I have the morning off and I thought, maybe it’s not too late to tell you about our trip to South Carolina.
If you are a long time reader you’ll know this, but I grew up in Clinton, South Carolina, a small town in the upstate of South Carolina, and my parents still live there. Louie and I decided to drive down for Thanksgiving, but to go from Tuesday to Saturday to avoid the worst of the traffic.
We filled up on gas at the gas station right by the big Amoco sign. You can see it was already raining a bit: this theme continued for us on Tuesday. While the morning wasn’t too bad for weather, the afternoon got worse and we basically drove the whole afternoon and evening through heavy rain. The traffic got progressively worse through the day too until after evening and then the last few hours past Asheville things cleared up both weather and traffic. People ask how long the drive is: it can range from 10 hours to much longer. I made it in about 10 hours one time on Christmas Day: no traffic (no trucks!), no stops except for gas. I think it took us a little over 12 on Tuesday, and then you lose an hour for the time change. There’s a very heavy congestion area through Knoxville and then some construction zones on I-40 through the mountains where the road was washed out last year with the horrible flooding.
Anyway, we made it in after 10:00 and chatted with my parents a bit before going to bed.
The next day we all drove in Greenville to do some sightseeing. Schools aren’t out on Wednesdays in that area of the country so it wasn’t very busy and that was nice. We walked around and enjoyed some of the sights.
My mom wanted to sit on this swing because she said it was usually too crowded.
We also went to the BMW museum outside of Greenville. They built the factory in 1992-1994 and it has really changed the area from what it used to be–there is a factory tour you can take on some days but not the day we were there (and you have to sign up in advance anyway.)
This little car was one of my favorites. They had a bunch of older cars as well as some of the very newest models. This car had only three wheels and as you can see, opened in the front. Perhaps not super safe on the highways today.
Anyway, then we headed home on the back roads in order to avoid the Thanksgiving evening traffic.
The next day we prepared a small dinner for four. It was nice!
My dad had just come back from a bike ride, hence the slightly strange outfit.
For some reason the entire jam dish is on my place mat.
The next day we visited a nearby State Historic Site called Musgrove Mill. They have a few trails to hike with signs to read.
It is not too far away, but it wasn’t a State Historic Site until after I had moved away. It was from a Revolutionary War Battle. We also drove by where the first house we lived in Clinton used to be: it was torn down and a new house built in its place: probably the new house is nicer but the old one is brick and I preferred the look of it 🙂
As usual while we were gone, our cats were in good hands with the pet sitter.
A picture of my parents’ home: it’s a geodesic dome that my father built himself. We moved in around 1991.
Anyway, it was a nice visit, very low key, and then we drove back to St Louis on Saturday morning, with mostly pretty good traffic. There was snow in St Louis that day but no problem with the roads, and the snow was all done and cleared by the time we got home. That gave us a day to prepare for the week ahead and get ready.
When I took this picture, I had been sitting on the couch wondering where the cats were and then I heard some heavy breathing behind me!
I got some Christmas decorations set up.
These penguins are new to me this year. They look cute here, but the big one can be a little creepy and seem too large in real life. I’m not sure.
Anyway, now it’s mid December, and Thanksgiving is behind us–I’m glad I finally posted about it, and honestly, that didn’t seem so hard, haha. I just needed some time to sit down with it. I’ve just been stressed out as you know and feeling like a chicken running around. But the end of the year is near, things are winding down, and did you know (did I mention?) I am going to Morocco soon? I have a trip in less than two weeks, and so some of my time has also been spent making sure I have what I need for that, and working on my packing list.
Enjoy your weekend! We are getting some very cold weather!