farlymac
PF McFarland
I felt pretty good today. One of the few times in the last year where I had the confidence to head out in the morning and see where the road leads me.
You see, I had some serious medical issues that I've been recovering from, and it's been a very drawn out process. One needs to be able to think that no matter what, you can do the things you were used to before all the doctors got involved.
So this morning I took off to mail some bills and drop off the rent, with the rest of the day wide open. I headed west since the territory was familiar enough that usually I don't need a map, but if necessary the phone is always there for a back-up.
I was looking for any road I had not been on before, and hoping I'd find a good spot to get out and get some nice scenery images. So I headed up the road to Mountain Lake (used for the filming of "Dirty Dancing"), only not the usual road I'd take. This one is supposed to go all the way to another road that eventually goes through one county in West Virginia before the road returns to being in Virginia. From there I would circle on around back to Roanoke on a state highway.
As I got past the lake, the road turned to gravel, which didn't surprise me as lots of the more interesting roads go up in the mountains where the population is sparse to say the least, so the counties don't waste their road dollars on paving them. Just last week I went by Campell's Mountain via Murell's Gap Road which is gravel all the way, and I had no issues with my Ford Escape handling the loose stuff.
But Mountain Lake Road goes over somewhat different topography, and there are lots of embedded rocks in the roadway. I came across one that the gravel and dirt had washed away from the face of a slab, and my front right tire struck it dead on.
Murdelated by P F McFarland, on Flickr
So I dug out the doughnut and jack, and had that all in place when a nice stranger stopped to help me while his two young sons peppered me with questions. I was glad he was doing the cranking on the jack because getting that low was an issue for me in my current state of condition. But I swapped the tires and tightened the lug nuts, and after getting the car off the jack and stowed away along with the remains of the full size tire and wheel we exchanged some pleasantries, while he let me know the road up ahead was in worse condition than where we were at the moment (somewhere in a triangular area bounded by "War Spur", "Lone Pine Peak", and "Minie Ball Hill". So after they left I turned the vehicle around and headed back from where I came.
At Mountain Lake I took the normal road so it would cut down on the mileage I'd have to do out on US-460 since I was running on a doughnut tire. Then I could stop at Newport on SR-42 to check the lug nuts. I pulled into the parking lot of the mini-grocery store, and discovered that while the lug nuts were okay, the spare was almost flat, so I had to air that up. After that my whole focus was now on getting 70 miles back to home instead of taking photos. I nursed the car along SR-42 to SR-311, and luckily the traffic was very light so I didn't hold up too many folks. I was always looking back to see when someone was coming up on me so I'd have time to find a pull-off spot to let them go by as I was usually going 10 to 15 mph under the limit.
Saw a lot of things I would have normally stopped for a snap or two, but maybe next time. And before I start taking those mountain excursions again I'm going to have to get me a more capable ride, or just give up on the idea. And I don't like giving up.
PF
You see, I had some serious medical issues that I've been recovering from, and it's been a very drawn out process. One needs to be able to think that no matter what, you can do the things you were used to before all the doctors got involved.
So this morning I took off to mail some bills and drop off the rent, with the rest of the day wide open. I headed west since the territory was familiar enough that usually I don't need a map, but if necessary the phone is always there for a back-up.
I was looking for any road I had not been on before, and hoping I'd find a good spot to get out and get some nice scenery images. So I headed up the road to Mountain Lake (used for the filming of "Dirty Dancing"), only not the usual road I'd take. This one is supposed to go all the way to another road that eventually goes through one county in West Virginia before the road returns to being in Virginia. From there I would circle on around back to Roanoke on a state highway.
As I got past the lake, the road turned to gravel, which didn't surprise me as lots of the more interesting roads go up in the mountains where the population is sparse to say the least, so the counties don't waste their road dollars on paving them. Just last week I went by Campell's Mountain via Murell's Gap Road which is gravel all the way, and I had no issues with my Ford Escape handling the loose stuff.
But Mountain Lake Road goes over somewhat different topography, and there are lots of embedded rocks in the roadway. I came across one that the gravel and dirt had washed away from the face of a slab, and my front right tire struck it dead on.
Murdelated by P F McFarland, on Flickr
So I dug out the doughnut and jack, and had that all in place when a nice stranger stopped to help me while his two young sons peppered me with questions. I was glad he was doing the cranking on the jack because getting that low was an issue for me in my current state of condition. But I swapped the tires and tightened the lug nuts, and after getting the car off the jack and stowed away along with the remains of the full size tire and wheel we exchanged some pleasantries, while he let me know the road up ahead was in worse condition than where we were at the moment (somewhere in a triangular area bounded by "War Spur", "Lone Pine Peak", and "Minie Ball Hill". So after they left I turned the vehicle around and headed back from where I came.
At Mountain Lake I took the normal road so it would cut down on the mileage I'd have to do out on US-460 since I was running on a doughnut tire. Then I could stop at Newport on SR-42 to check the lug nuts. I pulled into the parking lot of the mini-grocery store, and discovered that while the lug nuts were okay, the spare was almost flat, so I had to air that up. After that my whole focus was now on getting 70 miles back to home instead of taking photos. I nursed the car along SR-42 to SR-311, and luckily the traffic was very light so I didn't hold up too many folks. I was always looking back to see when someone was coming up on me so I'd have time to find a pull-off spot to let them go by as I was usually going 10 to 15 mph under the limit.
Saw a lot of things I would have normally stopped for a snap or two, but maybe next time. And before I start taking those mountain excursions again I'm going to have to get me a more capable ride, or just give up on the idea. And I don't like giving up.
PF
