QC91-01 South to North Carolina

December 30, 2008 (Tue) Home to Winchester, VA (296/296) -  We backed out of our driveway at 9:45 (40°) - very slowly! Q's new bicycle rack is lower than the old one. Although not as low as the bicycles hung before, as it turned out. There was plenty of clearance in the dip at the end of the driveway. But we bumped the back step getting out of the Welch Farms parking lot after picking up a news paper. We've come out of that lot several times. This is the first time we hit bottom. Signs of the trip to come?

The gas price on the Garden State Parkway (northbound) was $1.55/g - a little higher than some non captive stations but not much - so we went on and filled up rather than wait for higher prices in Pennsylvania. West on I-78 we saw four police cars, lights flashing, with a van pulled over near Clinton, NJ - and one on the way. Poor guy! The temperature slowly increased as we went south on I-80, 47° as we crossed into Maryland and 51° at the Virginia border. It was quite windy until around noon.

We watched a beautiful sunset across the Winchester, VA Walmart parking lot, complete with car, trucks, signs and wires in the foreground, as we settled in for evening. This is our fourth stop here - not the greatest in ambiance, other than the sunset, but the cost is right. There are only two other RVs (small) here.

Q046279 Camp Walmart, Winchester, VA

December 31, 2008 (Wed) Winchester, VA to Mars Hill, NC (390/686 miles) - Yesterday the temperature went steadily up all day, today it went steadily down. Although it got down to 42° overnight it was 47° when we got off at 7:20 but that was as high as it got - And the wind about blew us off the road a couple of times. We learned later that the area had been subject to gusts of up to 60mph! Snow flurries now and then added to the excitement through the relatively higher elevations of the lower Appalachian Mountains.

Rather than turn left across 4 lanes of traffic after getting gas in Middletown, VA ($1.44/g) we decided to turn right and make a U turn down the road a bit. That turned into an adventure. We got into a tight little shopping mall terraced into a slope. The change in road grade from lot to lot and back onto the street was such that we had to risk bumping the bicycles and rear step no less than 3 times. Several times we had to stop and back out or the situation and find another way - while locals patiently waited (and laughed?)

We pulled into Bob and Pat's yard at 3:30 and got set up to stay a while. Our New Year's Eve consisted of dinner with Bob and Pat and a couple of their friends (John and Marty) and a rousing game of dominoes. We were in bed by 11:30 and made the mistake of turning on the TV to watch the ridiculously hyped excitement in New York's Times Square.

January 1, 2009 (Thu) Mars Hill (2) - Happy New Year! (19°) We celebrated the start of the new year by fixing our daughter-in-law's French Toast (The "official" name is Challah French Toast' but to us it will always be Barbara's French Toast).

We just "hung out" the rest of the day until late afternoon when we all went up to Sam (Bob and Pat's daughter) and Mike's house  for dominoes and dinner. A great time was had by all but Mike' who watched the Penn State football team go down in defeat.

January 2, 2009 (Fri) Mars Hill (3) - Not as cold last night (31°) but we woke to the sound of rain and sleet on Q's roof. There was no accumulation on the ground but ice had formed on the steps so we had to be careful going in and out. We went into Weaverville to a cafe owned by the sister of a friend back home. The food was excellent and was enough to last us the rest of the day. In the evening Kay, a friend of Bob and Pat's, came by for supper. Tomorrow she will start out on her first RV trip since losing her husband, interrupting their travel in Alaska last summer. It was good to see her in such good spirits. We will be meeting her again in a campground in Florida.

January 3, 2009 (Sat) Mars Hill (4) - It was 35° when I thought to look, so maybe the overnight temperature was a degree or two lower - not bad after the last few. Bob and Pat went off to what is affectionately called "The Old Men's Breakfast" (this time with wives) leaving us to mind the house and its animals. Mark installed a communications driver on the computer (in hopes of better internet access as we travel) while Joy did crossword puzzles and some knitting. Later Joy and Pat went Burnsville to check out a quilt and a yarn shop while Mark continued to get the communications driver to work and Bob did some chores in the Mountain Hopes horse barns. The rest of the day we all hung out and relaxed.

January 4, 2009 (Sun) Mars Hill (5) - Church today was inspiring both from environmental and spiritual points of view. The past year has been unsettling for us in our relationship with our church. It was so good to "come home". This afternoon we stayed out of Bob and Pat's way as they packed their motor home - at least we hope we were able to do that. In the late afternoon and early evening was Bob's birthday party at a friend's house. This overeating has got to stop!

The temperature reached 60° during the day which was a pleasant change.

Q046669 Bob and Pat's yard (x5)