Road Trip

Beloved friend Trudy

The gypsy spirit in me loves the open road: a chance to drive the switchbacks and hairpin turns of North Carolina and the Americana old school towns of Highway 321, all with the top down, weather permitting.  I took the opportunity to visit old friends, beloved dear ones that I have greatly missed since they moved away, Trudy and Steve, Betsy, Carolyn, Shelley and Grace and Bill.  Great conversation, new sites, new friends, the freshness of the air, the beauty of the mountains.  Cold summer nights, elk, deer, the white squirrels, chipmunks, ground hogs, waterfalls and evening rainbows, just to name a few of the wonderful sights and sounds of the hills.

Logistics has been a weakness for me, as I was always blessed with staff to do it for me.  So this was a second time at that, after my camping trip that took me to Paynes Prairie (see “You’ve been Asking” blog post) with much better results this time, with only one “fail” rather than one daily.  SO MUCH more fun when the details of lodging are handled ahead of time!  And with the complexity of the trip (visiting friends throughout the states), I found that an actual MAP, rather than technology was the ticket.  Many times, there was no wi-fi or cell service, so I was grateful I had planned with that in mind.

The time with friends was both refreshing and renewing.  I am deeply grateful for their love and care of me, as well as their friendship.