I have been just a little out of touch while I'm on the road. Seems there's a hurricane coming up the Mississippi Valley today. Well, okay, I actually knew that, but what I didn't know was that it stretches all the way east to Georgia, where I'd plan to go today. That, plus the likelihood that Interstate 10 might be experiencing some problems in the travel lanes led me to jettison my plan to drive south from Front Royal on the Skyline Drive, which I believe goes along the top of the ridge all the way through Shenendoah National Park, and the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which picks up where the Skyline leaves off, and goes all the way to North Carolina or maybe even Georgia. I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing cruise at between 35 and 40 mph all day long, or most of it anyway.
It wasn't to be. Instead I decided it was best to try and get to the west of the rain, which I predict will come north and veer slightly to the east today and tomorrow. So I plotted a route across West Virginia and Ohio, to St Louis, then home from there. I might possibly catch the western edge of the storm tomorrow, but it should be pretty well spent by then.
I made it as far as Cincinnati today. (Almost ironic that I've cast up just a few miles from Dayton for the night.) I did get a few hours of top-down driving in cool, clear weather, and about one glorious hour was on exactly the kind of winding mountain roads I most enjoy (except in this case, the roads were less than two lanes and had speed limits of 55 mph. They were like English B roads, along cliff edges with soft shoulders. I never hit even 40 mph. And luckily no one hit me.)
The rest of the day was on four-lane divided highways and freeways, so there's not much to say about the day. I should be in St Louis by early afternoon tomorrow; I doubt that I'll make it all the way home from there by Saturday night, but I'm going to try. In any case, unless something really remarkable happens between here and San Antonio, this will be the closing post for this trip. And I didn't take any pictures today, but I hope you'll look at the ones I've taken until now, in the album at the link at the top of this page.
