On Our Way

Sure enough the next morning we got off on an early start, mostly because we were stopping first thing in town to get diesel.  We had been scoping out prices along the way and locally and found the absolute cheapest we could find was at a Raceway right in Blue Ridge.  We don't normally buy diesel anywhere except truck stops.  They are easy to maneuver in, have high capacity pumps, etc., but this year with the prices we have adjusted our thinking.  We are not changing our plans and will absorb the increase, but a little judicious planning can go a long way in saving some green.  So the Raceway was a bit tight, but doable and we stayed unhooked until after I had fueled.  $4.79/gal.  We have a fuel app that is attached to a discount program called TSD, and along our route all the prices were already over $5.00/gal, and increasing almost daily.

But before we left Jan made another delicious cioppino with the fish we bought at Whole Foods.

The homemade stock

And the wonderful finished product!

Two quick pictures show a good comparison of the Toccoa River which abuts the rear of the campground.  It is a tailwater with rapidly changing flows as determined by the release of water from the dam just upstream.  These two pictures are the exact same place only 5 minutes apart!  If you're wading in the river you need to get out quickly.

We made our way up to Sevierville, TN for our first stop at a very nice campground right on the French Broad River, Two Rivers Landing.  We spent several nights there in between a lot of raindrops, in fact it absolutely poured with thunder and lightning a few times.

While there we ran into Knoxville for a half and half lunch, meaning one part was really good and the other not so much, pho was good, banh mi not really.

But we were able to run a few errands, even including another Whole Foods for our dinner, fresh swordfish, yummy!

After a beautiful foggy morning we ran around Sevierville to include an absolutely delicious Thai lunch which Jan and I shared.

All wonderful, Tom Kha and Shrimp wonton soups, chicken satay, and an incredible
Spicy Thai beef salad

We got in one last beautiful night on the river and then it was time to go.

The next day we were going to northern VA, the longest day of our northward travels, 365 miles, compounded by the challenge of more diesel.  We found on our app a Petro station, a company we have never used before,  that was discounted to $5.28/gal.  It was a bust as there was no room, it was packed with trucks every which way, we couldn't even wait in line, so we bailed.  The app showed another off brand station across the street that was supposed to be $5.35/gal so we tried there.  At the first pump it didn't accept my card, so out and around and into another that wouldn't take my card either:-(  Inside to see an absolutely horrible attendant that with disdain finally inputted my card and we pumped it full.  Lucky we weren't in any hurry as this whole endeavor took us well over an hour!  And it turned out to be $5.38/gal:-(

Then into a nice overnight campground, Shenandoah Valley that we were sure we hadn't been to before, but as we pulled in we looked at each other and said, boy this looks familiar, turned out we had been there on the exact same day in 2018.  Spent a rainy night there but it was clearing when we left the next morning for PA.

Our fuel challenge this day was to load up again with what was supposed to be $5.50/gal fuel at a Loves just before the PA border.  PA several years ago added an enormous tax to their fuel to supposedly pay for road improvement, I don't know if it worked, but on our app looking ahead, diesel was about a dollar higher in PA than anywhere we had been, $6.50 and up so our plan was to squeeze in a few more gallons and make it all the way to Portsmouth, NH to fuel again.  We had only a small issue at the Loves as my card didn't work again, but the very nice lady inside said it was because they had a problem with the particular pump I had pulled into, who knew.  We squeezed in only 25 gallons, but we should be good to get to NH.  And it turned out to actually be $5.55/gal, I think it is increasing hourly.

We stayed the night in a beautiful campground in Amish country near Lancaster, PA, Country Acres.  It is a totally manicured park and much larger than it first appears, very nice, but a little tight to maneuver with our rig.

It finally cleared off so we were able to take a nice long walk around the campground, but it was way too cool to sit out yet again.  Next day it's off to NY.

So as we start moving leaving the next morning, someone who looks really familiar is walking out of the campground office door, Jan who is still outside sees him about the same time.  It's Bill, a friend from our park in Florida!  He goes and gets his wife, Mary, seems they are just checking in.  What serendipity!  It was great seeing them although short, you never know when you might run into some one you know.

We had a longish day made really long by the incredible cleverness of the PA DOT, they decide in the middle of the afternoon on very busy I-81 through Wilkes Barre-Scranton to paint 20 miles of lines on the highway.  Yes for over 20 miles we never exceeded 10 mph along with 100's of our closest friends.  Why oh why wouldn't you do this at night?  That combined with some of the roughest roads we've ever been on including Alaska, made for a long day getting to Harpursville, NY just northeast of Binghamton at Belden Hill.  It was fine for an overnight, great views, pleasant weather, we really enjoyed our cocktails that evening!

Then the next day a very pleasant trip to Brattleboro, VT.  Beautiful weather, little traffic and mostly smooth roads.  Even stopped at an overlook in VT at Hogback Mountain that is usually packed with tourists and cars , but since it is still so early in the season it was uncrowded and open. 

Finally into the Brattleboro KOA, a very nice small campground that has some big sites, quite a bit of privacy, quiet, dark, and very nicely cared for.

We wanted to go over to Orvis in Manchester, VT while we were here and on an absolutely stunning day we made a nice drive to also include lunch.  Went over a pretty covered bridge on the way.

After going to 3 different restaurants all closed, I guess because we are ahead of the season, we went to a disappointing Burmese place.  Now maybe it was because we weren't familiar with Burmese or maybe we just weren't impressed, who knows?  But we did get to Orvis and tried to help keep the economy going:-)  And then took a roundabout way back for a very enjoyable day. One more day here and then it's over to Maine to meet up with Karen and Tom for the next month or so.