"Entry for Friday, 12 September 1997

1. Ruby's Restaurant in Jonesville, Virginia.

2. Ray climbing Powell Mountain.

3. Steve entering Tennessee near Kingsport, Tennessee.

4. Left to right: Stacy Phillips, Robby Poore, Lynne Sampson, and Jonathan Poore.

Last Modified on 9/12/97 at 23:12:56

Day's Narrative: Steve and I found Ruby's 2 Restaurant in downtown Jonesville, VA for breakfast (photo 1). After eating we left for Abington. Not long after leaving town we came to Powell Mountain (pronounced "Pal Mountain" locally). The climb up the mountain is about 1000 ft. (325 m). Photo 2 shows Ray almost at the top. Going down the other side there was a sign saying it was a 9% grade. The mile long descent was a real thrill!

The mountain really slowed our time today. We didn't reach Kingsport, TN until after noon, and then we had to decide whether or not to continue on to Bristol, VA via US 58 or look for another route. We stopped at a convenience store to ask about US 58 and discovered that it was very mountainous with lots of steep hills. When motorists tell you this you should listen. Most motorists never notice small hills, and some miss even the mountain grades.

Based on this new information we decided that taking US 58 to Bristol was unwise. Instead, we went down to US 11W, which we knew to have lots of traffic, but at least it was pretty flat. To our delight we discovered it had a great paved shoulder, and the shoulder had been designated a Tennessee bicycle route!

During the afternoon the climb over Powell Mountain took its toll and we got pretty tired. We made a fuel stop in Bristol at Wendy's fast food. We arrived in Abington and the motel about 6:45 pm.

Within 30 minutes Rob, Lynne, Jonathan and Stacy arrived from Atlanta. They were presented with Steve's presents of Supermarket and Retailer bicycling jerseys. See photo tomorrow. I then took their pictures for the web page this evening (photo 4).

Tomorrow we are going to Sparta, NC, just short of crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway. We'll save that mountain for Sunday. That probably means that it will take an additional day to get to Chapel Hill, NC.

[Connie] I pooped out last night -- so no comments then. Today was a botanical day -- after Jonesville, there were patches of kudzu which had climbed over the deciduous forest trees in shapes reminiscent of topiaries. Kudzu is a vine introduced to the South from Japan as a means of holding soil on hills. It has, however, become a noxious weed. In the Southern moisture and heat, it has grown wild, covering anything in its path that stood still -- telephone poles, trees, buildings, etc. It's lush, and beautifully green, does its job of holding soil, but has gotten out of hand.

It is becoming Autumn here and occasionally one sees a maple with some red leaves. My biggest surprise and pleasure was near Gates City, VA. where the traffic medians were full of cosmos. In South Africa, cosmos grows wild by the roadside, sometimes making whole fields of pink flowers with delicate green foliage. I didn't know that it grew like that in this country and was greatly pleased to see it.

In a previous comment, I mentioned something about feeling that if I opened my mouth and said something, people would know that I was foreigner -- not from that place. It's very true now that we're in the South where the Southern accent -- a very strong accent prevails. It is sometimes difficult for me to understand what someone is saying and possibly vice-versa.

Our motel is next to the Interstate, with a green belt of trees to cut the noise. Spurts of roaring sound come through occasionally and it hit me that the sound is almost pleasant because it is not unlike the sound of the ocean at places where there are huge breakers, like on the Eastern and Southern beaches in South Africa.

As I drove along, I saw again that that strange person Fallen Rocks was on the loose again. Signs everywhere, Said,"Watch for Fallen Rocks." I haven't seen him yet, maybe he's hiding out with "Watch for Trucks."

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© Ray & Connie Poore, 1997