Post 3. Sunday 22 May

Having a motel breakfast on my third morning. It's good to be on my way - about 50 miles each day on days 1 and 2. Pretty flat hereabouts (good!) - the first big climbing comes on Tuesday when I reach the Blue Ridge mountains past Charlottesville.

Lovely weather now (after masses of rain recently which has made everything vibrantly green). Have been through lots of forested countryside, and at times the scent of honeysuckle has been very strong. And the roads are often quiet enough to hear birdsong (wish I knew what the different birds are - have seen some huge hawks or buzzards, with wingspans of 5 feet or more).

Strong sense of history here. Yorktown is where the British surrendered to Cornwallis at the end of the War of Independence, then yesterday I passed several Civil War battlefield sites - a signboard said 16000 men had been killed in battle at one site. And I kept passing signs to big old plantation houses, and indeed stayed in one (run as a B&B) my first night. It was full of antiques, a bit like a cross between a National Trust house and a museum.

Everyone I talk to is v friendly. One man, when I was about 30 miles out on Day 1, asked me was I going to the Pacific? I hope so, I said. "You're nearly there!" But I am refusing to think about the entirety of the trip; one day at a time is fine....

So far so good then, and a thousand thanks for following and supporting me!

Ken