Travelin' Dreams: Heading South

We left home on Thursday morning in the midst of snow and strong winds. The plan was to drive to Wytheville, VA about 500 miles away. You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, that was us. The snow stopped about the time we hit Toledo and we thought we were in the clear. The 80 Turnpike was in good shape, so here we go. Nope. About 20 miles north of Canton, OH it started snowing and blowing so hard it was near white out conditions. By this time, we are on 77 South and it was getting snow covered and traffic had slowed to about 40 mph. My captain, in his infinite wisdom says "I think we better get off the road. It's not worth it."

There are no RV parks open in northern Ohio in February, so we pulled into the first motel we could find, a Red Roof. Off to the front desk I go asking "do you take pets?" Of course they do, so we grabbed a room. It was only 1:00 pm but we were safe, dry and warm and off the road. Bob Evans was right next door so we only had to brave a short walk to eat dinner. This was the view from the room during the snow.

We've been real lucky in all the times we've driven to Florida in that we never had weather like this, but there's a first time for everything, right? It stopped snowing early evening and by 7:00 am Friday, the roads were clear. We again headed south. We notice that Canton didn't have near the snow on the ground as we do at home. By the time we got to southern Ohio, there was hardly any on the ground. West Virginia, there was none. It was nice just to see the ground!

We got to Statesville, NC around 4:00 and camped the night at a KOA. They had the usual amenities, free Wi-Fi and cable but this park is older and a bit run down. Great for an overnight stay while travelling but we talked to someone who was from upstate New York and had been there all winter. Huh? Oh well, that's why there are red cars and blue cars. To each their own.

We asked if we could rinse the salt off the MH, but no vehicle washing is permitted. This rig has never been this coated with salt.

This morning, we took off south again and headed to Sumter, SC to see our sister-in-law, Amy. We found a truck wash at Columbia, SC and while it wasn't a perfect job, it sure looks better than this. We got to Amy's around noon and Amy and I ran some errands.

Amy's yard is all fenced in so when we visit, Jesse and Jackie get to run free to their hearts' content. When we got back, Doug tells us that while we were gone, he suddenly realized that Jesse was sitting with him nearby but that Jackie was no where to be found. He thought she must have gotten out of the yard by scrunching under the gate so he starts calling for her. No answer and no Jackie. He walks around to the patio and there she is in all her glory stretched out on the table.

Jesse, being the good boy that he is, knows that dogs belong in the yard stretched out on the grass.

We then set out to go visit with Amy's mom, Joyce, and her sister, Bridget. Joyce had made short bread from scratch which we enjoyed with some coffee. She gave us some to take with us along with some croutons she had also made. She is a dynamo who at the age of 88 is still working 5 days a week, giving piano lessons. We love her dearly.