Day 11, Damascus to Rosedale, VA

Day 11, Damascus to Rosedale, VA, 36 Miles:
I love Virginia! Our ride today was through lush forests, farms, homes with gardens, and beautiful rural scenery. THe forests consist of oak, maple, ash, beech and dogwood. The routes that Adventure Cycling map out are the nicest roads to take even if you are in your car. Hopefully the photos will give the feeling of the country side that we are cycling through. Everyone grows a garden, everyone has to have a weed eater and a riding lawn mower, (everywhere you look, folks are mowing their lawns) and house has a front porch with rocking chairs that seem to say; “Welcome, come sit a spay-el”. We stopped in Weadowview, VA at the Farmers Guild Garden Center for coffee and berry pound cake. The store is filled with local crafts, which were varied and very nice. Even though it was a short day, we had a very long climb through Hayters Gap. We are the heart of the Appalachians, where the fighting between the locals and the Brittish continued for 13 years after the Revolutionary War ended. And then on to our nights “lodging” at the Elk Garden Methodist Church Hostel near Rosedale, VA. It’s raining cats and dogs, so thankfully, we are under an outdoor shelter and I didn‘t have to set up my tent. Don’t know what diner is tonight, but I’ll eat the cardboard boxes that the food comes in, I’m so hungry. Tomorrow, we head into the "Hatfield and McCoy" contry area where their families fueded for 30 years.