StatCounter

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Not the worse trip south



. . . but maybe in the top three worse. We didn't get very far the first couple of days. We planned on spending one day with good friends in Maine. Due to the storm, we spent two. The visit was great. They got over a foot of snow. Road crews did a pretty good job clearing so we headed out Friday morning.

The van's windshield washer wasn't working right, so we made a lot of stops to clean the windshield. The high winds also slowed us down. That first day we only made it to Scranton PA. Temperatures were around zero with high winds. Spent the night in a truck stop. I got up at 2:30 in the morning to start the van and warm everything up. There was some concern that it would be too cold for the diesel to start if it was shut down too long.

Saturday was our big day. We made it all the way to South Carolina. We got a scare in Virginia as some trucker, for no reason I could discovered, tried to run us off the road. The first time I thought it might be an accident. The second time I could tell he was coming right at me on purpose. Scary. Made a quick exit and took some time to calm down in a coffee shop. Pretty random act of violence.

Spent another cold night in a rest area. Pushed on the next day to our campsite in Florida. My main problem was fatigue from not getting a full night's sleep. Pulled over for nap and that gave me the energy to push on.

It was really nice to get into the campground, soak in a hot shower, take another nap, and have nice cup of tea. It's also nice to get away from the bitter cold.

-Sixbears

8 comments:

  1. Most truckers are okay, but there's a few psycho's in every occupation, I guess. Glad you got there in one piece.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love truckers, as a rule. Someone was having a bad day. All's well that ends well.

      Delete
  2. Years ago, truckers were known as the safest drivers on the open road. Not today. I'm thinking corporate profit greed, hiring younger (cheaper) drivers, and mental makeup of road-rage ready new truck drivers, along with smartphone texting truckers.....you've got to watch out for those big rigs weaving in their lanes.
    I've noticed this clearly over the last few years in Texas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's scary to think what's happened to the industry. Whatever that driver was doing, it certainly wasn't professional. I remember the old days of trucking. When I was a teenager I rode with my uncle a couple summers. He worked for Mayflower at the time.

      Delete
  3. Glad to know you made it to warmth. Or at least warmer than home. Unfortunately it's not just truck drivers. Glad you are safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. The roads seem to get weirder every year. Either that or I'm just getting older and crankier.

      Delete
  4. Been mighty cold down here. I saw pictures on the news of Iguanas dropping out of trees in Florida, stunned by the cold.

    Sorry the trip down was so hard. Can't think why some trucker would give you a hard time, maybe he was on something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could not believe how far south the cold reached. Nasty. Of course, it's all relative. Pretty comfortable here right now in FL. Not exactly shorts weather, but I'll take it.

      Truckers have been know to live on those little white pills. That could account for a bit of road rage.

      Delete