Imagine you are looking at the back of your hand. Put your thumb on your wrist, and index finger on the tendon that goes toward your wrist from the middle finger knuckle. Now, pinch the skin together with your thumb and index finger. See all those little wrinkles, and how they make ridges and valleys where the skin is pushed together? That's what the Appalachian Mountains look like. Grind up a 5% grade to 2000 feet, then brake down a 4% grade to the next valley. Grind up the next 6% grade, then brake down the other side. Again, and again, and again. Hard on brakes and transmissions, but beautiful scenery! Green, verdant valleys, forested ridges, sparkling blue sky and puffy white clouds. Stopped for lunch in Morgantown, WV. Set the Rhodes address in the Garmin, and took off. Ima (our nickname for the navigator... Ima Garmin, get it?) has a sense of humor. She takes us for a shortcut to I-68 East, thru town. And out of town. Down a tiny blacktop road too narrow for a center line, up and down hills. The sign says "This road not suitable for large trucks." No kidding. Guess that means a motorhome pulling a car is not a great idea either! Duh. Oncoming cars had to squeeze up against the shoulder to let us crawl by. Ah, yes, the life of a wanderer.
Continuing in the mountains, we passed under Pigs Ear Road, climbed Negro Mountain, then Polish Mountain, drove through Germantown, crossed Harmony Boulevard and ended up on I-270. Making good time, no problems, until we started around Washington DC, and traffic piled up just past Democracy Boulevard. (Are you starting to see a theme here?) Things were stop and go for miles until we passed Gallows Road in Tysons Corner. Then, we started moving! OK, I'm not going to touch that one.
Made it to Cheron and Joe Rhodes' house in Springfield, VA at about 5:35. Not bad! Cheron is making a marvelous recovery from hip replacement surgery last week... she's at home, walking, and played hostess for dinner! Joe did most of the fetching and carrying. We spent two hours catching up, talking about places we'd been, were going, or would like to go. They suggested "must see" things in DC, and in Canada, and helped us with the planning here in DC. Cheron and Joe are looking forward to a trip to Auckland, NZ in the fall, starting with a drive to California. Perhaps we can hook up there and enjoy some seafood at the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. Would that be fun, or what?
OK, so I got carried away today, sorry. I'll do better tomorrow.
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