The Road Goes On…

Category: USA

Meadows of Dan, Virginia to Colleton State Park, South Carolina

Today was to be a driving day to make up for yesterday and we did make in fact make 526kms. Nevertheless we had some exciting diversions.

On the parkway we stopped at the Puckett Cabin where “Aunt” Orelena Hawks Puckett lived for the latter of her 102 years. She was a midwife for 52 years and assisted at births of more than 1000 babies, delivering the last in 1939, the year she died. She never lost a child or mother through her own fault although none of her own 24 children lived beyond infancy.

We left the parkway and soon entered North Carolina where we stopped at their visitor center to stock up on fresh places to visit. There are a number of vineyards in the area and we stopped at Grassy Creek Vineyward and Winery where Ruth tasted 6 different wines (Martin was driving) and we spent some time talking to Jim, the owner and winemaker. Jim is not only a great winemaker but also a well travelled person with many stories to tell.

Lunch was a picnic at Lake Norman State Park overlooking a beach and swimming area.

After lunch we determined to make up for lost time and didn’t permit ourselves to visit the South Carolina visitor center.

Our home for the night is the Colleton State Park in South Carolina which is located next to a river and is very spacious with lots of trees. The air is very humid and hot. No aligators are reported in the vicinity and the cottonmouth and rattlesnakes also haven’t come for a visit.

We’re very happy our air-conditioning works!

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 15, 2015
Staunton, Virginia to Meadows of Dan, Virginia

We started the morning by writing blog entries for the last two days but were unable to post them as we didn’t have a fast enough internet connection. Our plan was to drive as far as possible today but the idea of going to the Roanoke visitor center changed the entire day. The visitor center is located at the former Norfolk and Western Railway station which now houses the permanent exhibition of O. Winston Link’s photographs documenting the last steam trains in America. We had a fascinating tour of the exhibit, including seeing his cameras and lighting equipment (flash bulbs!) and details of how some of his images were created, followed by a movie on the photographer’s life. We were so impressed that we bought a book about the exhibit.

The visitor center staff suggested we drive up the nearby mountain to see the large star overlooking the city and then take the Blue Ridge Parkway south.

The parkway has a speed limit of 45mph and is quite curvy which meant we didn’t make it very far. At the beginning there wasn’t much to see so we took a suggested detour to visit the town of Floyd which feels a bit like a hippy town from the 1960s and is quite well known for its live music festivals.

Back on the parkway we stopped at the Mabry Mill, built about 1910 and used to grind corn and saw lumber. In 1945 the National Park Service restored and landscaped the mill. Today is it the most photographed feature on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Now it was time to find a place to sleep. The first option was a state park but it didn’t appeal to any of us. Pepsi even nipped the nose of the park ranger who stuck his face too far into her personal space. The second option, Meadows of Dan Campground was much nicer and we settled in for the night after having had dinner outside, going for a short walk and then reading outside until it became too dark.

Total distance covered: 268kms

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 14, 2015
Allegany State Park, NY to Staunton, Virginia

We had a great sleep, the black bears we had been warned about didn’t attack us, and we were sad to leave.

Today was driving day. We drove through the beautiful park and saw the sign “Quaker Area” and wondered whether this was an old Quaker settlement or whether the pretty green wooden cabins were specific ground for Quaker families.

After leaving the park we continued on smaller roads through lush hilly areas. It was a bit sad to leave the coutry roads and get on the Interstate, but the Interstate is definitely faster.

Before we got on I-70, we had a late lunch at a Classic Denny’s. It was a replica but it definitely reminded us of Route 66 with its red seats and black and white tiled floors.

In Winchester, Virginia we stopped at a farmer’s market, sampled some delicious peaches and cherry-apple cider and left with fresh tomatoes, peaches, a half gallon of cherry-apple cider and a mouth watering peach pie which was to become part of dinner tonight.

After 575kms, we were done for the day. Tonight there is no beautiful park but a friendly Walmart with RV and truck friends.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 13, 2015
Dundas, Ont to Allegany State Park, NY

We should have listened to “On the Road Again”, what a great feeling! Departure was 3:00PM but we still had a stop at MEC to return a brand new InReach SE satellite communicator that had decided to no longer charge. Not much use as a safety device if the batteries run out.

Despite our late departure we still drove 250kms. We had a very smooth border crossing at Fort Erie, Ontario although we almost lost our driver side mirror because an impatient pickup truck driver felt the need to squeeze into an already occupied space.

We configured our GPS to avoid toll roads which routed us along beautiful country roads and quaint rural towns. A traditional stop at Walmart supplied us with some much needed groceries since we didn’t bring any across the border.

Pepsi assumed her also traditional position in the van patiently awaiting our return.

