I’m writing this final post from the couch in my parent’s house in Broadway, NC. We got here around 10:30 PM after leaving our campsite at Spruce Knob this morning around 5:00 AM. It’s been an extremely long day because things went wrong. It’s a bit hard at the moment, but we’re trying to make the best out of the challenges we encountered on this trip since we encountered quite a few. We’re telling ourselves that we really got the trial run we were hoping for before heading out on our three month US adventure next summer. We got to use a lot of our recovery gear, not only letting us know that it works, but we also know how to use it and we’ve also really gained a lot of confidence in our ability to jump over hurdles as they land in our path.
As for today:
We got up early and mostly had everything packed up from the night before, but Will made sure to check the plug on the tire before heading out. We could tell that it was leaking ever so slightly, but that mostly it was holding fine. Leaving the campground at Spruce Knob we made our way back through the mountains of WV and part of VA to get back on the Blue Ridge. This was about a three-hour drive and was mostly in the early morning and the tire held steady the entire drive.
When we made it to the parkway we stopped at one of the Visitor’s Centers and decided to air the tire back up so that it was completely topped off. An hour down the road, the air pressure light went off, letting us know that the air in the tire was getting quite low, so we stopped again. This time we stopped at the Peaks of Otter Visitor Center (POO) and topped the tire off again. We started to get a little worried thinking that it couldn’t be good if the air in the tire was only lasting for about an hour’s worth of driving time before the sensor came on again. But we knew that we had the air compressor so we still felt pretty comfortable and we weren’t too terribly far from the campground at Rocky Knob.
We continued to drive this section of the Parkway for a bit longer, stopping every so often to look out at the overlooks (mostly to let faster cars pass). Driving this section of the Blue Ridge today and the section from Rocky Knob to the point where we will get off tomorrow means that we will have just about driven the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We might still be missing a bit of it in northern NC, but last year we drove the entire length of the Blue Ridge from where you can get on it near New River State Park all the way down to where it ends in Cherokee. This portion of the parkway has been really different than the sections we’ve driven before with lots of farmland and rolling hills, but it’s every bit as beautiful.
We made it to the Rocky Knob campground around 5:00 or so and at this point decided it would probably be best if we went ahead and put the spare tire on so that we wouldn’t have to keep airing up the tire and re-plugging it all the way home.
So that’s what we (Will, really) did. And as soon as the spare tire was on and Will let the truck down, it just sank. The tires on Will’s truck are so big and all of our gear was so heavy, that this “full-sized” spare couldn’t hold the load.
Okay, so, plan B. Put one of the teardrop tires on the truck, since they’re much closer to the same size, and put the spare on the teardrop. Sounds good, right?
Well, it would’ve been, but we should have been more prepared. We thought that the lug nut pattern on the teardrop matched the tires on the truck. But they don’t. And we didn’t have the tool to even get the tire off of the teardrop.
Alright, plan C. Call your dad.🤣
But really. We called my parents just to let them know what had happened and to let them know we were about three hours away from their house (rather than the 7 or so it would take to get back to our own home) and that we were coming their way.
So plan C really consisted of putting the punctured tire back on the truck, replugging it (again), airing back up, and heading home.
We drove about an hour through some back country roads before the air sensor came on again. We thought that it wouldn’t be so bad because if the tire only needed air every hours, we would only have to stop about three times. But if only that were true.
We actually noticed at this point that the piece of gravel we had run over had been so sharp that it didn’t just put a nice puncture hole in the tire, it put a puncture hole and a slit out to the side. So no matter how Will plugged it, the hole would fill in, but air would continue to leak from that slit.
No worries. Shoot and move forward! We aired up again and got back on the road. We finally made it to Greensboro, NC just as it was beginning to get dark and decided to stop for bathroom breaks and to check the tire again before driving the last leg home (only about 1 more hour). This stop was a doozy. Will had to replug the tire again (5th or 6th time, I think) and it just wouldn’t work right. No matter how perfectly he did it, the air was starting to leak pretty bad out of that slit.
Call the parents again. Let them know that we are close and making our way to them slowly, but that we might need to call in the cavalry (AKA the Williams brothers) and to please stand by.
Thankfully, Will was finally able to get the plug just right and we started back down the road again as it was getting dark. I’ll admit I’d been a bit nervous during our trip trying to navigate and make sure we didn’t get lost, turned around, or stuck, but now we were close to home. This was HWY 421. I knew where we were and could get us home in the dark with my eyes closed. This was “home” and it came with all of the wonderful comforts that knowing where you are comes with. Our tire was continuously leaking air, but I had a confidence boost from knowing where I was.
And, yet we weren’t really close at all. The entire drive from Greensboro, NC to my parent’s home, we had to stop every nine or ten minutes to air up. Thankfully, we were able to monitor the air pressure with the ARB Linx system and got a really good routine going. We would set the timer on the Linx system for 10 minutes and pull over on the off-ramp. Will would turn on the outside truck lights and turn on the air compressor, while I would jump out with the air hoses, connect them, and air the tire back up. I’d jump back in the truck with the hoses, Will would turn off the lights and compressor and away we’d go. Ten minutes later, start all over again.
We actually really got into a good groove with Will blaring Metallica and me finding that I was timing myself like I was a member of a pit crew and had to air the tires as quickly as I could so that we could make it home in time. The only scary bit was that it was super pitch dark out and this tire was really on its last leg.
However, we persisted and limped into my parent’s driveway around 10:30. We made it. And it still doesn’t seem real that this morning we were in the middle of nowhere WV. This is quite the post, I know, but it really brought our trip to such an abrupt end that I felt it needed telling with all of the glorious details. We’re still a bit bummed that we weren’t able to finish that section of the parkway and we won’t get to visit the Guilford Courthouse as we had planned tomorrow but we’re very, very, very glad to be home.
And in being home, I guess this is the last post of this trip.
It has been absolutely incredible. We’ve stepped away from our city life in Greenville and have filled our souls with the sights and sounds of nature and have filled our brains with tons of history and camping knowledge. We’ve laughed together, we’ve argued (although Will really is becoming a pro at backing the teardrop in so those arguments are coming to an end🤣), we’ve cried together (well, really just me, but it sounds good), and we’ve really just spent some unforgettable times together with our little family.
Every day on these trips is unique and every day is a blessing. We wouldn’t trade the time we’ve been able to spend exploring this great country for anything. I’m not sure when our next post will be as we’re counting down the days to graduation, moving on from Greenville (GASP), and heading out on our Great American Adventure.
Until then, spend some time in the sun, splash in the puddles left over from the rain, play with your furbabies, find some time to laugh with loved ones, and continue moving forward. Slowly, in the right lane, so that you can soak it all in.
Life in the right lane,
Rachel
DMG Exploration 