July 6
Well, it was only 110 miles to Sourdough Campground so we got a relaxed start for the short trip. Man, I thought I would catch a few relaxing zzz's in the backseat...but..... I've heard a lot about an air ride. I think I will request an air mattress to lay on....especially when the ride takes almost 4 hours with three quarters of it on 'damaged road'. I know Dad was doing his best trying to observe and do some quick calculations for the correct speed and the best path to navigate the 'damaged road' in the least jarring way. He was getting fairly good at it by the time our ride concluded today. We really didn't have much load shifting at all. I know Dad would have preferred to be searching the woods with his eyes for any wildlife rather than studying the road with deep concentration. Just when things began to smooth out and it looked like the worst was behind us, the next rough patch would begin. "Road Damage next 9 miles". And so it went.....
We did spend about 15 minutes chatting with a construction flag gal while we waited for the pilot escort truck. She even gave Momma and Dad each a mint patty. Hey, where's my cookie bone. Okay, I'll take a mint patty. I know I'm not suppose to eat that chocolate coating so I could just try to eat around it. Ha ha. Notice I did say 'try'. Well, shoot, I never got the chance to try. This gal was telling Dad how hot it was today at 76 degrees. Dad chuckled and said it was the first day he didn't have a light jacket on and was wearing just a T-shirt. The born and raised in Alaska flag gal told Momma that there were 80 in her graduating class. Some areas have a graduating class of 1. She has 7 brothers and sisters and all but one brother who is in Montana are still living in Alaska. She was looking forward to using her caribou permit over the weekend. She was just a slip of a thing. I hope she plans to take some help to haul that caribou out of the woods.
This road repair looked pretty extensive. They really had taken the road bed down pretty deep. Dad said they were getting below the frost.
Just look at all that heavy equipment.
This stop was early in our trip. Little did we know what was in store for us down the road. About midway, after a particularly rough spot, Dad jokingly said out loud, as if he was speaking to the RV traveling in the opposite direction, "Wait until you see what else is in store for you." Momma said, "I sure hope they aren't saying the same thing to us." Well, even if they didn't say it, they should have. Hwy 1 needs LOTS of repair for sure. The other paved highways were in much better shape. Sure, they all have a few issues, but I think Hwy 1 might just have the MOST issues...or maybe it is just the freshest in my mind. But getting down to 20 mph is pretty serious I think!
Hickory
......on the road again
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