tonight and then heading out for DC tomorrow. It should take us two days. I think our hotel in DC has a computer in the lobby so I'll finish up there.
Here are some bullet points of things I don't want to forget to tell you:
*my 16 mile ride with Johnny from the place my bike finally gave it's last gasp and threw me for the third and final time, to Lexington, where the bike shop was..and where my bike was repaired..including a new chain to replace the broken one. It needs a new sprocket set too, but the guy didn't have the right size so I'm riding on the power of prayer..so far so good.
*the girl and mother on the porch in the morning....this is the funniest of the lot
*the boy and his dad on identical ride on mowers
*Jefferey Callassen
*the guy who stopped and tried to help fix my bike but couldn't so let us swim in his pool and drink iced tea when it was 105 degrees!!!! Raymond! He reminded me of Peter Foster. More about him later..He was incredible.
*The Pink Panther- what is the connection between the pink panther and Virginia? Anyone with the correct answer(or any answer I guess) gets a valuable prize!!!!
*The shaved ice lady
*The bike shop in Radford
*The crazy chicken at Camp Bethel
*The cafe in Lexington where they LINED up to sign our petition...passing it from person to person!!! I'm not even exaggerating.
*The Roasted Red Pepper and Smoked Gouda soup at said cafe.
*The ranger that busted us camping illegally (AGAIN!!!!) but turned out to be so cool and found us an even better spot just 100 yrds. away..still not legal except he told all the other rangers not to bug us!!! He was also funny enough that he said "now don't git me started on Bear Hunters!!! They's just an inbreed apart."
Yikes, times up....
I love you!!!!
Djina

Sunday August 12th Lexington, VA->Blue Ridge Parkway->Afton,VA

I know there are a few days missing and so many stories to tell but it is late and we are at the home of some great people whom you would all just LOVE!!!! More on them later. We are so close we can smell it. We are exhausted. We left the Appalachians today. It has started to cool down a bit. To answer some of your questions: No, it never cools down at night. It is cooler in the early morning though, really pleasant until about 9am. We get up early so we can usually get at least 20 miles in before it gets hot.
Aughnty V- that is so funny that you say that about me looking forward to my home life, even as I'm sorry to see this life on the road end. That is exactly what I was thinking and talking about today...my garden, and wondering how it is doing, my friends and all the fun things we will be doing, I was thinking about the Palms and dancing with Ramona, I was thinking about the Bees I'm going to start keeping!!!!! And all backpacking with Julie, and riding with Ingrid..now that I'll be able to keep up...maybe. I've been thinking about all these things I want to do in my garden, and getting to know the new midwife and new doc that we hired before I left, running with Sharon, Fall yoga retreat, new recipes I want to learn, restaurants I want to go to, parties I want to have.....etc. etc.
Anyhow, we will spend a day in Charlottesville and then ride for two more days to DC, then home on the 18th. I'll write more later.
I miss and love you all.
Djina