The L-o-o-o-o-o-ng Drive Home

Our peonies will bloom soon!

Mr. FixIt’s alarm rang exactly five minutes after we woke up. Ohhhh, it was hard to drag myself out of bed, knowing this would bring us home and this trip would be officially put to bed. But, duty called and home beckoned and we were soon tidied up and ready to roll. We stopped for gas and a breakfast sandwich and were on the road by 8:30-9:00.

It rained off and on which makes travel with a camper slower. You can’t drive in cruise control with wet roads. And you have to drive 5-10 miles lower than the speed limit. We made steady progress. We stopped a couple of times for potty and coffee breaks. It always feels good to get out and stretch your legs.

We finally got to I-77 and turned north, only to be confronted with an information sign saying all lanes were blocked up ahead due to a crash and we would be asked to take a detour at Exit 19. That meant we actually drove 19 miles into Virginia before the you-know-what hit the fan. Several miles before the detour, we sat in totally stopped traffic for quite some time. We inched and inched forward till we finally made the exit and followed the dense line of traffic.

There were no directions to tell us where to go so we all played Pied Piper and drove in single file to who knows where. There really wasn’t anyplace to get off the road till we found ourselves WAY out in the country on a one-and-a-half lane blacktop. There at the tippy top of a hill with the most magnificent views sat a volunteer fire department. We pulled into the lot and I reached for the Rand McNally Atlas to get my bearings. By this time we had circled around nearly to the on-ramp at Exit 24…two miles past the site of the accident. By the time, the road was clear and the detour took us at least three hours…to go five miles forward from where we got off the interstate.

Mr. FixIt finally found a local news story about the accident. It happened up on Fancy Gap…a mountain in the Blue Ridge that is commonly socked in by fog. It was super foggy yesterday morning…even when we were coming up the mountain. The accident involved four tractor trailers and three passenger vehicles. According to the news report, only one person was taken to the hospital by one of the firemen just to get checked out. By the time the rescue crews got to site of the accident, everyone was out of their vehicles. From the looks of the cars and trucks, I am amazed no one was seriously injured or killed. Thank you, God!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Rain, sun, repeat. We got home in time for Mr. FixIt to jump in the shower and head BACK into town for his bowling banquet. That was the entire purpose of coming back home yesterday…he didn’t want to miss his friends at the banquet. I unhooked the camper, pulled out enough food to make a ham, egg, and cheese tortilla and fruit for dessert and I was totally done for. I went inside and took my shower then came back out to the camper to cool off and write my post for today.

I did get a quick walkabout to see what’s grown since we left. the answer is…EVERYTHING! OMGosh! The whole field looks like it needs brush-hogged. I don’t see a whole lot that is impressive in the pollinator garden. There is a lot of Dead Nettle and Buttercups blooming. Daisies will be opening soon then I’ll find sweet little wildflowers amongst the grasses. if it were left up to me, I’d leave the whole field alone. but, I’m not sure I can convince Mr. FixIt. We’ll see.

This morning is knitting group then a trip to town to pick up prescriptions and stock up the fridge. I have no idea when we’ll be able to fit mowing in. It’s supposed to rain for the next ten days! I hope you’ve been well. I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you more stories and such. After I catch my breath!

🌸🌼🌸