The last leg

Well, dear diary, I'm home again.  Didn't post yesterday but I don't want to lose the experience.  Even though it seems a bit mundane, the last few hours of driving from an outlet mall (essentially) to the place I usually call home, was all part of this particular road trip Peter Pan adventure.  So....

First, now that I have a good connection, I need to upload my photos from the Friday drive through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Wow, did I really drive through 4 states in one day?  Sounds like a movie.  Whatever.

  Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, where the guy was sleeping in his jeep.  At least I think he was sleeping.  There was no blood dripping down from the bottom of the door like you would see in Criminal Minds.  But you never know...

The New Gorge River bridge that I drove across that felt like it was a bridge across the sky.  The first picture is taken from the top of the stairs at the adjoining visitor center (I didn't go into the park, now on the bucket list!) looking toward the bridge.  After descending the stairs, which only go down about 200 ft - the bottom of the gorge is 600 ft down - I took the second shot looking left.  600 ft is a looong way down.

  

Young's Monument, WV, where a scenic lookout provided a lovely non-snowy winter vista, with the sunlight highlighting a distant rise.  

Now for the drive home.  When I left on Dec. 24, it was in the high teens Celsius, and the forecast was for the temps at home to be around the freezing mark.  So I had packed what I thought was enough warm clothes.  But it's cold here (in Grove City), the temperature has dropped (for me) about 25 C in the last 24 hours.  Savannah was hot and sticky when I left early Thursday afternoon, and I had been driving with the windows down and sunroof wide open most of the way to Winston-Salem, where it was about 9 C when I arrived.  That's chilly enough, but now... well, a windbreaker and sweater are just not going to cut it, and as it turns out, I've had a blowout in my favourite gloves.

So it's a good thing that there's an outlet mall just down the street and on the way to the highway, and they have a 75% off sale on just about everything.  Old Navy, here I come.  I find a lovely winter wool jacket for $13.99 (yes, you saw that right), and a warm fuzzy pullover for $3.99 (yup) and a couple of other goodies.  Next stop is G.H. Bass & Co., where I find two pairs of leather gloves at $14.99 a pair.  I know, right?

Off I go up the highway, and it looks like I might even be able to pick up the cat a little early.  At 11 a.m., little miss GPS (have to come up with a name for her, like Queen GPS) tells me that I should arrive at home about 3:15.  Cool.  I can take my time, maybe even stop for lunch, although the hotel included a hot buffet breakfast.  

I-79 North is mostly barren of traffic, or any life at all.  Still haven't seen any snow, anywhere, on this trip, although that's been largely due to the planning of my routes to avoid precipitation.  I'm about 15 miles south of Erie, PA when I start seeing a bit of white, just a dusting really, and still nothing in the air.  Hop on the I-90 toward Buffalo, start seeing a bit more, but nothing serious.  Then about 10 miles out from Buffalo, there's a sign that reads "Lake Effect snow ahead, reduce speed", and it starts to snow.  Not just snow, but sleet.  It's been a while since I've HEARD snow hitting the car, but this snow was downright noisy.  Not freezing rain, little white pellets (not hail either).  And traffic slows.  Good thing I have extra time!

But not really, although it gets worse and worse the closer I get to the city, and at one point I see a tractor trailer across the median, with the back tires of the trailer on one side of the median and the front tires of the tractor on the other side of the median, and not much underneath, and a lot of skid marks.  A bit further on, in the collectors lanes, there are two vehicles smashed into the guardrail, facing the wrong direction.  Traffic slows a bit more.

As I approach the city proper, the weather doesn't just clear up, it becomes almost dry.  Awesome!  The remainder of the trip is completely uneventful, and I have arrived to pick up Simba about half an hour early, and feeling like I've just had probably the best vacation ever.

Next blog post - interesting things seen on the road (that didn't make the daily post), and tips for making a road trip safe and enjoyable.  Home again - and planning the next one already.  Sigh.  

Fog and rain - better than snow!

Started the day with an odometer reading of 313969.  Umm, "my" numbers are 1, 3, 6, and 9.  Wonder what this day will bring!

When I first wake up and check the weather, Harrisonburg is getting a "Dense fog advisory", but I look out the window, and the sun is out, so it can't be that bad.  5 minutes later, I understand, because I can no longer see the end of the parking lot.  Better be on my way and take it easy.

In the hopes that the fog will clear, I opt to take Highway 11 down through the Shenandoah Valley, rather than the busy interstate that runs parallel.  It might be possible to stop and take some pictures?  However, the fog only lifts a little ways, and doesn't provide any interesting fog, just haze and of course when it clears a little, the shoulders of the road are too narrow to pull over.  I really must come back down here again some time though, because there are signs everywhere for interesting things to see and do, like caverns and historical landmarks and antique shops....

It strikes me that I am driving through the Bible belt on Christmas Day when I pass by a beautiful country home with a life-size nativity scene on the front lawn.  I snicker when I see the next house adorned by a much larger-than-life-size inflatable dachshund in a Santa suit on the front lawn.  Seriously.  Or maybe not so seriously...  The roadside signs identifying points and locations of historic interest are also intriguing, although many of the references are to events with which I am unfamiliar.  One or two jump out, such as the site of Sheridan's last raid, and the Original African-American Cemetery (no stones are visible from the road however).

Finally, as I approach the point where Hwy 11 will merge with the interstate, I start seeing signs towards a village called Natural Bridge.  I have to wonder if there is indeed a bridge formed by nature in some way, thus the name.  Cool, the hwy actually passes right through there, and the fog has mostly cleared!  And there is a large building with a huge parking lot, boldly announcing the Natural Bridge Park.  So of course, pull in and get out to read the plaque and see what I can see from the parking lot (nothing).  As I'm reading, I hear a vehicle pull up beside me, and a gentle voice with a dontcha-just-love-southern-drawls-kinda-drawl saying "Hi there!".  A kindly gentleman explains that there will be admission to the site in about 20-30 minutes, and he highly recommends that I stay.  He suggests I go over to the historic hotel and get a complimentary coffee while I wait, convinced it will be worth my time to hang around.  What the heck, it's a chance to stretch my legs and maybe get some cool pictures.  Here are a few, please note these are not the best ones photographically, but I haven't had time to do any touch-ups yet.  It really was worth my time.

And.... that was the end of the clear skies for the day, until sunset.  As I headed down the rest of the Valley, the fog rolled in yet again, and there was a sign indicating "fog ahead, adjust speed according to the weather", and yes, drove across the top of the mountains with fog and cloud below and above and all around.  Shortly after coming through the fog, the rains started coming down heavy enough that I was glad I was on the mountain and not in the valley.  Everyone was slowing down and putting on their hazard lights, it was really hard to see.  Like a snowstorm.  Sort of.  And it didn't let up until I was almost in South Carolina.

Then the sun went down, the rain stopped, the roads were dry, the full moon came up, and it was about 22C.  So the sunroof opened up, the tunes went on, and the rest of the drive to Charleston was largely uneventful.  Except for almost running out of gas.  But I didn't, I probably could have driven another 8 - 10 miles before going completely dry.  (Phew)  The forecast here for the next two days is partly cloudy and high of 73 F, which to me sounds like it's time to stop for a day or two and take in the sights in this area.  I'll see what's on the nightside table...

Highlights of the day:
1. Driving through Staunton, VA, and see a whole bed of yellow pansies in full bloom, on Christmas Day.
2.  Interesting road names, like "Rockin Way" and "Possum Hollow".  For real.
3.  Several log cabins that appeared to be still habitable, and inhabited.