Sunday, September 1, 2013

September 1- Mineral to Ashland, Va.

We were up and away early from the fire house in Mineral, to ride ten miles to the next town, Bumpass (pronounced bumpus) in time to attend church there. Then a minimart breakfast and back on the road.

It was only a 45-mile day, so we stopped at Scotchtown, home of Patrick Henry. We got a long personal tour, and learned a lot about him. An interesting guy. One reason he is not as famous as other founding fathers is that he kept very few of his papers. He was also a composer and poet, but he burned it all. He was a successful lawyer and planter, and at the end of his life in 1799 he was one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. The house is maintained by a private historical foundation, and has many pieces of original furniture.

About 10 miles north of Ashland, Va.our route to our goal of Alexandria diverges from the Trans Am route we've been following all summer. But if we'd made the turn there today, we would have been left with nowhere to stay for 40 more miles. So we continued into the sizeable city of Ashland, and will retrace our steps tomorrow.

The terrain has been noticeably flatter over the last two days, though the last five miles into Ashland today were quite hilly.

The picture is Patrick Henry's home, framed by Sandy and our guide.

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