A 3 1/2 hour drive to Danville, with a couple of hours to get Rachel registered and set up in her room and then I would head back to Fayetteville, an 11 1/2 hour drive. I hoped to drive at least 5 hours making it to Missouri. So, if I wanted to get a ride in it meant rising bright and early again.
I finally got a 7 hour night of sleep waking at 6:30 and out on the bike by 7:00. A Monday morning which meant my options for riding were heavily curtailed as the traffic would be much heavier than yesterday. I followed a road that circled around the end of a runway. I saw some planes taking off and had hoped I might be able to catch a shot from directly underneath one of them. While I waited, birds gathered on the heat-deflector shield. They appeared as if they were sitting watching a sporting event or waiting to admire the planes take off as well.
Several planes had taken off as I made my way to the end of the runway, but now, that I was there, there was little action. To pass the time I shot a bird that flew high overhead.
A moment later, my wait was rewarded. I guess I'll have to go to Chicago or Atlanta and wait at the end of the runways there if I want to get several shots so that one of them will be more in focus.
I headed back toward the hotel area which was a rather vast complex of hotels and office buildings.
I was doing a loop back on the hotel road when I passed Ermac Drive. I had passed it a couple of times previously but on quick glance it just seemed to be a small dead end street. I decided to see how far it went and was surprised to several modest but very well-maintained homes on the left side of the street. On the right-hand side of the street was a large glass office building.
What was interesting was that behind the homes were very mature trees and thick foliage so that it gave the appearance of being in a remote deeply wooded area. It was such an oddity amidst all the other buildings.
As I slowly rolled down the street, I passed Robert and his dog out in their yard. I stopped and talked with him and he said he had been there 35 years and that, yes indeed, there used to be houses on the other side of the road when he first moved in. Curiously, Robert was a retired high school teacher who had help start a girls soccer program back in the mid 1980s.
Robert Duke and Briney
It was a morning for people. Rachel had told me the morning before about the great chambermaid we had on the floor. I thought she might be exaggerating a bit but when I met Zybe, I could see why Rachel was so impressed. She was truly a joy to meet.
Zybe from Albania and Rachel
And, in the dining room, Rachel had great things to say about Ron whom she had as a waiter the morning before I arrived. Again, Rachel was right-on as Ron sure made a very pleasant beginning to the morning. We made sure to have him during the rest of our stay.
Ron and Rachel
It was off to Danville and then back west.
Last summer, I had contemplated a trip from Goshen, AR (basically Fayetteville) to Goshen, NY. As it turned out, I decided to stay put as there was considerable work around the house that needed to be done. But, I had done a considerable amount of planning and mapping the route so that when I reached the western part of Kentucky, I recognized highway numbers I would have taken. It was interesting to see what I would have been riding. Especially interesting was the bridge over the Mississippi River I would have taken. It was a two-lane affair that was narrow with no passing room; I would have had to pick my crossing time very carefully when the traffic volume would have been low. I would have taken a picture for the blog but it was already rather dark.
20 June 2011 Ride: 62mins. 10.31 miles. 78 degrees. Miles YTD: 3,808.82
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