Traveling the Southeastern United States

Road trip...

My daughter, Abi and I are doing something that neither of us had done before. We're taking a road trip. She's 15 and I was brave enough to let her drive from the Foothills of South Carolina to somewhere around Canton, North Carolina. The trucks on I-26 and I-40 made her nervous, then again, she's only been driving for about a month.

We saw a sign that said to check your fuel level, so we stopped for gas at a dinky hole in the wall gas station and changed drivers. It was one of those older gas stations (with newer pumps at least -- even if there were only four of them) and we went inside to use the facilities.

My first clue should have been the sign that had both a man and a woman silhouette on it. I, of course, entered the dingy bathroom after a man who had - um not done something pretty in there - and no air freshener. Geesh. Okay, the water is running - not dripping - in the sink and wouldn't shut off. There was a bar of goopy soap to wash your hands. At least they had toilet paper and the toilet itself actually appeared clean. And I had hand sanitizer in my purse -- thank goodness.

Once I was done with the bathroom ordeal, I took my turn at the wheel. I'm glad I was driving once we got to the really mountainous areas in North Carolina and Tennessee -- lots and lots of trucks making their way to their various destinations at quite a clip. Once she wasn't driving and could concentrate on her surroundings, Abi was a little concerned about all the "Falling Rock" signs.

The mountains we saw on the way here were, as usual, absolutely gorgeous. At one point as the sun was setting behind a mountain we were driving toward, Abi said, "It looks like we're driving into heaven." And it really did. It was awesome and incredible. I've always loved the mountains, and particularly these mountains so close to home.