Wednesday, March 14 - We're home!! Man, it's a long haul from Austin to here. Given that I drive the rig at around 100 kms/hr, I figure we were on the road for about 40 hours. There are times when we got off the interstates, to get away from the massive number of transports that loom behind, pass closely by in the next lane, shifting our little rig to the side. Get on a good secondary road, and we can maintain generally our speed, except for passing through towns. Much more pleasant driving.

But for a good part of it, we were on the interstates. I have to say, the truckers are generally very courteous, and seem to have safety in mind. They let you in when they see you're entering the freeway, and they generally don't cut right back in to  your lane, unless they've got another transport on their tail. Always have to be vigilent, always watch what the other guy is doing, and you're okay.

Going back to my previous post about our overnight stay in Bardsville Kentucky, we woke up to 3 inches of snow on the ground. Made packing up quite a lot more challenging, especially since we had to drain everything before heading into Louisville for the winterizing I'd arranged. I also had to get up on the roof to sweep the snow off, and to clear the slide-out so it would retract. It was a lot of effort, but we managed; but given the time, we felt we should head into Louisville rather than go over for a tour of the Bourbon Center. A little early to be sampling good whiskey anyway.

We were awaited, much to my delight, at Louisville RV, and were told it would be an hour to get everything winterized properly. They weren't overly busy, so I asked about an oil change, and that was fine. However, it took ages for them to order in a proper oil filter. Not only that, they found that my inside right tire was deflated, and had been showing signs of wear. I hadn't felt anything different while driving, so it was a surprise to me. Long story short, they managed to reinflate it, so we were able to carry on, but didn't get away until early afternoon. So we only got about 5 hours on the road that day, as we tend to avoid driving at night.

During our waiting time, I had good chats with the owner and his main man. We talked about the impact of 2008 on his business. He went from 20 employees to just him and his assistant. He barely managed to keep the business going. Now he has a couple of other employees, so is okay. But it was tough going, and caused him to get out of sales of r.v.'s altogether, and simply do servicing and parts.

Another topic was the gun thing. He has two prominent signs in the store, which make it clear guns are on the premises, one of which says "We don't call 911...we call the morgue." I asked the guy behind the counter if he carries. "Nope, but I've got one right here under the counter.The boys are always after me to wear one, but I don't like to".  Later, I asked the owner if he carries. "Normally I do, but at the moment it's in the car." He took me outside and showed me one handgun on the passenger seat, and another holstered right beside the gear shift on the console. We got into the gun thing, and he agreed it's a shame things are that way, but it's not going to change. There are so many guns in the country; it's been part of the country's way of life for more than 200 years; and carrying serves as a deterrent. If the bad guys know you have weapons, they're much less likely to cause trouble.

It was an interesting discussion with a well-spoken and successful businessman.  Some change may come about because the kids are making lots of noise. But it will be only a little, and nothing significant, until those kids are in charge, if the impetus carries forward. Don't hold your breath. 90 people a day are killed with guns in the States. It's not going to change for a long time.

On to a place called Lima, in Ohio. Pronounce that Lye-ma, not Lee-ma. We motelled  it, as the van was winterized, so not convenient to use for the night. Gail was up early the next morning, surprised me, and off we went for the next 11 hours, through Detroit, onto the 401, and through about 8 snow squalls. The worst was just outside of Toledo, where things came to a standstill. The road was ice for about a km., because of a heavy squall, but the trucks slowed right down at the right time, and there were no pile-ups. After that, we ran into one squall after another, but nothing that slowed us down much until we reached good old Prince Edward County, land that we love. Heavy snow coming down, although not too much accumulation. So we climbed out of the rig at about 7:30, dead tired but glad to be home.

So there you go. Winter Trip 2017-18, all 115 days of it, have concluded. No "more later", although I may add some statistics and a few thoughts in one more post. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned. Who knows where we'll go next!?