394 miles via VA 234, I-66, US 522, US 340, Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, VA 239, US 29, I-85 and about 10 miles on back roads when I missed a turn near Lynchburg VA. We took one bio break midway and a brief stop to look at some local crafts. Miles since the end of Hop 2: 394. Cumulative route miles: 871. Total TS9 miles: 925. There were no extra miles on this hop as Devin chauffeured us everywhere.
This was a very long hop, timewise: about 9 hours door-to-door. This was due primarily to my desire to drive a stretch of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. This served two purposes: it allowed Marlene to say that she had visited a national park (she says she had never been to one) and I got to use my National Parks Senior Pass that I had to replace (for $80) after I lost it in Madrid. We did about 30 miles of the 105 miles on the drive. It is nice, with some very pleasant vistas, but no WOW! views like you get at some of the western parks.
This hop was a bit embarrassing. For reasons that elude me, I was convinced that our destination was the Hampton Inn. When we got there they did not have a reservation for us. I searched my laptop and could not find a confirmation. Fortunately, they had rooms available, and I was able to get one for a good rate. But once we got into the room I found the confirmation – for the Wingate Hotel in Concord. I quickly got online and was able to cancel that reservation without any penalty. But how did I get the destination wrong? No excuse – I had the Wingate in my itinerary spreadsheet. Chalk it up to “senior moment.” Embarrassing, for sure.
The missed turn near Lynchburg was caused by me being completely engrossed in the audiobook (“The Fifth Witness” by Michael Connelly – I will report on that when we finish it). This led to some annoying back-seat driving by Marlene, so I pulled over and challenged her to take the wheel. She did. So I got to rest in the passenger seat for the final two hours of the hop. This was a good opportunity for her to get familiar with the Corolla as I will need her to drive for a few hours on the last grueling leg of the TS9.