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Sunday, September 7, 2008, New River Campground, Grauley Bridge, West Virginia
We got up around 8 am. We wanted to make it to church by 9:00. Everyone pretty much knows the routine by now. We all work like ants until everything is put away, so it doesn't take too long. We were planning to go to the nice lady's church that led us to her son, but it was across town and it was about 9:00 when we were ready, so we just walked across the street to the Diamond Baptist Church. The early parishioners had already noticed us cleaning up the campsite as they were walking up to the church, so some introduced themselves. Leisa was the first and she showed us in and introduced us to others. During the service, I was asked to explain to the congregation why we were going on this trip. I mentioned various reasons: family bonding, vacation, challenge, seeing God provide and care for us. During the Sunday school intermission, a nice man named Mike gave each person in the family some key ring crosses and cross lapel pins. He was recovering from cancer and it was part of his ministry. We all adorned our bikes with them. After the service, a woman took our picture and another told us of the "World's Strongest Man" competition taking place that afternoon in Charleston, only 10 miles away, so we planned to go. Before leaving, John Williams gave me 100 dollars and said the people at the church liked to see families doing this kind of thing and wanted to help us out. He also told me how to get to a good buffet not far from Charleston. [I think it's good for us to eat a lot of good food at least once a week on our rest day to replenish and revive us after a week of hard riding. If it's a cheap buffet, we definitely get our money's worth]. Leisa gave us some extra snack food she had and also guided us with her son Joshua to the restaurant since they were going that way. After we had already begun eating, Leisa came back to the restaurant with a card for us, wishing us well and giving us $100. Such a nice person. As I've said many times, God is meeting us up with fantastic people!
The strong man competition was crowded and it was hard to watch, but finally we perched ourselves on top of a multi-storied parking lot and saw some of the competitors from all over the world. We saw the local boy from Charleston, Phil Pfister, pull into the lead in the truck pulling competition. A couple couldn't even budge the coal-filled load at all, a little embarrassing. After we got on the bikes again, we followed the beautiful, picturesque New River (the only American river that runs entirely north downstream) which made the climb gradual not too taxing. We passed the Kanawha Falls, beautiful. Finally, we arrived at the New River Campground, on the outskirts of Grauley, West Virginia. Nice campsite on the river, expensive though, $39. We found a bunch of logs, so we took advantage of the free fuel and boiled up the bag of potatoes. Ummm good, and a great break snack. 25 miles.