When It Rains, It Pours! But . . . . . . . . 🎶 The Sun Will Come Out 🎶 Tomorrow, 🎵 bet your bottom dollar that 🎵 tomorrow 🎶 there'll be sun! ☀️
John got a transportation load to Garner, North Carolina. We headed out the next morning. As we got further south, we noticed that everything turned green to the south of Indiana. Spring had sprung! Beautiful! You know that feeling . . . . . after winter . . . . . when you see the grass turning green and the flowers starting to bloom! Everything feels rejuvinated! 🌼🌳🌷
Our first stopover was one we frequented - Tamarack in Beckley, West Virginia. The parking lot is tiered with a flight of steps between tiers. I love walking there and taking advantage of those flights. Empower the glutes! (Sorry.....no emoji for that one!) But, seriously, there were high winds in the forecast. We set our alarms to get up at 5 a.m., so we could cross the Appalachian Mountains - - Allegheny Mountains, East River Mountain, and Blue Ridge Mountains - before the winds picked up.
We made it safely to Garner, North Carolina to deliver the travel trailer. 😮💨 We always watch the upcoming forecast, especially towing a load. We have seen overturned tractor trailers on the mountain 😱 - and not just on one occasion. We were relieved to have made the delivery with no issues amidst that kind of wind.
We stayed at a Harvest Host called Krafty's Burgers and Brews. After arriving, we took a walk and picked up our Amazon packages at the Amazon lockers inside the nearby Staples.
NOTE: For those not familiar with Amazon lockers . . . . . You have Amazon ship your order to a locker location where you will be. Once Amazon notifies you that your package has been delivered, you go to the locker location. You stand in front of the lockers, turn on your phone's bluetooth, open the Amazon app and click that you are ready to pick up your package, and . . . . . like magic🪄 . . . . . a locker opens with your package inside. It is quite convenient!
We went to Krafty's Burgers and Brews to support our Host in exchange for our overnight parking. We shared a hot cherry pepper and meatball pizza. This pizza was MEMORABLE! When back in the area, we will definitely seek out Krafty's for the same pizza! 🍕 😋
We left Garner, North Carolina the next morning, stopping at our frequent overnight at Tamarack in Beckley, West Virginia. We went for an evening walk before turning in.
Going Back Past Pilot Mountain State Park - This Time We Were Headed North
We left Beckley, West Virginia and headed back toward Indiana for our next transport opportunity. We requested an overnight stay at a Boondocker's Welcome. Our Boondocker's Welcome is part of our Harvest Host subscription and works similar - - You stay outside a business with Harvest Host. With Boondocker's Welcome, you stay outside someone's home. Our stay was approved, so we put their address in our Apple Maps. We were highly concerned about the construction traffic in Charles, West Virginia. There has been about an hour delay going both south and north. We got through Charles, West Virginia and were in the middle of talking about the traffic being better than we expected when we had a tire blowout! John pulled over. We were sitting between a cement barrier and the right lane of Interstate 77. Tractor trailers and other vehicles flying by us in very close proximity. Nerve wracking to say the least! We immediately put in a Verizon claim for a tire change. (We pay for roadside assistance through Verizon.) Our tire change turned into needing to be towed. When we went to change the request on the app, a separate company was dispatched. We were trying to straighten this out - - cancel the second company from coming as a company was already present - when my father-in-law tried to call us. We couldn't answer because we were both on our phones attempting to resolve the situation, all while being in very close proximity of Interstate traffic - - our truck and truck camper rocking with each passing vehicle. Then we saw my sister-in-law calling John's phone, and then she called my phone. This can't be good that she is calling both our phones right after his Dad called. We communicated with her in the middle of all the chaos, only to find out my father-in-law had a heart attack. 😱 We tried to call him back, but were unable to reach him. In the meantime, we got in the tow truck and were transported along with our truck and truck camper to Charleston Auto. The driver, Josh, was God sent! He kept us safe on the side of the Interstate and towed us to the safety of Charleston Auto. The staff were great. They all jumped in to help. They got a tire delivered for our truck and installed it within hours. Meanwhile, we kept in touch with my sister-in-law for any updates. We gave Josh a nice tip and wrote a lengthy thank you letter to Charleston Auto. We returned to the road, still keeping in touch with my sister-in-law. We arrived much later than expected to our Boondocker's Welcome in Bluffton, Indiana. It was a lovely place with plenty of parking in their driveway. We still had not been able to communicate directly with my father-in-law, which made us anxious, to say the least. 🙏🙏 It was not a good day. 😔 And we could not escape the anxiety we were feeling over not being able to speak to Pop and the other events of the day. Now for a little superstition . . . . . a lot of things of significance - not always good things - happen in our family on the 17th. And, of course, this was the 17th.
In the end, Pop had a procedure and was able to go home soon after. 😮💨 ❤️ Thank goodness.
The following day we drove to the Driver's Lounge to do laundry. We put in a request to stay at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart. We are going to the museum and take a breath from the happenings of the day prior.
We visited the RV Hall of Fame. It was FANTASTIC! If in the area, I would highly recommend. We were able to look in some really old trailers, some of the first ever! We also looked in some newer ones, a couple buses, and a few mobile homes. We browsed the library and gift shop as well. It was a great experience! And again, I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys camping!
RV Hall of Fame
Afterward, we had lunch and took a long walk. We watched a couple episodes of Yellowstone. We had dinner, dessert, and prepared for bed, thankful that Pop is doing well, all things considering. ❤️
We got another transportation load and headed out the next morning. Stay tuned!
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