First day out of DC I am making my way across the State of Virginia. It is unreasonably hot - the Nimbus never reports any less than 23 Celsius outside - not that I am complaining.
I forgot to mention something in the last installment. I had meant to comment on the New Jersey turnpike; how, at one point, the number of lanes of freeway numbered fourteen. Yes. Fourteen. There was a four-lane truck/megatruck/car carriageway, and a modest three-lane cars-only carriageway in each direction, just because. I was quite relieved when it changed down to a mere six lanes until I realised the land to either side was being prepared for upgrade...nothing silly, maybe just another three lanes in each direction.
Back to the here and now...it chucks it down for the first hour out of Washington. Even with the wipers on the highest setting, I still can't see the rear lights of any cars ahead of me through the bouncing rain and flying spray. Storm safely navigated, the next obstacle is a still-smouldering burst tyre, probably off one of the huge trucks, oblivious to the fact it now has only seventeen wheels. Third up: an up-until-recently-alive homage to Francis Bacon, which I have to change lanes to avoid double-tapping. As much as I admire Bacon, this was a piece of art I could have done without. The culprit was on the hard shoulder, just a few yards further along the carriageway, scraping out his radiator.
Sorry.
The further from the multiple metropolises of the Northeast I get, the less massive roads there are. Today includes about 80 miles along local routes. So I get to see some of Virginia in all its' small-town glory. Adverts for Marlboro stating, simply, "Pleasure". I had no idea that was even allowed anymore. I also see my first cotton plantation. I'm guessing it won't be the last in the coming weeks.
The plan is to keep moving, slowly but surely, every day between now and Christmas, aside from a couple of nights stop in Austin, Texas in a couple of weeks time. I get the impression this section of the journey is going to be quite different from the beautiful west coast, the barren north, and the bustling northeast.
I am quite aware, on my first day proper in the notoriously less liberal southern states, that I am driving a fabulously purple spray-painted van, with Californian plates, and a rear-window slogan which reads: "Escape Campers - the freedom to sleep around".
My thoughts turn to the reception that philosophy might get, no matter how intended. I feel slightly like an inflammatory Top Gear presenter.
Which State was Deliverance set in again?
The following day takes me through North Carolina, from Gatesville, approaching the coast in the northeast of the state, down to near Elizabethtown, not all that far from the state border with South Carolina. Not a great deal to report...although I encountered the best rest area of the trip to date, blaring out "Summer of '69" at deafening volumes whilst patrons did their rest stop-type things. What a way to go...
Compared to oop north, the landscape is quite different down this way - large swathes of land given over to agriculture whilst a lot of the rest, certainly nearer the coast, is swampland. Temperatures have remained high, 23-25 Celsius all day again - it is getting more and more humid. Bizarre to think it is December. I wonder whether I might witness a spectacular storm or two.
Tonight I camp alongside Jones Lake, in another State Park, while tomorrow I head on into South Carolina. That's assuming I can drive out of the sandpit I appear to have parked in overnight.
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