Gearing Up For '26 As We Gear Down

We arrived back at our Vermont hillside home around dinnertime last nights. A few quick notes before the blog returns to normal tomorrow . . .

• We drove 3,593 miles with absolutely no issues charging our EV. Taking advantage of our second (and final) year of free charging on the Electrify America network, we had to pay to charge at just one location on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where we instead used the Rivian network. The rest of the charging was absolutely free and seamless.

• We spent roughly half the nights camping and the other half in an assortment of hotels, none as historic and memorable as the one we spent three night in at Nags Head on the Outer Banks.

• The only real disappointment of the trip came when we called an audible and tried to follow the Blue Ridge Parkway north. It turns out the damage done by Hurricane Helene two years ago was so immense that it won't be open for more than "section" driving until the end of the year. We managed to follow a few sections and did a couple of hikes, but unfortunately the most dramatic parts of the drive were inaccessible. (LINK)

• As required, we stopped at the Buc-ees near Harrisonburg, Va., on the way home and it was everything we'd heard and more. The bathrooms are rightfully legendary, and the brisket sandwich was delicious. That said, now that we've done one Buc-ee's, we don't have to do another. ;-)

• Per Mrs. BGA, between hiking and exploring city streets, we walked 75.4 miles on our trip.

• Our most charges were probably at Sheetz convenience stores. One of the big reasons why we bought the Ioniq 5 is how fast it charges. Many times we'd pull into a Sheetz and plug in alongside someone who had been charging for a while. We'd go inside, use the bathroom, order a sandwich, and be back on the road while the others charged on.

• This trip, combined with our 2024 drive on Route 66, should be enough to convince anyone that traveling long distances with an EV isn't the problem some people make it out to be. All it takes is a little planning.

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Mrs. BGA and I found ourselves repeating two quotes on the drive home when we were getting goofy. (Make that when I was getting goofy.)

The first was something a good ol' boy said when we crossed paths on a hike on the Outer Banks. When we asked about wildlife he saw, he looked at our binoculars, shook his head, and said, "We ain't got ya'll's vision."

The other quote we found ourselves repeating came just before the road at the northern tip of the Outer Banks turned to sand. Jeeps, pickups and SUVs pull over there and let air out of their tires to be more effective driving through soft spots on the beach. Although our car is all-wheel drive, I wasn't about to risk driving on the sand, given our relative lack of clearance.

I was making last-second, emergency K-turn after realizing I was heading for the sand when a fellow in a big truck pulled up beside me. I thought he was going to be angry that I had held him up. Instead he looked down at me and barked out, "Ya'll lookin' for somewhere to 'air down?' " I sheepishly admitted that I was just trying to stay out of trouble. Mrs. BGA and I joked about "airing down" the rest of the trip.

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All-in all, it was a great 2½ weeks. We drove the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park, visited Harper's Ferry and the Appalachian Trail headquarters, toured Monticello, shared pizza with old friends and their kids in Charlottesville, toured William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg, stumbled across a wonderful beach-side campground in Virginia Beach, spent three days exploring the Outer Banks, checked out the Wright Brothers National Memorial, had a couple of days each in Charleston and Savannah, visited Harbour Town on Hilton Head, and explored wonderful Asheville. We finished the trip with a round of mini-golf in Lake George, N.Y., (we tied) and fittingly had lunch at an A&W near the lake before returning home for a heartfelt reunion with Griff the Wonder Dog.

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And finally, help me catch up. What did I miss while I was away? Use the contact form over to the right to let me know!

Heading North

It will be a few more days before BGA returns to normal posting. In the meantime, several more pics from our southern trip, which continues today with hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina before we resume our northward drive.

The iconic Harbour Town lighthouse on Hilton Head, where we paid $10 to drive through.

Our campground between Hilton Head and Asheville, where we swam in water warmer than we'll see all summer in New England.

Sunset at the campground on Lake Marion

Asheville's Flatiron Building during an early evening visit and the "flatiron" sculpture nearby.

Still More From The Road

A little breaking news a couple of days late . . . . 

Dartmouth's game against Harvard at Buddy Teevens Stadium has been moved up one day for TV. Instead of being played on Halloween, the game will now be played on Friday, Oct. 30, with a 7 p.m. kickoff. It's one of two Dartmouth games slated for ESPN's "linear" networks this fall, joining the Saturday, Oct. 10 game at Yale.

Green Alert Take: Students will turn out for the Harvard game whenever it is played, but shifting the contest to Friday will not be popular with older alums and fans who usually make it a day trip up from Boston and southern New England

Here's the full ESPN2 and ESPNU schedule:

Friday, Sept. 25

Harvard at Brown – 7 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday, Oct. 10

Dartmouth at Yale – 12 p.m., ESPNU

Friday, Oct. 16

Columbia at Penn – 7 p.m., ESPNU

Friday, Oct. 23

Yale at Penn – 7 p.m., ESPNU

Friday, Oct. 30

Harvard at Dartmouth – 7 p.m., ESPNU

Saturday, Nov. 21

Yale vs. Harvard – 3:30 p.m., ESPNU at Fenway Park

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A quick stop at Myrtle Beach on the way to Charleston.

