Almost There - December 30, 2015

We had a rude awakening this morning---a clap of thunder and flash flood alerts on our iPhones. It was pouring rain and it looked like a small steam was running thorough the parking lot at our hotel.

Cordell was all packed up and ready to hit the road before we had our breakfast.

 

 

The décor of this hotel is what I think of as contemporary and this chair that is placed in the front lobby seems to invite one to curl up in it with a good book.

 

It was still raining when Cordell loaded up the car.

 

We planned to look for another old geocache a few miles out of town. Other geocachers had written in their logs that the terrain could be very wet and the cache owner indicated that the cache could be bobbing at times.

 

We wondered what the condition of the terrain at the site would be. We wore our trusty hiking boots, rain jackets and carried umbrellas. The ground was indeed very soggy and I gulped when I saw an area that was completely under water.

I was relieved when we spied the cache on higher terrain surrounding a small lake. It was in a shallow hole in the ground on common property in a community. Due to the accumulation of rain water, the cache container was bobbing. I had wrongly suspected that the cache would be placed along the lake. A muggle dog in an adjoining yard announced our presence and was taken inside. We wonder whose house this was and think that they must be geocache friendly.

 

 

I had a Big Mac attack so we stopped at McDonald’s for lunch. I found myself wishing I were eating a Mighty Mo that we used to get from the Hot Shoppes years ago. 

 

I have not found a way to keep my hands clean while eating a Big Mac.

 

We saw this sign along the highway and I wondered if there is a place where one is taught how to play the Go Fish card game. And do they also teach people how to play Old Maid?

 

At one shopping center parking lot we saw this vehicle that was used to as some type of car wash. I would have liked to peek inside.

 

When looking at our weather app, we knew that we would eventually drive out of the rain that was falling over a large area of several states today. It teased us most all the day by raining at times and just being cloudy at other times only to run back into rain again.

 

 

But, we were delighted that the farther we drove south, the temperature got warmer and warmer.

 

 

 

 

It stopped raining in Southern Georgia and we finally found sunshine by the time we crossed the state line into Florida.

Still Traveling South - December 29, 2015

When we went to the hotel lobby for breakfast this morning, I liked the words that were on my coffee cup. I am sure that a lot of my friends can identify with this.

 

 

Our first goal was to stop and look for the oldest geocache in North Carolina which was hidden on September 30, 2000. It is speculated to be the oldest puzzle cache in the world. We normally do not look for those types of caches because we suspect--no, it is a sad fact--that we are puzzle challenged. However, sometimes even a blind pig can find an acorn and I was able to quickly solve the puzzle and get the final coordinates for our GPSers before we left Maryland.

 

 

 

We altered our normal route to Florida especially so we could look for this cache. So for 429 miles I was hoping and praying that I had the correct answer. We even had time to mull it over as we slept in our hotel last night. There was lots of rain yesterday and it was still raining this morning. Shortly before we arrived at the park, the rain stopped and the sun came out before we finished our quest. There was lots of wet, soggy ground but our hiking boots kept our feet dry.  Once we reached GZ, it was easy to see the cache and we breathed a sigh of relief.

 

 

This cache is placed on a right-of-way at McAlpine Creek Greenway in Charlotte which appears to have been developed as a corridor for waste water. We saw many pipes running through an area near a creek that was raging with water from the recent rain. A trail for bikers and runners seems to be popular with local residents. Today, we heard a lot of tree frogs or peepers as I call them.

 

 

 

 

We dressed in long sleeved shirts this morning and by 11:00 a.m., we were hot and had to change into something cooler. I have seen several people wearing shorts.

 

 

The temperature reached 74° this afternoon which I suspect is well above normal for this time of the year.

 

We made a brief stop in Greer, SC to visit some long time family friends who relocated from Calvert County several years ago. Maria is one year younger than my Tim. Through the years, we spent a lot of time with her and she is like a daughter to me. She is the mother of four beautiful children--the oldest being almost 15 years old.

 

 

We liked this water tower that looks like a peach. It was in South Carolina, not in Georgia as one might expect.

 

 

We have seen some interesting things at the Visitors Centers. Not surprisingly, the main room at the center in South Carolina had a nicely decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the room. However, I thought it was a bit odd that the restroom doors were decorated with wreaths.

 

 

Lottery tickets can be purchased at the Georgia Visitors Center and they were selling plenty of them today.

 

 

We have been carrying our bicycles on the back of our car. I think the Schwinn Company should be paying us for advertising. I cannot imagine how many people have seen that name while we were driving and while our vehicle has been parked.

 

 

Another geocache that we found today was off a trail at Lake Lanier.

 

 

 

A geocache was not the only thing we found. We have found fairy houses in the past, but this is the first time we found a fairy!

 

 

We are spending this night in Lawrenceville, GA which is very near Atlanta. We expect to be in Florida tomorrow.

Travelling South- December 28, 2015

When we left home this morning it was cloudy and at 43° it was much cooler than yesterday. Since the month of December has been very unseasonably warm, we were not as anxious to head south as in years past. However, knowing what awaits us in Southwest Florida, we are now looking forward to spending the winter in Fort Myers.

 

 

 

We made a stop so that Cordell could buy some Virginia peanuts.

 

 

 

 

 

I saw some Redskin items and wondered if my friend, Barb, would like to buy this for her daughter who loves shoes. Her son-in-law is a big Dallas Cowboys fan, so maybe it would not be a good idea to bring this into his house--especially since the Redskins are going to the playoffs as the NFC East Division champs and Dallas will be sitting at home!

 

 

 

We stopped in the outskirts of Richmond to look for a geocache that has been nagging us for 9 months. It was placed in an old non-functioning telephone booth. We first look for it last April when we were returning home from Florida and we couldn't find it. We went back again in August with Melli and JoAnne, two of our church friends and geocaching buddies and none of us were able to find it then either.

 

 

 

Today, we had some very specific information from a previous finder and Cordell was finally able to retrieve it. I am vertically challenged and would never have found it by myself.

 

 

 

Shortly before we crossed into North Carolina, we drove into rain. I was thankful that it was not snow. We didn't see any off that white stuff in 2015 at all--not even one snowflake!

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, driving a few hours and especially in the rain can be a bit boring. But, there was an incident that got our blood pumping pretty well. A semi was traveling in front of us and had a tire blow out. It sounded like a canon fired and sure scared me, but the driver maintained control and got off the road. My superhero hubby, Cordell, also did a great job avoiding the debris. That was enough excitement for me today.

 

 

We drove to Kannapolis, NC, 20 mile from Charlotte and will spend the night here. Counting down—738 more miles to the condo!!