Dan River Valley Fri, 29 Oct 2004 Tonight I am in the Danville home of Ruby and Clayton Burnett. She is my first cousin on Mom's side. The walk out of Eden was through several nice neighborhoods and by the local schools. Busses were pulling in full of kids and, of course, the many, many cars requiring a town policeman's assistance. By and large, Eden looks prosperous with several plants on the outskirts including a large lumber mill and a Miller Brewing facility. Further up the road was evidence of a different kind...closed yarn plant and brickyard. I walked by an active factory...NPC Inc. "Sonic Dried Yeast." What's that? Used by Miller Brewing? Never have I seen so many white vehicles...cars, pickups, vans, SUVs, even big trucks...white seems to be the color of choice down here. Fog, mist and clouds again today. Rained for about 20 minutes. No sun! Ruby was to pick me up at the intersection of Berry Hill Road (VA863) and US58, but I was there early so I called and she gave me directions to her house and I walked. Her "just a little bit" turned out to be about five miles, but that's five further east! Tomorrow, I will walk through Danville out toward the US58 bridge over the Dan River. Another cousin and husband will pick me up there and take me home for the night! Saturday, 30 Oct 2004 Tonight I am in the Danville home of Iva and John Powell. She is another first cousin on my mother's side. Cousins are taking good care of me on this trek. Clayton dropped me off at US58 a few blocks from their home. For the next almost three hours I walked through Danville on Riverside Drive, Riverside Road, and later South Boston Highway...all sequentially the same road. US58 traverses the city north of the traditional downtown. The part of the city I saw had a rather mixed appearance. There are several new buildings housing new business, mostly national chain stores and eateries. Here and there were used car lots, closed businesses and deserted buildings. I'm told there is a nice new mall just to the north of my route. My view of the older part of the city was rather depressing, for example, the huge "Dan River Mills" sign that dominated the skyline for decades is falling down. Dan River Mills used to be the economic powerhouse of Danville, but is all but virtually shut down now. Look around your house and you are pretty likely to find something made of Dan River fabric. The city is like KMart...some promising signs of vibrancy, but too many signs of the opposite kind. Leaving the city, I saw a crime scene investigation under way. One officer was searching a car while another was coming out of the house with carrying stuff. As I passed the airport, I was nearly attacked by a dog near the traffic lights! A yipping, snapping chihuahua was halfway out the window of a passing car as the woman in the passenger seat was holding onto the dog for dear life while frantically trying to get it back into the car. He wanted a piece of me. The road east today, after the city, is straight as an arrow with gentle hills and dales. Not bad walking, especially without the pack. Had lunch at the Racin' Country Cafe. And the last hour of the walk, I could hear what seemed to be the sound of racing engines in the distance to the south. Turns out that there is the Virginia International Raceway down there. I understand it has been closed for some time, but recently opened. Iva and John picked me up just east of the Pittsylvania/Halifax county line. Tomorrow on to South Boston.