The first few km after Front Royal brings a lot of climbing, but when you have reached a high of about 800 metres it stays around this high (between 700 and 1000 metres) for the rest of the ride until Waynesboro. This gives Skyline Drive almost every 2 km a view, one even more spectaculair as the other. Because of the high it also is about 5 degrees Celcius cooler, which together with the shade makes an excellent cycle-temperature. The road is also in excellent non-american condition and it is not very crowded. All by all an excellent cycle-route for those who don't mind to do some climbing.

As 200 km is too long for one day I have to camp somewhere along Skyline Drive. As the campsite is full (which the rangers at the entrance of the park already told me) I decide to camp on a picnic-site (although officially not allowed). Too lazy and tired to put up my tent I get asleep on one of the benches under one of the picnic sites with roof. However it will be a night with sleeping with one eye open. I know there are 300 black bears living in the park, and although I haven't seen one yet and although the are very shy, I still wake up at every sound. And sound I will hear a lot during that night, mostly of deer, who are eating very noisily and often doing this one meter of where you are trying to sleep.

From the total length of 465 mile (700 km) I cycle half, as it leads me otherwise to far to the west, further away from Miami. The views are as spectaculair as on Skyline Drive, and together with the many butterflies and the partly mowed lawns this road also honours it's name as Parkway. For a Blue Ridge you just have to look and enjoy the views! My first stage on this road goes very smoothly, and I decide to skip the first campsite (with 80 km on my cyclecomputer) and give it a try to the second one, which is only 45 km further away. Later this 45 km appears to be more heavy than the first 80 km!. First I get a really spectacular downhill, which bring me down to almost 100 metres. Afterwards follows, of course, the climb, which turns out to be extra heavy as it leads me to one of the highest points of the Blueridge Parkway. I have to climb for many km's to get to the 1100 metres altitude and with 700 metres on my altimeter I am already out of water and afraid I won't make it to the campsite as thurst and hunger overrule me. Lucky enough some blackberries help to solve this problem for a short time, just enough to reach the 1100 metres, after which it is an easy ride to the campsite.

Just before dark I reach Peaks of Otter, where a touristic centre is settled, including campsite, hotel, restaurant, gas station and shop. This shop is already closed so I have to go to the restaurant, where I still have half an hour left to enter the buffet-dinner. As I don't want to go asleep on an empty stomach I decide to take this buffet-dinner and walk to the campsite afterwards, knowing it will be dark by that time. The buffet-dinner is excellent and satisfied I walk to the campsite. But there is an unexpected and unpleasant suprise waiting for me at the campsite: there are now showers, and even worse... there are no lights. And for this all they still ask 12 dollar. Very disappointed I leave the campsite to search for a spot with some light outside the campsite to put my tent up. This spot shows up earlier than expected: as I would like to drink a can of soda I first cycle to the campstore where I expect a soda-machine. I see some light over there, but there is no soda-machine at the closed, but opposite to the campsite fully lighted, campstore. There is also a small picnic site behind the campstore with enough light (from the campstore) to see something, and it is also surrounded by a stone wall, so that I will not have any trouble with wild animals.

So after a quiet night I get up early in the morning, a little sticky from yesterdays sweat. A shower would be nice now, but this has to wait a half day. During this half day I cycle to Roanoke, the biggest town in the west of Virginia, and close along Blueridge Parkway. I stay for two nights at the Reese-family. Mother Edith offers right to do some laundry, as she has to do some herself as well, and meanwhile I can take a shower. After this is done I go shopping with Edith and daughter Anne-Loren, which is done partly at a small Amish-like farm where they sell vegetables and fruits. In the evening I meet father Ronald and son Daniel and his girlfriend.

After dinner last two are going to the movies, something what Anne-Loren would like to do as well, but she has to stay home from mother. Lucky enough I like games as much as she does, so with Monopoly. Sea-Battle, Rummikub and Pictionary we have a nice evening as well.

The second day I go with Ronald to Lexington, where he works at the university as a teacher. He is now laying a last hand on a study-book he wrote which will be published on short term. I do a walking-tour through Lexington, which is a very pretty small historic town, but spend most time behind the computer at Ronalds' work to catch up with my e-mail. In the evening Ronald show again his excellent cooking-capacities which I can appreciate very well. After this period of 'rest', I continue my way on Blueridge Parkway again the next morning. I spend the night this time in a wooden overview-tower along the road near a picnic site (probably illegal again, but very comfortable!).

After this night follows a spectaculair downhill which leads me into North-Carolina, where I meet the North-Carolina-dogs, which try to protect the many fruit-orchards, but are not able to see the difference between the orchard and the public road! It stays with barking only, but it's not really relax cycling with two big dogs chasing you. I spend the night in a good but not expensive motel in Statesville (middle North-Carolina). As the most interesting cities of North- and South-Carolina are situated along the coast, and therefore too far away from my itinirary, I decide to make some distance in these two states.

