December 29, 2003 (Mon) Salem, VA - Heavy frost last night but not all that cold. 32 degrees at 6:45 when we started out. We had some concerns about black ice but there was no problem. The temperature went down to 28 as we went inland before it started back up again. (It got up to 61 by lunch time.) there were lots of police cars on the road. We counted 13 between Red Bank and the Delaware Memorial Bridge. We usually see only 1 or 2 if any at all. We got gas at the Flying J at exit 2C off I-295 ($1.33/gal) but couldn't take on needed fresh water. They have it shut off for the winter.
As we drove south down I-95 then west on I-70 out of Baltimore, we became aware a vibration that Mark attributed to a possible out of balance wheel. We'll have to get that checked when we get home. Is it getting worse? Maybe we should do it while we're in Florida. It is getting worse. We'd better check it out now. Butler Tire is in the boonies outside of Frederick, MD. A two bay shop in the wooded front yard of a once well kept ranch house. Strange situation but the old fella was doing a good business. When we finally got in he found that the inside left rear tire was "separating". Scary! Since dual tires should be "matched" or close to it, we went on and bought two. Even though there looked to be plenty of tread after nearly 60,000 miles they probably needed replacing anyway. The duals on the other side were replaced last year. We'll be keeping a close eye on the other two!
The young lady who checked out our Golden Age card at the gate into the Harper's Ferry National Historic Site did such a good job of explaining where the parking lot and visitor center were and how buses would be available every 10 minutes to take us down to the site that we didn't have the heart to tell her that we were only there to eat a late lunch in the parking lot. We've been there and didn't really have time to see it again today.
Most campgrounds are closed for the winter. We finally found this one open in Salem, Va. It is actually a mobil home park, very neat and well kept, with a transient section down near the river. Salem is on the outskirts of Roanoke. What a relief to find it, we were beginning to think we'd have to go another 100 miles to the Flying J truck stop at the bottom of Virginia.
Q055574 (480mi) Salem Village MH/RV Park #? w/e/s $12.00 B
December 30, 2003 (Tue) Mars Hill, NC - 42 degrees overnight. When we came into the campground last night, there was no one in the reservation office but there was a telephone number posted. When we called the number the woman told us to pick out a site and someone would come around in the morning. No one did so we stopped at the office on the way out at 9:00 and paid the $12 fee. Very trusting folks!
It was a beautiful drive through the mountains on I-81 and I-26 (I-181 on the maps). The frost on the trees on the top of some mountains sparkled in the sun. There were patches of snow here and there along the road. They had less snow in the December storm than we did but the mountain typography kept the sun from melting it away.
We found Bob and Pat's new house without any problems following their directions and arrived at about 2:30.
Q055803 (229 mi) Bob and Pat's driveway
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