Up Before the Birds, Another State Line, One More Sticker!

Well, that was indeed a restless night and I’m not sure why. I went to bed alone at 9:30 because I couldn’t keep my eyes open downstairs. I dropped off quickly. Bill and Clemson joined me in bed at 10 so an early night for him too. The rest of the night and early morning hours were a conglomerate of wakefulness, dreams and some sleep. For the last time today, Thursday, Mar. 28^th, we woke at 5:15 and pushed ourselves to get up.

Early departure

On the road before the sun

and enjoyed her greeting

Our discussion last night warranted an early departure and when we heard that the C.B. chef would have hot tea biscuits at 6:05, the boys wanted those for breakfast. Bill and I had our tea and coffee in the Suite and got washed and ready. When Bill asked for 4 tea biscuits like his buddy, the gal at the register gave him 5 and told him he was ‘fine’. No charge. Wasn’t that sweet? We all pulled out of the lot and out of Norcross at 10 to 7 and caught I-85N.

Hot biscuits and jam for the road

The morning sky was black with tiny bright stars and the moon sliver was to the south. Once on the interstate, we moved on out and away from the traffic. At 8 am we stopped for a fuel stop and filled up. The price was not the cheapest but we didn’t worry about it. $3.09/gal at a Chevron. By 8:40 we were crossing yet another state line into South Carolina. This state has special meaning to us.

South Carolina also needs a better state sign

It was 18 – 20 years ago that we met a young university student here on our way to Florida. I began talking to Ilke on an online website (ICQ = I seek you) soon after Bill and I were married. Our second trip to Fl to visit his parents, took us through S.C. and she offered to meet us and opened up her bachelor apartment for us to stay a few days. A very brave step for a young lady. It was an awesome experience, meeting her Turkish friends as they honoured us with a traditional meal.

Since we met this beautiful lady, she met and married Jay
whom we also met in 2004

It was in Ilke’s hometown of Clemson that we decided on our little boy’s name, knowing that we’d never forget this special gal opening her heart up to us. We did not go through Clemson today, it was out of our way. 

That’s okay, he slept as we passed it by anyway. There were many beautiful waterways to our south as we traveled. We followed the gps off I-85N onto US-25. This eventually dropped us to US-276 and then back onto US-25 again.

I'll show him pictures when he is ready :)

Lots of beautiful lakes in South Carolina

At 8:45 am, my phone notification rang, indicating emails coming in. Wha??? I quickly checked my phone and our Bell usage was now available. From that, it appears that we have NOT used up our data. Bell had to have screwed up as we still have 4 gb remaining until April 1^st. LOL If it wasn’t so difficult contacting Bell from down here, a phone call presumably would have straightened this out earlier. Been there, done that, so we avoided the mess and instead lived without it.

It was a gorgeous drive

Coming into North Carolina, I couldn't get a clear shot of their welcome sign

Hopefully, tonight I will be able to post a blog or two. The remainder of our drive proved to be uneventful, which is always good. We drove down and up into the mountains, reaching 2175’ elevation before settling around 2100’. That would explain our temperature dropping from 51F to 46F instead of rising. We jumped the state line into North Carolina at 10 am. We pulled off at a Rest Area, a very busy one, for a nature’s call.

A very welcoming 'homey' rest area

But busy
We had to park in a row along the lane and the State Trooper
was ticketing the semi in front of him
Nice young officers greeted me

Just at the next exit (40) we veered off to find Glenn Willow Drive where the Hobby Express shop is. Bill was to meet the owner to pick up an RC model kit. We arrived around 11 and parked in their lot and alongside the street. Mark wasn’t around and when we texted him, he told of us an emergency situation that took him to Florida. Family emergencies are just that: unexpected and urgent. He would not be back until Sunday unless the situation got worse. We couldn’t wait around.

Parked along the street at Hobby Express in N.C.

Bill was so disappointed that things didn't work out here
but understood Mark's situation

We discussed what our options are with Rob and Pat and we all decided, since it was early in the day, to carry on our journey rather than find a place to overnight here in NC. Back in the vehicles, we pulled out just after 11:30 and headed back onto the highway headed west. We needed to do a bit of back tracking to catch I-75N. This would also shorten our trek tomorrow by 100 miles and that is always a bonus on an otherwise long driving day.

Declining in elevation

down down down

Through Tennessee, a much nicer sign by the way

So, the next move after a rest stop and another fuel stop was to find the Sam’s Club in Knoxville, Kentucky. By 2 pm we took Exit 8 off I-640W and found our destination for the night. The manager approved us staying here and we were as far as we could be from the store. Traffic isn’t too far so it is noisy right now. We can only hope it settles down when we want to sleep or we’ll all be wearing earplugs.

more pretty waterways and lovely homes on the hill

The temperature was a lovely 69F and the sun remained brilliant ball in the sky until it set after 7:30. Today was a beautiful drive and as Pat said, it would be absolutely breathtaking in the fall months. We settled and set up as much as is feasible when overnighting in a parking lot. The day turned into a longer one than we’d originally planned but other than Bill not getting his plane, it was not a disappointment to drive the extra hour.

I'm sure our travelling friends will recognize this sign but
they always make me chuckle
Cows want us to eat 'Chikin', I wonder why

We rested, we read and rested some more and at 4 all four of us walked into Sam’s for a few grocery items. Bill and I wanted a couple of things and came out with just that. We’ll soon be somewhere for more than a night and can do other shopping when we arrive there in a couple of days. I warmed up a dish of chili each and prepared a salad for supper. It was filling, tasty and quick.

Nice easy supper after a driving day

While in Sam’s Club, I let down my resistance and picked up a pack of 3 – 4” pies for us to share. The price was right. They will be a nice treat and last us for a week or two. I am a little overwhelmed now that we have data back just because I’m so far behind in posting. I’m thrilled BUT I have a lot of catch up to do. I’ve still been writing my posts on a daily basis and taking pictures, but it is time consuming. Thank you for bearing with me!

A nice spot at Sam's Club for the night

We’ve enjoyed the day and hope you have had a great one too. We were hoping for two map stickers after tonight but instead we just added Mississippi. We’ll get North Carolina’s sticker on another time. Before too late, we each had a quarter of the little blueberry pie. Bill teased about being ‘rationed’ but it was actually just enough.

Although we didn't walk far, it was warm and there was nice green
space for Clemson

Thank you for visiting.