Oh my goodness! When I woke up it was so muggy out! At first I thought it was going to be cold because I saw clouds, but when I stepped outside I literally started sweating. But anyway we started packing up stuff and it was really gross because we had no idea that the squishy stuff we were trekking through last night was red clay, so all of us had red smudges all over ourselves. As things were being packed up, Jeff had us get our bikes so we could practice for a couple of minutes. It wasn’t that bad, but the road was really slick because of the rain. When the truck was ready to go, we rode off for the ranger station.

We got to the ranger station in no time. Actually we got there early! As we pulled in we were about to stop but Jacob forgot to unclip both of his feet so he fell over. It was so funny! Shortly after, the ranger got there and we all followed him to South Boston elementary school.

When we arrived at the school, there were so many people it was hard to keep track of who was who! After all the greetings were done we headed towards the school. We were led to the cafeteria for breakfast and the first thing I heard was sausage. I really don’t like sausage so I was a little scared that I wasn’t going to be able to eat. But as we walked over I realized that there was also chicken biscuits. I was so relieved. I really wasn’t that hungry so I only took one. The riders all clumped together, and then everyone began to sit down and intermingle. We talked and introduced ourselves and the biscuits were soooo good! I have vowed to come back to South Boston just to get biscuits.

These are the friendliest people I've ever met, the mayor, superintendent, principal, all of them seemed like they were really, really happy to have us come by.  It was a bit overwhelming actually.  I mean Thomsen had told us this was going to be a big deal but until you actually see it its kinda hard to believe.
The only problem was I could hardly understand them, they really have an accent. 

After we were done eating, we adjourned to the library. There we basically interviewed each other. We talked about why we were doing the trip and in turn we asked what they were doing to help the environment. After receiving gifts and exchanging handshakes the principal took us on a tour of the school. All of the kids were so adorable. The best part was when Jacob got onto the gym floor with the kids and started dancing with them. It was hilarious.

We left the South Boston elementary school with good spirits and full stomachs and headed off for Winston Salem.

The ride there wasn’t bad at all. When we hit downtown, I was amazed to see really beautiful buildings. I absolutely loved the architecture and it was great taking pictures of everything.
When we arrived at City Hall, we were greeted by Erin Baker, who had graciously helped me set up a meeting with council member Dan Besse. We were led to a room that had a round table with big blue leather chairs. A few minutes later, we were all having a deep conversation. We asked questions about what the council was doing to make the city greener. Mr. Besse had some very good ideas and seemed more than willing for more input from us. All in all it was a very successful meeting.

Our next stop was Durham, NC and I really was not impressed with the mayor at all. He seemed like he didn’t even want us to be there so it made me feel like all of my effort was in vain.  We talked about what they were doing and we told him why we were doing the trip and what we hoped to accomplish and then Tyrone asked him some point blank questions and he kind of seemed to warm up a little.  At least he seemed to start taking us seriously.  I don’t know, maybe its because I'm so tired, but we left feeling disappointed in the meeting, but, the two ladies who worked outside his office were really funny and friendly, so I guess it was a wash. 

We finally started heading to Raleigh, NC after a long day. I was so tired the whole ride seemed like a blur to me. When we got to our hotel we basically just crashed and went about doing our chores. Mine was to clean out the cars, which was easy! Oh my-gosh I almost forgot! There were these huge bees at the hotel. I swear they were the size of a small bird. Tim was freaking out which was hilarious. Well that’s all for now folks!