Starting this post off with some Charles Kuralt quotes seems appropriate because I’m on the road again. Charles spent 25 years and wore out six RVs making the On the Road vignettes which became regular features on the Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
Here are a few of his quotes.
“There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions of superiority.”
“The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”
“It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn’t in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.”
“Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.”
Charles was not without controversy. After a DUI arrest, they changed the name of his segment from “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”, to “All Over the Road with Charles Kuralt”. After his death, there was a discovery that he had a secret second shadow family, the kind of messy situation that comes up when settling an estate. No wonder he spent 25 years on the road.
Despite Kuralt’s quote about the interstate, I spent most of the first day heading back towards Florida on interstates. The drive up on the back roads and along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains was interesting but also exhausting. Taking my time on the way back with some leisurely easy interstate traffic is enjoyable. I will still get off the interstates from time to time, and will do more so as I get closer to Tampa.
Leaving northwest Pennsylvania, I drove east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 160 miles before turning south into Maryland. The PA Turnpike was the first long distance limited access highway in the United States. The PA Turnpike actually had an entrance and an exit, so you felt like you were getting on a highway. Now with the Interstate Highway System connecting all the highways, the PA Turnpike just feels like another highway except for the exorbitant fees charged for driving on it. The PA Turnpike was designed to improve automobile transportation across the mountains of Pennsylvania. Wanting to easily cross the Appalachian Mountain Chain on my way back was the reason I choose to start off the return trip on the turnpike. Now I am on the east side of the mountains where the driving will be much easier. The road uses seven tunnels built for the abandoned South Pennsylvania Railroad and opened in 1940. The road had long stretches of very straight roadway causing people to fall asleep and crash. Modern interstate design had not been invented yet. Some of the long straight stretches were torn up and replaced with long sweeping turns to help keep drivers awake. I found the road windy and hilly, I can’t imagine where there would have been long straight sections.
Leaving Grove City around 1pm yesterday, the plan was to sleep a few hours in a rest stop during the night instead of stopping in a campground. After 200+ miles and five hours of driving I saw a sign for a KOA near the intersection of I-70 and I-81 in Maryland just east of Hagerstown. Quickly I decided to exit the highway. Expecting to find the campground immediately off the interstate, the campground ended up being a winding 20 minute drive on narrow and gravel roads. The longer drive meant the campground is in a very quiet place next to the Conococheague Creek. The Conococheague Creek flows from Pennsylvania and into the Potomac.
The place is so nice and quiet that I decided to stay another night. There are also high winds today with steady 20+ mph winds and gusts even higher. The coach has such a huge cross-section. Winds really affect the stability of the RV. Several times yesterday strong gusts and cross winds suddenly nudged the coach towards the side of the road. The sudden movement is quite scary since the gusts are invisible. I always drive with two hands, usually at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions. The steering wheel conveniently has nub like protrusions extending towards the center of the wheel to make holding the wheel more comfortable. The positioning of those nubs is not a coincidence. I decided it would be best to wait for the winds to calm down a bit before heading out on the road again. Several campers pulled in early to the camp today saying the wind made their RVs sway too much in the wind to drive safely, so I know I made the right call to stay here another day.
Willie Nelson with Slim Pickens – On the Road Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63xekRY8dJo
Just dawned on me the play on words with Slim Pickens, never realized that before
Another version with Willie Nelson and one of my favorite singers, Cheryl Crow. He has a slightly larger audience in this one, actually looks like maybe a stadium