Side Trips and Misbehaving Brakes

I found some lovely side trips that turned my four hour trip from DC to middle Virginia into a seven hour trip.  The first was to Manassas Battlefield.  If I’m not mistaken, one of my ancestors was killed or wounded at the Second Manassas battle.  I’ll have to check on that later. 

After the battlefield I went on my way and took a hard right turn when I came across the Shenandoah National Park.  I just had to take a trip on Skyline Drive!  About ten miles into the drive I discovered I was going the wrong way if I wanted to make it to tonight’s campground before dark.  Sadly, I had to retrace my route and get turned the right way.

That’s when it happened.  I was braking to slow my descent and the RV shook so badly I had to grip the steering wheel to avoid losing control.  I tried again.  Same thing.  I had visions of losing my brakes completely on the winding roads of Skyline Drive.  I drove as slowly as was practical, braking gently to maintain control.  I tried braking harder a few times with the same result – hard, hard shaking.  I was truly frightened.  I came to level roads and thought of pulling over and calling roadside assistance.  I braked again.  No problem.  I sped up and braked again.  Everything was just fine.  So was it only a problem on hills?  Easy enough to find out in Virginia, everything is hills.  Next time I came to a steep hill I braked and there was no shaking at all.  WTH?  Over the next two hours on the way to the campground all brake tests passed with flying colors.  I have no idea what caused the problem, nor do I know what fixed it.  I just know I will be testing the brakes often on the remainder of the trip.

On a lighter note, you know you're a nerd when you look at the freeway exit to Verona, VA and the first thing that crosses your mind is, "Two Gentleman of...".