Hillsboro, OH

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post much lately.  The West Virginia police found out I'd done a wheelie while fully loaded, and I've been on the run for about a week...  (There was minor road damage.)

The Memorial Day weekend hasn't helped either - I've passed a dozen closed libraries with no chance to get online!

Excuses aside -


Other than the county road quality problems I mentioned before, West Virginia was very enjoyable.  It wasn't until about Barboursville, though, that I found what I'd really been looking for:
 

Pictured:  Mark's Beard

As I was driving past his store, Mark let out a shout about how I was training - he thought my buckets were full of weights!  I'm glad I stopped, because Mark's quite a character - while in the Navy he worked with dogs that could detect and indicate differently for bad guys vs. explosives vs. whatever else (only one of many of his exploits).

That night, I pushed through to Huntington, WV, hoping to find a place to sleep in town - no luck.  Finally, some police officers recommended I head out of town to Virginia Point.  As I went that way, somewhat confused by the directions, two young ladies pulled up next to me at the stoplight and tried to flatter me with a "nice ride!"  They offered to make sure I arrived at the right location by leading me there - they offered to drive slow.  "That's great," I thought, "We must be close."

They took off at about 25 mph (they say 20) and I panted along for a couple of miles, before they realized that I am not the bicycling fiend I appear to be and gave me directions to find the rest of my way.  I thanked them and headed on my way.  Eventually I found the park - it's the spot RIGHT where Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio come together.  I wasn't there for 5 minutes, before Angie and Stephanie (the girls from the stoplight) pull up WITH TWO SLICES OF CAKE!

(This is where the picture of them handing me cake should be, but I was so excited I forgot to take a photo).



 The next morning I went to Ashland, KY for their church service, another thing I definitely should've taken pictures of, and not long after noon I was on my way up through Kentucky.  My knee had been bothering me, and I was forcing myself to go slow in an attempt to not aggravate it, so I stopped early in Greenup, KY.  I'd heard that down my the dam/locks was a spot where I might get away with camping.  Tim, if you're reading this, DO NOT CAMP BY THE LOCKS.  Apparently, it's a gay hookup spot or something, but you definitely don't want to hang down there!

Fortunately, I'd passed Lighthouse Baptist Church only a few minutes before, so I went back to see if they could recommend someplace to me.  As luck would have it, they were just starting a worship service, so  I was able to stay for that.  Afterward, the gracious pastor offered to put me up for a night in the local hotel -  far too fancy for me, but fortunately I was able to talk him down to staying in the church.

Without going into anyone's personal details, I definitely think I was supposed to be there for several reasons.  It's always exciting to be in the right place at the right time!

Random Picture:  Look at this crazy bug I found on my tent!

Left:  Happy to be getting into a new state!

Right:  Oooh, look at how artsy I am with the bridge cables...









Crossing into Portsmouth, OH was interesting.  Probably because it was Memorial Day afternoon, the place was a ghost town.  It was very architecturally interesting, though - the downtown area looked pretty nice and clean, but there was no one there!  Along the Ohio river they had miles of floodwall with murals on it, depicting the history of the city, from several thousand years ago up to ~2000.

In closing, for all of you motherly types worried about me out there:  My cold is getting better, finished my antibiotics today (it was allergic sinusitis and rhinitis or something like that?) and the doctor just told me to take some allergy pills so it doesn't happen again.  My knee is a bit sore, and I'm still going easy on it, but I think it's getting better.  The poison ivy is healed up as far as I can tell (got that back on the New River trail in VA).  So, I'm pretty much set!

Pictured:  These Ohioan buzzards don't believe me.