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| Sleepy Girl |
Driving up Afton Mountain, it was slow going. I was completely paranoid that I'd overloaded the trailer and the engine was going to just explode with the strain. The mountains and hills between Crozet and the middle of West Virginia kept me going pretty slow, but I was okay not rushing. I got to West Virginia right at noon.
It didn't keep try of how long it took to get across West Virginia, unfortunately, but I realized that my route was going to miss Ohio, which was right across the bridge from where I was, so I made a quick modification so that I could find a geocache....
Then it was right back across the river to West Virginia, and a few minutes later into Kentucky.
I was feeling good at this point about the driving, stopping to fill up my tank when it got to half, which was approximately every 90-100 miles. Sometimes it was cold when I got out, sometimes it was bitter cold. Bearette was still sleepy, and I had to carry her to the grass, and only once she actually went potty, as she was falling over, and refusing to drink. She will not get the full dose tomorrow! I thought I would have to stop in Kentucky, but at 10 hours, I was not tired at all, so I figured I'd drive further. I entered Indiana and then the spitting snow that I'd had since I was a half hour from home became a snow storm.
The sign is unreadable, but I had to put it in for completeness. Just over the Indiana border, the snow came down, large wet flakes. At first it was just wet on the road, and there was a lot of traffic, so I continued on. Then it got worse, and the wind made it difficult to see. I pulled over at a rest area to check the map on my phone for the next exit with services, and of course my internet was spotty. I called Jenny in Idaho and she looked it up for me, I was about ten miles from Corydon, which had lots of hotels, including a Super 8, that we knew took dogs. By the time I got back on the road, five minutes later, it was white, and there were very few cars, but visible tracks to stay on the road. Then they got covered, and it was slow slow slow going. I came up on some cars, and while staying back many car lengths, used their tires and lights to stay on the road. For a couple of miles, we went less than 5 miles per hour, and the ripple strip on the right side of the road was the only way I could tell where the edge was. Thankfully it wasn't so deep that you couldn't see the ripples. I thought I would never get to the exit. When I did, I was surprised at the number of people who did not get off with me. I could see the Motel from the road, tucked behind a shopping center. I made my way to the building, and up a little incline that I wasn't sure I'd be able to make, and finally parked. I went inside and asked the rate for a single with a dog. It was higher than I'd hoped, but I told her I couldn't go any further, and my hands were still shaking, so she gave me the AAA discount, even though I don't have AAA, which brought the price a decent amount, and I was happy and very grateful. I parked behind the building, which actually was pretty close to one of the doors, and made a trip in with my bag. I went back out for Bearette, and she was still groggy. She made it up the stairs to the second floor, but couldn't make it down the hall, so I had to carry her.
Today's total was 500 miles in eleven hours, including stops for gas, potty, and geocaches found in Kentucky and Ohio, as I'd already found one in West Virginia on a previous trip.
