After a 3-week delay we are finally leaving town for a 10-week tour though Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. This week will be filled with travel days as we try to reach Fredericksburg, TX and continue our pre-scheduled trip.

Upon leaving we drove though heavy rain until we reached Maryland state line and experienced high winds for a few hours. This was due to the remains of a storm that caused damage and fatalities across the midwest.

Our first destination was Brady’s Distillery in Roanoke, Virginia for a quick overnight stay. The Distillery, which is part of the Harvest Hosts Program, allows RV’s which frequent the host businesses to stay overnight on their property. Harvest Hosts are perfect for long travel days. Once we park the rig, food and entertainment are just a few feet away. The weather was sunny and in the mid-seventies but the wind gusts were still present.

We enjoyed a few hours of pleasant spirits, music from a local band, and vegan nachos from a food truck. A perfect way to relax after 7.5 hours in the rig.

Our “over-night parking spot” wasn’t ideal. The back of our van abutted a train line. The train rolled in at 3 AM, but fortunately the libations from Brady’s Distillery helped us quickly fall back to sleep;). We were surprised to find that the train stopped directly behind us and remained there overnight. Hopefully we were sleeping on the “right side of the tracks”.

Our next stop as we attempt to fast-forward to Fredericksburg, TX is Baxter, TN.