Dodging A Hurricane – WV, VA, & TN

Hurricane Helene hit the west side of Florida bad. Then it continued north and has devastated parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and western North Carolina. Bridges and roads have been completely washed away. It hit land Thursday night and continued north on Friday. Even some dams are cresting and evacuations are happening below for fear of dam breaking. Saturday was a Travel Day.

This was a Travel Day from Dover, Pennsylvania to Lewisburg, Virginia. Along the way we saw several electric company utility trucks heading south. We also saw two motorcycles. The riders had jackets with words Electric Lineman and then the name of a town, Delaware. We saw some baby mountains that are Shenandoah National Park.

At Greenville, Virginia, we stopped for fuel. While waiting in line, Kevin got out to deal with HOWE’s (footnote 1) right side fender. It has been flopping since we got the 5th wheel, brand new. Kevin has added screws and then rivets to it over the past 2.5+ years. Well, then the plastic just kept breaking around the rivets. Today, he walked over to it and pull it just a little and it came off. (That was his intention.) There was only 1 screw left and that is one he had added. There was a dumpster right next to him and he plopped the whole thing in there. 

This stay was at West Virginia State Fairgrounds. They have full hook ups. We drove through the town and to the south end. Garmin had the fairgrounds on the left side of the road, which it was, so I was looking for the campground. Thankfully Kevin saw a sign on the right to the campground. It turns out to be all grass, I mean, all grass, except for the dirt road. There are a line of power/sewer/water at the back of the sites. It is really muddy and everything is wet but thankfully we didn’t get stuck. The power was even 50 amp. The water pressure was so strong that when Kevin turned it on, it totally blew out…something. I didn’t catch in the American Sign Language. HA He had an extra something, I think, and then turned the water on barely. On my suggestion, Kevin called our next campground to see if they were open, due to the hurricane, and what the roads were like getting in. He left a message. Surprisingly, a guy called back later and said the campground is fine but lots of devastation 20 miles east of the campground. Roads here in WV are fine.

The next day was Travel Day to Heiskell, Tennessee. We headed out, another dark, gloomy day, rainy-at-times day. Thankfully it only rained for a total of maybe 15 minutes. Whew! There are baby mountains that look like small volcanos. The leaves are just barely thinking of dying and changing colors here. The elevations on the roads we were on were from 1000s ft to 2995 ft according to Garmin RV 1090. Drove west on I-64, south on I-77, and then west on I-81 again. At one point along I-81, I saw on my iPhone that I didn’t have cell service and it was in SOS mode. I turned it off and back on and the same thing. I looked at Kevin’s iPhone and his was in SOS mode, too. No cell service, here, but literally we look and see there were 2 cell towers right here. Down a short ways and there were 4 cell towers. Still no service. This is really close to where there is utter devastation from Hurricane Helene where there are roads washed away, rivers flooding, dams cresting, and no power. Farther down the road we got cell service. 

And then, we saw the sign. I mean, “the” sign! It was for Buc-ee’s! Down the freeway a sign on the right side of the road said: Jerky, lunch for guys. And on the left side of the freeway: Buc-ee’s Nuggets, lunch for girls. HAHA  We said we had to stop! It is in Sevierville, TN and used to be the largest one, at 74,000 sq ft! https://buc-ees.com/ We wondered about parking but found lots of open parking spots. We parked out back on the end. The parking lot is very wide and deep and plenty of room to go around. Yeah! The women’s restroom had a light outside each stall. Red is occupy and green is open. Kevin didn’t know if his side had them or not. HA Then we went to the jerky wall. We had talked the other day how jerky is good to have in the truck when we are exploring. We got several different kinds and then walked around just a little. Got drinks and grabbed the famous smoked brisket sandwich, got Buc-ee’s nuggets, and we were out of there. Got out just fine and went to the campground, which is just north of Knoxville. 

After getting set up we went to Tractor Supply. I stayed in the truck while he went in. I saw the craziest sight: an old man, dressed with a brown tweed jacket, came out with his cart and started loading his van that was parked in the closest handicap spot. A lady came out, she had a dress on, was looking at a receipt, and then got in. The guy gives the cart a hard shove and aims it for the sliding front doors. The cart hits the closed door, bounces off and starts rolling backwards. I was ready to jump out and grab it if it was going to hit our truck. Thankfully the cart turned and stopped. Then, the guy grabs it and pushes it again, launching it off to hit the door again. Back the cart rolls. A third time he did it and this time the door opened and the cart stopped between the inner and outer door. Then he went to his van and pulled out. I couldn’t believe it!

Near our campground is Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is where part of the Manhattan Project worked for the bombs that were dropped in Japan durning WW2. Kevin used to work at the world headquarters of a nuclear waste clean up company. He would often fly to Oak Ridge (and Los Alamos, NM). So we wanted to drive around and see if anything looked familiar. I put the business name into maps and it took us right to the building. It looked familiar to him. We just wandered around a bit and saw several signs for different places I have on our Exploring Cards to visit – pertaining to the nuclear/atomic stuff here. We started down another road. Hum, well, it turns out it goes to the guarded (military with guns, vests, etc) of the National Lab in Oak Ridge. There wasn’t a place to turn around before the gate so Kevin told the guard we were just out driving. He said that happens often and to turn around right here. Kevin talked about some of his memories here and the history. Very enjoyable.

Kevin took the truck to Discount Tire. It was about 15 minutes away. The appointment was for 4:45 p.m. to get the tires rotated. I stayed home (footnote 2) and let him have some time to himself. He texted me when it was done and that he was heading home. I started making Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken. I had just gotten the chicken in the skillet cooking when Kevin got home. I quickly saw he didn’t have fountain drinks in his hand. And then his look, he face dropped. Why? Because he wanted to take me out to dinner! I didn’t know that and had thought it would be nice for him to come home and have dinner almost ready and smelling good. LOL Well, I was too far along in the cooking to put it away and go out. We had a good laugh. 

Text to Kevin while he is working: “You know it is humid when my pop can is ‘raining!’” So humid! Severe weather alerts every morning here for fog. Thankfully it clears by early morning. I kept a watch on the roads in Great Smoky National Park as the service checks for road damage. The roads were closed for a few days but it looks like a few are open now. We go there next.

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.

2. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.