Home At Last

We left Amarillo, Texas on Tuesday March 31, heading East on I-40. 6 days and 1530 miles (2,400 KM) later, we pulled into Harrisonburg/Shenandoah Valley KOA in Broadway, VA.

The last leg of the trip from Salem to Broadway, Virginia was a short one (130 miles/210 KM). We decided to grab breakfast rather than fix something. The Omelet Shoppe sounded pretty good so that is where we headed. The restaurant looks like a converted Waffle House. Food was OK but nothing to write home about.

If we were just taking the car, parking would not be a problem. Parking a 38 foot motor home is a bit more challenging especially when pulling a small trailer. We found a spot in the Exxon gas station next door. (That is Cody, our Golden Retriever, up on the dash board. That’s his guard spot.)

I-81 traffic was pretty heavy this morning. It was moving but sometimes at a slow pace.

For our last segment of the trip, we, turned off I-81 and are now on Route 608 (Mauzy-Athlone Rd). After about 4 miles (6.4 KM) of a winding two lane road, passing a few dairy farms and a turkey farm, we arrived at the entrance to our new home.

After exchanging greetings and filling our motor home’s propane tank, we backed into our site and started getting our site set up.

We made good time on our 1530 miles (2,400KM) trip. Yes, we endured a couple of big storms along the way and one obstacle on the highway in Memphis, but overall, we had a good trip. It is not unusual to see an RVer broken down on the highway or worse, an RVer involved in an accident. On this trip, we saw neither. We enjoyed the company of good friends in Bluff City, Tennessee and had great food in several places especially Blues City Cafe in Memphis.

It was sad leaving our friends behind in Amarillo, Texas but it is good to have a chance to meet new friends in our new location. We have a fantastic site and look forward to many campfires. Tomorrow I will post more photos of our campground.

Thanks for stopping by, y’all come see us now.

Hello Virginia

We got a late start heading out of Bluff City, Tennessee on Sunday after church and lunch. We had almost 300 miles to travel to get to our destination of Harrisonburg/Shenandoah Valley KOA. Because of our late departure, we decided we would drive half the distance Sunday afternoon, April 5th and the rest on Monday. Driving North on US-11, which runs parallel to I-81 took us directly into Bristol, Tennessee.

Bristol Motor Speedway

I pulled this photo from when we were in Bluff City in 2012. (It is hard to take a picture our of the side window of the RV while driving it.) NASCAR racing enthusiast should recognize this place. Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the most popular NASCAR tracks in the NASCAR circuit. While it may be a short track, its steep banks enables racers to reach higher speeds than other short tracks. Bristol Motor Speedway is also known as the loudest speedway. We’ve been told that on race day, the sound emitting from the track can be heard several miles away.

I-81 @ Marion, VA

Just out of Bristol, we connected with I-81 and crossed into Virginia. We were told that traffic can be congested in I-81 but so far things look pretty clear. I-81 runs up to 2600 feet at Wytheville and down to 1100 feet at Salem and crosses US-11 in several spots. We had beautiful weather for the trip.

Our site @ Dixie Caverns Campground

Our spot for the night was at Dixie Caverns Camping in Salem, VA. The campground is small and nestled in the valley next to Dixie Caverns. We opted to not take the tour of the caverns. We were travel weary and were ready for a bit of rest. Tomorrow we will concluded our trip. To be continued…

Thanks for stopping by, y’all come back now.