Tuesday Aug 28 (D45) - Sat Sept 1 (D49) HOME

We left Bert and Leslie's on Tuesday after a very relaxing, wonderful time visiting.  They are such good hosts - we felt so completely pampered.  Thanks again for a great time.

As most of you know, who follow our travels, it is not uncommon for us to decide that we are ready for home and then spend  the next few days just driving.

Tuesday (Clayton, NC to Morehead Kentucky) :
We were up early and spent our last morning on the deck chatting with our hosts. We left around 9:30am. We knew when we left that we were ready to go home, and that we would spend the next few days driving.  We got gas before we left town and then hit the road.  We noticed signs on the side of the road saying "Weed Eating", with workers in the ditch with weed whackers.  Cute.

The road today was very pretty.  We passed over mountains and through a couple of tunnels.  The roads were not as busy as some of the interstates we have been on.  As well, there was often open landscape which was almost comforting.  And trucks.  The roads had many many semis!  There were almost more trucks than cars.

There was some construction on the road, but it did not interfere with our travels.

We stopped in Morehead, Kentucky for the night shortly after 5pm.  The hotel was very comfortable and had 4 HBO channels.  We curled up in bed with a Guinness and watched two movies.  It was sooo relaxing.

Hotel: Comfort Inn
Temp:  Very hot and muggy
Distance: 446.8 miles
Mileage: 28.6 m/gal


Wednesday (Morehead Kentucky to Rockford, Ill):
After a very good night's sleep, we were on the road by 8:45am.  I think that has been the earliest we have ever been up and out.  The weather was overcast with threatening rain clouds.  We had bouts of VERY heavy rain throughout the morning and early afternoon.  The rain would start suddenly and would be torrential to the point of not being able to see in front of us. There were times Bob had to rely on watching the yellow line to stay on the road.  And then just as suddenly, it would be gone and the sky would be sunny.  At one point, in between the rains, there was a full rainbow in front of us.  It was really quite pretty.

Once we reached Indiana, we noticed the roads slowed considerably.  People were actually driving only the speed limit.  We wondered if the highways were more closely monitored here.  We stopped at a truck stop for gas. Bob had never been successful at paying at the pump as the pump would never accept his zip code.  I noticed that I had misread the instructions, and once he entered the number properly there was no problem.  Now we figure it out, just as we reach the end of our holiday.

Again there was quite a bit of construction on the road, but again it did not interfere with our travels, and our trip was not slowed at all.

We crossed into the Central Time Zone so gained an hour.   It was so nice to drive along and see open fields.  We also noted that as we went further north it got cooler and less muggy.

We also saw a few more signs of renewable energy - a solar farm and a couple of wind farms.

We drove as far as Rockford and checked in to our hotel at 5:30.  After checking in we walked across the parking lot to a local tavern and feasted on ribs.  We are back in our hotel room, settling in for the night.

Hotel: Sleep Inn
Temp:Mixed Heavy rain, scattered clouds, and sunny.  32c cooling to 24c
Distance:541.2 miles
Mileage: 28.1 m/gal


Thursday(Rockford, Ill to St. Cloud Mn):
We were out early this morning - by 9am.  I think we are getting anxious to be home.  After getting gas, we headed out on the road.  The sky was cloudy with the odd sunny patches.  It reamained that way for most of the day.

Leaving Rockford, we noticed a sign for a toll road and decided that we would avoid, so took the next exit.  Unfortunately, apparently, we were already on a toll road to we had to pay an exit fee -I think we might have travelled 200 meters.  We programmed Erg again to avoid tolls and she took us off at a very interesting journey through town and around fields.  It added about 25 minutes to our time and we ended up #39, the same highway that we had left, but there were no tolls - apparently the toll part was quite short.  Oh well.  At least it was an interesting drive.

We soon left Ilinois and passed into Wisconsin.  We stopped at a truck stop near Black River Falls where there was a short boardwalk (about a mile total).  I was not feeling all that well, so I rested in the car while Bob took the walk.  It ended up overlooking the valley, but it was a bit overgrown.

One thing we noticed was the amount of corn growing in the area.  This corn was not as high as the corn further south, but it appeared healthier.  We couldn't tell if it had been harvested yet or not.

Today was a day for construction.  We had a number of delays, although none of them as extended as the ones we have faced in the east due to traffic.

We checked in around 6pm and relaxed in our room.  Neither of us felt like supper so we dined on snacks.

