Damascus—Day 2

We stayed in Damascus for a second day just to cycle the rest of the Creeper Trail. While our morning started with thoughts of the weather and anticipation of the ride, our thoughts quickly changed at breakfast. Our hosts served a nice hot breakfast that we enjoyed with the 2 couples we met last night—Carol & Tom and Jim & Anita. As we were winding down with our second cup of coffee, our host (another Jim) turned up the volume on the CD player. We all looked at each other wondering why this sudden change in atmosphere. Then Jim began singing to the music. He entertained us with 2 songs. His singing is great! So much so that this facility should no longer be called a B&B but rather a BB&E (Bed, Breakfast & Entertainment).

Shortly thereafter we said goodbye to the 2 couples and headed to the bike shop for our shuttle ride to the top of the mountain. As mentioned yesterday, Damascus is a long, but gradual down hill from Abingdon. Well, Damascus is also downhill from the other end of the trail but a much steeper downhill. It took the van 45 minutes to get to the top of the mountain for the start of our ride. Before heading down we toured the restored train station and the volunteers told us about its history.

Our ride down was great. We probably could have done it with out pedaling and still had a fast ride. The only thing that slowed us down was the large mud puddles that dotted the trail. As we reentered Damascus, we spotted the café that we stopped at in 2002 as we came through here on our cross country bike ride. This café is very special. In 2002 we spent a wet and cold nigh on top of the mountain in a Forest Service camp ground (meaning very rustic). In the morning we had to pack in the rain and gave up trying to have breakfast. As we dropped down the mountain we got colder and wetter but the first thing we saw was this café. We often reminisce about the hot breakfast we had and how that breakfast stop brightened our day and that it will forever be a wonderful memory for us.

After lunch, you guessed it, it started to rain. By the time we got back to our lodging, torrential rains fell, forcing us inside for most of the remaining afternoon.

Photos and Videos

Maps