Head West not so young Man

[3930dave]

Don't get me wrong.... I'm loving the pics Daugen, but I have to ask..... any chance you have a dashcam running onboard the bus ?

I've always found long road trips to be (amongst other things) meditative..... if you have road video rolling, if there isn't space here, how about a DaugenRoadTV channel on Youtube ? :thumbsup:

Thanks again, for having us along on a virtual vacation !

Rgds, D.

 

[Buppies]

Be careful on the next leg of your journey. The zoo in Ashboro is really worth seeing. When you get to Asheville the Biltmore House is worth the price of admission. Hard to fathom how much wealth the Vanderbilts had

 

[daugen]

thanks Buppies, gonna rain like crazy it appears. At least on major roads, rt 74 all the way today.
going to go slow in the right lane. When I get into Asheboro I'll find out if they can do the windshield in Asheville, if not then I work on the same thing for Nashville TN. At least I'm getting closer to the new windshield, which is in Iowa...

I think getting into the Biltmore cost 32 dollars a ticket. maybe they only want the rich to see the richest? If the rain stops and I can tour the grounds and gardens (now what kind of tractors would the Biltmore use?...) would be worth it.

last pics of Wilmington NC. A beautiful and classy Southern city. The Historical Society has put up an amazing number of plaques all over the city. Many commemorate the accomplishments of black citizens historically in the area, like the first black doctor in 1879 or whatever. Federal troops, not Union...on the sign. Boy these folks sure want to make a point they did not like the Northerners here. And it still seems to get them going...
For a civil war buff, this city is a must.

 

[wngsprd]

Drew,
How did the Friends meeting yesterday compare to Pennsylvania?

 

[daugen]

Drew,
How did the Friends meeting yesterday compare to Pennsylvania?

very similar, same form of worship. Which makes them an oddball compared to the surrounding Meetings, which are conservative Christian oriented and have ministers. Small group of people, about twelve in attendance and a few people spoke. One mentioned a famous quote that I have many things that I would die for, but none that I would kill for.

Another said that the NC Yearly Meeting has gently mentioned to them "we just don't know what to do with you".
But all nicely. I'll see where I am next Sunday or the next and try again. Further West there is little chance of finding an "unprogrammed" Meeting. Which is fine. I want to experience new things.

 

[Larro Darro]

Drew, during these rainy days, if you don't have anything to do, you should read some of the early North Carolina Colonial histories. At least one of their civil wars {the Cary Rebellion in 1711} was brought about because of the political struggles between the Church of England folks and the Quakers.

Larro

 

[daugen]

Asheboro NC

actually I wish I could sit in and look at pics tomorrow. Meeting a friend in Asheville tomorrow night for dinner and he is flying out the next day, so it's tomorrow or not at all, and I haven't seen him in ten years.
So I'll just drive slowly and maybe the bug splats will wash off with three inches of rain coming...am taking Route 40 all the way so that should be a big road anyway.

Boy today was just like Virginia, off into the boonies again, would have been nice if the campground had told me there was a bridge out and all the directions were wrong. After ten miles at least going through small roads again just before yet another bridge out sign, the campground appeared. Getting out of here in the pouring rain tomorrow morning is going to be a real treat with their home made directions.
boy now I know why some rv'ers just stick with the Big Rig campgrounds.

I'm learning as I go for sure.

 

[daugen]

Before I leave the lovely state of North Carolina, which has certainly impressed me in many ways, I have a few passing thoughts. First of all, these people do not know how to drive. They have no idea whatsoever one should not drive in the left lane of a four lane, much less dawdle over there under the speed limit. Large number of drivers weaving in and out trying to get around them. No lane control. Those using turn signals and right justifying are likely transplants... Second, their roads are nowhere near as nice as some I drove on in VA. VA had a few potholes, but the roads were better engineered. Less bouncy. More guard rails. But nobody does guard rails like PA apparently, because I'm used to seeing them about ten times as much "up North". Probably why taxes are so much less here, in part. Third, most of them don't speed, and a lot higher percentage of seriously slow drivers here.

NC truckers are very good, considerate when passing and don't climb up on my tail because I'm going under the higher limit roads. They just sit back aways until they can safely pass. That impressed me almost as much as the young man with his date who tried to run the right turn on red without slowing down much, and I was turning left with my green arrow right in front of him. This was in Wilmington.
I slammed on the brakes, and locked up the tires a little for the first time on the VW, it slowed down quite nicely and I missed him, who a bit lately hit the brakes. Last thing I saw was his date screaming at him.
good. I was watching his face/eyes as best I could,since I saw him coming up, and he just wasn't looking my way. Might have had other things on his mind. We were all young once...

 

[3930dave]

Daugen - good save at the intersection.

Too many stupid moves when young makes it hard to get to older, and a bit wiser. Hopefully, the young lad learned something today... as good as cars are now, you can still get yourself killed with a blind move like that.

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

Asheboro NC

up early, first cup of coffee on the way down, looking at the weather.
Nasty.
Tornado warnings at least are being dropped for the Asheville NC area, where I am headed this morning, though the area flood watch and a variety of other warnings are up. They expect two straight days of pouring rain there. Lovely. Guess I'm not going to be touring the Biltmore grounds.

Going to leave at 8am this morning instead of 9,give myself more time to just go slowly in the rain. Once I find my way out of the back woods here, with my hand drawn map from the front desk..., I should be fine.
Two other tidbits. I did find a "avoid small road" on the gps, but it sure didn't give a peep going down these local roads, so not sure what that means anymore. And yes I do have a dash cam running, haven't figured it out yet, and it's time to do it. Good project for a day sitting in the rain. It turns on and off every five minutes or so, I know it works because I could pull video files out of it, they were pretty neat.
But to edit all the boring stuff out, I'd have to watch hundreds of hours of video. At least if I crack up, like the Russian dash cams, I'll be preserved for memory.
Hopefully not as I am being sucked up by a funnel cloud...

I really want to get it working right when I come up on the Rocky Mountains. Actually before the Natchez Trace come to think of it. And I've never posted to YouTube so I guess I'd better figure that out also. Not sure I can do anything with videos until I get home because I'm working on wifi. At home I have 85/35 FIOS and that's the place to do this.

I take a lot of pictures and then throw a bunch out, but only when zooming in later on the computer can I see what I really captured. And sometimes it's fun. Like that very good looking first mate sitting in the fighting chair of B&B in Wrightsville Beach. Not going to be much picture taking for a few days I think.