Today was a travel day for us. We were not in any particular hurry to leave this morning and yet seemed pressed to get on the road as we had about 300 miles to travel. We also figure an average travel speed of 50 MPH even when traveling routes that are mostly Interstate Highways. We don’t usually travel more than 62 MPH and often slower due to traffic. The 50 MPH average also seems to make an adequate allowance for surface roads, stop lights/signs, rest areas, and truck stops for re-fueling. We try to avoid major cities whenever possible, and to go through them at off-peak times when we cannot. We also like to be where we are going before it gets dark.
We had a wonderful time this week participating in the SKP Photographers BOF workshop/rally at the Tremont Outdoor Resort in Townsend, TN. The resort itself was OK, although marginal for our motorhome. I was able to get us in, parked, and leveled last Sunday but not without adding some scratches to the upper body paint. I got us out of our site this morning and onto the entrance road where we hooked up the toad. All was well until I made a right turn onto TN-73 and cut it a little too tight to avoid a car in the oncoming lane, and clipped the body on the passenger side.
We did not know the extent of the damage until we pulled into a rest stop on I-81 northbound (still in Tennessee) to switch drivers. I clipped the lower panel of the last bay on the passenger side just in front of the drive tires, damaging the panel, a smaller body panel just behind it, and part of the wheel well trim. Ugh. Getting paint scratches buffed out just became the least of our problems. The rest of the day went fine, but this sort of thing tends to put you on edge and take some of the joy out of the lifestyle, at least temporarily.
Linda took the driver’s position and continued on I-81 N towards our destination in Virginia. She test drove the bus when we first looked at it, and did just fine, but had not been behind the wheel in the four years since then. She drove for about 150 miles, getting us to a rest area at MM109 in Virginia, and she did great. We still had 70 miles to go to get to Natural Bridge, VA and needed to stop for fuel, so I moved back into the driver’s seat to finish the trip. We stopped at the Pilot Truck Stop at exit 150 on the northwest corner of Roanoke, VA. This particular location was smaller with more congested access than we usually encounter, but we got in and out just fine.
We pulled in to the Natural Bridge / Lexington KOA around 4 PM, so we averaged just about 50 MPH for the six hours between “wheels up” and “wheels down” (aviation lingo for takeoff and landing). We do not generally seek out KOA facilities for a variety of reasons, cost being number one, but this particular KOA had a nice look and feel to it. It is built on hilly, wooded terrain, but the roads were wide enough for us to get through and the trees were trimmed up high enough that we didn’t scrape. The sites are cut into the sides of hills, but are close enough to level that we had no problem leveling the coach. Part of the reason KOAs are pricier than other RV parks are the facilities, which are designed to make them attractive to families with children. That often means congestion and noise. The campground is near full, but so far has been very quiet. There are campfires burning, as there were at Tremont Outdoor Resort, which reminds of our tent camping days many, many years ago.
The reason we are here is that KOAs accommodate everything from large motorhomes to tent campers, and we are meeting up with family here for a weekend of camping. They are camping in an A-liner in a site close to ours.
For dinner Linda improvised a quinoa-based dish with potato, squash, bell pepper, tomato, mixed dark greens, and Cranberry Thokku, a spicy/hot Indian relish/sauce. Earlier in the week we installed the WP Ultimate Recipe plug-in on our website/blog and started playing with it. Linda plans to add the recipe for this dish as her first entry. She is preparing a Farro dish on Sunday and will add that as well.
Linda’s sister (Marilyn) and brother (Ron) and his wife (Mary) arrived at 7:30 PM, got their camper parked and set up, and then came over to visit for a couple of hours. We discussed options for tomorrow and decided to make those decisions after breakfast. Ron and Mary returned to their trailer for the evening and Marilyn stayed behind as she is sleeping in the coach on the pull-out couch.
