We left the campground just after 7 AM and onto Rte 77 heading North to VA. There was some color in the foliage as we went through the mountains in NW NC, but much was hidden by morning fog.
We knew we needed to minimize our stops today as we had a long drive ahead, so other than a planned lunch at a roadside rest area, our only other planned stops was for gas. As we merged onto Rte I81 in VA, the truckers were everywhere. Yesterdays impression of heaviest traffic had not proved as such but this morning with a count of 87 trucks heading South in a 10 minute period of time, this converted to over 1000 trucks passing this point in one hour!! This truly was a record. I do have to say though, that as a class of drivers, truckers are by far better drivers than auto drivers. That is not to say that there aren't exceptions on both sides. As the day progressed, the day never brightened and I ended up driving almost all day with my lights on. The fog/haze never really lifted and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon it seemed like 7PM it was so overcast.
We did see some interesting farmland. With an early start, we were able to reach our destination by 3:30PM. (The Hampton Inn) My first action when I got into the room was to kick off my shoes and flop onto the queen sized bed. My first real bed in 50 days! Boy, did it feel nice.
After relaxing for an hour or so and a nice shower, we walked across the street to a nice diner for an early supper. It looks like we'll beat both storms and be home tomorrow afternoon. While eating our meal, we realized this was our last night and the trip was almost over. 51 days, 10,000+ miles, over half the states in the country and only one more day to go.
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