Day 5 May 16th

Palmyra to Afton 60 miles
I had a good nights sleep under the bridge. Someone in a car saw me in my underwear right after I went to the bathroom so I hid back in my tent until they left. I made it to Monticello by 11. I took the tour of the house and saw the graveyard. I thought the $20 was a little expensive for the hour that I spent there but I figured I wouldn’t be back again or at least not for a long time. I got some more bread and peanut butter in Charlottesville and decided to eat it over on UVA’s campus. It was graduation weekend and everyone had their family their and were all dressed up. It was funny watching the people walk by looking at me cover in sweat and eating a peanut butter sandwich on a bench.
As I was packing up two guys asked me where I was going and before I looked up I answered “Oregon.” When I looked up I saw that they were on bikes with gear and it was clear they were doing the same thing I was. Their names were Dan and Mike and they were doing the Trans Am to Oregon too. They’re both cool guys and only a year or two older than me. I told them I was going to Afton and spending the night with the Cookie Lady. They seemed pretty happy with that since it was only another 30 miles and they said they were a little hung over from drinking the night before. They told me that they had been volunteering at farms along the way in exchange for a place to stay and some food and had just left one outside Charlottesville.
The Cookie Lady is this sweet 88 year old lady living by herself who puts up bikers in an apartment with food, shower, and a bathroom. The place was stocked with food and we could eat all we wanted. I had a box of mac and cheese plus two grilled cheese and some popcorn. It was an outdoor shower and was my first one since leaving but it was cold water and there was no soap or anything. I got to sleep on a sofa which was fantastic. The room is probably the most cluttered place I have ever seen. It is covered in post cards from bikers, riding jerseys, tires and tubes, and newspaper articles about her, cycling, and the dangers of drinking. She only had one rule and that there was no drinking. I was fine with this and so grateful to be sleeping inside that I was ready to say that I would mow her yard to do any other chores she needed.
The Cookie Lady, June Curry, made me realize how much it sucks to get old. She told us how she takes 20 pills a day, has broken both of her arms, had a stroke then fell and messed up her vertebrae, and is deaf on one side and pretty bad one the other. But she’s a great lady and we were so appreciative of what she was doing. Especially since this was the first night there was rain and lightning.