A Special Event

We are in Columbus, GA to celebrate Janice’s mother’s 100th birthday. The party is Saturday, and the actual birthday is next Wednesday, January 14th. This is a special day for a very special lady.

Those of you living in the east from Virginia north know that Tuesday and Wednesday this week were foul weather days. We had planned to pack the coach Tuesday, but the rain was too heavy for that option. Rain continued into Wednesday morning, and we considered delaying departure until late Thursday. Showers ended about 11:00 AM Wednesday and we rushed to get “everything” loaded, so we could get on the road that evening. Everything for a four month trip is a lot.

By 4:00 PM we were exhausted yet happy to drive away and begin another adventure in the motor home. We knew our timing was poor because we would be in rush-hour traffic from the beginning and more so when we reached Richmond an hour later. The old adage, “Pick a lane and stay in it” proved true again. Our objective was to get south of Richmond before stopping for the night. The drive was pleasant enough that we continued to North Carolina and stopped at a Flying J just outside of Durham. For you Rvers, this is a great stop: Exit 150 on I-85. The RV parking area is easy to access and was wide open when we arrived about 9:00 PM.

Thursday morning came early and chilly. A buffet breakfast at the restaurant was heavy on carbohydrates, typical trucker fare, and fortified us well for the day ahead. We used roadside rest areas for breaks along the way, and the miles sped by without any unusual happenings. Somewhere in South Carolina, we realized we would get to Atlanta in the very middle of rush-hour. Talk about bad timing!

Radio traffic reports were alarming: downtown Atlanta was in grid-lock and there were accidents east and west on the Perimeter Interstate with traffic backed up. We opted to the Perimeter I-285 East. This was a good choice. It was longer in distance, but traffic moved slowly. We never stopped for very long. This was not true on the other routes. The sun set while we were on the Perimeter. We went from bright sunshine in our eyes to deep darkness ever so quickly. Traffic thinned when we exited I-285 and returned to I-85 south of Atlanta’s airport. Sadly, road conditions deteriorated rapidly. Work on this section of I-85 has been ongoing for at least three years. Lanes are narrow and defined by concrete Jersey Barriers. Speeds are ridiculous and some drivers must be insane. This is a twenty-five mile stretch of white-knuckle driving at night. Our preference is to transit Atlanta on I-85 early on a clear, sunny Sunday morning not during rush-hour, darkness, or foul weather.

We arrived at Lake Pines Campground about 8:00 PM Thursday. Our camp site is a back-in that we negotiated with some difficulty. Fortunately, everyone else was inside their rig; we had no audience. The campground is full. We saw one other empty site. We will be here until January 15th when we leave for Florida.