Hello, All,
As
planned, Marvin and the ELF headed out on the first leg of our journey
home on Tues July 5th. I was to set out about an hour behind him.
Unfortunately, we missed one another at our first planned rendezvous at
Stony Creek. He was on Hwy 40 at a Citco station, I was on Bus 40 at a
Shell Station. Panic. We tried phones, voice mail, and texts. I got one
voice mail, but couldn't understand what he said, as he was hurrying
because his battery was dying. I drove to the far side of town, turned
around and retraced my way to be sure I hadn't just missed seeing him.
It was chance that I spied the marquee for another service station
catty-cornered from mine. What a relief to be back together! Is it any
wonder that I feel a mid-level "separation anxiety" when we split up?
Instead
of retracing our steps along the Trans-America Bicycle Trail as we
thought when we left home, we were following Hwy 40 to the Blue Ridge
Parkway, balancing more traffic against wider roads and shorter overall
distance. We tried several different techniques in the next few days. On
Hwy 40, which was 2 lanes and sometimes very busy, I felt good about
driving slowly behind him, hazard lights blinking. I liked being the
"Rear Guard", and I didn't mind going slow. The traffic bunching up
behind us was a worry, though. We were constantly looking for places we
could pull off the road to let the traffic by. Leaving one town, I
counted that we pulled off 14 times in the 1st 10 miles out of town.
Only one motorist was annoyed enough to give us a blast on his horn as
he went by; often we get polite little beeps which we interpret as thank
you's for clearing the way.
Marvin
pointed out that driving together that way, we made a caravan more like
a big rig than a bicycle. If it was only him, people could easily see
his flag gyrating and his flashing strobe lights, and get around him
quickly. Obviously true, but still a threat to my confidence.
So we split up with a specific destination to meet, and the GPS set to help with the navigation.
Marvin
had the trusted satellite GPS, but my phone apps for GPS and tracking
Marv's location on a map soon proved false comfort. There was only
occasional phone service, so I was on my own. Marvin had his own set of
problems, too. His GPS couldn't be coaxed into using the secondary or
lesser roads. It was hard-wired to take us the fastest or shortest
route--- not at all what we desired. Also, it was limited to only one
waypoint. He found he could get it to go short stretches from town to
town, or sometimes use intersections of highways, to force it to take
him on the roads he wanted.
Our second day on the road, he started out ahead of me again. He
reached our rendezvous first, and when I arrived, was in the midst of
an interview with Billy Coleburn, editor of the Blackstone
Courier-Record, who introduced himself to me and added, "And also the
mayor of the town". What a hoot! We made the paper in the next issue.
The
3rd day out we were caught in our first real rainstorm. When it reached
the point he couldn't see through the windshield, he pulled off in the
parking lot of the New 2nd Buffalo Baptist Church and took shelter in
the van. The ELF doesn't have windshield wipers!
It
wasn't much later that same day that the battery went "click", and
flat-out died---on a hill naturally! He hoisted the ELF off the road,
and I passed ahead to the first driveway I could find and carried the
spare battery down to him.
From
that experience we developed the technique of starting out with both
batteries fully charged in the Elf. He would switch to the 2nd one
BEFORE the first was completely exhausted and at a point where we could
choose to make the switch. When we were next together, the 1st one would
be put to charge with the van's inverter while I drove.
We
were traveling without a set itinerary because we had to learn what was
reasonable to expect in terms of daily distance and battery power--as
well as Marvin's stamina. We stayed a couple of nights in modest, clean,
but "cheap" motels where we could take the battery inside to plug in
the outlet. Then Twin Lakes SP was a pretty place, with electric sites.
It was a nicer atmosphere, but, surprisingly, almost as expensive as the
motels.
The
indecision about where to plan our stops, and the inability to phone
ahead for information or reservations was a frustrating element. It
remains a frustration, as I was counting on using my phone as a WiFi
Hotspot to send and receive emails. All manner of challenges to be met!
Deer
Run Campground near Ferrum, VA was one of the gems Google found for us.
We had gone 30 miles from Gretna to Rocky Mount in the morning, and
were looking for something closer than Deer Run, another 30 miles. None
of the leads we thought we had,--- even local knowledge from a couple of
Wal-Mart employees,--- worked out, so we decided to continue as planned
on down Hwy 40 to our original destination. This was the day we used
the 1st battery, put it on the charger, exchanged and exhausted the 2nd
battery, only to have it die less than 1/4 mile from the campground. The
re-charged (3rd) one was needed to finish the job--- just ahead of
another hard rain squall.
Deer
Run is a private, family-owned and operated campground Tim Payne
inherited from his father a few years ago. They were doing everything
imaginable to make it the best and most complete in the area. They were
making eco-conscious choices with solar cells and L.E.D. lighting. No
phone or internet, but they had a pool, a game room, a laundry,
horseshoe pits, playground, volleyball, basketball and soccer, a little
store and served breakfasts on weekends. Tim even used his 4-wheeler to
haul the kids in the camp around on his flatbed trailer on a "hay
ride". Clearly, they liked people and loved the life and the community
where they had moved their family. The economics were tight, but if good
sense and determination were any measure, they would make it. We
enjoyed the place and the people so much that we decided to take a
lay-day and stay a 2nd night.
We
used part of that extra day to take the van and scout the next section
of our trip. It was certainly the most challenging so far. The distance
to Tuggles Gap, at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, was only 12
miles from the camground, but the last 6 miles were up, up, and up.
Driving the route in the van was a good idea, as it reassured us there
were places where we could get off to change the battery and/or let
traffic pass.
It
still was a worry. We both were nervous about it. We knew the battery
expended more current on the steeper hills, but didn't know how much.
We made our plans for Marvin to start off with both full batteries, and
change to the 2nd just ahead of the steepest part of the climb. I was
to start off about an hour behind him and watch for him on the side of
the road to pick up the used battery and re-charge it, in case it was
needed to finish the climb.
As
is often the case, we wasted more worry and adrenalin than necessary.
When I caught up with him, he was virtually at the top, and his 2nd
battery had power to spare.
We
had started early to be ahead of most of the traffic, and found that we
were at our destination well before 9:00. That was fine with us! We
checked into Rocky Knob, our first National Park Service campground as
planned, and spent Sunday afternoon at Mabry Mill with a program of
Mountain Music on the lawn. Very enjoyable, very civilized---- all part
of what we mean when we remind ourselves of the mantra, "It's the
Journey".
More later,
Ann and Marvin
Below:
w/ Billy Coleburn, editor of Blackstone Courier-Record (and mayor of the town)
1st serious rainstorm, we pulled off the road at the New 2nd Buffalo Baptist Church to wait it out---the ELF has no windshield wipers!
Below:
3 scenes just at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Tuggles Gap.
This
is the popular hang-out at Tuggles Gap, the top of the most challenging
climb to date. Only 12 miles total, from Deer Run CG, but it was up,
up, and up. We used the van to "check it out" the day before and figure
out the appropriate place to stop and change to the 2nd fully-charged
battery to ensure the ELF would make it all the way to the top.
No comments:
Post a Comment