Date: 2013-04-13
From: Car bound for Richmond, VA

To: Richmond, VA residence
Miles today: 0.0

(In which I attend a dance weekend in Richmond)Warren pulls off the highway at some odd hour of the night to rest in a gas station parking lot near some exit on I-81. I contemplate taking out my sleeping bag and a pad and stealth camping under a nearby semi trailer. I would just cowboy camp next to the car, but it has started to rain and the rain starts to come down hard as I contemplate that move. Instead I just sleep as well as I can in the car. Warren snores and I always have a hard time sleeping around snoring, but it is not as hard to sleep when I am very tired already.I have no idea what time it is when we are rolling again. I drift between waking and sleeping as Warren points out mountains and where the AT and trail towns are around me. The Trail crosses I-81 four times - twice here in Virginia and twice more in Pennsylvania. We stop twice more on the way to Richmond. The first stop is at a town where I have located a Bank of America on my smart phone. The second stop is for breakfast, a simple affair at a convenience store before continuing toward Richmond.We arrive at the dance weekend a half hour before the dancing starts. Warren has explained that dance weekends close to D.C. are always too expensive, and this is one of them. Being a dance caller and organizer himself, he explains my situation to the organizers here and talks down the admission price. I am surprised to see what the full price is, and grateful to get a reduced admission. It is a warm, sunny day and it is pleasant to lay outside in the grass instead of having to walk and sweat outside in what would have otherwise been a warm day hiking uphill away from Damascus.The cost of admission winds up being a real drawback for me. Although I don't have a job any more - well, not one that grants a paycheck - I can still justify paying for dance weekends frequently. Many folks my age can't attend these events quite as often. When they do, they tend toward events where the combination of admission price, performers, and other factors bring out plenty of young folks. From my limited experience, these are events like the New England Folk Festival and Saratoga Springs Dance Flurry. The Springforth Ball in Richmond is not one of these events. I only notice one other person here who may be close to my age.In spite of the age difference between myself and most of the other dancers, it is nice to be out dancing. Driving so far north to Richmond has brought me in range of some folks I recognize from my own New Jersey based wandering. There is someone who frequents the Princeton dance, and another I recognize from Glen Echo. I have to explain to these familiar faces that I have come from the opposite of the likely direction. Neither of these folks are ones I have known as more than acquaintances - I have only been to Glen Echo once, so I am surprised to even recognize someone from that one dance. The Princeton dancer is not one I am well acquainted with, and they are not as regular there as I am. They had not noticed my absence.Walking over 50 miles over the last couple days and not getting enough sleep has taken my energy from me. I dance through the afternoon but only dance a couple times in the evening. Most of the evening dance is spent wandering about the building trying out different places for napping. After the dance ends, I rouse to go to sleep elsewhere. Warren has found someone who is hosting visiting dancers for the night, and we head to their residence with the aid of a simple map. Warren opts to sleep in his car, but there is a small guest bedroom inside. I am glad to be in a bed after a night spent attempting to sleep in a car.Peace,