The Blue Ridge- 60 miles, about 300 total

Yesterday was pretty amazing. We woke up in Charlottesville and immediately got some tasty bagels at Bodo's bagels. From there we took 250 and shortcut the actual route by a little bit, saving our legs for the climbs ahead. We got slightly lost and pushed our bikes about 2 miles up a gravel state road, only to find out at the top that we were not where we were supposed to be. Luckily, a lady was leaving her mountain home up there and told us that if we continued straight we could cut through a .1 mile stretch of the Shenendoah national forest and be on Skyline drive, which connects to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Rockfish Gap. Apparently we actually saved ourselves a hell of a climb (to Afton) by pushing our bikes up 611, rather than riding up 691.
The parkway was challenging, but one of the most enjoyable stretches so far for me. It sure sucks to be cranking away up a hill for a couple of miles at a stretch and only be making a 4 or 5 mph pace, but the reward is some spectacular views and awesome downhill cruises. I think I hit about 35 miles per hour, but I know Jacob did more. The views could have been better; storms had made the valleys hazy and visibility poor (check out the photos for today at the end of this post).
Eventually we cruised down into Vesuvius, VA. The descent was sheer insanity. We dropped about 1800 feet in 3 miles down a VERY windy road. Jacob, being slightly insane, passed a truck at about 45 mph. Once down in Vesuvius we headed directly to a country store/deli known as Gertie's. These people were so extremely hospitable and made some excellent grub. We scarfed down some cheesesteak sandwiches and pitched camp in their backyard. An extreme rainstorm awoke me in the middle of the night, after which I had a hard time getting back to sleep and tossed and turned alot. Packing up in the morning was slow as our stuff dried.
Extremely hot today, so we're hanging around Lexington, VA for a bit and then taking an easy 30 miles over to Buchanan for the night. Lexington is real cool; Washington and Lee Uni. is here as well as the Virginia Military Institute. We saw Lee's tomb in a chapel on campus and had some good lunch at a local organic food market.
So far, so good. We should wrap up this, our first, map section tomorrow which is right on course. The next section is supposed to be one of the worst according to people we've spoken with. Hard terrain through the Alleghany mountains, bad truck traffic from coal and concrete plants and dogs. I'm so excited (sarcasm doesn't show in text, does it?).
Please check the pictures and drop me some notes...the highlight of my online visits is reading posts from you all! Much love!

Note: the pictures don't seem to want to upload right now...you may have to wait until I find another library and have more time to finangle things. I'll edit this post with a link when I get them up.