12 Jun - Arrived in Charlotte NC and Stats Update

 

We rolled out of Charleston at 0825 hrs this morning and headed up I-26 and I-77 to our next stop which is #17 on this trip, the Charlotte/Ft Mill KOA just south of Charlotte NC.  We arrived just before noon at 1155 hrs  after traveling 186 miles and 3 hrs and 30 minutes with one pause at a rest stop along the interstate.  We will be here until Thursday morning 17 June when we head southeast to Fayetteville for three nights.

Our tentative plan for our stay here looks like this:

- Sunday:  I have a cousin Cory Schellhase originally from Garrison IA.  He is a firefighter here in Charlotte and we have plans to hook up with him tomorrow.  He has lived here for 22 years and will give us a tour of the city and points of interest.  The last time I saw Cory was in July 2015 when he, his dad and his uncle attended my military retirement at Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center  in Johnston IA.

- Monday we plan to visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Levine Museum of the South.  

- Tuesday we will travel a couple hours north to Mount Airy NC and visit the childhood home of Andy Griffith. This is also believed to be the town which Mayberry was based.  There is an Andy Griffith museum that draws approximately 200 visitors per day.  There is a barbershop named "Floyds" and a cafe' named "Barney's:.  There are Ford Galaxies painted to resemble the squad cars used by Andy and Barney Fife.  Due to the travel distance Liberty will go with us.

- Wednesday we may try to see the Hendrick Motor Sports Museum (don't believe it is open) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway (as of now the venue is full until Thursday).  If not, I have some work to do here and our predeparture tasks we do the day before we leave.  

- Thursday we travel to our next stop which is Fayetteville NC.  

At this point it does not look like it is going to work out, but it would be great to attend a Charlotte Knights baseball game. They are the AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and the stadium is supposed to be awesome. They are hosting Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the AAA affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Unfortunately our only choices would be Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

Trip Stats:  

# States Traveled Through So Far This Trip: 9 (IA, MO, IL, KY, TN, GA, FL, GA, SC)

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  3 (Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins)

Lighthouses visited:  15

Lighthouses climbed:  4

Point to point travel miles:  2721 miles

  - Avg point to point travel miles:  170 miles

Vicinity miles:  2450 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  175 miles

Total miles driven:  5171 miles

Total point to point driving time:  59 hrs 58 minutes

Total fuel purchased: 430.130 gals

Total fuel cost:  $1270.09

Average fuel cost/gal:  $2.952

Max fuel cost:  $3.289 (New Baden IL)

Min fuel cost:  $2.799 (Townsend TN)

Avg MPG:  11.75 miles/gal

# Nights at end of this stay:  97 (Includes Griffs)

Lodging cost:  $4206.66 (includes Griffs)

 - Avg lodging cost/night:  $43.37/night