We pulled out at 6:30 AM and were on our way!
We stopped at the visitor center for West Virginia and actually did something stupid. As we pulled in, I went outside to do a check on the headlights. A man came running to me and said that a news crew was here and that a trucker had just won the lottery. He went around to the driver’s side and shook Andy’s hand while introducing himself and told us to come up to where the truck driver was. And then he went to our door and waited for Andy to come out. As he is waiting, I start having an uncomfortable feeling and wonder why he is not going to the other truckers that are pulling in. Andy comes out and the guy wants to shake his hand again, then says follow him. We look at each other, say ok, but then lock the MH. As we start to walk up to where all the other truckers are, the guy and another go racing down the parking lot. As we head back, a trucker on foot passes us and says he was just robbed. We hang around outside, checking everything and then go to the visitor center. As we are coming out, the state police are pulling in and later we heard of the robbery on the CB.
Now, what did we do right – locked the MH as soon as we got out. What did we do wrong – I should have told the guy that we would meet him where the others had gathered and somehow tell Andy to stay inside. This is what we will do next time.
We stopped at the Flying J in Winchester, VA. As we were waiting our turn at the pumps ($2.849/gallon), we saw one guy (beautiful 5-wheel and new truck); get upset – He just put gasoline in his diesel engine. God bless him. Have no clue what happened to him after he left.
The further south we traveled, the more leaves were on the trees. I just love seeing all the different hues of red and green. The Shenandoah Valley is just beautiful to travel thru. There are the mountains on both sides and the valley floor is so green. It is dotted with little towns, lots of farms (and cows and horses).
We arrived at the park ~1:30 PM. We looked over the Lewis Campground (smallest campground in the park) and all the larger spaces were taken. We moved to Big Meadows Campground where we stayed last year. We are at site H212. As we were filling with water, we were approached by a woman (forgot her name) who was doing an article for a travel magazine on larger RV’s and traveling in National Parks. So she interviewed us and took our picture. She will send us a copy of the magazine if she uses anything we said. This is really turning out to be an adventure.
As we were climbing the mountain to get to Skyline Drive, we heard a whoosh sound – like air escaping. We found out later that the line to our air ride melted. So after we set up, off to Luray we went to a hardware store to get parts to fix it.
We had the air ride put in the MH over the winter. I did not see much of a difference at first (but then we first tried it out when the MH was empty). This initial trip with the MH fully loaded – what a difference. We had a much smoother ride.
We met the couple camping across from us (Diane and Wallace). They are also on an adventure across the US in a van. Turns out Diane grew up in the same area of Scranton that Andy did. What a small world!!!
As the sun went down, it did get colder so we enjoyed our steaks over the campfire, and then moved inside. Earlier evening (9:30) for both of us..
Routes Traveled: Route 81 South, Route 33 East
Miles Traveled: 295 miles
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