Keep on Truckin’

Today was a travel day, and whew, what a day. We decided that we were SO close to South Carolina, that we really should place all our wheels in the state since we had come so far.  It added about an hour to our drive, but we did it! 

We had a little rain as we got going, and the famous Smoky Mountains fog was on display. It was a pretty farewell to this beautiful area.  We hit construction and delays off and on all day.  There was one in particular that went on for more than an hour, and it encompassed only four miles of progress.  Our nav system just couldn’t decide what it wanted us to do.  Get off the freeway at the next exit, no, stay on.  Whoops, get off in a mile, and when we got there 10 minutes later, no… keep going.  Each time that happened, we had a discussion, tried to look ahead at traffic, and make a decision.  We got off once (for a bathroom break) and then promptly got back on.  It was a long and tedious journey.  Once there three lanes had scaled down to one, things got moving.  Whew.  On our way again.  

There was much discussion regarding our route through Atlanta.  I had read in RV forums that RVers will do almost anything to avoid driving through the city.  We talked it over, reviewed the beltways, and decided that since we would hit Atlanta around 2:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, that we should just for for it and use the freeway that passes right through the middle of the city.  I guess the folks in Atlanta don’t consider it traffic if vehicles are moving, which we did.  It was pretty much bumper to bumper across EIGHT lanes of traffic!  It’s super fun when you are 47 feet long in the third lane from the left and you have to exit in a mile. Although we never got stopped for more than a second or two, I’m in the camp of avoiding Atlanta.  The picture below is before all the traffic began, but it is the only one I took.  

Once we got through all that, we had about 30 more miles to our destination for the night. We stopped for fuel and to buy DEF, and I have to say everyone in Georgia I talked to was so nice!  Almost like being in Newfoundland! We are staying at a city park tonight with electric and water hookups. It’s a beautiful spot in the forest and I just love the name of this place… Little Tallapoosa Park.  

I’m not sure how far we’ll get tomorrow, but we may pass through Alabama and get as far as Mississippi! 

Our neighbor enjoying the evening

Asheville, NC

 Yesterday’s day started with two large loads of laundry.  We are staying at a nice campground with full amenities, including a very nice laundry room, so I took advantage.  I drove our truck as the basket was too heavy to carry the distance.  I knew where it was on the map, but had difficulty finding it.  I walked over to the office to ask, and the lady in there (with a very impressive beehive hairdo) also wasn’t sure. She tried to show me on the map I had just looked at.  Oh well, I walked around some more and eventually found it.  After carting that heavy basket from the truck to the laundromat, because of course I didn’t park on the correct side of the building, I went looking for a mailbox to send a birthday card.  The lady in the office didn’t have one of those either, but told me to walk up the hill and there was one there.  I found that much more easily than the laundromat.  I then moved the truck closer and waited for my two loads to finish washing and drying.  I was very happy to see that each load cost $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry.  In the current world of laundromat costs, that is very cheap.  I also used the change machine to get $20 more in change as I know I’ll have at least one more load to do before getting home, and it will likely cost the $4 I’ve been paying per wash load at other places.  

Once back at the RV, I found Steve finishing up with sewer hose duty (no need to explain more there) and he had done some cleaning inside.  We tucked Maggie in, jumped in the truck and headed into Asheville.  We decided to take a hop on, hop off trolley tour of the area.  Our first stop was at the Omni Hotel which was build around the turn of the last century.  We got off as we had heard it was a beautiful hotel, and holy-cow was it gorgeous!  We had a lovely lunch on the terrace overlooking the valley and the smoky mountains.  Wow just isn’t a big enough word!  After lunch, we strolled the lobby awhile and then waited for the next trolley to pick us up.  

Feeling a bit rumpled and tired, but happy

This view at lunch was spectacular 

This fireplace was massive! 

Our tour guides were wonderful.  The two we rode with were both born and raised North Carolinians and were a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of the Asheville area.  They were entertaining and we learned a lot.  If you ever have a short time in a new city, we highly recommend this kind of tour.  Steve and I had actually driven past some of the places yesterday on our way to the brewery, but had no idea what we were looking at.  

By this time we were both very tired and so headed back to the RV.  I, in part, was exhausted.  Our RV mattress is good, but not great, and I’ve had trouble sleeping and have awakened with a backache a few times.  Traveling in an RV is really fun, but can also be tiring.  Steve is constantly faced with blips in our electrical system, a tv that might not work, poor internet, or any number of other issues that can come up with driving a small, highly technical house on 6 tires.  Although our space is small, I have no dishwasher, washer and dryer, and things just seem to get dirtier faster.  Having an 80 lb. dog who sheds heavily doesn’t help.  All of that has been quite manageable, actually, and we’ve been able to balance that with long driving days, tours, activities, excursions, and exploring new places.  We’ve gotten lost, got stuck in rush hour traffic, and navigated miles and miles of construction.  Despite it all, we’ve had a blast and have really enjoyed this trip.  

I say all that, because yesterday we decided to change plans one more time and head home.  We are going to skip the last two cities and a national park we were looking forward to seeing, and this morning we are turning our RV west.  We don’t plan to break records getting home though.  We are tired, and there is no need to exacerbate it with 6-8 hour driving days.  We have chosen to make our way to I-20 as we haven’t traveled that interstate yet, and we can still see some new things on our way.  We figure it will take about a week, give or take, to make the trip.  I’m sad we aren’t finishing, but I am ready to be home.  Steve is too.