There's No Place Like Home

What ever made us think we could start out early Sunday morning is a mystery to me. It was just hard enough waking up and on top of that we had to say goodbye to our close friends. It reminded me of when my family would travel to MS when I was under 10. We would travel a few days, visit a few days or a couple of weeks and travel home a few days. This had been another intense trip like when I was a kid and when we had to leave, I felt myself choking up. It is rare when you make such a connection with someone. Mososo Kruppe are so down to earth and big hearted. They opened their home to us and lavished us with praise on our letterboxes. I know I will think back on our conversations for months and they will bring a smile to my face.

The beginning of our trip would have been more glum if we had a dull stretch of interstate to start with. Our goal was to get through Atlanta while everyone was in church. (As it turned out those who weren't in church could watch a service on tv at the McDonalds in McDonough). Navigating the city was a thing I had been dreading, it turned out to go very well and we busted into South Carolina in not time at all. After a quick letterboxing grab at a rest stop, it was on to North Carolina.

I had taken some time to solve a mystery box near Charlotte, NC. We didn't take time to get it on the way down because we planted a letterbox, Draw a Red Card, near Gastonia. The park in Charlotte was a good place to take a break but we came up empty handed on the trail we chose. We trailed another access point to the trail to try to make the clues work but failed again. After two more access points we found it, isn't it always the last place you look? I was pretty happy that RGBisMe encouraged us to persist. I was getting pretty tired.

We did manage to push on past Roanoke to Staunton for the night. We had stopped for some Chinese food off of I77 exit 14 and, well, it wasn't sitting very well with us for the next day. RGBisMe maybe should have washed his hands after rubbing that Buddha belly.

During the trip we were treated to vistas and rolling hills. The Blue Ridge Mountains really are blue in certain lighting and the Piedmonts are breathtaking. It was with pleasure that we swept into the flat area from West Virginia to north of Harrisburg, this meant we were almost home. We missed our kitties. We had been keeping in contact all throughout our trip with the reliable and generous folks who took care of our pets. Here is to DaBraLady, Maga11 and Terra for making our trip possible.

When we drove up and through the region called the Seven Mountains I commented to RGBisMe, "We live in a beautiful area!" Each region has wonderful things to offer. Meeting new people spawns new and creative ideas. I can say, I love where we live and the letterboxes that surround us. Visiting an area with differences can sometimes make you appreciate all that your own home has to offer.