Our first Cracker Barrel

We are parked at a Cracker Barrel restaurant adjacent to I-95 in Ashland, Virginia (map).

Yesterday, highway 243 deposited us at the I-95 corridor just north of Quantico, and we continued south on US-1, which parallels I-95, often just a few hundred feet away. The GPS, of course, kept trying to put us onto the Interstate, with an exasperated-sounding "Recalculating" every time we refused to turn.

US-1 is, actually, not so much a parallel route to the Interstate as it is a parallel universe -- it is an entirely different experience. The road is lined with local businesses, and the traffic consists of local people going about their lives, a marked contrast to the rush to be somewhere else entirely on the Interstate, whizzing past enormous signs of national-chain franchises that could be anywhere at all. Most of our drive we could not see the Interstate or its billboards, hotels, or chains.

At Carmel Church we stopped at the Flying-J, conveniently located between I-95 and US-1, and took on 200 gallons of diesel at $2.45, the lowest price we've paid since Mexico. The RV dispensers at this location were faster than at the last one, and it took less than half an hour using nozzles on both sides. Still, it was near sunset when we finished, and we thought about just spending the night.

Our guides showed a Wal-Mart supercenter here in Ashland, just another 12 miles down the road, and we found no reference to parking restrictions, so we decided to press on for what we thought would be a quieter experience, with more restaurant choices. Unfortunately, when we arrived just past sunset, we found signs prohibiting overnight RV parking -- all too common, and becoming more so, here in Virginia.

Knowing there was an Elks lodge in Richmond, but sorry we would be arriving there well after dark, we started to head on to the Interstate, forsaking the friendlier US-1 for speed and absence of hard-to-see hazards. We discovered both a TA truckstop and a Cracker Barrel restaurant right here at the exit, and decided to try the Cracker Barrel, known for its liberal RV parking policy and dedicated oversize parking spaces, with the TA as a backup plan, rather than press on in the dark.

We found a nice, relatively quiet (there is no escaping the freeway noise here) and dark spot in back, and there were at least two other rigs here, doubtless also refugees from the no-parking Wal-Mart. Given the parking policy, it's actually a bit surprising we've never stayed in one in over four years. The truth is, though, that we've eaten here before, and we really can't stand the place for dinner. So we walked over to Applebees last night, and had breakfast here this morning instead as our courtesy purchase -- they actually do a pretty good job on breakfast.

Today we will continue south on US-1, although we might take the bypass around Richmond. We should be in the Carolinas tonight.