Tuesday, July 6
Greetings from Maryland, the one but last state of the trip. (West Virginia doesn’t count since we went in and out of the state earlier this morning; no double counting.)
70-79-68-81-66 — you might think these are the winning numbers for the lotto, but they’re not. Rather, they are all the interstates we’re traveling today on our multi-state drive home. We’re on I-68E at the moment, so two down and two more to go.
It’s hot as blazes today. We’ve drafted the fans mounted on the windshield to help circulate the air coming out of the A/C. At least we’re no longer driving into the sun as we were for most of the morning.
After a quiet evening and a restful night’s sleep, we headed off on our last day on the road at 7:30a. With no time zone change ahead of us, the early departure should put us at the storage facility in Virginia around 2:00p.
Our route from Ohio to Virginia takes us on five interstates and one US route.
It was a very humid 77F [25C] when we left the campground. The morning fog was thick, with the sun trying to burn its way through. Because the fog bank was relatively high off the ground, visibility on the road was not impaired as we joined the fast moving traffic towards West Virginia.
Driving into a fog bank as we leave the campground.
An hour later, conditions are only slightly improved.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge crosses the Ohio River at the
Ohio and West Virginia state line.
We’ll be in and out of West Virginia twice today.
 |  |
Two signs for the price of one.
Making just a few brief stops along the way to stretch our legs, we arrived at Sideling Hill, a rest area in Maryland, right around noon. It was well into the mid 90F [35C] range; the high humidex made it seem even hotter. We found a patch of shade and parked the Phaeton.
Mui stayed in the coach (smart guy) to prepare lunch; I went sightseeing. Trekking up a .2-mile paved path. I crossed over the highway to check out the interpretive displays that tell the geologic story of a 350-million year old syncline that was exposed when the I-68 cut was made through the mountain. It turns out that the visitor center was closed in August , so I did not get to see the exhibits that explain how “a formidable obstacle to travel since the earliest days when settlers were moving west” was overcome with the construction of the interstate.
It was too darn hot to climb the stairs behind the visitor center to the overlook where binoculars would have given me a closer look at the two aquifers that were intercepted during the excavation. Instead, I made do with a view of the cut from the bridge crossing over the interstate.
When the constant flow from the water-bearing strata evaporates, it leaves behind
a residue of iron oxide. Hence the reddish orange tint on the walls of the cut.
We’re entering heavier traffic areas, so it’s time to stow the laptop and put my navigator’s hat on. More later …
Later … at home
It’s 5:00p. The Phaeton has been put to bed at the storage facility and we’re home, a successful maiden voyage under our belt.
The last stretch of our drive was uneventful. With 115 miles [184 km] remaining to our destination, we took our time over our sandwich and salad lunch, leaving the rest area around 1:00p. Thankfully, we had the generator to run the A/C or we wouldn’t have been able to dally as long as we did. It was hot, hot, hot!
We’d expected that our GPS (we’re using the Garmin nüvi® 465T; designed for truckers) would likely keep us on I-68 until we reached the I
Don’t you just love that instead of a car, this GPS unit shows a truck on the magenta path!
It was 108F [42C] when we arrived at the storage facility; much too hot to dally outside. Shelving our plans to hose down the exterior of the Phaeton, we quickly went through the post-trip checklist, emptied the fridge, and threw ourselves into the air conditioned comfort of the car we’d left at the lot so that we’d have transportation home. We’ll go back in a few days when the temps are a bit more reasonable to at least clean the windshield and the bug spatter on the front of the coach. In the meantime, we wouldn’t mind getting a few strong showers to wash off some of the mess.
The coach and the toad-to-be — a matching pair at the storage lot.
We’d like to take the coach out this weekend, but the forecast is calling for thunderstorms. We do have plenty of chores to do around our “house without wheels,” so I think we’ll give the Phaeton a well-earned rest and see what we can line up for a bit later in the month.
| Start Odometer | End Odometer | Day’s Mileage |
| 11148 | 11490 | 342 [547 km] |
Statistics for Today
Until our next adventure … thanks for tagging along.
Next Up … Maiden Voyage: Summary
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