Hotel: Quality Inn
Temp: Cloudy but clearing later in the day - 32c
Distance:406.1 miles
Mileage: 28.5 m/gal



Friday (St. Cloud Mn to Minot ND)
Another early start - hmm.. 9am is starting to be not early, but routine.  Again, we started the day getting gas.  It was cloudy to start the day but there were scattered sunny patches

One of the things we noted was how the power lines seemed to zig zag across the road and back again, occasionally running away from the road and then back.  We tried to decide why that would be but did not come up with a solid theory - there were so many that could have explained it.

At the ND border, we headed west towards Bismark.  The landscape was changing, with more rolling hills and bushes rather than the trees we had driven past earlier.  We had lunch at a truck stop near Valley City and continued northwest on the interstate. 

At Jamestown, we turned north on #52 to Minot.  We arrived around 4:30pm and checked in. Shortly after, we decided to have supper at a local sports bar - Buffalo Wings.  We ordered an appetizer special and a Guinness.  The appetizer was no problem, but the server would not serve us alcohol without identification.  That meant Bob had to go out to the car to get his driver's license.  She would not budge - so... out he went.  Not bad, eh?  Carded at 75 years old.  The food was good, but the service lacked. It certainly wasn't what we have come to experience in the states.  There were lots of staff, but they didn't seem to be doing much except wander around. 

Back in our hotel room, we cuddled up and watch couple of movies on the movie channel before drifting off to sleep - me before Bob.

Hotel: Comfort Inn
Temp:Mixed - 32c
Distance: 431 miles
Mileage: 28.4 m/gal


Saturday:  (Minot ND to HOME)
Today we headed home.  Out at our usual time, it was sunny and cool.

As we drove through the valley, we noticed that there were huge numbers in stone on the hillside:  98, 86, 79 etc.  We quickly realized they were probably graduating classes- they went all the way back to the late 60s. Quite a tradition

Very quickly, we could tell that we were getting close.  The landscape was clearly more like the familiar prairie.  At the border, we popped in to the Duty Free to pick up a couple of bottles of rum.  Then, at the border, when the agent asked if we had any alcohol or tobacco, Bub glibly answerd "no".  Sheesh.  We clarified that answer - he had only heard the agent ask if we had tobacco.  After safely making it through the border, we bypassed Estevan and headed for Regina where we stopped at Craving's for a pizza lunch.

We had been warned about the construction around Craven, but it actually was smooth sailing.  Earlier, there had been signicant construction around Estevan, but it didn't interfere much with our travels.

We arrived home about 4:30pm and have almost completely unpacked.

What a fantastic journey!

Hotel: HOME
Temp: 24c, windy
Distance: 655 km
Mileage: 8.8l/100k

PHOTOS

Friday, Aug 24 - Monday, Aug 27 -D41-44(Clayton, NC)

On Friday, We were up around our usual time, and came downstairs to greet the famiy.  After a lazy morning, we went grocery shopping and planned meals for the next few days.  The grocery store was huge but was very well laid out.  The vegetables were arranged in an appealing manner with a mixture of colours.

Arriving home, we had a bit of lunch and then headed to the community pool.  This is a private pool that allows access to members only.  It was a good sized pool and we were able to do a few laps... emphasis on the few.  It has just reinforced that we need to get back into regular swimming when we get home.  We played frisbee with Jackie, Bert and Leslie for awhile, but then I could feel myself turning red, so decided it best to find some shade.  I watched the others playing in the water for awhile, but it wasn't long before they joined me in the shade.  Bert and Leslie's granddaughter AJ was with us.  Apparenty she has made major improvements in her swimming this summer.

After swimming, we came home, and just hung out on the deck for the rest of the afternoon.  The deck backs onto a grove of trees which creates a feeling of being at the lake.  We could hear crickets, frogs and birds as we sipped our wine.  It was truly a relaxing afternoon.

Bob agreed to make supper - grilled (BBqed in Canada) pork chops, baked potatoes and broccoli/onion/carrots.  Hmmm.. it was good to have a home cooked meal again.  Chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.  Who could ask for more?

