The Trip Home, Day #4

Note: This is day four a series of posts telling you about our trip home from the Midwest.

The cold weather was still dogging us, and when we woke up at the Hampton Inn in Farmville, Virginia, the outside temperature was only 28°. Now that’s cold in my book! We were in no hurry to take off, taking advantage of the hotel’s free breakfast before we hit the road.

When we did, we traveled east on US Highways to Petersburg, just south of Richmond, where we got on Interstate 95. Traffic was hectic on the highway, big rigs crowding up our bumper even though I was going 15 miles over the speed limit, and people changing lanes without signaling. And, of course, there were several of the mandatory construction zones forcing traffic down to one lane a few times.

We stopped at a Pilot Travel Center for gas and to use the bathrooms, and a man noticed our Save the Manatee Florida license plate on the van and asked where we were from. I told him Edgewater, near New Smyrna Beach, and as it turns out he lives in Hacinda del Rio, a 55+ manufactured home community just a few mile or so from us. Small world. I can’t tell you how many times I have crossed paths with somebody and found out that we share a connection somewhere. At times it is downright uncanny.

We crossed into North Carolina, and when we saw a couple of billboards advertising antique shops in Selma, we were happy to get off the highway and check them out. As it turned out, that was a good choice because Miss Terry found several miniature oil lamps to add to her collection. My son-in-law Kenny collects old license plates and I had picked up a couple of them for him while we were in Ohio, and added a few more at the three or four antique shops we browsed in. Unlike a lot of small towns we have visited over the years, with a dying downtown section and more empty buildings on Main Street than occupied, Selma seemed to be doing well. There were no empty storefronts that I noticed, and everybody we saw was friendly and upbeat.

Back on the highway, traffic was even worse, and after the second or third close call when someone pulled directly into our lane without signaling, I was ready to call it a day. We drove another 20 miles or so to Benson and yet another Hampton Inn. We were both hungry and decided a good cheeseburger would hit the spot. There was a place right around the corner called Char-Grill, which is apparently a small local chain, and once we stashed our luggage in the room we went back out and drove there. It’s obviously very popular because there was a line waiting to order. I won’t say our food was bad, maybe filling would be a better description. Let’s just say we are still waiting for a good cheeseburger.

We had covered 230 miles that day, every mile getting us closer to home. We enjoyed the trip, but we were both looking forward to getting there.

Congratulations Fred and Shelley Croscut, winners of our drawing for an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. We had 66 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon.

Thought For The Day – Don’t bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Instead, spend 30 seconds inside my head. That will freak you out!