Thursday, June 28, ’12
H-91 Radford L H 76 L 56 H H 72 L 63 T-STORMS M H 81 L 64
L-66 C H 95 L 74
Bear update: The Bear says Julius McCoy Was Trailing Us In A Booze Truck Party. TR says, “The Piratesses Were Hitchhiking In the Booze Truck.” Moose say, “Me knows what you were doing with the Booze Truck, Bear!” Lou says we will have a Y’all Have A Hillbilly Party. We will serve Shine Wine, Bean Pot, And Cowboy Seafood.
We woke up to sun. Will it last? It lasted, and the temperature in Radford climbed to 91.
Tucson 106/81 Harrisonburg 100/70 Brooklyn 87/75
We woke up at 7:30AM. We got dressed and went to CP in the lobby of the Quality Inn. They had the TV on very loud. We checked out of room 120 at 10:00AM. Our first pit stop was at exit 12 Phillips 66. Then we went to Shell to find a bathroom. The second pit stop was at the travel center at exit 36. Between stops I logged in on the computer and found out about the Supreme Court. We entered Virginia for the first time in 14 years. I took a photo of the sign. We passed the Welcome Center and stopped for lunch at exit 5 in Bristol at a McDonalds for lunch. It was hard to find a restaurant near the highway. The next stop was at a McDonalds under construction at exit 35 at Chilhowie. We ran into traffic narrowing into one lane in the Virginia Highlands. The next rest area area was another McDonalds at exit 35. It was under construction. The next rest area was still another McDonalds at exit 80 where we had sundaes and a chocolate-dipped cone. Gary saw horses on the hillside above the restaurant. We got off the highway at exit 109 to check into the La Quinta in room 110, the suite without the plug behind the desk. Kenny had to move the sofa. Gary lost his car keys somehow while we were unloading the car. Kenny found them next to the dog toys in the backseat. We went to the Bistro for dinner. It was the first hotel on the trip to have a restaurant INSIDE the building. I’ve never heard of a La Quinta with a restaurant. Gary and I ordered chicken fettucine alfredo. Kenny ordered lasagna. We ordered a grilled chicken sandwich for the dog.
Last night at dinner we went to a Perkins Restaurant in Dandridge with high expectations. We remembered it from Pocatello, Idaho years ago and the Quality Inn assured us that we would get 10 percent off with a room key. Always looking for deals, we went to the other side of the highway only to find that everything we ordered they didn’t have. I could taste the ham steak, but it wasn’t to be. They claimed that they had been out of it since the weekend. They had color advertisements all over the restaurant on each table about how they had a special on strawberry cheesecake. We all ordered that for dessert. Guess what? They were out of that, too. This was beginning to remind me of Amtrak. You sit down, they hand you a menu, and then they confess what they really have to eat.
I recall that when we lived in Charlottesville you could sometimes see the Blue Ridge Mountains on certain streets and under certain weather conditions. Most of the time you couldn’t see anything. From Dandridge in the parking lot of the Quality inn you could see the Smokies. Today after we left I-40 and started up I-81 to Virginia you can still see them in the distance. The sky is hazy. They’re not silhouetted against a blue sky the way the mountains in the west are. And they look like a interlocking succession of green hills, not real mountains. They’re very low to the ground and low on the horizon. Most of the time we’re just driving up and down among them on the highway and not looking at them. They look better in the postcards.
We’re back in Virginia for the first time in fourteen years. The first rest area we stopped at looked colonial. The buildings were made of brick. They looked like something from Colonial Williamsburg. License plates commemorated the 400th birthday of the settlement at Jamestown from five years ago. That was something I regretted missing. In the background I see grassy hills with small farms. There was a herd of cattle grazing. Everywhere in the rest area daylilies bloomed. I recall we used to have them planted in our backyard.
I have resolved not to leave Virginia without having Gary talk to NLRG.
H-91 Radford L H 76 L 56 H H 72 L 63 T-STORMS M H 81 L 64
L-66 C H 95 L 74
Bear update: The Bear says Julius McCoy Was Trailing Us In A Booze Truck Party. TR says, “The Piratesses Were Hitchhiking In the Booze Truck.” Moose say, “Me knows what you were doing with the Booze Truck, Bear!” Lou says we will have a Y’all Have A Hillbilly Party. We will serve Shine Wine, Bean Pot, And Cowboy Seafood.
