Day 10, Heading South

Last night while we were experiencing the hot – spots of downtown of Oakland, MD a deer and a bear crossed our path!! Really, Kim saw a bear! We also ran into our Michigan friends at the Honi Honi (THE hot spot in the area) Marie and the girls like to dance and were doing a great job supporting the band, who was also very good.

The ride away from the mountains of MD was quite fun, downhill toward WVA, Big hills and monster turns at the bottom, Kim has a nosebleed.

We don't have signs like this in Florida


0832 log entry, entering WVA

Fun fact about DCYC we learned this am from Darlene and Ray, the kegs at the club are tapped in June, and don’t turn off till October! They also have little “lockers” that look like PO Boxes, and you stash your hard alcohol in there. Most members have a stein with their name on it, too. Hmmmm, nice.

More beautiful trees and mountains, recurring theme in these parts; It must be stunning in the fall. Civilization- not so much; that can be a good thing

Sorry about the glare from the window, no time to lower the glass

1020 Exiting I-79 onto US 19 (sounds like home!) The trip directions that Ray gave us before we left said we should have been here 7 minutes ago. The print out is similar to what you get from Map quest but it also allows you to put in a starting time and shows what time you should be arriving at the various turning points, landmarks etc. We left 10 min after the start that Ray had listed, so we built that in. How could be we that far off schedule? We’re going as fast as we can!! Since the traffic is fairly light we assumed we should “catch up” before long. (How does Kim feel about computers, though?)

1499 mi total for trip so far, it’s getting warmer outside, Kim takes off the outer layer (of 3, no photos please). So far today, no AC needed, that has helped Ody’s hill climbing. The A/C has been helpful on the larger down hills to keep from having to use the brakes to keep the speed under control. Also, the coolest invention ever made for traveling on the road… the plug in cooler. Ran out of colas and beer (as mentioned before) and the market had only “suitcases” (they won’t go bad). The cooler takes them from room temperature to drinkable (the colas, folks, the colas) in less than a couple of hours.

Trying to play Amy’s town-name-rhyming game with some of these places we go by. Not so easy, but some, like Gassaway, was really fun. Mt. Nebo, Monongah, Hepzibah, Pruntytown, and Hico were challenging!

Nervous moment: cop heading the opposite way on the highway, us in the left lane about 15 over the limit, he turns around and comes our way. Following, following, UGH! Hope they like “fur’ners” in this part of the country. Start practicing that southern accent, Dave.

Phew, he goes for someone else and we’re in the clear.

1108 Making history as we cross The Western Hemisphere’s Longest Arched Bridge. Sort of anti climatic though since the arch structure is busy holding us up and is underneath us, so we can’t see it anyway. We’ll take the signs word for it though. Now, while I was writing that down, I missed where the heck we were. Ok, near Fayetteville, WVA, more importantly, near Biscuit World! Unfortunately, if we stop, that will REALLY mess up the time line. The place was packed with cars, must have been really good.

1123 Gas and rest break, oh, Ody, got only 17.7 mpg, all those mountains towing Piggy were a little tough. We must have downshifted a hundred times this morning so far, the grades are one after the next like a roller coaster.

According to Ray’s computer thing, even with the stop, we’re catching up! Only 4 minutes off the pace now, on corrected time. Dave can’t believe we haven’t caught up yet, I think this little “race” is becoming an obsession.

Entering a tunnel on the interstate

We encounter some sucky road repair areas, Dave clicking away with the camera, I feel like I’m traveling with Serge (some of you know what I’m talking about) Click, click, click. It is beautiful, the camera holds 1500 or so shots, I suppose we’re almost to the limit. Another great invention is the digital camera, click, click click, then delete all the crap and maybe you are left with a few good shots. Maybe...

1220 State line crossing from WVA to VA!! 1618 total miles for trip, averaging approx. 60 mph, still 5 minutes behind Ray’s time table! How fast does he want us to go?

Click, click, click…

Piggy in hot persuit


1318 State line crossing into NC!! Nine minutes behind in our progress compared to the computer generated estimations. We are actually losing ground! This is causing a bit of tension in the van. We've discussed tossing the trip sheet out the window but we don't litter, ... yet. Let’s see how it goes in the next 100 mi of NC.

Amy’s rhyming make-up-a-story game turned into a Dr.Seuss-a-thon in Mocksville (Fox in Sox-ville, you get the idea). That was good for a few miles of fun!

Click, click Lake Norman. I think we got a picture of Scot racing. The computer time frame is stressing us out, we’re only referring to the aids to navigation at this point.

1452 1795 total miles, we’re into SC! Sadly, cannot help but look at the computer schedule, we’re 18 min behind, how can that be??!!!

1555 1863 total miles, fill up, outside of Columbia, just under 20 mpg, good girl, Ody.

1630 Finished Tim Dorsey’s (he’s one of our favorite authors, here is his website: http://www.timdorsey.com/ it is best to have your sound turned on) The Big Bamboo. Now, we really have to abandon the time line, too depressing and the traffic between Columbia and Charleston is pretty thick. We are only able to run about 65 and that won’t cut it for Ray's damn trip sheet. We don't succumb to the urge to litter though.

1647 Decided to drown our sorrows in a roadie. (Sorry, parents, but we have an appropriate cup to keep the evidence covert and we’re over 21, you just can’t tell, at times.)

1723 Lighting, thunder, and heavier rain. Bummer.

1725 This storm over : ) Starting Carl Hiaasen’s book: Skin Tight. He's really good too, especially if you are into the books with the Florida setting.

1811 2029 mi, Into GA!! We've decided to quit soon, since more heavy rain and thunder and lighting. Exit 94 near Savannah looks good, they have lots of signs, food, gas, and lodging, we need all three. The rain is really pouring down now, major lightning, traffic lights are out, you get the idea.

1835 Econolodge here we are! In room wireless internet access too, so we can send and receive. We highly recommend this exit. Nice waitress, nice room, compared to the Taj, at least and until we unloaded the wet sails into the room. For the trip home we traveled with the sails in the boat, after the downpours and Daves hasty parking job, on a hill, stern raised, boat now full of water, they were swimming around in the boat. Brilliant.