And then...

Being somewhere in Tennessee when the election results were unfolding was an uncomfortable experience. We saw in gardens and at the side of the roads Trump signs in sizes small and obscenely large. The election result has dampened my spirits. So here are some photos. From Stone Mountain in Georgia

to the scary drive in the middle of the Nantahala forest in North Carolina

to the college towns of Williamsburg in Tennessee (no photo. 😕 ) and Berea (in Kentucky), an artisan village and town where the only shop I wanted to visit was closed!

Today we have met a variety of people, some very sad and frightened, others happy and relieved. I promised to keep my mouth firmly shut.  I nearly managed. 

Election Day

"I can't ever have a Silverado now."  (Husband's favourite vehicle is a Chrysler Silverado, ever since he sat in one at Disney's Epcot after riding around a track there.)

The reason he can't have one? (Apart from the fact that they are too too expensive.). On our travels today we saw a Silverado on the road, with an enORmous Trump flag flying out of the truck.  So that's that. Otherwise the election has so far passed us by because we have been off the beaten track in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in North Carolina. 

And now, before I try to sleep, I'm following the election coverage online at the New York Times. I could cry. 

Midnight train to Georgia

Well, in reality it was the 08.22 car to Georgia. 

Our first stop was a town called Tifton in GA. The reason for this?  It has a peanut museum. Now, when Tim originally mooted this idea, I was unenthusiastic (=mocking). But since, on a visit to the dreaded Walmart, he introduced me to Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, I am a changed woman. Suddenly peanuts are much more interesting, and there is a danger that said cups could become addictive. So a peanut museum took on a new meaning, and I was looking forward to the visit (almost) as much as Tim was. 

The journey was fine, one interstate looking very much like another, and the landscape looking exactly the same - flat. 

Crossing the state border gave us a bit of excitement. And we stopped for lunch. 

As we neared Tifton, we were getting quite excited (after nearly four hours' driving, who could blame us?) And suddenly there it was. An old barn.  A field of cotton.  A museum dedicated to peanuts.

It was closed. 

Trial for Tim

Tim has started a blog for this trip

timandlizsamericanadventure.blogspot.com

However he having a problem with photographs so I'm going to do what he's done, to see if I can rectify it! Prepare for random photos. 

Tomorrow's plan. Apparently Tifton has a peanut museum.  I can hardly wait (!) 

Getting ready

The idea for this upcoming road trip began many months ago at our kitchen table. There was probably a cocktail or two involved. The four of us (me, John, Tim and Liz) were reminiscing about our last holiday together, and one thing led to another ...... Let's do it again. And here we are.

The original plan was to go to New Orleans. Fly there. Drive back. A week at most.  (This is from our Florida home, not the UK!!)  I'm not really sure how such a simple plan has turned into a drive of about 3,000 miles through seven states (oops, yesterday that changed to eight) over twelve days, but it has. The only places that are fixed (because we've booked accommodation) are Nashville and New Orleans. Maybe we'll have to sleep in the car 😳😳😳

Ah yes. The car. When we went, straight off the plane, to pick up our rental car, we were chatting with the guy behind the desk. You know, How are you? How many people are with you? (There'll be four of us on a road trip etc etc.)  WHAAAAAT?  In this little thing? (We'd booked a medium sized SUV, the same one I drive at home). You need a bigger car. You can't do a road trip in a little car (!) Wait here. I'll see what I can do.  

So we are in possession of an enormous luxurious vehicle.  And he was right - it's very roomy and extremely comfortable. I could get used to this. 

Tim and Liz arrive tonight. Final planning tomorrow. Off on Monday. And still no sign around here that there's an election coming up. 

Travelling

Travelling

(Alert: those who are terrified of flying, stop reading now - though be assured we landed safely.)

A question ... What do you do if you smell burning when you're sitting in an aeroplane at 38,000 feet over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?

Well, here's one answer ... 

You first wait, frantically sniffing the air, trying to convince yourself you're imagining it. You're not. 

Then you ask your husband, who's sitting behind you, to come and sniff the same air. Can he smell it?  He can't. 

But you still can. To reassure yourself that you're not having a stroke or something, you ask the man sitting next to you. He can. Most definitely. Split-second of relief that you're not going mad (or having that stroke) is quickly followed by more urgent and scary thoughts.  Then you both sniff some more, decide it's definitely there and discuss what to do. 

You go to the huddle of flight attendants and whisper very very quietly, "We can smell a burning/cordite smell where we are sitting." 

Looks of horror with quite impressively urgent yet calm simultaneous action. They search in the toilets and find nothing. Eventually the smell dissipates.  We decide that whatever it was must have been thrown down the toilet. I sit down again. Flight attendants go back into their huddle. The flight goes on. 

What impressed me most were two things. The swift (swift) reaction of the flight attendants, and the complete and utter calm that came over me! (You'd have thought I'd have screamed. "I can smell burning. Oh my God. Stop the plane.")

Reading matters

My intention to make a list of my favourite books fell by the wayside some months ago. Not because I stopped reading (how?), but because I never seem to have time to write exactly what I want to write (because I'm reading). Anyway, I decided recently it was time to sort out and give away books that I haven't opened for many many years.  This could have been a very upsetting process - if it had got any further than opening one of them and suddenly finding that two hours had gone by.  

I also found a journal that I started a few years ago. I rather like it. It's a journal of books that have affected me, comforted me, shocked me, as I've read through life.  I had entitled it "READING MATTERS of a book-lover and bibliophile". Rather pompous but who cares?!

Here are some photos...

I obviously had great fun doing this. But right now I have a book to read ....