We woke up to sun. Will it last? It lasted, and the temperature in Radford climbed to 91.
Tucson 106/81 Harrisonburg 100/70 Brooklyn 87/75
We woke up at 7:30AM. We got dressed and went to CP in the lobby of the Quality Inn. They had the TV on very loud. We checked out of room 120 at 10:00AM. Our first pit stop was at exit 12 Phillips 66. Then we went to Shell to find a bathroom. The second pit stop was at the travel center at exit 36. Between stops I logged in on the computer and found out about the Supreme Court. We entered Virginia for the first time in 14 years. I took a photo of the sign. We passed the Welcome Center and stopped for lunch at exit 5 in Bristol at a McDonalds for lunch. It was hard to find a restaurant near the highway. The next stop was at a McDonalds under construction at exit 35 at Chilhowie. We ran into traffic narrowing into one lane in the Virginia Highlands. The next rest area area was another McDonalds at exit 35. It was under construction. The next rest area was still another McDonalds at exit 80 where we had sundaes and a chocolate-dipped cone. Gary saw horses on the hillside above the restaurant. We got off the highway at exit 109 to check into the La Quinta in room 110, the suite without the plug behind the desk. Kenny had to move the sofa. Gary lost his car keys somehow while we were unloading the car. Kenny found them next to the dog toys in the backseat. We went to the Bistro for dinner. It was the first hotel on the trip to have a restaurant INSIDE the building. I’ve never heard of a La Quinta with a restaurant. Gary and I ordered chicken fettucine alfredo. Kenny ordered lasagna. We ordered a grilled chicken sandwich for the dog.
Last night at dinner we went to a Perkins Restaurant in Dandridge with high expectations. We remembered it from Pocatello, Idaho years ago and the Quality Inn assured us that we would get 10 percent off with a room key. Always looking for deals, we went to the other side of the highway only to find that everything we ordered they didn’t have. I could taste the ham steak, but it wasn’t to be. They claimed that they had been out of it since the weekend. They had color advertisements all over the restaurant on each table about how they had a special on strawberry cheesecake. We all ordered that for dessert. Guess what? They were out of that, too. This was beginning to remind me of Amtrak. You sit down, they hand you a menu, and then they confess what they really have to eat.
I recall that when we lived in Charlottesville you could sometimes see the Blue Ridge Mountains on certain streets and under certain weather conditions. Most of the time you couldn’t see anything. From Dandridge in the parking lot of the Quality inn you could see the Smokies. Today after we left I-40 and started up I-81 to Virginia you can still see them in the distance. The sky is hazy. They’re not silhouetted against a blue sky the way the mountains in the west are. And they look like a interlocking succession of green hills, not real mountains. They’re very low to the ground and low on the horizon. Most of the time we’re just driving up and down among them on the highway and not looking at them. They look better in the postcards.
We’re back in Virginia for the first time in fourteen years. The first rest area we stopped at looked colonial. The buildings were made of brick. They looked like something from Colonial Williamsburg. License plates commemorated the 400th birthday of the settlement at Jamestown from five years ago. That was something I regretted missing. In the background I see grassy hills with small farms. There was a herd of cattle grazing. Everywhere in the rest area daylilies bloomed. I recall we used to have them planted in our backyard.
I have resolved not to leave Virginia without having Gary talk to NLRG.
Packing List:
1)3 suitcases
2)extra suitcase
3)green toiletry bag
4)Gary’s and Kenny’s laptop backpacks
5)Kenny’s camera bag
6)Linda’s video camera bag, tourbooks, purse, and laptop including bear bag
7)cooler with water bottles
8)Vornado in tote
9)3 hats, 3 umbrellas
10)suits and shoes
I also have to make a list of items I have to buy for the pets before Sunday when we drop them off in Pittsburgh. We just looked up all the rest areas to see if they are open.
Dog/Cat Report:
Sabaka wanted to get to the motel. He was barking. He thought 200 miles was a bit long to drive without getting to his destination for the day. He walked around the parking lot several times and looked at license plates. Then he had a king size bed to sleep on for the first time on the trip. He also has a sofa.
The cat chased the dog off the sofa by secret machinations. He spent most of his time at the window — that’s when he wasn’t hiding under the two beds in the La Quinta suite in Radford, Virginia.
Still no contract . . .
What next?