Day 1 - Norfolk to Charleston, WV.

This is the end of day three on the road and Bear and I are getting used to our version of Nomadland.  The first two days were slogs.  There were heavy gray clouds on Saturday and it rained on Sunday until noon or so - the kind of rain that creates a glare on the road that hurts your eyes.  The car wasn't packed right, I couldn't find anything, I was wearing the wrong shoes, and it made me itch.

But here are the bright spots from Day 1 - Norfolk to Charleston, West Virginia:  1.  If you ever want to find about a hundred people that would be fun to chat with, go to the Charlottesville Wegman's at lunchtime on a Saturday.  2.  There is a stretch of 64 West that runs along the river in West Virginia that is breathtakingly beautiful - it's close to most of my people, so do it!.  3.  There's a lot of places in NC, Virginia and West Virginia where you're coming out of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the highway and the elevation changes so fast that your ears pop multiple times.  I love this! 

We ended up in Charleston, WV at the end of day 1.  I was grouchy and itchy and still couldn't find anything.  Bear and I pulled into a hotel and I immediately went to sleep.  For about an hour, until the a/c kicked in, that was just slightly quieter than a plane engine.  A pattern emerged - weird hissing sound, followed by a ramping up to full throttle, which lasted about ten minutes, then stopped.  Then the entire pattern started all over again.  

Bear and I were out of there and on the road by 8 am on Sunday - Day 2.  Charleston to St. Louis.