Nick and Dale's Great Adventure: Virginia!

 


We left Weldon and headed northeast, Virginia bound!  The ride to Suffolk would be scenic and flat.  It would also be our last 75 mile ride of this adventure.   Throughout the journey, we would pass many fields, cross a numerous rivers and travel along all types of roads.  On this day, the road is busy with  truck loads of timber heading northeast and empty trucks heading southwest.  We would pass a large commercial mill and stopped to watch the unloading.  The facility would push lumber out of one side and wood chips out of the other.  It appears they found a use for everything.





The fields in Virginia would change once again.  Peanuts!   Southeast Virginia is for peanut lovers.  I didn't know it was such a big crop in Virginia.   I guess the flat and sandy soil helps.  Swamps also abound in this section of the country.   So, if there weren't peanuts or corn, there were swamps!  We made good time and got to the hotel early.  Dale splurged on the Hilton Garden, the onsite restaurant was very good, the bar had some tasty treats and, yes, the pool was closed.  



We woke to storms on the last day.  Fortunately, we had a late checkout and the rain stopped.  The last leg of the journey would prove challenging along busy roads.  Dale would enjoy his first flat.  A large nail through the tire, the tube and the new rim.  I never thought a nail could go through a rim, even a carbon fiber one!  We fixed it up and continued on.  Between Portsmouth and Norfolk, we would take the ferry, the only part of the journey we didn't ride.  From there,  the ride to Virginia Beach would almost resemble, in reverse, the ride off of the Santa Monica Pier.    We would find lots of traffic.  Where there is traffic, there are traffic lights, so many stops along the last 38 miles.   And then you see it, the space between the buildings where there are no more buildings.  We made it!





Saturday, July 3, 2021 would be the ceremonial end of the journey.  Our wives, Cindy and Amy Jo had seen us off on May 15 and were now here to greet us at the end.  We met at the Neptune Statue and then headed to the beach, feet in the ocean.   Great sights and great memories to reminisce. 







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