After a short drive, we landed at our first destination in Suwanee to visit our good friends Scott & Tamar. After some heartfelt hugs and hellos, Scott had to leave as he was directing a local rendition of Godspell. Tamar served up a tasty lunch and then drove us to a large picturesque park where we took in the sights and enjoyed a sunny 80 degree afternoon.That evening, we all went to see the closing show of Scotts' production which we thoroughly enjoyed. We met new people, shared great conversation, and basically had a ball! After all was said and done including helping to strike the set, we finally retired for the evening at approximately 1am. Even though we attended a local church service, met more new friends, and did an errand or two, Sunday was pretty much a time to chill out, especially since we would be traveling again tomorrow.
Monday the 24th came bright and early as we shored up the Nomad, said our goodbyes to our fantastic hosts and headed about 11 miles down the road to see one of Dave's college buddies, Justin, whom he hadn't seen in 30 years. It's difficult to describe Justin in just one sentence - or even a few sentences. He is a great human being, who is this ball of enigmatic energy. He is also very much an artist. We talked, enjoyed a late morning pot of coffee, got caught up with what we were doing in our lives from the past 30 years, shared life stories as well as artwork (he ended up purchasing two of Jills' smaller paintings), went out to lunch, talked and shared more about our future plans and dreams - all in the matter of five hours. It was great!
By 3 p.m., however, we had to hit the road as we wanted to beat Atlanta metro rush hour traffic. Our stopping point for that night was to be Greenville, South Carolina. Once out of the metro area, we had smooth sailing and camped for the night. It took us a bit to unwind from the day, but sleep finally overtook us. By 10 a.m. the next morning, the 25th, we headed out onto I-85 once again for Statesville, North Carolina, which is about 30 miles north of Charlotte. The weather was changing and we wanted to beat the rain. No problem - just as we pulled in, a squall front was coming through. We beat the rain alright... and Jill also noticed sleet and snow! Are you kidding me? The temperature dropped like a anvil off a cliff and in less than three hours, it was 30 degrees colder than what it was in the morning - and this was after the sun came back out. At least the snow and sleet didn't stick.We texted our two daughters and mentioned about the snow in the south. Our son-in-law Matt also texted us that Maine was due to get between 15-20 inches of snow that evening. Great! We then remembered that our campground managers still hadn't emailed our work schedules and other details. Would this latest storm put a delay in our arrival date? Would anyone even be able to get into the campground? Hmm....
Wednesday, March 26th - we said goodbye the Statesville, North Carolina, headed up I-77 into Virginia and hooked up with I-81. The last time either of us had traveled through this area was when we were kids. Amazing what one can forget. While we witnessed beautiful countryside and farms, we also got our first taste of steep passes through the Appalachian Mountains. Nomad was breathing hard, as were other trucks and motorhomes, but he did an incredible job. Our RV received a much deserved rest when we stopped for the day in Christiansburg, Virginia. 
For the next two days, we all got well acquainted with I-81 as we traveled up that scenic by-way for the next two days, stopping in Staunton and Winchester, Virginia. By the time we reached our last stop in Virginia, we took stock of several things. First, this was the first time one of us asked "What day is it?" We were glad we'd be stopping at Dave's sisters' house in southern Pennsylvania for the upcoming weekend. Second, we realized that while many fellow RV'ers and truckers stop at Wal-Marts for a night, the store in Winchester may rethink that policy - as we had 14 other 5th wheel and motorhomes as well as 5 semi's. We pretty much occupied two back parking lots! Good company however!Saturday, March 29th dawned cloudy, but we were once again hoping to beat the rain that looked to wash out the entire weekend. Well, we were close - by the time we arrived in Carlisle, the liquid sunshine was falling in abundance. We arrived at Sandy's (Dave's sister) house, breathed deep and relaxed. We enjoyed another great visit with Sandy, Jerry, and their two daughters, Emilie and Ellie. By this time, we called the campground in Maine to see how our managers were fairing. Great news - we were still expected on schedule, quite a bit of the area had been cleared and/or plowed out of snow, the electricity was on, the main registration / store building was 100% operational, and even though the water wasn't on yet, things were looking good.
Later on that weekend, we took stock in the fact that we were at our half way point home, we were on schedule, and we hadn't experienced any mechanical problems. Even the chilly weather and mountain snow didn't phase us. We and the Nomad were doing good overall. But all that was going to change... Until next time,
The Happy Campers,
Jill & Dave
A Million bows, and Gasho to you my friends. I am going to link back to you off of my blog Nomadic American Labs.
ReplyDeleteYour writing and thoughts are quite nice. Peace