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Day 2
We head down the Mass-Pike to Rt 84 south, since this is my home turf it is pretty hard to see it with new eyes, especially since it is the same terrain, slightly hilly tree covered and a dusting of old snow. We are going to stay on 84 till it ends in Scranton PA where we pick up Rt 81. By Hartford 100 miles from home I think the tranny is making more noise than I remember… (now you must understand the wrangler tranny has had 2 service bulletins because the tranny is so NOISY!!)
“how I got the shaft!!! “
When you come to Scranton just after Rt 84 ends and you get on Rt 81 on the other side of the valley to your left, most of the side of that hill is a junk yard the lonnnngest one I have ever seen, something over 1 mile long!
In Scranton we stayed at a Clarion hotel exit 184. I had joined “Half Price HotelCard”
And they got me the room for $59 instead of the $99 that I would have paid with AAA. They had a free continental breakfast and fast internet access and a Jacuzzi all for $59.
By the time we got started 10:00 AM Saturday (see “how I got the shaft!!! ”) it was snowing! . Hey, wait a moment, I took the southerly Rt to avoid the snow, and it was colder here than in Boston! The drive down to VA looked like driving in New England, snow on a divided highway with hills and trees. The snow didn’t amount to much just a nuisance. What we could see of the scenery was more farms than New England has and the hills look like someone cut them all off at the same height. The first time I came down through Pennsylvania it was cloudy and I thought the clouds where low and covering the tops of the mountains, because the hills where all the same height. The truth is they ARE all the same height.
By 3:00 PM we had gotten to Staunton VA.
Stayed at the Best Inn in Staunton VA, internet access was a “data port” (read that as phone line). The connection was so noisy it took 8 tries to make a connection and then while it lasted the connection was only at 2400. we went out to get dinner about 7:30 at night seeing as how Staunton is a college town I expected there to be a lot of inexpensive Eating and drinking establishments to be open on a Saturday night, boy was I wrong it took us about an hour to find a 50 style car hop. We passed up dinner at two other places that we found because they were too expensive. The food was mediocre but the atmosphere was really 50's. I rather enjoyed it. back to the hotel and tried the Internet again with the same results.
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The southern part of Virginia and all through Tennessee we saw lots of dead KUDZU like a brown blanket over an entire hollow. Through Tennessee and Arkansas we saw spring starting to show up, buds on the trees and new green grass in the fields. There is a higher percentage of the land is being cultivated outside of New England than in New England. People say Kansas is flat … Well I got news for you!! We crossed the Mississippi at 222 ft. above sea level (GPS) AFTER going west 35 MILES, WE WHERE STILL AT 222 ft. we then hit a bump and where at 235 ft for a another 28 miles we then dropped to 203 ft for 20 miles it wasn’t until we had gone 153 miles into Arkansas that we hit ANY kind of a hill!! And that was only 390 ft! finally just before Little Rock we found some hills. Arkansas is FLAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!! We flew through Little Rock on down to Hot Springs AR. In general though, the road conditions in Arkansas were rather poor. Unfixed potholes, road debris… We arrive in Hot Springs about 1:00 PM. Walk down “Bath house row” take a tour of Fordyce Bath house. The natural spring waters are ~ 130 degrees and odorless and tasteless and gravity fed into the bath houses. Of the original 15 or so bath houses we had a bath in the only working bath house Buckstaff. It was great, first lay in a LARGE Marble? Tub for 20 minutes. The water starts at 110 degrees with an electric boat motor to make a whirlpool. By the time I got out the temp was down to 104. Then sit in a butt tub (sitz bath) for 10 minutes, a steam room for 10 minutes (the steam room is a 3X3X6 ft room with a marble bench a wood pallet on the floor and Hot spring water flowing around the floor. Then you get wrapped up with Hot towels and laid down for 15 minutes followed by a needle shower with 80 degree water to cool off. You are then sent to a “Cool down room” for 20 minutes to wait for your massage. A 20 minute massage and you are done in more ways than one! You leave feeling great like a wet noodle but feeling great. Ate dinner at Stubby’s a BBQ shack with really good southern BBQ had been around for 50 years.Back to the hotel (I am having a terrible time finding a hotel with high speed internet) not here either! I check out a new rattle I hear, when I apply the emergency brake it goes away, Yup, a rear brake caliper is loose and rattles. While I am under I disconnect the front drive shaft from the front axle and tie it up. The day is done, up to the hotel room to do my work while soft breezes waft in from the balcony overlooking Lake Hamilton. CABOOOOM A tremendous lightning storm strikes! For 1 hour we are treated to some spectacular lighting bolts some of witch are close enough to hear sizzle with the accompanying crashing thunder!
