Living in the Mid-Atlantic gives so much to celebrate and be grateful for. Really, few hurricanes, usually tempered down to “Tropical Storm” level by the time they are inland to Baltimore. Only about 3 tornadoes in 60-plus years. Snow, but not so much as to be “actually a barrier”, beautiful ice storms, usually thin and shiny but not tearing down every tree in sight. And, heat, yep humid but with our trees and shading techniques only a dozen or so days where we turn on air conditioning. Yes, really, our fan runs blowing out a window in one room, drawing reasonable air into our bedroom. (Only once or twice a year do we panic, splash cold water on arms and face to argue over whether we need AC that night)
But, for the road? In NY our friends were suffering about the dozenth day of rain so we went shopping with them. J-P and Anne happily trouped through Sierra, Sportsmen’s Warehouse and Walmart with us as we quickly exceeded all of our collective shopping tolerance. We left NY the next day and raced as far as needed to find sun and biked in BVM/Bonneyville Mills, Indiana, We didn’t see rain again until 9 days later in the Palisades Campground near Red Lodge, MT. Then today, 18 days later as drizzle on the highway entering Boise, Idaho.
Temperatures have ranged from 101 degrees to about 37 degrees F. We have not used our heater once as yet. The sleeping bags are flat and unzipped, one on bottom, one as a cover along with a sheet, easy to launder, easy to toss aside or grab a bit extra. The sun though, is a ruthless overseer. We have foil of course for the windshield, but also every window in the van sides, front and rear. Shade is a treasured commodity for parking and here again, the East has more to offer than out here. That of course leads to big views of big skies.
Seriously, though, we have had an occasional eye on things. We don’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The modern world gives so many advantages in weather forecasting. We were watching the “Fire Closure” map in Washington and Oregon. Fortunately, we slipped into and out of our chosen places without event. I guess our next big concern is the middle of this BIG COUNTRY. We sure wouldn’t want to drive intentionally toward any severe storms. However, wow, there are lots and lots of places with “No Internet”/”No Service”!!! believe it or not. Wish us luck…now we hear there is a “Heat Dome” forming! So far, Helen keeps her temperature gauge right below the middle where it belongs. Good hoses, new water pump, timing belt, tensioner and serpentine belts help her keep her cool.
(written 6/20 in the Flying M coffee shop, Boise, ID and finished 6/23 in Lake Maloney State Park, Nebraska)
David
The Voyage of the Tramper 