AirBnP (Bed in Prius)

I must say, I thought that the title of this page may have been Pry Us From the Prius (shout out to Linda Panton for the idea), but surprisingly this day finds us heading northeast instead of southwest, which means that we think we can do this, yay!!

Here's the setup (and I have a lovely model showing how much space we actually have)

This is great news. When we traveled in our van, we got a decent mpg at about 25, but gas was exceptionally high during that time, and we wanted to do a lot better than that, so we thought about the advantages of a hybrid, good gas mileage, and could leave the air or heat running overnight in cases of temperature extremes. So that led us in the direction of a Prius. We had also read online about other people succeeding in camping in a Prius, but most were singles. So we were still a bit skeptical. Even when we would go to the car dealerships and ask them to open the hatchback and fold down the seats so we could crawl in to see if we could fit, we were still a bit unsure. So it is a relief to finally accomplish what we were hoping, successfully sleeping in a Prius.

We did have to downsize a bit, even with our cooking stove (a hikers camp stove instead of a 3 burner Coleman propane stove).

And the dish washing container and water container:

We are thankful to Johnson City for having a great park to cook our breakfast and enjoy a walk this morning:)

When we left, we were ready to get off the interstate a bit and headed toward Bristol. That's when we got our first glimpse at this:

So this next picture is a bit ironic. This is probably as close as this car OR this driver will ever be to the Bristol Speedway again. I wonder if a Prius is even allowed to park in the lot on race day or are they laughed off the lot. 

But do any of those cars get even close to this??

That's when we say, YYEEAAHHH, BBAABBBYYY!!! 61.7 mpg!! And when we filled up at about 400 miles, we were averaging 59.9 mpg. Woohoo!

We then headed over the state line to Virginia.

And then into the rolling hills, winding roads and mountains of Appalachia.

Anthony made sure to point out that this sign means that this road is part of the TransAmerica Bike Route. If you ever decide to cycle from the coast of Virginia to the coast of Oregon, just hop on US bicycle route 76.

We then found a town that Anthony had cycled before with Tom Jamison, as they were heading to meet a group in Blacksburg, VA, to cycle the Allegheny Mointains Loop. This was several years ago. But that town's name is Saltville. 

According to Wikipedia, Saltville was named for the salt marshes in the area, which were considered vital to the Confederate army during the Civil War. Because of that importance, two battles occurred here, with the first one being won by the Confederate army, and two months later there was a second attack, with the Union winning this time. This was a major blow to the Confederate army as this salt was used in preserving meat for the soldiers and civilians.

As we are enjoying all the beauty that is in Virginia, Anthony's sister, husband and granddaugter are on an adventure of their own, sailing from Pensacola, FL, all around Florida, and up the east coast, eventually heading west and traveling back down through rivers to the south again. Thankfully, they are now waiting out Hurricane Matthew in Elizabeth City, NC. Please pray for them, and all who are being impacted by this storm.