Catching Up

We've been without Internet access for the last few days; and I have managed to connect to the network of the truck service place where we're currently hanging out in Lexington, Kentucky. The truck's electronic dashboard display has been providing Mike with doomsday messages for the last few days about engine faults, and while the truck seems to be running well, today it developed some odd noises, so here we are.

Hanging around mechanical repair places to me is excruciating; to Mike it is no big deal...I have abandoned him to hovering over the mechanic, while I get my Internet fix.

We had to do a "reset" in Kentucky, which means 36 hours off after 80 hours of work within a prescribed time period. It is mandatory, and aimed at preventing truckers from driving endlessly day after day without proper rest.

Time was up at 3pm Sunday, so off we went. Within minutes, we were at the West Virginia state line. WV is "the mountain state", and mountainous it is. And very, very beautiful. There are endless rounded mountains with deep valleys and beautiful deciduous forests. Many of the trees are unfamiliar to me, and I will be looking them up when we're home. The air is fragrant at this time of year with wild lilac, cherry blossom, magnolia, and honeysuckle everywhere. It was dark by the time we stopped for the night in Lexington, Virginia. We spent the night at an older, but well appointed truck stop.

First thing Monday morning, we headed northeast to the suburbs of Washington, DC for two deliveries. The remaining freight was for Tuesday delivery. We stayed at a horrid truck stop for lack of anywhere else to be. It is the only place we have stopped that had less than pristine ammenities. We left so early that I didn't get up, but by the time we arrived at our first drop at 7 am local time it seemed a reasonable time of day to move from the sleeper to the passenger seat. We had rough directions from our first drop in Orange, but the receiver gave Mike a more direct route, so we followed his suggestion. We found ourselves en route to Charlottesville via the most scenic road you could hope for. We were deep in the heart of affluent horse country, with very posh farms on each side of a winding country road, sporting names like "East Belmont" and "Foxcroft Farm". I'm sure everyone who lived on them had hyphenated last names like Huntington-Smythe. After Charlottesville (which was the closest town in "The Waltons"!) we backtracked to Staunton. I was thrilled to see my first cardinal ever, sitting on a wire fence! There are so many birds we've seen that I can't identify. The birdsong sounds completely foreign from what we're used to at home.

Once we were unloaded, we headed along Interstate 64 to Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach is as far east as you can go; we crossed Chesapeake Bay by causeway, tunnel and bridge. It is nearly tropical in its climate and foliage, with vines and creepers growing on all the trees.

I am quite enchanted with Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Perhaps it is because of their lush greenness after seeing nothing but snow for six months, but they are places I would like to return to one day, to explore much more thoroughly.

And now we are on our way to Edmonton before heading home. We'll be taking much the same route as we took heading out, I think.

I need to stop...I'm sitting on a terribly uncomfortable metal chair. Time to get up and wander around. I do have some photos to download and post; I will try to do that tomorrow if I can find somewhere to log on.