Winding up our misadventures

We spent the final days of our trip in Galax. There was a trail near our cabin that led to the New River. On a previous trip Wayne had rented a bike and rode several miles up the New River and so he was anxious to show us the sights along this trail as well as share with us his ghost stories. We had a great hike and when it started to rain on the way home we loved getting drenched by the warm drops – it felt like a rainforest (at least what I imagine a rainforest feeling like).

As we return to our lives (and everything that that implies), we are taking many wonderful memories home with us, as well as an appreciation for Wayne and everything he does to keep us all afloat. There were many highlights to our trip, but if we narrow it down to the basics, here are the things that standout:

The Trees!

They were BIG and BEAUTIFUL!  But for those of us accustomed to the open, arid, western landscape; navigating and living amongst the omnipresent canopy can be a bit claustrophobic.

The food!
What can I say?  It seems that all we did was eat.  They even have gas stations with machines right at the pump to take your food order and pay for it before you run in to pick it up. Lest you think this is an anomaly – there were always lines of cars waiting at these gas stations.  No, we never tried it, but I am pretty sure we all have gained at least 15 pounds.

 And this was our favorite place - we ate here so many times they remembered our favorites like we were regulars.

Let’s just say this article (it just so happened to be the MSN headline on one of the days we were able to get online) reporting on the 10 most obese states (almost all of them are in the south - including North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia) wasn't surprising!
BTW – The #1 healthiest state? Colorado! Home sweet home!

Our van!
Our little (or rather BIG) van kept us going wherever we wanted to go. We also became very dependent on the GPS to guide us and together they made our travels relatively painless (not including the pain inflicted by a sibling who had had one too many hours on the road).

 

The front porches!
There was not one front porch we saw that didn’t have at least one chair on it (more likely there were several). This also applies to the apartments,condos and campers. Often we would see people in the chairs, but basically (as Maddy likes to say) there’s a lot of front porch sittin’. It’s a way of life that illustrates a slower pace and simpler lifestyle. We were fascinated by the front porches and in hindsight; if we would have taken pictures of all of them it would have made a great book.

and last, but certainly not least,
The Lightning Bugs!
We never could get a picture of them because if it was dark enough for them to come out to play, it was too dark for a picture, but we are defiantly in love with lightning bugs!

Finally, here are some lessons we have learned:
1.  The amount of days 8 people can occupy a single room dwelling without suffering permanent damage – 18 (that’s 3 days less than our 21 days!)
2.  Humidity, although great for the skin, has some rather odious side effects:
-Clothes are never really dry
-A warm towel is the best you can hope for – dry towels do not exist!
-Nothing is ever really clean – and everything has a slight pungent odor to it.
3.  It is possible to eat until you pop!
4.  TIME is a relative term.
5.  Don't go swimming in the south - they have this little thing called swimmers ear.