This is the third winter in a row that we will spend in the southern US, specifically Alabama and Florida. For two years we drove and camped in my 1987 Westfalia. This year, Westy is for sale and currently is in storage for the winter. Wanting more space and more reliability I bought a 2010 Pleasure Way Excel TS. She is 20 ft long and with a V8 engine can easily keep up with and pass anything on the Interstate.
Since we didn't get away until Monday afternoon, Fredericton, NB was our first stop en route to Auburn, Alabama. On Tuesday we took advantage of a dry, sunny day and got as far as Connecticut. Listening to the radio during the day, we heard about storm warnings and possible travel disruptions on the busiest travel day of the year in the US: the day before Thanksgiving.
The forecasters were not wrong about the stormy weather. We woke up on Wednesday morning to torrential rains and strong winds. After breakfast it seemed to calm down a bit and so we decided to head out with full intentions of getting off the highway if the storm got worse. It was a white knuckle drive. It was very busy with every big truck in the nation rushing to get somewhere and every car in the nation right behind them. We seemed to be the only ones obeying the numerous signs flashing the words, "Slow down, maximum speed 45" Perhaps they couldn't see the words through the driving rain. We stopped at 4 and were fast asleep by 9.
Today's drive was very pleasant. Although there were some trucks on the Interstate, the winds were calm, the skies were clear and all drivers were well behaved. We are in Abingdon, Virginia and will be in Auburn tomorrow.
