SNOWY RIDE HOME TO ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA

WEDNESDAY
On the Road
10 a.m., Virginia
35F, slush on road, fog in places, some precipitation

As I write, we are on I-77 Northbound, headed for gas at Wytheville, Virginia

Thankfully we had a good night’s sleep and found our winter clothes so we were better attired today, boots, gloves, winter coat!  TK says the driving is not bad, but I feel like we are at the mercy of how well other drivers handle the weather conditions. Our worst drive home was a few years ago when we were traveling from New Orleans to Erie, a route we had never been on. Icy, snowy conditions in Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Ohio made for some scary situations, all states that are not really equipped for icy, snowy roads.  I begged TK to stop, but he is such a good driver and he persisted. We saw semis, RVs, cars, and trucks off the road, but we made it through without issue.

Another issue along the way is eating. We are notorious for driving many many hours without eating—it always seems like the next exit will have better restaurants. so I resolved to do a better job this year. We did not succeed yesterday, hence we went about 9 hours without stopping to eat.

My recommendation was to eat in Virginia because West Virginia has difficult on and off ramps and few choices. One year we almost tangled with a semi as we tried to find a Cracker Barrel that had very poor roadside directions. I even called that Cracker Barrel when we got home and mentioned that fact.

TK says we will find something along Rt 19 in WV, so we will get gas in Wytheville in about 5 minutes and proceed right along.

10:24 a.m. Stop for 20 minutes-gas and Dunkin Donuts. That helps!

Gasoline along the way: This is an interesting study in how gas prices differ in various states. We keep track of our receipts so here is a brief rundown. TK likes to keep the tank full, by the way.
This list does not reflect every fuel stop we made———
Jan 23-Grove City, PA.         $2.40/gallon (Sheetz)
Jan 23-Wytheville, VA.         $2.02/gal. (Flying J)
Jan 24-St. George, SC.          $1.97/gal (Flying J)
Jan 29-St. Cloud, FL.            $2.21/gal (Shell-turnpike)
Feb 10-Ft. Myers, FL.           $2.19/gal (RaceTrac)
Feb 14-Zephyrhills, FL.         $2.14/gal (Wawa)
Feb 19-Wildwood, FL.          $2.11/gal  (Pilot)
Feb 19-St. George, SC.          $2.13/gal (Flying J)
Feb 20-Mooresville, SC.        $2.07/gal. (Sam’s Club)
Feb 20-Wytheville, VA.         $2.06/gal  (Pilot)
To be continued...11:06 a.m.

There is more snow on the ground north of Wytheville, but the roads are fine and the fog hangs just above the hills. The GPS indicates we have 6 hr 12 min, 402 miles to go.

Welcome to West Virginia, the GPS calls out, right in the middle of the Blue Mountain Tunnel! This is the 10th year of my blog, Exploring the World. I wasn’t going to write this year, but several friends said they were looking forward to it, so...another year! I did not say our sons said that, but I know they have read along. It certainly is a good way to keep track of us. The best part is that I have a log of what we did every year and it helps both TK and I remember certain places we visited. This was a good trip and it seems like the time went very quickly.

It is 11:14 a.m. and I am going to keep a careful watch for the best restaurant along the way in West Virginia on Route 19–we are still on I-77–35F

UPDATE: 1:56 p.m. About noon we stopped at the friendliest IHOP in Beckley, WV.  TK was wiser than I because he had eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I love pancakes. At least we ate before 6 p.m.! We have traveled over I-77,  Route 19, and now we are on I-79 with 4 hrs, 23 minutes to go and 295 miles. We have passed t though snow, rain, and now sprinkles. The roads are good and the temperature in Mount Lookout WV is 39F.

UPDATE:  4:15 p.m. For some reason the iPad is not totally cooperating and I cannot see what I am typing. About 2 p.m. we stopped in Flatwoods, WV, a tradition, to see what they have in the Fiesta shop.  It was 55F and felt very warm!

We have just passed into Pennsylvania with 2 1/2 hours to go. We see about three inches of snow on the ground, but the roads are dry.

UPDATE:  5:50 p.m Zelienople, PA. 31F
A snow/rain mixture, heavier traffic and about 77 miles to go.  We stopped at a Pilot station for gas—$2.52/gallon.   About an hour left, ETD 7 p.m. TK can do this!!