Update #30 - August 05, 2004
Back Bay, VA - 7,974.2 miles (12,758.7 kms.)

The hills of Pennsylvania lasted a few days more. It was really great to finally get out of the Alleghenies and the Appalachians. I got up to 2912 feet above sea level and I had grades as high as 14% to deal with. I finished up what I could ride of U.S. 30 outside of York, PA and then I went on to Lancaster. It was interesting riding through the Amish country of Eastern Lancaster County.

I wasn't expecting to head south this early in the year but I really didn't have a choice. I wasn't going to try and ride through the Philadelphia area to New Jersey. New Jersey in my mind was out due to all the bad feelings that I got from the ministers that I had encountered back in late March and early April.

I was thinking about maybe riding to Washington, D.C. to see if there was some way that I could get involved with a social action ministry but the connections that I would have needed to find a place to stay for a few days in the area fell through. Anyway, it is awfully hard to navigate by bycycle through Baltimore, MD; Washington, D.C,; and Eastern Virginia.

The path that I took was along the DelMarVA Peninsula (Deleware, and the Eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia). I had ridden up the Peninsula maybe five years ago but never down.

I had some good encounters with ministers but then there were some bad encounters. In Smyrna, DE, I stayed with the minister of the local Weslyan Church. In Milford, MD, I was hosted by the Church of G-d. The police in Berlin, MD were my hosts for one night. I was given the chance to stay in one of the department's substations, which was an apartment in a apartment complex. The Episcopal church in Onancock, VA was my shelter two nigths ago.

Yesterday was a long day from Onancock to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It took me about 15 minutes to get a ride. Instead of dropping me off at the other side, my ride took me into downtown Virginia Beach. I quickly rode down the ocean front bike path and headed out of Virginia Beach on the way to NE North Carolina.

About 7:30 p.m., I stopped at the Nimmo United Methodist Church. They were having their vacation Bible school. I had missed speaking to the pastor by a few minutes but I was told that he would be through with an adult class by 8:30 p.m. The ladies in the kitchen provided me with a meal and some food to take along while I waited for the pastor.

I was hoping to maybe camp underneath the church's picnic shelter since there was the possibility of rain. When I finally was able to talk to the minister to ask him about me camping out on church property, he said no. What was bad about this was that he said this while standing by a picture of the Messiah feeding the hungry. He told me to maybe go an camp out in the woods across the street.

I didn't say anything to him. I wished that I did. I wanted to ask him who was really in control of the church and would the Messiah really do what he did to me. Where was the minister's compassion? Did he understand when the Messiah said that "What you do for the least of my brothers you do it unto me" from the latter portion of Matthew 25? The section is usually called the "Final Judgement" and the minister will have to account for his actions when he gets to Heaven and meets the Messiah face to face.

I went across the street and camped out in the woods. Today, I hoping to just make it a short day to Knotts Island, NC. I had stayed at the Methodist church there. I haven't had a day off the road in 15 days.

From Knotts Island, I'll be taking a SW course away from the ocean across North Carolina and South Carolina to Augusta, Georgia. I'll try and post and update as often as I can if my plans change again.