Fred Zeppelin's 2018 Ramble

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Well, I've been lazy and remiss in my reportage duties, but it's time for me to get caught up on our goings-on for this year's trip.



After a bit of a flurry of last minute preparations, we hooked up and headed south on Feb 14. The weather at home was overcast, but fairly mild, 28F at 8:30 AM. The roads were wet and a bit sloppy, but there was no snow or ice to contend with. The only exception to that was the snow and ice left on top of the trailer. We had a bit of fun with that, guessing how far south we would get before the last of it disappeared. We shook a good deal of it off hitting some HUGE potholes on I 81 south of Syracuse, but some of it lasted all the way to the Maryland line. By then the temps were well up into the 50's, and it seemed like Spring was upon us. After about a ten hour run, we landed at a Cracker Barrel in Harrisonburg VA, choked down some of their authentic "old-time white people food" and then hit the bunks for some shut-eye. It's nice that they provide RV spots where you can park overnight, god knows we would never stop there for the vittles. ;

By 7:00 the next morning, we were back onto old 81 for the rest of the run to I 77, then up and over the Blue Ridge into North Carolina. By early afternoon we were in Denver NC, and setting up camp at an RV park. Uncle Rick came over shortly, and gave us a ride back to his abode where we had a nice visit with him and Barb. After some pleasant chatter and a great dinner, they had us back to Fred for an early-to-bed, to prepare for another long haul the next morning.



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TIuwQKY8Vhk/WozFW1_Jl0I/AAAAAAAALJQ/mhC68PrHrl09MKgLakSZiIYGAaQIR-PBgCJoC/w530-h707-n/da4b86c5-5658-4628-b298-f896a61b406c

The growth in the Lake Norman/Charlotte area has resulted in horrible traffic problems, so Rick recommended that we swing west around the metro area and head down to I 88. We did so, and then continued SW towards Atlanta GA, figuring to get through there around mid-day when traffic volumes would be moderate. Good plan, but even then traffic was heavy and crazy in the Atlanta area, and we were a long time getting through. I was figuring on a 9 to 10 hour drive to my brother John's place in central FL, but by the time we arrived it had been almost 13 hours on the road, that was a grind...

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