Saturday, Bert and Leslie wanted to take us out for some wine tasting and to see the largest frying pan in the world.  The initial trip was a about an hour away in Rose Hill, to Duplin wineries.  Duplin makes wine using muscadine grapes.  It is the one of the largest wineries in the area.  Our visit started with a tour of the winery.  Unfortunately, they are currently between production, so we were not able to see the winery in action. But our tour guide, Peter, was able to show us the equipment used and walk us through the process of producing the wine.  We also learned a little bit about the different grapes that are grown in the area that are used in the production of their wine.

After the tour, we had an opportunity to taste 10 different wines.  These wines were very sweet, and although they were good, were not our favourite wines.  Even the dry wines didn't quite fit our palate.  But it was a fun time.

After visiting the winery, we went on the hunt for the world's largest frypan, located just a few blocks away.  We found in a gazebo type building marked with a do not enter sign. The pan itself was covered for protection, so the only thing we saw was the handle sticking out.  Apparently it is large enough to cook 365 chickens at one time, and it is used yearly at the local community fair.

On our way home, we stopped in Selma.  Selma has an historic district which has been converted to massive antique/collectable stores.  We wandered through three of four of them, looking for Wiley.  We only found one thing - a plaque that had all the looney tunes characters.  We weren't that impressed with it, so decided to pass.

Back home, we vegged on the deck, and chatted until well past 11pm.

Sunday was another quiet day.  Bob did laundry and I worked on the computer.  I think we have our route home planned, but that can change with the wind.  In the afternoon, we watched a movie on Netflix. Supper was an absolutely great crock pot roast with mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding to die for, and key lime pie for dessert.  After supper, we played apples to apples for a couple of hours and then chatted until bed time.

Today has been  another quiet day.  We cleaned out the van, getting ready for the next phase of our journey.  We are planning on heading out tommorrow morning (Tuesday) towards Charleston.  We hear the scenery is quite beautiful that way

Hotel: Bert and Leslie's home
Temp:  HOT

PHOTOS

August 23(Day 40-Thurs) Chesapeake, Va to Clayton, NC

We were up early and out just after 8:30 am.

The first part of our travels today was heading towards the North Caroline border on the Chesapeke turnpike.  Just before the border, we had a tollbooth.  Bob wanted to get some change so asked me to get him a $10 bill, but we didn't have one so I gave him a $20.00 bill for a $3.00 toll.  The woman gave us $7.00 change, and when I said we had given her a $20, she just looked at us and held up a $10.  She conned us.  We got flustered - which is probably what she expected, and just drove on.  I hope she enjoys whatever it is she buys with our $10.

As we were driving I couldn't help but notice the number of Gun Shops, something we just never see in Canada.  We also passed one of the biggest outdoor water slides I have ever since.  It was almost impossible to keep Bob driving when he saw it, lol, but we persevered on.

Shortly after, we entered North Carolina and at Kitty Hawk we stopped at the Tourist Information centre to get some information about the outer banks.  We picked up a map and got information about the ferry at the end of the peninsula (or islands - I'm not too sure).  Leaving the tourist area, we noticed a memorial to the Wright Brothers who first flew from this spot.  As we were walking up to the memorial, we met a fellow from Florida (originally Connecticut).  He told us that he spends a couple months ever year travelling North America much like we do, and we shared stories about our experiences and the things we liked best.  He was an industrial chemist that retired just a few years ago.  We had a wonderful conversation with Eli and wished him well on his travels.

Travelling down the Outer Banks, we noticed that the landscape was very sandy.  At Nag's Head, we passed Jockey's Ridge State Park which is home to huge sand dunes.  Quite impressive.  We travelled on to Bodie's Island Lighthouse which is one of the historic light houses in NC.  There is a marsh boardwalk next to the lighthouse which we took.  We were's prepared for the birds there and unfortunately had not brought our telephoto lens with us.  But it was a very nice walk anyway.

We continued our journey and crossed over Oregon Inlet.  Our day today was one of bridges!  It seemed every few minutes...well not quite.. but frequently we were crossing a long bridge.  Bridges here are not like the ones at home.  These have sweeping lines and are quite pretty.

We continued on the outer banks until we reached Pea Island National Wildlife Reserve and then headed back to cross yet another bridge to reach the mainland of North Carolina.

We had intended on taking #264, but we missed the turnoff, so carried on until we reached Columbia where we had lunch.  After lunch we turned south on #90 to the #264.  There was a very interesting drive over a lake to get to the highway that was most unusual - it almost felt like dirt had been piled up in the middle of the river to create a road.