Now we were ready to find a nice place to spend the night – and it wasn’t Walmart. We use a terrific app on the iPad called Allstays Camp and RV that shows a map with parks and campgrounds in the area we are travelling in and what a place we found. Allegany State Park was created in 1921 and construction of the Red House adminstration building was from 1927 to 1928. In 1929 the beautiful lake was created by building a dam. The park now has a beautiful campground as well as cabins and a few rooms in the adminstration building.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 12, 2015
Portage, IN to Dundas, ON

After a great sleep, we had 7 hours left to go on our drive home. We had an oatmeal breakfast at McDonalds and got on our way.

The highways we took were quite rough and there was lots of construction.

For lunch we had our leftover ribs and Pepsi got to enjoy the left over bones.

Customs was no problem and we declared our Tillamook cheese, souvenirs and clothes and were sent on our way.

It was nice to be back in Ontario and we looked forward to finishing the final stretch and to be back home. At 5:30PM the RV was parked and the unloading began.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 14, 2014
Ashland, NE to Portage, IN

After an 11 hour sleep, we departed for Des Moines, Iowa to visit Famous Dave’s for a rib lunch. We had visited this restaurant last year on our trip home and were looking forward to the best ribs anywhere.

As soon as we walked in the door, the manager, Kevin, exclaimed “Hey, our Canadian friends are back!” and we knew we were in the right place. We had a three hour lunch with spare ribs and back ribs and lots of conversation.

We felt very welcome and took home some Famous Dave’s seasoning and received some Rich and Sassy BBQ sauce from Kevin. Around 3PM we departed and had a long way to go to make our 700-800km goal.

Needless to say we were tired when we stopped at a Flying J truck stop in Gary, Indiana for the night. This is a very large truck stop with 200-300 trucks and two parking spots for RVs. We got one of them next to the store. A speaker constantly announced “Shower customer number 201, your shower is now ready. Please proceed to shower number 6.”

There was no way we could sleep through this all night so we finished our last night of the trip as we began our first, at a Walmart parking lot. By now it was almost midnight.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 13, 2014
Cheyenne, WY to Ashland, NE

Today was a long highway driving day on I-80 which put even the dog to sleep.

We had a late lunch at Applebee’s where we each had a caesar salad, 7 oz steak with mashed potatoes and vegetables for a total of $25, including tip. Even at these prices, a table next to us was haggling for half-priced appetizers and drinks.

We stopped at the lovely Mahoney State Park in Nebraska which has a water park, horseback riding, and convention centre amongst its facilities. There is an air and space museum next door as well. After a day of driving we were tired so we didn’t get to see any of these. We have a lakefront campsite.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 12, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT to Cheyenne, WY

The morning started with pancake breakfast at Denny’s followed by a short drive to Temple Square in Salt Lake City where we toured the visitors centre and learned about the construction of the temple. Next up was a fabulous 30 minute organ recital in the Tabernacle. The organ there is the 12th largest in the world with 206 ranks totalling 11,623 pipes.

The organist Richard L. Elliot showed the full range of this magnificent organ, playing pieces by Handel, Bach, Debussy and others. It was fascinating to see his footwork while playing but to hear the pieces played by this excellent organist was the real treat.

The rest of the day was mostly driving with only a quick stop for lunch and gas. Some of the landscape in Utah and Wyoming was very impressive but not as breathtaking as that in south-western Utah last year. The drive was a lot easier as the highway is straighter and the climbs and descents are less challenging than they are further south.

We stopped at the A.B. Camping RV Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The internet connection here is great which makes updating the blog much easier.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 11, 2014
Truckee, CA to Salt Lake City, UT

After a lovely breakfast and a bit more conversation we set out towards Salt Lake City. It was a driving day and we were lucky that the speed limit allowed for up to 130km/h in places.

We had a brief stop in half-forgotten Lovelock, NV for gas and lunch at a little pizzeria.

Before leaving Nevada completely we stopped in West Wendover where a large sign above the casino suggested we try their penny slot machines. A quick check of our pockets revealed we had 4 pennies so we decided to take them up on their suggestion. Unfortunately, the penny slot machines only accepted bills so we had to insert the smallest one we had handy – a $5 bill. The two of us ganged up on the machine and alternately played our best but ultimately the machine won. So much for the hoped for early retirement.

As consolation we had a nice Mexican dinner at the casino restaurant.

On approach to Salt Lake City we saw the Super Moon.

Note: No track data today either – also lost in the GPS hard reset.

August 10, 2014
Penryn, CA to Truckee, CA

Today was Martin’s day. We visited Morteza, Mandi and family at their gorgeous “cabin” on 40 acres in the Tahoe area mountains. We hitched up the Hobie 16 sailboat, put the paddle board in the RV and headed towards Donner lake for some sailing, swimming and paddle boarding and a picnic lunch.

It was already dark when we headed back to the cabin for dinner, wine and good conversation until 1AM.

Note: No track data is available as the GPS needed a hard reset to get it working again. This lost all track data that had not already been downloaded.

August 9, 2014