Southern Hospitality

We are excited to let everyone know that Big Easy has safely made it to the deep South! It may seem like a long time since she was “cleared for take off” but there were quite a few people who we wanted to stop and see before we left, as well as slowly ease Big Easy into long highway driving. We spent Monday and Tuesday performing the “Long Goodbye,” as Daniel’s grandmother titled it, bidding farewell to family and friends as we journeyed slowly south through Virginia. Finally, Wednesday morning, we started off for Canton, Georgia and the home of Daniel’s sister, Suzanna. We were feeling confident with the bus’s performance when we left because on the 100 mile journey from Fauquier County to Petersburg, very few things had gone wrong. In fact, one of the only problems we had was that the shelves in the trail fell (literally) victim to the bumpy highways around Richmond. This was easily fixed with some metal strapping to help hold them in place. Since that was the only problem, we were finally ready to begin our journey and enjoy the ride.

It was a rainy drive through Virginia but once we got into the North Carolina, the weather calmed and we were able to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful autumn leaves. We were slightly discouraged about how chilly the weather was even in the Carolinas, but we still hoped that it would get warmer the further south we drove. We noticed three problems with Big Easy as we drove towards Georgia, and two of them have already been resolved. The first issue was that Big Easy was having a really difficult time maintaining speed as we were driving up hills. We assumed that this was just because of the weight she was pulling, but once we got to Georgia and realized that the tires had only half of the correct amount of air, Suzanna’s boyfriend Josh kindly filled them up and Big Easy now happily speeds uphill. The second problem we discovered was that Big Easy was mysteriously low on oil even though Daniel had recently changed it before we left. We checked multiple times for oil leaks but, finding none, it was safe to assume that Big Easy just simply burns oil from all the work she does and we would just have to be diligent about frequently adding oil. The last and only unresolved problem is that there appears to be a coolant leak coming from where Daniel teed into the existing coolant line to run another line to the vegetable oil tank. We think we will be able to fix this by using a different type of T and we plan to as soon as we stop for good in Baton Rouge. So, finally, after a long Wednesday of driving mostly problem free, we stopped to spend the night in Charlotte, NC once it began to get dark. We cooked on the bus for the first time and after a few burnt pancakes and some fire alarm outbursts, we had a lovely breakfast-for-dinner meal. Unfortunately, against our previously described hopes, it was freezing in Charlotte and we shivered through the night.

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to finish the drive to Canton. It was a lovely drive through the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains but we were happy to arrive in Canton and give Big Easy a rest. We parked the bus at Josh’s moms house since it wouldn’t fit in Suzanna’s driveway and spent the afternoon finishing up some loose ends while we waited for Suzanna and Josh to get off work for the day. One of those loose ends was hooking up lights to run of the solar battery bank so now we don’t have to turn on the bus to have light! We really enjoyed spending time with Suzanna, Josh and his family as well as taking in the mountain scenery. We got to see Suzanna’s new house and all of the work she and Josh have put into it so far. It was definitely impressive. On Friday, they took us over to Josh’s dad’s house where we played with adorable baby goats and attempted to pet a soon-to-be momma cow. Daniel and Josh also went squirrel hunting but (to my secret happiness) didn’t get the chance to shoot at anything. We also received some great looking canned veggies and fruit from Josh’s dad. We are very appreciative for the truly Southern hospitality we experienced! We had such a great time that we almost didn’t want to leave, but Saturday morning, we pulled ourselves together, said our goodbyes, and headed out of Georgia.

We are now on the road to Baton Rouge but will break up the trip with an overnight stay in Mobile, Alabama. Luckily, it is much warmer down here! We are so excited to finally reach the city and spend some time exploring. Please continue to send us your well wishes!

Josh, Suzanna, Angie, & Daniel in front of Big Easy near Canton, GA.