Please Note: This only includes travel from April to October 2012.

Heading eastward, once again!

Well, our journey eastward started out with a crawl… we found ourselves traveling a whopping 15 mph in Austin. Little did we know that there were X-Factor auditions going on and there would be an increase in traffic.

Prior to our leaving Texas, we had severe storms and tornadoes (three touched down outside of San Antonio) and we had hoped to avoid any major storms on the road.

Although it appeared stormy, we managed to make it to Louisiana with only a few drops on the windshield.

We spent some time outside Shreveport and then continue to make our way along yet another bumpy highway in Mississippi…sigh… This stretch of road also had some of the highest diesel prices we have seen so far this season at $4.29 a gallon.

Clear skies on the highway… for now!

The next part our journey went smoothly and we even found a nice little place to stay (no, not going to tell you – have to keep a few spots secret! ) for some R&R.

Skipping ahead a few hundred miles… diesel prices were a little lower in South Carolina. I think we fueled up for $3.94, which was just about the lowest we saw it until we found it for $3.91 in Virginia.

We were in South Carolina when we noticed it was getting rather dark ahead…

We ended up driving into that dark cloud of solid rain and hail.

The weather turned bad quickly and we found ourselves driving into a literally wall of rain and hail. Fortunately we got off the road and found a place to spend the night.

Rain… lots of rain!

When we decided to continue our journey, we found another dark sky ahead and spent a day driving in rain. At least it wasn’t as bad as driving through the hail storm. We had learned later that there had been a multiple car pile-up. So we were very lucky.

As far as campgrounds go… well, we had a great deal of trouble finding places to stay. Either they just couldn’t cater to Big Rigs or their staff were rude. We drove out of two parks in one area because the people had attitudes. It is a shame these people are in the hospitality business and they can’t be nice to travelers – especially tired ones.

Anyway… we eventually made it to our summer destination of Pennsylvania. We look forward to exploring the region and surrounding states.

One of the things we enjoy is visiting historic sites and buildings. So there will be plenty of covered bridges for us to see.

We won’t be taking the “home” across this bridge!

…Or this one!

We did have an “interesting” experience visiting one covered bridge so far… we had pulled the truck off the road, because obviously, some of these bridges aren’t really up to a 1 ton dually! And while I was out snapping photos, a man in a truck pulled up and asked if we were part of the bridge crew! Apparently one of the beams underneath the bridge had fallen and a crew was sent to repair it. After we assured him that we were just crazy Floridians looking at bridges, he started to tell us about the forts in the area. So you never know what you’ll come across when you head down those country roads!

The first building in the world to be electrically lighted by Thomas Edison!

And, of course, you find a lot by talking to folks and reading local literature. We were de-”lighted” to come across The Hotel Edison in Sunbury. This is the first building in the world to have electricity! And the story regarding this is rather humorous, as the hotel staff during Edison’s stay, didn’t really want it!

Our exploring took a turn for awhile as one recovered from food poisoning (hmm… good thing I don’t add food reviews here!) and another took a tumble that left a few ribs badly bruised… and the weather… well, it’s been rather crazy for us!

Sam Wagner covered bridge

Well, what can I say? After one too many crazy drivers and unfriendly folks, we decided to end our state and head South again. As we headed southbound, we found ourselves back among friendly folks.