The Custom House in Charleston.

A new building and a very old church in Charleston.

Lunch at Folly Beach during our Charleston visit.

A gorgeous park during a side trip to Beaufort, S.C.

One of the fountains from our walking tour of Savannah.

Had to shoot a VW in from of the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Shot a pic of these two with their owner.

We'll spend a good part of another day in Savannah before a side trip to Hilton Head and then wandering our way back north.

So Long To The Outer Banks

After three days on the Outer Banks, we are heading to Charleston for a couple of days, and then Savannah before turning north. Our final day in the Outer Banks began with a 5:45 sunrise at the beach, a long drive south to Hatteras, two ferry rides and a very wise decision not to stay off the sand with our four-wheel drive EV.

 

While We Are Gone

Lindy's preseason FCS college football magazine is out with predictions for the Ivy League and conferences featuring other Dartmouth opponents. Thanks to a loyal reader, here's what the magazine predicts in the Ivy and for Lehigh and Monmouth. (Merrimack is not in a conference.)

Ivy
1. Yale 
2. Harvard         
3. Penn
4. Dartmouth
5. Brown
6. Princeton
7. Columbia
8. Cornell

Patriot

1. Villanova 

2. Lehigh

3. Richmond

4. William & Mary

5. Lafayette

6. Colgate

7. Holy Cross

8. Fordham

9. Georgetown

10. Bucknell

CAA

1. Rhode Island

2. New Hampshire

3. Monmouth

4. Elon

5. Stony Brook

6. Maine 

7. Towson

8. Albany

9. Bryant

10. Campbell

11. Sacred Heart

12. North Carolina A&T

12. Hampton

The Trip Continues

From Williamsburg we headed to Virginia Beach, where we stumbled across a remarkable state park on the bay. There we were able to grab a private tent site, charge our car for free and catch a shuttle into the heart of the Virginia Beach "boardwalk." The campground offers a beach with sunset views over the bay, and distant views of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. There are outdoor movies for kids (with free popcorn), a neat camp store and more. The coup de grace was the military base adjacent to the campground blasting reveille, a medley of military tunes and the National Anthem over loudspeakers at 8 a.m., when – thankfully – we were already up and packing the car for our next adventure

Learning about weapons from the Revolutionary War at Colonial Williamsburg before we headed to the coast.

Our campground was perfect.

Neptune at Virginia Beach

Careful picking up hitchhikers at the beach.

It's a little older than our '84 VW bus, but we had to grab this shot in Virginia Beach.

First stop in the Outer Banks was Kitty Hawk where we spent a couple of hours in the museum, catching a ranger program and hiking to the top of the hill where the Wright brothers flew their first glider before their first motorized flight.

We are staying three nights at an inn that is described this way: "Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it offers 1930s charm paired with modern comforts and traditional Southern hospitality." Pretty neat place.

From here we head to the bottom of the Outer Banks, where we catch a couple of ferry rides and go on to Charleston and Savannah.

More From The Road

Another beautiful day started with an early wake-up call at our campground outside of Charlottesville and a short drive to Monticello. It finished with visit with old friends in Williamsburg. On tap today is Colonial Williamsburg before we head off toward the Outer Banks.

A few snapshots:

A guided tour of Monticello wasn't cheap, but it was more than worthwhile.

During Jefferson's time the view of his university was open from his mountaintop home. Trees have grown up but groundskeepers keep a window of view open to the school he founded 10 miles away.

Well known for his scientific interests, Jefferson installed a clock in the entryway to Monticello that also told the day of the week. Unfortunately, the "cannon ball" weights that help keep the clock going and tell the day of the week as they descend run out of room. TJ solved that issue by having a hole drilled in the floor and placing Saturday at the bottom level.

And of course, a little football. Here's are a few shots of William and Mary's Zable Stadium.

On The Road

Stopped in Carlisle, Pa., Sunday to visit my old stomping ground (only to find they no longer print the newspaper in the office I worked in) before continuing south.

We had a walking tour around historic Harper's Ferry and visited the Appalachian Trail headquarters on Monday, and then camped at a magnificent state park.

On Tuesday we drove the length of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on the Skyline Drive. At a visitors center we watched an interesting video about the incredible work the Civilian Conservation Corps did in building a "western park" in the east, and enjoyed a ranger program before spending the night at a campground outside of Charlottesville.

Today we've signed up for a tour of Monticello. From there we'll explore Williamsburg and eventually stop by to visit with an old friend who now works in town. Some of you will be able to guess who I mean. ;-)

We'll spend most of Thursday in Williamsburg before heading to North Carolina's Outer Banks, where
we've booked three nights in what looks to be a very nice inn. Then it's on to Charleston and Savannah.

Here are some pictures from the trip so far.

Lower town at Harper’s Ferry

That's our "digital teal" EV, which has charged without a hitch, just as it did last year on Route 66. We haven't had to wait at a single charger and it continues to be the fastest charging car we've seen at any station. This is our final year of free charging at Electrify America and we're making the most of it. Talk to you again soon.