Heading South on I-81

We left Streamside Golf & RV Park around 7:20 am on Monday, August 8th.  Google Maps was showing the shorter distance home was to take I-90 West to Cleveland and then head south through Columbus, Cincinnati, and Louisville back to Nashville.  But, we would have had $30 to $50 in tolls plus it would not have been as scenic.  If you're going to be driving a lot anyways, why not drive the scenic route!

Plus, by taking I-81, we will be able to say we have traveled the entire distance of I-81 from the Canadian border to where it terminates in Tennessee at I-40.

We ran into just a little bit of traffic in Syracuse but not too bad...

...and then we were heading south through the mountains and valleys of New York State.

Uh-oh.  Another small slowdown.  Detour off of I-81 for a couple of miles due to a truck accident.

That's ok.  It only delayed us about 20 minutes and gave us another opportunity to see some beautiful New York State scenery.

Soon enough, we were back on I-81 with more mountains and valleys and farms.

Good-bye New York!

Hello Pennsylvania!

Crossing the Susquehanna...again.  I think the Indian meaning of Susquehanna must be snake because it seems like this river snakes all through Pennsylvania.

Now, that's something we don't see everyday.  The reflection of our motorhome on the back of the truck in front of us.  Hi Chuck and Melissa!

Traveling through the beautiful Pennsylvania mountains and valleys,

and the occasional work zone,

and, of course, across the Susquehanna River again as we go through Harrisburg, PA.

My last picture of Pennsylvania is one of what we saw a whole lot of in Pennsylvania...CORN.

Then, we crossed into Maryland.

We were only in Maryland for about 12 miles...

...before crossing the Potomac River...

...and entering West Virginia.

And we were only in West Virginia about 25 miles...

...before crossing into Virginia.  We weren't officially welcomed to Virginia because I didn't see a sign so we welcomed ourselves.   :)

We had stopped at a Flying J's just after crossing into Virginia to fill up with diesel because their fuel prices were so much cheaper than Pennsylvania.  The Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia are beautiful too.  Chuck and I remember driving this section of road when Tafanie and Cory lived in the D.C. area for a few years.

Other than his posterior getting a little sore, Chuck was feeling pretty good driving.  We didn't stop for the evening until we reached Wytheville, Virginia.  We stayed in a pull-through site at a nice KOA that was just a couple of miles off I-81.  Chuck hit a new one day driving record in the motorhome today:  637 miles!

We were up and on our way Tuesday morning by a little after 8.  It was a little cloudier today but the scenery was still pretty awesome.

In seemingly no time at all, we were being welcomed back into our home state of Tennessee.

And around Dandridge, Tennessee, we reached the end of I-81 where it terminates at I-40.

We had driven all 855 miles of I-81 traveling through six states from the Canadian border to Tennessee just since Sunday.  Where to next, Chuck?  Memphis is only 421 miles away.  :)

Just kidding!  We had decided to go back to Nashville when we were trying to figure out where to go next in New York State.  Donald & Anna have a 50th anniversary party coming up that we didn't want to miss plus we have some more things to get fixed on the motorhome.  Rrrrrrrr.  We discovered when we were in Wytheville that the big seal that goes around the front passenger side slide-out has come loose.  Plus, the rear slide-out awnings need to be replaced.  So, we decided to just hang out in Nashville for about a month.  Gives us more time with my mom too!  :)

Before heading all the way back to Nashville though, we decided to stop at one of our favorite RV parks, Spring Lake RV Resort in Crossville.  We stayed there Tuesday and Wednesday nights and even got a round of golf at River Run on Wednesday.  We didn't play all that well but the course sure is pretty!  (I wonder how many golfers say that??)

On Thursday, August 11, we pulled into Nashville Jellystone where we were able to get a monthly site which saves us considerably over the normal $60-$80 per night rates of Jellystone or KOA.

In just a little over a month, we have traveled from Fall Creek Falls in Spencer, Tennessee, to Wildwood, Florida (to get the front a/c replaced) to Ormond Beach, Florida (to get the two front shades replaced, then back north through South Carolina, North Carolina,stopping to tour around Williamsburg, Virginia, play 3 full days of pickleball at Chesapeake Bay Thousand Trails in Gloucester, Virginia, spending 11 fun-filled and wonderful days with Ken and Bonnie at Hershey, touring around Watkins Glen, New York, and then the Thousand Islands area of New York, including a quick day trip to Tim Horton's in Canada and then back to Nashville.  That's a little over 3,100 miles in just over a month!  Crazy!!!


We're looking forward to a month of being with my mom and family, visiting some friends, and playing some pickleball and maybe even a round of golf or two.  :)