Saturday, February 26, 2011

Friday 18th February 2011

Awoke sometime very early, still dark, to our little camper being rocked from side to side.  Then I heard two bangs.  I realise it may have been stupid to stay at a rest area in New York, but we have done that many times.  Surely no one wants to harm us here.  I glanced over at Mike, and yes he was still breathing, so no one had shot us.  Peaked outside through the drapes to see two people just leaving the car that was now parked next to us.   Guess the bangs were their car doors.  They were really battling the winds trying to walk across the parking lot.  That explains why the camper was moving so much.   Bonus - can go back to sleep for a while.

We were up and ready to leave at 8.15 am and still the wind was extremely strong., making it difficult to keep our camper on the road.  Certainly was not at all cold.

Stayed on the Thruway to Fredonia, where we stopped for breakfast and our usual supplies.


As the wind was so strong we stayed off the Interstate for a while.

Here you can see frozen Lake Erie.  

The ride along NY 5 was very pretty,   We passed a really great looking State Park which we will be very interested in going back to through the summer or fall.

Back onto the Interstate around Erie PA..   Still extremely windy.   From Erie there was not much snow to be seen.  However, there were many huge pot oles, and we managed to find a real good one.  It left us with a lot of noise coming from under the front of the camper.   After finding several more pot holes, and the noise getting louder, we had to pull off the Interstate to try and find out what damage had been done.   Mike the Mechanic to the rescue!  However, when he looked underneath, nothing looked out of place.   So back on the road and fill up with gas.  Still we couldn't see anything wrong, and much to our surprise, the noises were not so bad.   Headed back onto the Interstate just as the rain started.



We took steady ride into VA.

Although the rain was heavy the ski hills were open and all the lights on.

It still looked really impressive.

Drove on to Wytheville VA for the night.   Very heavy rain.   Huge notice on Camp Store Door.  "Do not leave any food outside.  Bears have been sighted here."    Oh well it is raining so we will not be outside.  6.30 pm.      Mileage, 295128.

All set up, and even had Internet, so were able to chat with Natalie and Danny.  Couldn't get Vince n skype but did text.  Everyone doing good. 

Nice supper, watched some TV, did some e-mails, relaxed.

Other than very high winds (60 mph) and huge pot holes the day was good.   Today we woke up and had breakfast in NY, Coffee in PA, Lunch in WV, Dinner in VA.   Reminds us of our days when we were trucking.

Friday, February 18, 2011

On the Road. February 17th 2011

Durham, Thursday 17th February, 2011
For February in Durham, 2011, the temperature is very good - +7c.  Thank you Mother Nature.  This is a good start for our trip.                               294014

Left Durham at 2.15 p.m.  Had a really good drive into Fergus where we left Joey (the Killer Budgie) with Natalie.   With a little while to kill before Natalie actually finished work we decided to see if it was convenient to visit with our very dear friends, Andrew and Elena.  Luck was on our side and we we had a fantastic couple of hours with them.   Finally got to meet the new addition to their family, Fletcher, the adorable "Puppy".  We are actually heading to Tucson AZ to visit with Andrew's sister Allison and brother in law Norman, after we have spent some very valuable time with our family in Charlotte NC.

When Natalie had finished work for the day we all had a good visit, then I packed a picnic supper and then Mike and I headed off on our trails.

We had a good drive to the border in Fort Erie, and crossed into US without any problems.  From there we continued to the first Service area , Angola, where we would spend the night.   Arrived there about 9.30.p.m.   Had our picnic supper and retired for the night.   We hope to be able to get as far as Wytheville Virgina tomorrow evening.                                  294306

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

We hear Roger Whittaker singing - "I'm going to leave Ol' Durham Town"

Wednesday February 16th 2011.                                                               294014
Spent today loading up the camper ready for our trip to Charlotte NC, and then on to Tucson AZ.



As you  can see we have had a very snowy few weeks, and it really is time to try to find some warm weather.














Here I am trying to get around the back yard.

Hope the hiking trails we find when south are a bit easier than this.





Today really wasn't so bad, a lot warmer than it has been in the past few weeks, when the high was -20c.
Although overcast, it was a balmy -4c today.   Weather sounds to be good for us to leave tomorrow (Thursday 17th Feb) sometime mid afternoon.

Mike managed to get oil, oil filter and air filter all changed over the very cold weekend, so we are all ready to go.




For any of you who have been following "the famous soup can"  you can see it is doing an excellent job.   Wonder if it will hang in there for a trip of approximately 6,000 km.!








OK.  We hit the road tomorrow, and will keep you all informed whenever possible.