Coronavirus Zombie Apocalypse Road Trip

We went to Mt Washington which is on the south side of the rivers.  From there you can see all three Pittsburgh rivers, the Monongahela, Allegheny and the Ohio and a park at the confluence that we visited later.  Superb views of downtown, it’s a shame we didn’t get nicer weather. Later we went to the strip district where we went to the Strip Meat Market, Pennsylvania Macaroni Company and Enrico’s Biscotti.   We came home with some delights.  Afterwards, to The Point State Park where Fort Duquesne stood.  It was built buy the French in 1754 and destroyed by the French In 1758 so it wasn’t captured by the English in the French and Indian War. A virtual hug with Jay, Scott, Natalie and Hakeem

We got an early start, just a little after 9 and had an nice ride through the  Appalachia’s through W Va to Pittsburgh.  Rolling hills, deep valleys cut by mountain rivers.  It’s an old set of hills with soft rounded tops.  Driving along the local and state roads, there is a sense of emptiness.  A lot of shuttered buildings.  I don’t think from the virus but from an economy that’s passed them by. We set up in our campground about an hour north of Pittsburgh and then drove just the truck (leaving the trailer behind) to my sons house, where Scott and been cooking smoked pork belly burnt ends.  What a fabulous meal.  We made plans to play golf the next day and we went back to our campground.

Off to meet Scott and Gabe at North Park Golf Course at 0800.  We teed off a little after 8 and we had a fabulous time, getting in a round in 4 hours.  All of us were playing well and having fun, 83 for Scott and 93 for me.   It’s a muni golf course in the hills with sloping fairways and greens.  No water to speak of but off the fairways there was 2 ft high grass that would swallow balls if hit there.  Tees in great shape because there were a a out 6 teeing grounds on each hole and they rotate play so each has a chance to recover.  Nancy stayed in the campground and worked out and was looking buff when I got back at1 PM. A shower, short nap and back to Scott’s for a dinner of seared tuna and Leona’s famous ice cream where Natalie, Scott’s girlfriend works and makes awesome ice cream sandwiches.

A day of no driving.  Relaxing in Babcock State Park in W Va.  We hiked a couple of trails this morning and this afternoon we are relaxing outside. At the end of the day went to see the New River Bridge.  The New River cut a deep ravine in the mountains and the bridge which is supposed to be the longest single arch bridge in North America is over 3300 feet long.

We left from Lake Oconee to Bears Den Camp Ground just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  A very nice camp site and we were escorted there by a man on a golf cart and he helped guide me back into the site.  The turn off of the BRP was hairy and the way to the camp ground was full of switchbacks that had me quite nervous with the trailer. We got off to an early start on Sunday morning heading to Babcock State Park in West Virginia.  We did 100 miles on the BRP which took 3 hours.  It’s a road that is not the fastest way to anywhere where and we stopped often to take in the sights.  It was a long day on the road as we averaged only 40 mph.

An easy drive today going north on 75 until we reached Macon.  Then we turned off onto the country roads.  Clear skies and modest traffic. Just before we made the final approach we stopped for some ice.  As we were pulling out, I noticed there was a guy selling boiled peanuts.  I’ve heard of them and I’m sure it’s a Georgia delicacy.  Nancy hopped out and ordered some while I stayed in the truck.  She told me they chatted about how to eat them.  He said he liked ‘em cold.  Nancy suggested with a beer and they laughed in agreement.  I thought it would be good to try ‘em hot, so she opened the container and I popped one into my mouth.  I realized immediately that maybe  that wasn’t the best idea.  I plan to try them later with a beer and without the shell on!!!

Nancy and I pushed off at roughly 12:30 this afternoon.  Our plan was to go roughly 270 miles from Punta Gorda to White Springs FL, near the Georgia border.  After over 2 hours we were still short of Tampa.  Some torrential rains where I had to put the flashers on and really slow down.  Accidents all over.  Trucks rolled over.  Cars T-Boned.  Some crazy s—t on the road. Driving my new to me Ram 1500 Hemi pickup with a 5,000 lb trailer hooked up to the back.  The truck feels squirrelly on the road.  Trying to keep it at 60 mph, sometimes I hit 65.  18 wheelers passing on my left, the whole rig moving as they went past.  We were trying to see how many license plates we could identify from different states.  It was really hard.  At first we thought our eyesight was deteriorating, but later we realized that cars where wizzing past us so fast that we couldn’t read the names. A cute RV Park run by Deb, a former Illinois Stat...