North Carolina appears to be mostly an agricultural state.  We saw many fields of tobacco, corn, and soy bean.  The corn was interesting in that much of it looked brown and dried - almost as if it had already been harvested and the stalks were being left to dry before they are picked up.  However, we were told that it was probably "deer corn"

We continued on #264  and then turned off on #42 until we reached Clayton and our home for the next few days.  Bert and Leslie were not home (they had taken AJ - their granddaughter- to dance lessons.  But we were greeted by Jackie who fed us and kept us company until the other three got home.  We spent the evening on the deck catching up and just enjoying the evening.

We will be spending the next few days here, so I may not be blogging too much over that time.  I know that the plans are to hit a vineyard or two and to visit the largest frying pan in the world.  More about that later.

Hotel: Bert and Leslie's home
Temp:  Some cloud with a warm sun.
Distance: 333 miles
Mileage: 28.2 m/gal

PHOTOS

August 22(Day 39-Wed) Georgetown, De to Chesapeake, Va

We woke up this morning to someone singing in the hallways "Oh, what a beautiful morning". Who could resist that?

We were out early and on the road by 9am, heading south.  I had picked up a brochure on the area and it listed a number of antique/collectables shops, so we decided to explore them today.  Just down the road a bit, in Milsboro, there were three of them.  We arrived at the first one before she opened, but she was kind enough to let us in.  She had three floors of stuff.  We spent well over an hour there, and then headed to the second shop, which was three floors also - but he didn't have the type of stuff we like to look at so we didn't linger.  The third shop was better, but again we didn't find anything related to Wiley.

We had decided that we wanted to try a coastal drive, so we turned on #26 to the beaches.  We drove along the coastal highway for a bit, but it was highly developed and commercialized.  It reminded us of Florida around Datona Beach.  After a bit, we headed back towards the #113, on Highway 90.  It was a very pretty drive and fairly quiet.  This took us to the #13 and back on to the #113

Back on Highway #113, we continued until we crossed the border into Virginia.  We stopped at a tourist information centre/rest stop just past the border, where we had our lunch - muffins from this morning, juice, fruit cup and an apple.  It filled us up, and was pretty nutritious.

I picked up a tourist brochure at the information centre, and it talked about a scenic byway near Accomac, so we decided to take that.  Before we got to the turnoff, however, we slowed to a stop because of an accident ahead.  This was our first (and only accident) today, but it seemed fairly serious with several police cruisers and two ambulances.  We are hoping everyone is ok.

The accident actually occurred where we were going to turn off to the byway, so we managed to not have to wait overly long.  The byway was a beautiful road and was very quiet.  However, much of the time we were limited to 35mph, occasionally rising to 50mph.  It took us through quaint small villages and along farmers' fields growing corn and potatoes.  The farms here seem to be massive.

Getting off the byway and back onto #113, we found another antique store - this one claims to be the second largest in Virginia, and I believe it was.

We continued on to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Bridge.  It is just that.  A Bridge and a tunnel - two of them actually.  The bridge, which was opened in 1964 goes both over the water and tunnels under it. It is 23 miles (37 km) long, and is considered the world’s largest bridge-tunnel complex.

Once over the bridge, we hit the 5 o'clock traffic of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, but we managed to find our hotel in Chesapeake, and after a rather unusual supper at the Waffle House, are now settled in our room.

Hotel: Quality Inn
Temp:  HOT and sunny 32c - clouding over threatening storm in pm
Distance: 192.6 mil3w
Mileage: 26.2 m/gal

PHOTOS

August 21(Day 38-Tuesday) Hillsborough, New Jersey to Georgetown, DE

After a light breakfast, we were out by 9:30 am.  It was very overcast and looked like it might threaten rain.  Not a bad day for travelling.
Today was a much better day. We decided to take a smaller road and head towards the coast.  We went looking for #202 and headed south.  We passed through Lamberton, NJ and headed into Pennsylvania. 

At New Hope, we stopped at an antique store that was located next to what looked like a very old graveyard.  We found some headstones that were dated back to the early 1800s.  There looked like even older ones further into the graveyard, but we didn't explore that far.  The antique store was very interesting, but actually held antiques, not collectibles.  There was one statue of a couple that we rather liked.  It was labled a sculpture, but looked to me like it was porcelain.

