Charlotte, North Carolina to St. Augustine, Florida
This was our third day of travel south and was a rather uneventful day of driving along interstate highways – first I-77 and then I-95. The interstate highways bypass the major cities and other points of interest so,if you are not leaving the interstate, you primarily get to see what is immediately ahead of you on the highway. There is significant traffic on these interstate highways so just trying to keep an eye on what is ahead of you on the highway can be sufficiently tiring. Today’s drive was, for the most part, no exception.
Along the way, I had commented on the number of trucks on the highway and also the amount of debris (primarily bits of truck retread tires) along some of the stretches of highway. When travelling on major highways, such as this, it is not unusual to see chucks of retread tire, but today, one large piece of rubber in the passing lane led to a car, a distance ahead of us ending up in the center ditch as it tried to avoid hitting the chunk of rubber. We didn’t see the actual accident event but were not far behind when it happened.
By chance, as we passed one semi-trailer, I noted that the retread hon one of its rear tires looked to be on its last legs. What an observation that ended up being. Many miles further down the road, and after a few tourist stops, we found ourselves driving behind this same semi-trailer when that retread decided it was time to separate and hurl chunks of rubber back at us. Thankfully, none of the numerous pieces hit our car but it did lead to a few anxious moments.
As we travelled along these busy highways, there were times when our view ahead and to the sides was sometimes rather limited and we just hoped that the truck drivers didn’t have to come to any quick stops.
More photos will be added to this blog entry at a later date.
