March 14

6:27am (we lost an hour yesterday) #30 takes us straight through Knoxville. It’s pitch black out, the moon barely visible. It won’t be dawn for at least another hour. A bit of construction and constant lane changes keep Al on the alert.

An hour later dawn is indeed happening. Traffic has thined out. The highway is lined with two basic tree structures: pencil- and egg-shaped, both of which appear to have been trimmed, but are totally natural. Weather predictions call for rain, rain and more rain. Perhaps we can cover yesterday’s damage to the trailer with duct tape.

91.9FM (National Public Radio) San Francisco is planning a ban on the use of plastic grocery bags. Most people are in favour; others fear that the trend will spread to other cities. The US Federal Gov’t. wants to remove the bald eagle from the endangered list. Apparently their numbers have rebounded quite substantially with over 9,000 nesting pairs. Unfortunately 80% of their nests are on private property in the Chesapeake Bay area, so biologists are concerned. Check www.npr.org

At 8:30 we’ve just passed Jeoroldstown. I-80 takes us through rolling hills and farm country. We stop for gas and both dogs take exception to the 3 cows in the neighbouring field. Leila returns to eating her breakfast kibble; Gypsy is too distracted to eat more than a few bits.

8:55am and we cross over the 36th parallel into the State of Virginia. Some of the hills are completely covered in some sort of vine, completely choking the undergrowth with its hair-like structure. Fascinating, yet creepy, not unlike Spanish moss, but on a grander scale. It hangs over the sides of large boulders such that I imagine a faceless creature staring down at the traffic. I saw patches of the same yesterday in Tennessee. What is Virginia creeper? Is it any relation?

Finally the sun has broken through the clouds. Temperatures are in the low 60’s. I’ll have to try and remember what that means in Celsius.

The city of Abingdon offers a bit of everything – Dixie Pottery, a massive rug outlet, and a bird’s eye view of one of the local industries, a rock crushing plant. A mobile home park features a line of rural-style mailboxes all lined up and sitting side-by-side on one support. Shortly afterward a log home construction factory, only it’s all outdoors, complete with several cranes. A sample home sits on the hillside with its lower level made of brick.

Farm fields are very steep; cattle and sheep don’t seem to mind. Highway signs warn of falling rock. A while back two signs advertising wineries although I have not seen any grape vines. Grayson Highlands State Park & Mount Rogers National Recreation Area to the east and Hungry Mother State Park to the west. The scenery is beautiful. Sure beats Texas in that respect.

A transport truck with a sign that says ‘talking truck’ passes us. Al complains that it’s not talking. Merrilot is one of many heavy industries with plants alongside the railroad track. Leafless trees have numerous, unidentifiable sacks of ??? scattered amongst their branches. Tent caterpillars? Mountain Empire Airport and a landing strip alongside the highway. No action at the moment, but surely a distraction to drivers when there is.

Walmart Super Centre, the first in two days, just outside of Wytheville, Virginia closely followed by the usual chain restaurants, motels and gas stations.

I’ve just finished measuring the distance from here to Pennsylvania – approx. 400km, most of which is spent in Virginia, then a tiny portion in West Virginia and an even smaller section in Maryland as both these states have very peculiar state lines with ‘fingers’ jutting into each other’s logical territory.

There is no doubt that I-81 is a major trucking route as countless transports are visible on both sides of the highway at all times. One trucking company has St. Michael protecting its drivers. On our first long descent the transports (and everyone else) are literally whizzing past us. Another rest area with vending machines. Next one in 102 miles. The next ascent has us actually passing a transport with its flashers on. The surrounding forested areas appear dull and lifeless such that I am entertaining myself reading truck advertising. “For a successful.., join a career??, “if you can’t see me in my mirrors, I can’t see you”. Werner hires only safe & courteous drivers. This truck monitored by V-chip technology.

Daffodils are in bloom. This is the second roadside display I’ve seen. Spring cannot be that far away in Canada. Besides it’s also ‘spring break’ for students. Ah hah! Wild forsythia bushes have started to blossom.

We’ve been following a chain of high hills to the east in the Shenandoah Valley for about two hours now. Signs point to Endless Caverns, Luray Caverns, Shenandoah Caverns and other caves. The Shenandoah Skyline Tour sounds appealing, but not with a trailer. Mt. Jackson appears along with the Chesapeake Watershed in the Shenandoah River. On our left (west side) a number of varying-sized satellite dishes. Al thinks locals should get good TV reception. Seems this valley has vineyards and apples as well.

It’s 2:28pm and we’re still in the state of Virginia, almost 6 hours of driving. Another 70 km to West Virginia. Biggest water tower to date? Woodstock. That’s in Virginia, not Ontario, New Brunswick, Conneticut, Alabama, Illinois, Georgia, to name just a few other locations.

This highway is in very good shape and very smooth. Even the tire shrapnel is outstanding. With this kind fo truck traffic, I find it amazing that we’ve not seen any tires in the process of shredding, nor have we been hit by any. Knock on wood, I say. I just finished counting the number of trucks passing us on both sides of the highway in a 5 minute period. 58 transports, more of them heading south than north, and all of them at least 16 wheelers. Fed-Ex are nearly always double trailers and certainly move at ‘full steam ahead’. Their loads may be significantly lighter.

3:18pm West Virginia. Looks like Virginia .
3:58pm We’ve passed through Maryland and are now in Pennysylvannia.
5:00pm We stop for the night in Harrisburg (69 degrees) at our last Red Roof Inn. There’s no reason why we won’t be home at about this time tomorrow. Hold the snow, bring on the sun; we have a trailer to clean.