08/05/07 Ride into Blacksburg, VA

Now entering our final state of the trip, the first city we hit is the Virgina Tech campus and dorms for lodging. We actually have a teammate who just graduated from VT so he had a lot of friends there to greet us for our arrival. The ride was through the Appalachian Mountains which meant we had a lot of climbing to do but we were able to stay out of the heat for the majority of the time because of all of the trees that surrounded us. It was a struggle but we made it. Before dinner, I took a walk around the memorial set up to honor those who passed in the shooting just a few months ago. It speaks to the community's support to have the memorial set up in the middle of campus so that many pass it everyday and can remember what happened. I'm glad that I was able to take the time to view it and see how many friends and family have left things behind, mementos, for their loved ones now gone. Changing gears, dinner was a buffet at the school's dining center and there was a ton to choose from. I grabbed some ice cream to go and some of us headed to the football stadium and actually got to walk through the tunnel and on to the field. Whether or not we were allowed to, I don't know, but the gates and doors were open so we kept on going. It was huge! In the evening we went to a favorite hang out of the teammate from VT and then had to retreat back to the unairconditioned dorms of the campus.