QC11-02 A few mountain days

January 1, 2011 (Sat) Mars Hill, NC (2) 31/54° - Happy New Year! It's been a quiet restful day sitting around in front of the fire. A drizzling light rain kept us from doing anything outside - if we'd had any thoughts about that. In the late afternoon Sam and Clair (Bob and Pat's daughter and granddaughter) stopped by for a game of dominoes.

January 2, 2011 (Sun) Mars Hill, NC (3) 43/48° - Another lazy day in the mountains. In the evening we watched a good DVD about a woman who began the documentation of the folk songs of North Carolina mountain people. Songcatcher. Very good.

January 3, 2011 (Mon) Mars Hill, NC (4) 21/37° - It's been another cold day without much incentive to go outside. But this morning Mark and Bob went to Asheville on an errand while Joy and Pat went to a yarn shop in Burnsville. In the afternoon, we sat around and read/knit/napped/talked by a warm fire in the family room. Mountain living? Not quite but enjoyable. Dominoes in the evening.

January 4, 2011 (Tue) Mars Hill, NC (5) 24/43° - Joy went into Marshall, NC to help Pat at My Sister's Place, a second hand store where donations are sold to benefit women's counseling and support activities. She volunteers there on Tuesdays. Bob and Mark met them for lunch at Zuma's, a small restaurant in town. In the evening Kaye provided a delicious dinner for 9 in her home. Thanks, Kaye, we had a great time.

Q072313 Bob & Pat's Driveway (x5)
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January 5,2011 (Wed) Mars Hill, NC to Savannah, GA (339/1020 miles) 24/50° - It was still another cold morning in the mountains, made worse because we had to walk back and forth to the house several times and hook up the car getting ready to leave. We could have put on warmer coats but...! We finally got off at 10:00 - thanks Bob and Pat for a great time! - and made our way down out of the mountains into a blistering 43° (when we crossed the state line into South Carolina). The thermometer did manage to reach 50° by the time we got to Columbia, SC but then the rain started, cooling things off again. The rain also revealed a small leak in the seal of Q's recently replaced windshield! We'll have to see to that before the next rain!

We pulled into the Savannah, GA Walmart parking lot at 5:11. After shopping, eating, and watching Jeopardy and fellow travelers find spots to park, we converted Q into a bedroom and retired.

Q072653 Camp Walmart Savannah, GA

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January 6,2011 (Thu) Savannah, GA to Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest, FL (224/1244 miles) 47/64° - We got off at 7:30 this morning and headed for Walmart's Murphy USA gas station $(2.95/gal) near the highway. An inappropriately parked Coca-Cola delivery truck made for a tight turn into the gas pumps - not a problem for Q but our shadow was in danger of clipping the trash barrel - it too was out of place - so Mark moved it.

Shortly after getting back on I-95 (via US 17) the Magnus Racing Team passed us in their big 18 wheeler. We wanted to catch them to say that we know some of their kin, but they sped away too fast!

Billboard: "Who is John Galt?" weird if not obscure.

We crossed into Florida at about 9:30 (54° and cloudy). There have been some wet patches along the interstate here and there leading us to believe it had rained recently but we didn't see any. The Publix parking lot on Fleming Island (Orange Park, FL) was an interesting experience with a car in tow. The turns were tight and finding 6 consecutive empty parking spaces to park in was a challenge - met and conquered.

Q072877 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #33 dry $9.50 A