Day 41 of riding!

The morning was a cool 67 degrees under partly cloudy skies as we packed up our things at Comfort Inn in Wytheville, Virginia.  After breakfast, Russ took some time to work on his bike a bit.  The gizmo (I'm sure there's a technical name for it...to me, it's just a gizmo!) that changes the chain from the 3 big front gears wasn't working quite right, so Russ did some adjusting.  We were on our way down the road just after 8:00 am.  We rode beside interstate 81 for awhile on bike road 76, also called East Lee Hwy.  We were a bit unsure about what roads to take, we came to a turn where I thought we were on the right road, but actually we had committed to the on-ramp to the freeway! The road we were supposed to be on was just over the fence, Russ easily back-tracked, we drove on and met with him at the next exit.  I am SO thankful for my iPhone and the map application, for days like today - it's a lifesaver!

We came across a church sign early on that I thought was very appropriate!

We took a break in Wade's Supermarket parking lot in Dublin, Virginia shortly after turning back on US Hwy 11.  Back to our familiar highway!  Shortly thereafter, we came into Radford.

We were beginning to wonder if Virginia had any paved shoulders.  We experienced this bike lane for a short time and were thankful for it!

 Some road names are quite interesting, today I snapped a couple of them.  One I didn't get a photo of was "Kitten Lane"!

 I felt like this sign really describes our trip well!

Our next break was at Burger King in Christianburg at 11:15 after riding about 40 miles.

Of all the billboards we have seen on the entire trip,

this one wins the prize for the best and is my FAVORITE!!!

We were up and down on a few hills, mostly we see the mountains in the distance.

Is this beautiful, or what??

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful farm.

I'm a firm believer in LAUGHTER, to me, it's a gift from God!

AMEN!!

More beautiful scenery.  We were blessed for part of the day to have 4 lane roads, just a gravel shoulder, but at least people could pass safely.

 This pickup slowed to take pictures of the van/trailer/cross and drove beside Russ to get his picture!

Today we had a couple of "firsts" for the trip...the blue car pictured below had passed us earlier, later drove up from behind slowly and CLOSELY beside me to hand me a generous donation as we followed Russ down the road!  Our first donation "on the fly"!  Thank you!  You blessed us!

 Another first was an anonymous comment on the blog from someone who saw us on the road today. They wrote, "I passed you today in Radford, VA....wanted to say what an awesome thing you are doing and sending lots of luck on the rest of your journey! God bless you!" God bless YOU, my friend, you have NO IDEA how encouraging that is! 

Nearing the end of our day, we saw these signs...we were on our way to Salem, Virginia where we are spending the night at Comfort Suites.

Shortly after taking this picture, Russ pulled over - he had a flat on the front tire!  He said it was flat for about a mile, but there was nowhere to pull off!  He quickly switched out the tire and we were back on the road for 2 and 1/2 miles to reach his 60 miles for the day.

After checking into the motel, we cooled off in the pool and bubbled in the hot tub.  Russ worked on his bike this afternoon in his "bike shop" in the parking lot fixing the flat and working on the "gizmo" again! 

 While he was working, we met Angela.  She works in the adjacent building, saw the blog address on our sign and checked it out, then came out to meet us! She and her husband are cyclists. Angela also gave a generous donation and blessed us with encouragement. Thank you, Angela! 

This evening, I did a bit of laundry so we can make it through the rest of the trip.  While hanging out by the laundry room and taking things back to the van, I met more nice people.  God is always blessing us with people, curious, friendly, helpful and encouraging.  God continues to answer our daily prayer that the cross will bring curiosity, hope and encouragement to those who see it. To God be the Glory! 
Tomorrow we plan to be to Lynchburg by the end of the day.  The ride across Virginia is proving to be beautiful as well as encouraging with many friendly waves, honks and thumbs up as we travel.  Thank you again for your prayers and words of encouragement, they mean so much to us!
Until tomorrow,
Russ & Carol