The drive out confirmed that it was a good idea to stick at the lodge yesterday. The campground we would have stayed at was a good 25 minutes away (despite someone telling us it was only 5 miles away), and was really just a place to park the RV. I gave myself many mental high-fives.
Let's talk GPS devices. 98% of the time they are a real godsend, and I would never want to go back to a time without them. The other 2% of the time, they can tell you to "continue 0.7 miles and then take a right" when you are looking at this.
It was another long driving day, with our 60 miles taking 3 hours. Only two quick stops in there. The first was a full-service gas station. I didn't know there were many of those still around. By the way, what's the rule of thumb for tipping the attendants at these stations? Is it supposed to be a percentage? I have trouble tipping more than a dollar or two because I'd rather pump it myself for any more than that. That can't be the proper etiquette for determining though.
The second stop was a roadside pit stop because we ran into Daddy along his route! That was the first time that had happened and we were excited to stumble upon his location. Kentucky is really making me miss Indiana at the moment. All of the roads are narrow, there's not many crossroads, and since it's not flat like Indiana visibility is always an issue. We had to drive for another two miles just to find a place to pull over. As you can imagine, I get a lot of stares behind the wheel of the 30-foot RV in the backwoods. Today one family came out onto their porch just to watch me attempt a turnaround on (you guessed it) a narrow road. I gave up on that one eventually, probably out of pride, and found a relatively flat driveway I could use another mile down the road.
I wish I had a picture of Chris cycling so you could see what the view is as a driver, but alas, I was fully focused on operating the vehicle and August wasn't quick enough with the camera. I will sub in a really cute "Blue Steel" picture of August a few days ago on the old Radio Flyer we brought along for him.
Also, Chris wound up getting really lost today. I think he said he his ride was supposed to be 75 miles for the day and he ended up around 105. A guy came out of his house to see if he needed help (awesome) and gave him directions to help him get back to his route after which he got even more off of it (not so awesome). By the time he arrived a few hours later than he expected, we were all a little grouchy.
We are at the Oh Kentucky campground tonight. The KOA is a palace compared to this particular park. One of our favorite hobbies is checking out the other outfits around the place to see if ours is the oldest/most run down. Usually it is, but not tonight by a long shot.
A few thoughts on Virginia and Kentucky so far. I thought the change from Virginia to Kentucky would be gradual and that the sights would slowly start to feel different. It was actually very distinct and immediate when we entered Kentucky. Virginia shares Appalachia as well, but it in no way seems to share the economic blight that is apparent in what we've seen of Kentucky so far. All of Virginia had a pastoral vibe, with healthy gardens and loads of historical significance, even the western part of it. The Kentucky we've driven through is very clearly the ghost of what was once a place settled for the coal and timber booms. I have too much respect for these people to take pictures of their situation for my silly little blog, but trust me when I say that you will probably never encounter another area with so many mobile homes, vehicles up on blocks, and general lack of prosperity. The areas we drove through today are consistently ranked among the very poorest in the entire country, with more than half of the residents living below the poverty line. Chris put it well when he said that "Someone once made a lot of money off of the strip mining that was done around here, but it doesn't seem to be any of the people who live here."
I am hoping to pack in a little more fun to our travelling tomorrow and am still eagerly awaiting shorter driving days for August's sake.
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