I was now officially on my own. Up until this point I enjoyed the company of my parents; I even had my Dad riding in the truck with me as I hauled the camper. My mom took this picture as I got on the interstate heading North and they headed South. As I departed, the first major crisis of my trip was beginning to happen. On May 7th, Colonial Pipeline suffered a cyberattack. We had been monitoring the situation and so far there were no issues with getting gas. I made sure I had a full tank for the drive to Charlottesville, VA, and as soon as I hit half a tank I filled up. The pipeline had been shutdown two days prior and a federal state of emergency declared the day before, however panic set in and by the time I arrived at the campground, cars formed long lines at gas stations and there was no gas to be found anywhere in the area.
I settled into the campsite and had my first ceremonial sticker celebration by myself. I was extremely proud of getting everything hooked up and handled all by myself, even having to deal with a very unlevel campsite. Stayed at Misty Mountain Camp Resort, which I recommend, if you want a quiet spot in the woods make sure you stay in the back portion of the RV park.
Luckily I had arrived into town with a half tank of gas, so I figured I had enough to sightsee and then would spend the afternoon driving around to find more. My first stop was a quick morning hike in Shenandoah National Park. The flowers were in bloom and it was a quick and easy hike to Turk Mountain Summit to get a great view of the valley. Afterwards I drove along Skyline Drive and enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at an overlook.
My parents had planned to fly up and visit me last year, and we had bought tickets to see Monticello, and then of course the pandemic hit. Luckily a lack of gas didn’t prevent me from finally getting an opportunity to tour Thomas Jefferson’s home. A beautiful home and grounds and so much interesting history to learn and see.
The drive from Shenandoah NP to Monticello took me through a couple of towns and I passed around 12 gas stations and could see that I was not going to have any luck finding gas anywhere in the area. I gave up hope and called the RV Park and extended my stay, would hunker down till the situation improved. On my way back to the RV park I planned to stop by the BP station nearby and find out when they would be getting their next shipment in. My good luck prevailed and I saw several cars lined up. They had just received gas and I now had a full tank of gas so I headed off to Blue Mountain Brewery to celebrate.
The next day I hooked up the trailer and I was off to the DC area, my home of 17 years, where I was getting to see and spend time with friends. I had enough gas to get where I needed to go. First it was off to Maryland to drop Wolfie off at Wyoming Farms. There were several mishaps in picking the wrong exits to find a bathroom and snacks. And then upon arrival at the farm, as I attempted to back Wolfie up into a tight space, my backup assist decided to stop working. I was grateful for help and the patience of a friend who provided me with instructions and guidance. Wolfie was settled in and I was off to Arlington for a couple days of relaxing and catching up with friends at some of my favorite spots. It was really hard to leave everyone again. I was so lucky to have such an amazing group of women that I was friends with there. I downloaded the GasBuddy app and on my final afternoon I drove around and finally found gas. Luckily I was heading North and out of the impacted area. I survived the gas crisis with no impact to my plans.