From there, we headed to Wilmington and decided to have lunch at a Dunkin Donuts as neither of us had ever been to one.  We had a black pepper bacon sandwich on a croissant which was really quite good.  We also had a frozen coffee and a donut.  The frozen coffee was much like our iced capp, and the donuts were far too sweet for our liking.

While we were in Dunken Donuts, the rains came.  It was a heavy rain with wind, so we waited until it lightened a little before heading back to our car. From there, we took #13 and continued south into Deleware.  At one red light, there was sign reminding us to wait for a green light..?

At Dover, we decided to visit Delaware State University to see what they had in their bookstore.  We were helped by an absolutely delightful young woman who delighted in joking with Bob.  Delaware State is one of the Historically Black Universities.  I found a T-shirt, and while at the til, chatted with all the staff and told them about Saskatchewan.  Our server had never heard of it, but a couple of the customers had.  All in all, it was a great visit.

Carrying on down the road, we arrived at Georgetown, and decided to stop for the day, even though it was still quite early - not quite 4pm.

After checking in, we decided to walk to the local walmart for some excersize and to pick up some chips.  Back in our room, after giving Bob a haircut, we are relaxing and trying to decide what our journey tomorrow will be.

Hotel: Quality Inn
Temp:  Overcast with some heavy rain - very hot and muggy
Distance: 178.7 Miles
Mileage: 25.2 m/gal

PHOTOS

August 20 (Day 37-Monday) Haver Hill, Mass to Hillsborough, New Jersey

We were up and out by 9am today, almost. When we went out to our car, there was a man cleaning his car with spray and a cloth.  He reminded us so much of Paul, our tour driver in Korea who did the same thing everything we stopped, that we mentioned it to him.  He was a very friendly fellow who offerd to clean our car.  He is a fenshui expert and does healing touch.  He gave Bob a treatment for his hip right in the parking lot.

Once on the road, our first stop was a bank to pick up some american money.  that done, we headed out on the road.  This time, we instructed Erg to avoid toll roads, and she has done a very good job of that.  BUT... she really really likes interstate highways.  We were on some VERY busy roads today.  And people here drive like maniacs.  We had more than a couple of close calls.

At New Haven, we went off the road and parked in the parking lot of a closed mall to have a bit of lunch.  We were just across the street from the university, so we decided to find the bookstore.  It looked like registration was already underway as there were a lot of students on campus.  We asked one woman if she knew where the bookstore was, and she gave us excellent, detailed directions.   We found it and I now have a new top.

Our travel today was significantly slowed down by heavy traffic, and accidents.  There were three of four periods of several miles where we could only travel 5 or 6 miles/hr.  What a mess.

But we have made it here, and are settled in, after a pizza supper at the local restaurant.  Bob is watching little league baseball, while I blog.


Hotel: Days Inn
Temp:  Sunny and Warm
Distance: 291 Miles
Mileage: 27.5 m/gal

PHOTOS

August 19 (Day 36-Sunday) St. John, NB -Haver Hill, Mass

We were up fairly early and down to breakfast before 9am.  We met an interesting couple who are about our age.  They are francophone, originally from Montreal, but have lived on Vancouver Island, Gull Lake and currently in New Brunswick.  Actually, they only live in one place for about two or three years and then pack up and move on.  They have travelled extensively and told us about some of their adventures.  And we thought we travelled a lot.

We were on the road by 10am and headed for the border.  We prepared for how we would respond to border questions and how we would behave - no joking or fooling around, answer questions directly.  Well! What do you do when the border agent jokes with you.  He was a cute young man who seemed to like to tease.  The best part was when he asked if we had any alcohol in the car Bob answered "We have an open bottle in the back - I drink. ........ in the hotel...... at night.... at the end of the day."  I almost burst out laughing.   After some chatting back and forth, he sent us on our way with a wish for safe travels.

We stopped in Fairfield for lunch at Ruby Tuesday and had a very good salad bar.  We miss not having many vegetables while we travel.

Our travels today took on a number of toll roads.  Given that we only had $6.00 american with us (Did I mention the trip into the US was unplanned), this was a bit unnerving.  We had just programmed Erg and let her do her thing... I am going to have a chat with her tonight and let her know that we don't want toll roads!

We checked into the Hampton Inn in Haver Hill for the night.  We are rather glad to get off the roads and find a bit of peace.

Hotel: Hampton Inn
Temp:  Cloudy with sunny periods and warm
Distance: 393 miles
Mileage: 27.9 m/gal

PHOTOS