In the morning the three of us visit a local and excellent bagel store, and after a relaxing morning I start cycling quite late, around noon, towards my next Servas-host Vennie, who lives in Columbia (capital of South-Carolina). She is an afro-american photographer/writer and likes nature and.. bluesmusic, which we will listen to later that evening after visting first IHOPS, the international house of pancakes (which serves nice pancakes, but not as good as my mother makes them!). Vennie prefers writing, but makes more money on photography. At this moment she cannot live completely from both of it, so she has a part-time job next to it as a telephonist at a newspaper. Therefore, she has to leave her home very early next morning, which is no problem for me, as I had in mind to establish a new personal record that Sunday, for which I have to start cycling very early.

After three days of 130 km cycling I am completely prepared for it: a one-day cycle trip from Columbia to Savannah (at the coast in Georgia). I estimate this trip on 230 km, but I will end it with 280 km on my cyclecomputer. The trip goes very smoothly, is rather flat, goes along quiet roads with little traffic and also the weather is nice: a little warm but... tailwind!. In Savannah a person starts encouraging me, and a km further he stops his car again for the do the same. I stop too, and find out that he is thinking that I am one of the cyclists who did just the coast-to-coast trip (westcoast-U.S.A. to eastcoast U.S.A.). These riders are expected today in Savannah! I explain to him that I am not one of them and that my itinerary is a little different, but he has much appreciation for my trip as well. I use the opportunity to ask for the location of the youth-hostel in Savannah, which is with his directions easily found. The hostel, off average quality is situated in the historic and beautiful part of the city. I decide to stay an extra day to visit it, which turned out to be worth. I take several pictures of the many historic houses and buildings, and the beautiful trees along the streets.

After Savannah I cycle to the youth-hostel in Brunswick, which is the most beautiful hostel I ever saw (including the European hostels!). It concerns the "In the Forrest-Hostel" which, indeed lies in the middle of a sub-tropical forrest close to a small pond. The hostel consists of several igloo-shape-buildings and has also a pool. For those who like it their is a special cage made of mosquite-net which makes it possible to sleep comfortable outside in the forest, but I prefer just a doubleroom (which I have completely for myself). What makes the hostel unique is however the atmosphere. You can smell the sixties; Beatle and Pink Floyd music is played in the evening and you can join for the group dinner which starts with making a circle. Everybody in the circle introduces her- or himself and mentions one good thing of that day. It is really very convivial in the hostel.

I wish I could stay longer in this hostel. But I have to go to my next Servas-host, Peg McIntire, who lives in St. Augustine, one of the older and more beautiful beach-villages in Florida. This woman is however also very interesting, and is, although 88 years now, still working (in a candle-shop), does e-mailing, and is very active with environmetal issues (which makes her see prison inside already more than once). She has a life behind her worth making a movie from and shows me one of the articles written about her which consists of several pages. It is an interesting article about her person and the group of people she formed against the launch of the with a huge amount of plutonium-loaded Jupiter-rocket (or was it Saturn?).

From St. Augustine I cycle the next day to Daytona which is popular for the car-races and also a very touristic bath-resort. In the local youth-hostel, which are just a couple of motel-rooms, I meet a German woman again whom I met also in Savannah. How do you mean small world, that youth-hostel public? From Daytona I try to reach Melbourne the next day. I cycle through the Canaveral National Seashore Park, which is a beautiful national park. Unfortunetly I have several delays that day and I wont' make it to Melbourn. I have a flat tire, wind in the front, have to wait for a thunderstorm for more than an hour, and get wrong directions. As a thunderstorm starts in the evening again I decide to spend the night in a motel in Titusville, although it is not the most cheap one!

At 4 o'clock I start cycling towards Jensen Beach where my next Servas-host, John Sickler, lives. Arrived there I make a phonecall, and find out he has moved to West Palm Beach, 50 km further southwards. But as he has to visit his parents, which live close to Jesnen Beach, anyhow he picks me up there. After visiting a friend we go to his parents where we have an excellent dinner (son does not eat home everyday!).

From West Palm Beach to Miami it is about 100 km cycling through an unattractive crowded area, although you pass by some very up-class neighbourhoods with nice big houses. It is very clear there is some money invested by rich people in Florida. The most interesting neigborhood in Miami can be found in Miami Beach and is called the Art-Deco quarter. Indeed it is full with building in that style, including the very nice Wolfsonian-museum, which I pay a visit. In Miami a stay at Asaad Masoud, who makes money as a captain on his own yacht which you can rent. He leads a relax live in a a small house in Coconut Grove, where he also lets a room to Joanna Diaz, a young and helful lady who works in a hospital. At this moment she has a Servas-guest as well, Maria Valencia, a Spanish photographer, who however already lives several years in London. Together with Joanna and Maria I watch the first evening a Spanish and the second evening a Dutch movie, chosen by Maria and me at the local video-store. Joanna is a very helpful and easy going girl, and it is behind her computer where I type this report, read my e-mail-messages and send my own messages. Asaad self is also a friendly and easy-going person, who seems to lead an easy and relax life. He spend much time on his boat, which is actually more his first home than his house in Coconut Grove. At this moment I stay for the last day at Asaads’ place. Tomorrow I hope to find a last-minute flight to Central America or one of the Carribean Islands. If I succeed in this you will read in my 4th travelreport.