Rather than watch the world close down around us, we made the decision to head for home while the roads are still open. I have told June it feels like we are in a bad movie but I guess this is real.
We left the warm, green, moist Georgia weather for the cold north about 10AM on Wednesday.
This time of year, in the morning there is a mist, even if it is not raining, it burns off by noon or so, but it sure makes everything green.
We took I75 to I85 to I77 to I81 to I88 to I87. Since there are no restaurants open, no attractions open and it was pouring rain, we drove until around 11PM and found our selves in Woodstock, VA. We found a Cracker Barrel and parked for some shut eye. We left the CB at 4AM for home. The driving was like the day before, rain, but Thursday added fog to the mix.
Pennsylvania closed all their rest areas, so trucks are just parked along the side of I81. The poor truckers can't use the restrooms and even if you get off the Interstate and go to a restaurant, only the take out window is open. They will not let people in to use the restrooms. What are the truckers supposed to do? We are lucky we had our house and facilities with us. I am not sure who is in charge in the Keystone state but I am unimpressed.
I have been looking for some additional tractor weights for my John Deere. My brother in law sent me a link while I was in GA from FB market place; they were in Oneonta, NY. I sent a message to the seller and he got back to me when I was going up I88. We had just pulled into the rest area in East Worcester, NY. The guy lived about 2.5 miles from the rest stop, so a deal was made. A little paint and they will look like new, and were less than 1/2 the price of new.
We arrived home about 3PM on Thursday, the temps were 49F, pretty warm for this time of year.
As usual, we keep statistics of every fuel stop. Overall we traveled 4122 miles and averaged 18.2 mpg. That is pretty good since we are driving a Rig with a GVWR of 11,030 pounds, with a scooter on the rear hitch. I suspect with the scooter, water/fuel and cargo we are bumping the GVWR limit but I have never had it weighed. Diesel fuel prices are the lowest in the south ($2.38/gal) and the highest in the North ($3.20/gal), no surprise there.
Overall we always enjoy our road trips, we did not see as many friends/relatives as we would have liked on this trip and cut the trip short by over a week. We canceled our plans to meet up with my brother in Tennessee and will cancel our plans to go to Mexico in April with June's family.
Covid-19 has changed all our lives for now; we recognize we are fortunate that it is just our vacation it changed so far.
It is nice to be home, especially at times like this.
Sorry you had to cut it short, but I am glad you were able to make it home.
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