We decided on a stop in Mt. Airy, NC based on a fellow campers recommendation and we needed a stop between Cherokee and Williamsburg, VA anyway. Mt. Airy is the town where Andy Griffith grew up and what he based the town of Mayberry on in the Andy Griffith Show - is everybody whistling? We arrived at the Mayberry Campground which was very nice with a couple of fishing ponds and some great open grass areas.
We drove into the historic downtown where we saw the house Andy Griffith grew up in, main street complete with Opie's Candy Store, Floyd's Barbershop, Snappy Lunch Counter, and Wally's Service Station. The candy store was really fun as they had all of the candy from our childhood. I stalked up on chocolate covered pretzels my new favorite thanks to Eileen (not as good as hers). We went to the Andy Griffith museum where we they have a great collection of personal and TV artifacts from his entire life. They even had one of the starts from the show there signing autographs. It was fun and we both wanted to go home to sit watch old re-runs.
South Hill, VA April 20 - 22, 2013
Fourteen miles over the Virginia state-line a tire on Suni blew. And I mean blew! I was driving and I didn't feel or hear a thing - no wobble or lack of control. I just felt a little tug and when I looked at my gauges everything was fine but when I looked in my mirror tire shrapnel was blowing. I slowed down and pulled to the shoulder as soon as possible. Luckily there was a large enough shoulder to hold us. Thankfully we had just purchased Good Sam's Roadside Assistance plan which had been recommended to us again and again by Bev and finally by our new friends Don and Sue who said "it's not a question of if you need it, it's when you need it". We called them right away and they said we could expect our savior within 50 minutes. Robert from Smiley's Truck and Diesel showed up as promised and went to work to change our tire. Unfortunately when the tire blew it took some of Suni's siding with it! UGH more body damage! When Robert gets the spare on he tells us we have a bigger problem. The spare is wobbling on the axle so it seems we have a problem with our bearings and we shouldn't drive on it. He gives us the choice of removing the spare and driving on three tires or leaving it on. We decide to leave the tire on and limp one mile down the highway where there is a brand new Love's Truck Stop. We park Suni in a back corner where Robert promises that they will be back on Monday morning to evaluate the situation.
So we get to spend two nights surrounded by 18-wheelers! We were a little worried about our fresh water supply as we only carry about 1/3 of a tank unless we know we are going to need it. I had also not so brilliantly decided not to dump our black and grey tanks before we left Mt Airy since we were only there two nights; so we had to be very conservative with our water usage. As crazy as it sounds this was the first time since our travels began that we were nervous about our safety. Two women sitting in a truck stop parking lot. So we got out the wasp spray and bear spray, locked up everything tight as a drum and went to bed. Needless to say we had nothing to worry about. Not only is Love's a safe haven, but we were able to fill our propane tanks, buy diesel exhaust fluid and fill our truck without ever having to leave the parking lot. They even had a grass field for Calcite to play ball.
Bobby from Smiley's showed up promptly a 10:00 and was able to get us fixed up right there in the parking lot. We drove into town and purchased a new tire so we would still have a good spare; he called Napa Auto Parts out to deliver the grease he needed to repack our bearings and he checked the other three tires one of which was also loose. We were all set to get back on the road.
Let's be honest and praise God for protecting us in so many ways on this crazy adventure: breaking down within a mile of a safe haven on a road with room for us (that is rare), having Good Sam to assist us and having the damage be limited. Thank You God and Bobby Smiley!
Coming soon.... Williamsburg, VA
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