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Friday, September 19, 2008, Behind Castillo's Garage, Newport News, Virginia
I woke up several times last night to the wind flapping the tarp against the tent. We wanted to drive back to Williamsburg and Jamestown to see them better, but we didn't know where we would stay for the night or how far we should ride. I also needed to stop by the post office and pick up any mail; I knew I should have a card from my mom and the last set of maps to complete the trip to Maine. My mom's letter was there, but the maps weren't. I found out later they were returned to sender because they had been sitting there too long. However, I called explaining I would be arriving at a later date, so this shouldn't have happened. After buying some things at Costco, as we were heading back to get the bikes to resume our riding toward Williamsburg, the van dies on Hwy. 17. I called AAA, but they sent the wrong tow truck; we needed a flat bed because it was an all-wheel drive. It was starting to get late, so we decided to run the five miles back to the bikes. A patrolman who had arrived to help us ended up taking four of us back to ride the bikes, and he put the other two on his rack behind his trunk. We ended up riding to the garage the van was towed to and arrived about the same time as the van. The man who owned the garage said we could put our tent up behind the garage on the grass, a secluded spot. After putting up the tent we walked a quarter mile to a fast food place and lounged around drinking sodas for fun, and it was. Still no shower (3rd day), so another sponge bath.