Greg had an early morning ride to finish up yesterday's route. A few pics after drop off...
A few pics before pick up...
Then the day of work began...and it poured outside! One thing about being in an RV in a torrential rain storm....you can't even hear yourself talk!! It was pretty wild! The ground was so soggy that the levelers on the RV sunk into the ground and so we were a little tilted until we left the next day!!
Tuesday
Went to the drop off spot and I see something pop up next to a nearby fence...got closer once Greg was on his way, and lo and behold, it was an emu!
She was so interesting! She'd curl her head and neck down and around, then turn around and walk the other way. Back and forth, back and forth. I made noises to see if I could get her attention but she didn't react (I don't speak emu). Don't laugh! When I mooo to the cows, they turn their heads and look at me!
Did a few errands on the way back to camp. Then heading out of Wytheville, a few shops caught my eye...one was Crocketts Country Store - how could I resist?! Nice store! While I was paying for the knick knacks I bought, the owner and I talked for quite some time! She does auctioning on Facebook, of some of the things she sells in the store.
Told her about the place we were staying at, Pioneer Village. Her son lives up that way and she's been meaning to stop by there and take a look at the place. Apparently the owner (I assume it's Laney) has only had the place for a few years and she heard it was being fixed up. All I can say is the place looks great! I told her about our trek and she took our blog addresses to follow along. She told me about the bridges in Kentucky....scary! I'm hoping I don't have to drive over them with the RV!!!
Got back to camp. Hooked up and said goodbye to Laney (behind her is the log cabin they are working on).
For my brother...
Along the road between Abingdon (Cracker Barrel where we would be staying overnight) and Damascus (where I was picking up Greg) the roads were lined with these lush green leaves. Didn't notice until I looked at the photos later on, but it seems to be ivy, covering everything! It was wild looking.
Cool town. They must have at least 8 bikes stores! There is this bike path called the Creeper Trail. It used to be the path of an old railroad line. And these bike shops have shuttles that take people and their bicycles to the top of this mountain and its a leisurely ride down! Sounded like my kind of ride!
Check out the name of this place!
We looked in this place and another bike shop for a side view mirror to replace his broken one but they didn't carry the brand. Thank goodness for electrical tape!
My mom had given us a Cracker Barrel gift card so we enjoyed a nice dinner out! Thanks Mom!
Greg worked that night on setting up our ham radios to link up with repeater stations. We can't reach each other but we can send/bounce the signals through these stations and then connect up. There are still a few kinks, but we're working on it!
Wednesday
Returned to Damascus...and so it began. The toughest day so far...for both of us.
Greg had to ride uphill through this mountain. At one point, for an hour and a half, it was a straight climb from 1525ft to 3025ft! There were no towns, no people, just this mountain. I don't know how he does it!! Tough ride. He's tired tonight!
I had to drive (what would have taken 2 plus hours by car) for 4 hours with the last two hours on these winding hairpin turn one lane roads. The RV had a tough time going up hills, even with me down shifting, sometimes I couldn't go faster than 25mph...which of course was a blessing on the scary winding roads!...except for the cars behind me! I was able to pull off a couple of times so the other cars could pass.
Humor in the midst of it all...
Finally get to Breaks Interstate Park. The man at the booth tells me to make the first right to the campground...well, then there are other forks in the road, no signs, I finally get to what I thought was the office and it's closed. So I sit there and ponder for a while. Wave the car behind me to go ahead. Wave the next guy who's in a camper and he stops to ask if I needed help.....oh yeah!! He was going to have me follow him, but he said he didn't think my RV could fit in these areas and once I got in there I probably couldn't get out!
So that was that. I thanked him and said I was going to call the office, wherever it was. And they sent a Ranger. So nice. He took me in his truck to the "A" campsite areas to see if the RV could fit in there. (I'm always getting rides!) One seemed good so he guided me into the spot. Realized afterwards all the hookups are on the other side of the RV. So I didn't hook up anything and would have to have Greg turn the RV around somehow. He's the master at this, so I'm not worried.
I go to unhook the jeep. There are two extension tow bars, each hook up to a side of the front of the jeep. Well, one unhooked. The other was jammed. Everything I tried didn't work. So I start the car, put it into drive and just nudge it up slowly...and the whole front of the jeep, lol, begins to rise up in the air! (you can't make this stuff up!)
At this point I'm thinking, Greg's gonna have to get a cab or find a hotel, wherever he is!
But I'm stubborn (family is thinking "no, really?!"), keep working at it, and finally, it unlocked! Find the real office, check in and head out to find Greg. The GPS tracking thing is working and it looks like the road that just wreaked havoc with me is the one he is on. Oh man.
We meet up and head for camp, weary and cranky. But the roads entertained us a bit - the ivy that was on the hills we had passed in the morning - well in this part of Virginia, it just went crazy! It was like huge muppet trees everywhere!
And so it goes, another day of adventure. My daughter had driven through Kansas on her way to Colorado and said how flat it was....I can't wait!! And I'm guessing, neither can Greg!
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