Southern Road Trip Part: 1

Friday morning arose at 4:30, left the house by 5 in about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Reached Hartford by 6 and continued west on I-81. Felt like a refugee fleeing from record snow ( 100 inches/ 250 centimeters) and frigid cold. Crossed into New York State and over the Hudson River on the Hamilton Fish bridge. The Hudson is quite wide at this point but frozen solid with snow sitting on top of the ice. A sign indicated that West Point, the US Army Military Academy, was nearby. New York has rest stops along the highway as do the other states but New York is unique. Five miles ( Eight kilometers) before the rest stop one sees a large sign with the message "It can wait." This refers to texting, which is illegal for the driver of a vehicle. The rest stop is referred to as a "Text stop." None of the other states that i drove through had this name nor did any offer nearly as much warning that a rest area was approaching. ( Typically 2 miles or less) Rest stops usually have names. One was called the "Promised Land" rest area, and I knew I had left intensely secular New England. Crossed into Pennsylvania and saw such sights as the "Paws and Claws" Animal Park, and signs for Allentown ( I-78) and Hershey where the makers of Hershey candy bars are located. Still significant amounts of snow everywhere as I made the turn onto I-81 South at Scranton. Hours later crossed into Maryland and stopped at a big mall complex in Hagerstown to purchase a Chick Fil A chicken sandwich. I know of only one in the Boston area but i prefer to patronize Christian owned companies if possible. Traffic was intense with many lights, one way streets, and the restaurant was mobbed. The highway goes through a thin sliver of Maryland (12 miles) and West Virginia (25 miles) before entering Virginia. Was gratified to see that my gas mileage was higher than I anticipated. The first tank was 35 MPG, and the 2nd, all highway, was 37. I brought about fifteen CD's of Portuguese language worship music so I had immersion all the way.About 4:30 I came to Roanoke, VA, and decided to call it a day. I had driven over 600 miles ( 1,000 kilometers)Went to a Cracker Barrel restaurant and knew I had reached the South by the friendliness and accents of the waitstaff. Particularly striking also was the sharp contrast between the waitstaff, primarily young and trim, and the clientele, primarily old and overweight. Spent the night at a nearby motel and was pleased that I was not awakened by drunk people coming in at 1 or 2 in the morning. Saturday I arose at a more civilized hour, read the Word, prayed, began reviewing my memory verses and ate a Continental breakfast before embarking. One of the blessings of reviewing Bible verses in Biblical order is that you can do this while driving or at any other task that does not require speaking or intense mental concentration. The temperature was 24 when I departed and still snow everywhere. This did not change until I reached Charlotte, NC. Ate lunch ( fish sandwich) at an Arby's where friendly employees called me "Sir," and inquired about how i enjoyed my meal. After 800 miles i was finally in above freezing temperature without snow. North Carolina gave way to South Carolina. Along the way I saw signs for King's Mountain and Cowpens, both Revolutionary War battlefields. The Tugaloo River marks the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. Although traffic was heavy all the way, with very many trucks, I had not encountered truly bad drivers until I reached Atlanta. Perhaps this is a given with large cities but the contrast was sharp. About 4:45 reached the home of Steve and Sandra, my friends and hosts. of which more in the next post.