Road trip! Warm spring day in western Virginia

 It was a beautiful spring morning when a friend and I headed south from Staunton to Lexington and then turned west on I-64 heading toward the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia. If you've never driven this stretch of interstate, you've missed a beautiful part of Virginia and West Virginia.

 This is the on-ramp for I-64 west of Lexington. Look at the scenery ... mountains, trees, blue sky.

 First stop was Clifton Forge snuggled along the mountain bases.

 There's a Tea Room in Clifton Forge!

 And then out the western side of Clifton Forge back onto the interstate to nearby Covington.

 The Chocolate Festival is this Saturday at the Armory in Clifton Forge. Sweet tooth mandatory....

 Covington is a combination of small and large homes ...

 ... the railroad ...

 ... and a quaint downtown.

 They have a new Visitor Center that also houses the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce.

 By afternoon temperatures had reached 70 degrees as we lunched in Covington, then back on the road toward Lexington ...

 ... and the familiar sights of that area.

 The Blue Ridge Mountains were ahead of us as we traveled east on I-64 and then north on I-81 before turning east on I-64 at Staunton to drive up and over to the eastern side of Afton Mountain before heading back home to Staunton.

Afton Mountain and Waynesboro in the Shenandoah Valley below. This part of Virginia touches hearts and souls ... it's a wonderful place to call home.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 1, 2014

Sunday's 41-vehicle pileup caused I-81 nightmare

 Congested traffic detour on Rt. 11 in Rockbridge County during a 2012 incident on I-81.

It was a recipe for disaster. As rain and fog moved into the Shenandoah Valley Sunday afternoon, driving conditions deteriorated for travelers along the rural, hilly Interstate 81 and eventually resulted in a devastating 41-vehicle pileup in Rockbridge County near Lexington that included six tractor-trailers and took hours to clean up.

Most areas of I-81 are two lanes wide with passenger cars and 18-wheelers jockeying from lane to lane in a sometimes-white knuckle drive while trying to make it safely to destinations. Many who travel the route regularly have tales to tell about nightmarish wrecks, weather conditions, crazy drivers, tail-gating, and tractor-trailers. Jersey concrete barriers along construction zones add to the hazards, and may travelers have sat in stand-still traffic at one time or another.

Sunday was one of the worst. Thankfully, no lives were lost although more than a dozen injuries were reported, and travelers sat parked on the interstate for seven hours while emergency personnel cleared debris.

Reporter Zach Crizer with the Roanoke Times wrote:

Sgt. J.F. Murphy, also of Virginia State Police, was among the nine troopers who dealt with the pileup Sunday night. He said it's unlikely investigators will ever determine exactly what or who started the crash, but he suggested the common practice of tailgating may have been a factor.

He said brakes were applied at the front of a pack of cars, setting off a chain reaction that rippled a mile and a half down the road.

Murphy said speed was not a factor, as most of the cars were traveling at less than 50 mph because of the rainy conditions. Still, he said the tightly packed traffic on a wet road was a recipe for disaster.

State Police Sgt. A.D. Nicely said it could have been worse but that some truck drivers made split-second decisions to steer their vehicles off the road:

The officer said some truck drivers veered off the road and overturned to avoid hitting other vehicles, likely saving lives.

"I believe that decision on their behalf saved us a lot more injuries or fatalities," Nicely added. "You don't know what would have happened when you start having 80,000-pound vehicles slamming into 2,000-pound vehicles."

Waynesboro reporter Chris Graham, owner of the Augusta Free Press, began reporting on the accident Sunday afternoon as he posted on Twitter and Facebook and it was quickly picked up by Valley residents who passed the word along by social media.

Quite frankly, as one who lives here and often drives I-81, I'm surprised accidents don't happen more often although they certainly happen enough. Sunday's wreck was just one more incident and proved to be a rough way for many travelers to end the weekend.

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

Harrisonburg: Va State Police looking for drive-by shooting suspect

From the Virginia State Police:

VSP SEARCHING FOR SUSPECT VEHICLE IN EARLY MORNING I-81 ROAD RAGE INCIDENT IN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

VSP is investigating the shooting into an occupied vehicle that resulted in the wounding of a tractor-trailer driver.

The incident occurred on May 25, 2013, at approximately 12:30 AM on Interstate 81 southbound at around the 245 mile marker in Rockingham County. The incident appears to have been the result of a road rage incident between the tractor-trailer driver and the driver of a passenger vehicle.

The tractor trailer was southbound in the left lane when the driver of the passenger vehicle shot into the passenger side of the tractor trailer. The bullet went through the tractor trailer’s passenger door and struck the driver the right leg. The tractor trailer driver attempted to follow the passenger vehicle but lost it in traffic as they entered Augusta County.

The tractor trailer driver pulled into the rest area located at the 232 mile marker and reported the incident to the Virginia State Police. The passenger vehicle was last seen continuing southbound on I-81 and is described as a Chrysler PT Cruiser or Chevrolet HHR type vehicle blue in color.

The driver of the tractor trailer a 43 year old male from Arizona was taken to Augusta Health Center for medical treatment with what was described as non life threating injuries.

Trooper D. M. Fisher of the Virginia State Police is the investigating trooper of this case. Anyone who has any information about this incident is asked to contact the Virginia State Police at (540) 829-7771.