Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee

August 1, 2016

Woke up early this morning so decided to get up and start the day. Bill was on his way at 7:00 and I got myself ready. He called around 9 and then it was pack up, unplug and away I went. Bill wanted to ride with Brian tomorrow but it looks like thunderstorms are predicted for most of the day. So we started across 58, cut down to 23 and the hills here are just crazy steep! As I was going through Cumberland Gap, Bill was in Jonesville, Virginia where he met the Sheriff, Gary Parsons.

They traded patches and got pictures

and then Bill was on his way. Thank-You Sheriff for what you do! We met up around Duffield and he wants to go long to Kingsport and then drive home from there. So I am parked right outside of Kingsport at one of those “Lady or the Tiger” choices. Do I go left on 36 South into Kingsport or wait here for Bill because the right turn is to 26 East to Johnson City which is interstate where bicycles are not allowed. I called Bill to ask which way are we going but he was in heavy traffic and said he’d call me back. That was almost a half hour ago, so hope he is doing alright. About 15 minutes later, he called and asked how far I was from Weber City. If I turned around, it was going to be 2.5 miles. So he described a car wash he was near and I started out to find a place to turn around. 5 miles later, I went around a cloverleaf and back on the highway…I hoped. I felt a little turned around and wasn’t sure I had taken the right turn. It had been a long stressful day and traffic was heavy. He called to ask where I was and I sobbed, “I don’t know!” I’m afraid my bad_ssness was wearing thin. He asked me what landmarks I saw and I found him at last. As it turned out, when I was parked at the fork, he was only a mile behind me. By then, I had taken a deep breathe and was able to get out of the truck smiling. He was talking to Michael Delano, a Weber City police officer parked right there at the car wash.

He stayed with Bill until I arrived to make sure I made it okay. Thank-You Officer Delano for what you do and for waiting for me! From there, we packed up and drove to our house. Once there, we brought in a few things for the next couple of days and Bill decided to wash the front of the house! It did need it. While he was doing that, I was going through the mountain of mail we had at the house that Bill’s sister has taken such good care of since we’ve been gone. The camper got a good scrub down, we brought in things we never used, and brought out a few things we had forgotten. After spending a couple of days there, it was our last night. Back on the road tomorrow! Thanks for reading.