Failed Escape
We woke up to a chilly but beautiful morning and I gleefully packed away my heavy snow boots, knowing I won’t need them until we return to Maine next month. I put on my little loafers and my feet felt so light and tiny!
We started out this morning heading south, out of Front Royal, VA. We were on US-340 South and driving through rural, hilly farmland. Old trees canopied the road and a heavy fog blanketed the distant mountains, creating dim silhouettes on God’s canvas. The drive was tranquil and breathtaking. I sure didn’t want to get off that road and onto the main highway!
We ended up on I-81 South. To our left was rolling farmland and to our right was the majestic Appalachian Mountain Range. The highway kept taking us closer and closer to the mountains and we finally got to drive right over them! The RV moaned and groaned and even got down to 35 mph at one point, but we made it and were thrilled with the fantastic view of the valley on the other side!
We’d stopped seeing old snow on the ground much farther North and were pretty confident that Spring was just beyond “them thar hills!” After leaving 3-foot tall snow banks in our yard in Maine, it was a relief to finally see grass again. We made it! We escaped Father Winter!
After driving through fog all day, the skies seemed to be getting heavier as the afternoon wore on and we decided we’d better stop and get some gas and groceries before the clouds opened up. Just as we were about to exit in Daleville, VA, we were stunned beyond belief when humongous, wet snowflakes starting pounding the RV. Winter found us! We had not escaped!
We grabbed our groceries and decided to soothe our weather wounds with some real Virginia BBQ. We dodged the big snowflakes (one hit me square in the eyeball) and ducked into Three Li’l Pigs Barbecue in Daleville. After we asked what their specialty was (tomato, vinegar and jerk sauces! Yum!), we ordered a huge lunch to go and bought extra bottles of their special sauces. We then waited for our order and grunted while on of the owners, Dremma Gaul, told us how “unusual” it was for them to have snow this time of year. I didn’t bother trying to explain to her that winter had seemingly grabbed onto our rear bumper and come along for the ride.
Three Li’l Pigs Barbecue was excellent and Dremma Gaul and their family friend, Ed Cox, are super nice people. If you find yourself near Daleville, VA on I-81, pull on over and into the Kroger center and treat yourself to some excellent, melt-in-your-mouth BBQ!
Despite driving through heavy, wet snow all afternoon, we actually made it to the campground before dark tonight. Richard and Ali are outside cooking buffalo burgers on the grill while I’m working the “late shift” since I drove all day.
It’s supposed to be in the 20’s tonight and we’re expecting 2-4 inches of more snow! Oh goodie. Darn it all. I just realized we didn’t bother to pack any snow shovels for this trip. I wonder if Max’s beach shovel will work? And I wonder where I put my snow boots this morning…
You can see photos of our drive HERE.