Routes
GTW Hop 16: Livingston, TX, to Austin, TX
218 miles via TX 146, US 190, TX 30, 90 and 105, US 290, TX 21 and 71 and I-35. Cumulative distance: 2,577 miles. Yeah, this route was as complicated as it sounds. Jett pretty much went crazy trying to keep up with the turns while simultaneously trying to reconcile the Google map with the … Continue reading
GTW Hop 15: Bossier City, LA, to Livingston, TX
176 miles via I-20, US 79 and 59 and TX 146. Cumulative distance: 2,359 miles. This hop, except for the first 16 miles, was entirely on roads with traffic lights and crossing traffic. Jett didn’t like it at all, especially when the speed limit – even on 2-lane roads in relatively congested areas – rose … Continue reading
GTW Hop 14: Hot Springs, AR, to Bossier City, LA
211 miles via US 70, I-30, AR 245 and 549, US 71 and I-20. Cumulative distance: 2,183 miles. This hop was supposed to be just 190 miles, but I missed a turn which cost us another 20 miles. Oops. But, as Jett observed, if that was the worst thing that happened to us, it would … Continue reading
GTW Hop 13: West Memphis, AR, to Hot Springs, AR
186 miles via I-40, I-30, US 70 and US 270. Cumulative distance: 1,972 miles. Number 13 was lucky for us: no dings! The only real adventure of any sort on this hop was a mysterious 20-minute delay on I-40 east of Little Rock – no accident, no work crew (though it was in a work … Continue reading
GTW Hop 12: Hermitage, TN, to West Memphis, AR
236 miles via I-40 and I-440. Cumulative distance: 1,786 miles. A few days ago it seemed unlikely that we were going to get so far as the Mississippi, much less California. But yesterday we crossed the Mississippi, so maybe California is possible as well. You may have noticed that the weather continues to be dark … Continue reading
GTW Hop 11: Pigeon Forge, TN, to Hermitage, TN
202 miles via US 441 and I-40. Cumulative distance: 1,552 miles. Two incidents today, but thankfully no permanent dings. Incident #1: The truck would not start again. We were all prepared to leave the campsite and I tried to start the truck to hitch up. Barely turned over. This time I asked the campground for … Continue reading
GTW Hop 10: Knoxville, TN, to Pigeon Forge, TN
25 miles via I-40 and TN 66. Cumulative distance: 1,350 miles. As economy rooms go, the one we had at the EconoLodge in Knoxville, next to the RV repair shop, wasn’t bad. It was spacious with fairly comfortable beds and a decent shower. It was quiet and offered both free breakfast and (this is unique … Continue reading
GTW Hop 9: Heiskell, TN, to Knoxville, TN
22 miles via I-75 and I-40. Cumulative distance: 1,325 miles. This was more of a “limp” than a “hop.” The original plan, before the devastating Thursday blowout, was to put the RV in the shop for one day to fix the assortment of minor problems that we had accumulated to date. The idea was that … Continue reading
GTW Hop 8: Hillsville, VA, to Heiskell, TN
225 miles via VA 100, I-81, I-40 and I-75. Cumulative distance: 1,303 miles. It just keeps getting worse. Another day, another blowout. This one occurred at 60 mph in the middle lane of a very busy I-81 on a downhill curve near Wytheville, VA, less than 30 miles into our 225-mile journey. It was the … Continue reading
GTW Hop 7: Luray, VA, to Hillsville, VA
207 miles via US 340, I-81 and VA 100. Cumulative distance: 1,078 miles. We traveled to Hillsville for one reason and one reason only: it was just over 200 miles from Luray. We have determined that we don’t want to travel more than 230 miles in a day, that being the comfortable limit of a … Continue reading