Road Trip TwoGether: Sunday 4-18 to Tuesday 4-10

Sunday 4-8-18

We were in no particular hurry to get on the road. Traffic was moderate with a lot of RVs headed north. Then the dreaded bottle neck at the South Carolina line. I-95 goes from six lanes to four lanes. It seems that it really shouldn’t make much difference but we went from 70 MPH to an average of 35 MPH. Stop and go...Beep and Creep. Ninety minutes to go thirty three miles. We hopped off at Exit 33 and found our way to old US-15.

We had a beautiful ride through the South Carolina country side until 15 met back up with 95 at Santee. We made a note of this because the same bottleneck got us last year and we found a US route that took us toward Columbia which worked great because we were headed to TN. We just wonder how many hotel and campground reservations were missed by travelers caught in the quagmire.

We spent the night in Lumberton at the Comfort Inn. It’s a usual stop for us on the southbound run.

Across the street and almost hidden behind another building is San Jose’s Mexican Restaurant. This is by far the best Mexican we have ever had. Large portions, reasonable prices and authentic food. Linda, who normally will pass on Mex, made a note in her little travel tablet; when in Lumberton NC this is a must stop.

Monday 4-9-18

Woke up to light rain. Breakfast at the hotel was good.

Occasionally, I will get a “Trailer Brake Disconnected” warning. It has only happened a few times and then in a few seconds it’s gone. On the trip down it happened and I checked the connector and it appeared the female contacts had spread. I pushed them together with a pocket knife and all was well. Today it happened again. I stopped on an exit ramp and looked at the connector. Again the contacts were spread. I stuffed in some balls of paper to force the contacts closed and it seemed to do the job. A temporary fix until I can get a new connecter. That lasted almost to the next exit for Ft. Bragg where I got off. While trying to find a place to park I spotted a RV World. They took us in and replace the connector/wire assembly and we were back on the road around noon. Someone was keeping His eye on us and led us in the right direction.

Back on the road the traffic was rather light and the rain let up giving us a good ride to the big city of Ruther Glen just a few miles from Kings Dominion, VA. Our granddaughter Crystal lives near here and used to work at one of the truck stops.

Tuesday 4-10-18

We only have about four hours of driving from here. No hurry to get started. Several years ago we ate at the Waffle House here and Linda loved the grits. Today was not the same experience. When we walked in we were told to sit anywhere. When we went to sit down the waitress in our section let out with a muffled “Phttt”. (You’ll have to make the noise on your own). Our two breakfast came to over $20. We should have ate at the hotel.

The remainder of the trip was easy going. We arrived home around 3 PM and put the camper back in storage. Now the unpacking.

Just a few odds and ends shots: