Northbound Again

After the Franklin reunion we began our 2019 Summer/Fall trip in earnest.  The plan is to drive pretty hard until we get to northern Michigan, and then slow down and have some fun. We hope to catch up with Wayne and Lynda in the Upper Peninsula (UP) to do some paddling.  Then drive westward across northern Wisconsin to Ely MN, arriving at Fall Lake Campground on August 19. There we will regroup and prepare for our annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip.  We will put into the Boundary Waters at Moose Lake on August 22 for 14 days.  After our Boundary Waters trip we will cross into Canada and travel east across southern Ontario, eventually entering the US in upstate NY.  Finally, we will attend a rally with Country Coach International in the Boston area the last week in September, before dashing home to see all our doctors.

From Linville Falls to Michigan we had three primary route options.  The eastern route would take us up I-81 and I-77 through western Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.  The eastern route would go up I-75 through central Kentucky and Ohio.  We chose the scenic route, the middle route, directly north, primarily following US 23.

Our drive was largely uneventful. Just after crossing into Tennessee an oncoming car flashed his lights at us. This usually means to be alert. Around the next bend a car had just struck and killed a black bear.  A moment later a Sheriff's deputy pulled up to investigate.  When we left home our fuel tank was not full.  In Johnson City TN we pumped 88 gallons of diesel at $2.539/gal.

The view from Benge's Gap Wise County VA

A wonderful day to drive

We stopped for the night at the Walmart in Delaware OH. A block away there was diesel for $2.499/gal, so we topped off and pumped 44 gallons.   I expect this is the cheapest diesel we will see on this trip. On this day we drove 404 miles.

Our camp in Delaware Ohio

Some folks just can't abide by the rules

On Monday we departed with the intention of spending the next night in Mackinaw City MI.  Again our drive today was uneventful except for a major backup in Columbus OH.  There had been an accident blocking 2 of 3 lanes. We were in the worst possible position, but thankfully a kind soul let us cross into the open lane. Overall we lost perhaps 20 minutes in this mess.