Days 23 & 24: Durham, NC, to Boydton, VA

We crossed into our fifth state today. Dee got a little excited that Rhode Island is so close to Virginia!

We had a wonderful rest day in Durham yesterday. Dee had breakfast with her friend Linda from Semester at Sea while I breakfasted with Bob, then went to meet our daughter, Kate, who is next in the lineup for dog sitting at the river, and give her my car. In the afternoon Dee and I did yoga, laying out mats in my living room and playing a tape of one of her favorite teachers. It was much needed; I dripped sweat like never before while my quads cried out about how much they’ve had to work these last few weeks.

Then a great treat, one of my favorite things about where we live in Durham: A movie date. We walked to the beautiful Carolina Theater, got popcorn and Diet Coke, and watched RBG, the documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Go see it, it’s well done. It’s a sobering reminder, though, of how much work had to be done in the last 50 years to ensure that women are treated as equal citizens under the law—and how much ground we stand to lose if political winds don’t shift. Please, Justice Ginsburg, stay healthy and strong for three more years at least. It’s been a relief to be unplugged from much political news these last few weeks, but it doesn’t take much to remind us. Meanwhile, meeting so many kind people on this trip from all walks of life has been heartening, a little balm for all the angst.

My time with this guy, Bob, was too short and I’m tired of saying goodbye to him, but he seems to understand how much this trip means to me. And he’s had so much less laundry to do!

More sobering reflection: Visiting restored slave quarters at Stagville Plantation just a few miles north of Durham.

Our ride today was very rural, quiet roads without much traffic (except the closer we got to Kerr Lake, the more trucks passed us towing pontoon boats and dirt bikes). We climbed up and down, lots of rolling hills of green fields. It reminded me of rides in my 20s, when I lived in Boston and rode my bike in Vermont and New Hampshire. Life was pretty carefree then, and it made me smile to realize I feel nearly the same way now, 30 years later, on the other side of raising kids and building a career.

At around 30 miles we enjoyed a breakfast stop at Sunrise Biscuit in Oxford, NC. At 60-some miles we had frozen yogurt just on the edge of Clarksville, VA, a handsome little town sitting on Kerr Lake. Looking at the map last night, I was nervous about the enormous bridge at Clarksville, stretching across the lake — but that was the other bridge, just to the east of us. Our route had a nice, flat, shorter bridge; piece of cake.

At 69 miles we rolled up to our accommodations for the night, an older Cape Cod in Boydton offered by a woman who runs a B&B behind us. We toured the little downtown, very quiet on this Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, and found the one restaurant open to grab dinner. It feels like everyone has gone off to play at the lake or hold a family cookout somewhere. So here we are, far from our own families but excited that the miles are passing so easily. Soon enough, there will be time for family and cookouts and celebrations!

Downtown Boydton, VA. Happy Memorial Day weekend!