Not only did Tim and Natalie shepherd us in and out of the storm, they graciously shared their breakfast with us today, and then we were off to an early start on the road. The air was very humid and some storms were predicted to pass through, so we were determined to put together some miles toward Fredericksburg in a hurry.

When we took a wrong turn and even when it started to rain again, we weren’t too discouraged. However, the route took us along some areas with very narrow shoulders and high traffic, and it seemed the aggressive and abusive drivers of northern Virginia were out in full force today. Several large trucks blared their horns at us without provocation, and a couple of men shouted incomprehensibly at us as they blew past us in the rain. It was somewhat stressful to keep it together as we started the last 11 miles to our campsite destination.

A few miles from the campsite, we rolled to the top of a hill and let Tunes out for a pit stop when we were approached by a man from his house who said he’d seen us pedaling while he was on his way home. A fellow adventurer at heart, he offered to let us camp in his field and use water from the hose, and even offered to let us put our bikes in his workshop. It turned out to be just what we needed. It’s only been a little more than a week, but so far we’ve had exceptionally good luck.