Day 38: Rock Me Momma Like a Wagon Wheel: Strasburg VA

We tried to get up earlier this morning to try and make it to Strasburg, Virginia by lunch time.  Our roommate Phil Ramsey lives in Strasburg and so we were very excited to stay at his house that night.  After packing up our tent for presumably the last time we headed down the streets of Petersburg to MacDonald's where we fueled up for the day.  The morning ride began quite easily as we rolled down the asphalt that was still was from the previous evenings rainfall.  The skies periodically looked threatening but we pedaled on in hopes of evading the storms.  We finally made it to highway 55 which John had suggested we take, the new 55 was made into a 4 lane highway and blasted through most of the mountain tops and really helped to level out the grades.  Steve and I continued to have trailer races to the top of the mountains, which surprisingly make the climbs much more enjoyable.  We stopped at this scenic overlook to fix a flat that Jody got climbing the mountain, the overlook had the largest parking lot ever for the most disappointing view possible.  Steve was the only one who ventured out on the trail but returned to tell us that is was a huge disappointment. Eventually the freeway ended as the road transformed back into a two way highway, this was a little scary because we knew the mountains got a lot steeper when they haven't been removed to put in a large highway.  We had one more very very steep climb before dropping down into Strasburg.  At the top of the mountain we were rewarded with the satisfaction of crossing the Virginia State line and 5 miles of steep down hill.  Strasburg welcomed us with a few rolling hills as we tried to follow Jody as he led us into Phil's driveway from memory.  Phil's mom and step Dad welcomed us into their home as we sat down and got to eat a great lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches as we waited for Phil to arrive home from work.  After Phil arrived we loaded into his newly purchased Ford Ranger and headed out to the local disc golf course.  Steve and I rode in the back of the truck while Jody and Phil conversed in the cab.  Phil once again exercised his dominance in the sport dominating us on every hole, Jody pulled a closer second while Steve and I battled it out for last place with Steve ultimately edging me out.  After some disc golf Phil drove us over to his Dad's farm where we had the pleasure of touring their pastures on four wheelers and chasing young beef cows.  That evening we were served a delicious lasagna dinner topped off with an amazing Chocolate Creme pie made by Phil's Mom.  We passed the evening in classic Virgina style by watching the Nationals come back and defeat the Orioles before heading to bed.  That night I went to bed singing "Wagon Wheel" and dreaming old time Virgina dreams.

62 Miles