We departed Alexandria at 7:00am sharp...as planned. Five minutes later we had lost our first rider...just lost, not dead. One of the newer members apparently became impatient and decided to go get gas on his own. He may have told our Road Captain where he was going, but the message was not communicated for some reason. The rest of the group tried to catch him but numerous stop signs and red lights prevented that. By the time we reached our turn and started down the street towards the interstate, he was long gone. We carefully checked every gas station on the street, but no lost rider.
Since he had purchased a new GPS the previous day and now thought he knew how to get around, we decided that we would press on following the briefed route. We had also agreed that if anyone got lost or separated from the group, they should call Chris...the young man driving the truck and trailer.
We headed out of Washington DC on I-95...along with hundreds of other folks. It was almost wall-to-wall vehicles for the first 50 miles. Once out of the city, we pulled off to get gas and see if our lost rider had made contact with Chris. As we refueled, we discovered that two or three guys had been contacted but not Chris...the one who could actually answer the phone. After repeated calls and left messages, we made contact and found out that our missing man had decided to follow another route...the one his GPS told him was faster...and he wasn't anywhere near our route. It was decided that the group would meet him in Knoxville...the planned stop for the night.
After solving our problem, we got back on the interstate and headed south. Before we left the station, we told our Road Captain...who did not have a GPS or CB...that our route to Knoxville was I-95, I-85, I-40, in that order...pretty clear and pretty simple. Just after passing through Richmond, VA, I-95 split off to I-85. Our married couple was to depart the group at this point to continue down to Charlottesville to visit friends. They pulled out of line and accelerated up to the front where they waived good-bye as the rest of the group veered off to the right to get on I-85...including the Road Captain. Then at the last moment, the Road Captain made a violent turn back to the left and followed the couple. It was too late for the rest of us to follow so we continued onto I-85 and exited down the road about 3 miles.
While waiting for the Road Captain to contact us, we refueled and then went down to McDonald's for a little breakfast. After a while, we finally made contact. We told our lost friend where we were and that he should take exit #63b, get fuel and meet us at McDonald's. About 15 minutes later, we got another call and he said he was at mile marker 68. We told him we'd get back on the interstate and catch up with him. Unfortunately, as we got back on the highway, we noticed that the first mile marker was 65 and the numbers were getting smaller...not larger. Our friend was behind us and waiting for us. We pulled off into a convenient rest area and called him. Thankfully, he answered and we were able to tell him how to get to the rest area. Ten minutes later, we were all together once again...except for the one headed to Knoxville via another route.
While sitting at the rest area, I reminded everyone that I'd be leaving the group in Winston-Salem, taking exit #189. As we neared Winston-Salem, the sky began to darken and the crosswinds got stronger. Finally, about 30 miles from my exit, we exited the interstate and found a gas station, where we topped off our tanks and put our raingear on.
Five miles down the road, the rain came, but we continued on, hoping we could outrun the rain. Seeing through the windshield was difficult at best and water began to leak inside my sunglasses. I tried taking them off but that made conditions worse as the rain hit me in the eyes. I managed to put the glasses back on and it helped a little.
About 12 miles from my exit, the Road Captain started signaling that he was getting off. I waived good-bye and continued straight ahead. I didn't want to make another stop so close to my destination. By the time I exited the interstate, the rain had all but stopped. I pulled my GPS out of my bag and followed it to the Benfield's house without any more problems. The garage door was open so I pulled in and unloaded. When no one came to the garage, I knocked and went in. Finally, they heard me. They were in the living room entertaining one of their grandchildren.
We talked a long time until their daughter-in-law came to retrieve her daughter and then we decided to clean up and go out to dinner. Before we went to the restaurant, Ray gave me the nickle tour of some of the highlights of Winston-Salem. We drove by Wake Forest University, the R.J. Reynold's cigarette factory, their minor league baseball team's new stadium, their old church and other points of interest.
We eventually arrived at a little restaurant called "Cities". I'm not sure why they named it that but the dining room we were in had huge pictures of some of the world's cities projected on a huge screen and they rotated every minute or so. The food was very good and the place was quite enough to have a conversation. We caught up on several of the people who were in Greece at the same time we were. I found out that two of them live in Ft. Worth and work at Southwestern Seminary. I might have to drop in on them one of these days.
After arriving back at the house, we talked some more and looked at some pictures of Greece. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize too many of them but it was interesting anyway. I did recognize some of the scenery. I finally had to got to bed about 9:30...old man!
The plan for tomorrow...Day 9...is to hit the road about 8:00am and head towards Nashville on I-40. I don't think I have the energy...or time...to make it all the way to Melbourne in one day. It's about 470 miles. Day 8 was only 350 miles.
PS I've added a couple of pictures since first making this post. I wanted to point out the older gentleman in the blue blazer. I didn't catch his name but he is a Korean War Veteran and was a POW in that war. He rode on the back of a motorcycle at the front of the parade on Sunday. He will also have the honor of laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier today.
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