Oct 13

Skies overcastted, wind slight, temperature cool = 50 degrees. and rush hour traffic going the other way!! How perfect could it be?

The route today took us back out into the countryside where it is hard to determine if anyone actually lives there or just farms the land. House after house seems either burned out or deserted. The fields seem to be harvested, so someone is watching out for the peanuts and the cotton. An occasional dog barks letting us know that life is still around, and the pickup truck speeds by waving as he goes by assuring us that human life is really in the vicinity.

Down Murphy's Mill Road, onto Pitchkettle Road, over to Lake Kilby and Lake Cahoon Road, brought us to Holland Road, then Turington, to Jackson to Copeland, to Liberty Springs onto Adams Swamp -- the names all lead us further and further into the "peanut/cotton" farms of the east.

North Carolina's state line is stone surveyor's marker designating the line dating 1887 along side the road. If one pedaled too fast , one would have missed this marker -- hidden well into the weeds on the side of the road.

The day's route didn't include any towns that had services, so once again a picnic lunch was the the best answer for the day. Sandy Cross seemed to be the best place according to our map (Sandy Cross was merely a sign signifying the town!). After checking the time and distance, we decided that the gourmet picnic should happen around 37 miles at Tyner.

A church sitting out in the middle of nowhere beckoned us! A picnic on the front lawn with the church porch being a wind block seemed normal and natural. Several locals drove pass only to wave and encourage us to stay. One older black gentleman arrived on a one gear bike to inform us that he rides everyday and that we should consider bike riding. Then he looked up and saw our bikes!!! Instant friendship --- he loved us for riding, we loved him for riding when he wanted!!

As the afternoon went from high noon to sunset in the west the peanut fields and the cotton were beginning to force the mind into a "zone". Southern Virginia and Northern North Carolina are very poor with houses few and far between. The terrain is flat which further encourages one to just "dream".

Turning the corner in the middle of this remote area we came upon a General Mercantile! Stepping back in time we entered a store that housed every item that one would have seen fifty years ago. Nehi beverages, barrel pickles, homemade breads, and the most wonderful and delightful group of women in a "local gossip bee" mentality. Excited to see us -- wanting to share their store with all of us -- wanting to converse with someone from outside the community. This stop was an experience and a wonderful break.

Tonight we are in Edenton, North Carolina, the home of the 1774 Edenton Tea Party!!! It seems that when the women of Edenton heard about the Boston Tea Party they decided to show the British that the southern people were also dedicated to the idea of no taxation without representation. Fifty women including the wife of a British tax agent dumped the tea into the river!!

"Frankie, Is That Noise Still There?"	Lunch on The Church Steps
Mark: "Nancy, I Thought You Said There Was Cheese!"	Two Men and A Bike!
North Carolina! 1887	Jan and Candi in the General Store with the Puppies
Cracking What??