Up at 6 am and on the road by 7. A number of RVs had already pulled out. There were around 30 parked overnight.
Carlisle is a giant version of Cornwall, ON (our home area – we just live outside the city in a small rural village).Carlisle is a major distribution center and transportation hub where I-81, I-76 and I-83 converge. While Cornwall has a few thousand trucks loading and unloading daily – Carlisle is many times larger.
We decided to do our “in the dark” driving in the morning rather than in the evening. There is less traffic and we are less tired making it a better option.
We started off in good weather which gradually became a light rain for most of the day. We fueled at our usual Flying J (Winchester (Clear Brook), VA a little over an hour later.
We usually eat in the RV as we drive. Charlotte picked the more substantial Tim Horton donuts when we bought a dozen yesterday. These bigger, square donuts are less “sticky” with more carbs and less sugar. They are also more filling – donut holes don’t provide much hunger control. Peanut Butter sandwiches are my lunch treat. The soft drinks are cool due to the overnight temperature. We will probably turn on the refrigerator tomorrow as we get into a warmer climate.
Driving was good with the usual few “merging idiots” that pull out into traffic doing 25 – 30 mph below the speed limit. Of course, this happens when a car or truck are passing and pulling over isn’t an option. Very few in the fast lane will slow down (to the speed limit) to let an RV pull out for the short distance required to let the merging traffic onto the highway – so it’s brake time.
The only major driving problem today occurred while I was passing a slow Power Company Service Truck. When I was half-way up the side the truck moved a foot and a half over the white line into my lane. I laid on the horn and swerved onto the shoulder to avoid being hit. The driver woke up?? and got back into his own lane. Thankfully our RV handles really well and we made it back onto the road safely.
Later, after filling up at the Flying J (Wytheville, VA) we spotted the same truck and took a picture of the license plate and company logo. I may notify the company to advise them a driver refreshment course might be advisable.
The standard Highway numbering has odd numbered roads running North-South and even numbers going East-West. Mile Marker 1 starts at the South end of N-S roads and at the West end of the E-W roads. The Mile Markers start over as the road crosses state lines. Most states have taken to numbering exits by the closest MM (Mile Marker). This helps give an idea of distance. On a previous trip I forgot that this is not so on I-90 in New York State. Road construction was announced between 2 exits that were 1 number apart. I thought I only had to endure the slow single lane construction for a mile. It was closer to 40 miles! I now check how the exits are numbered!
I-81, although N-S, does slant to the west as it goes south. It is actually more west than south as it approaches it’s southern terminus at I-40 in Tennessee. We pulled into the Flying J west of Knoxville, TN at about 4:30 pm. Again, supper at their Denny’s and asleep by 7 pm.
Outside of the truck passing incident it was a good travel day. The rain was light and would clear by tomorrow.
