DAY #1......2016 ROAD TRIP

Today, Saturday, September 3, 2016, Wayne and I embarked on a 5-week almost cross-country ROAD TRIP!!  We have been planning this for about 6 months.  Our 'plans' were put into action as we began this wonderful adventure!!

Because it will be early October when we get back home, I decided I better put my FALL greeting on the front door!!  If felt a lot like the beginning of fall today when we left.....cooler temperatures and low humidity.  Love this time of the year!

We felt like we were packing for a Mission Road Trip....only we were taking a lot more things in the car.  Things that we would deliver to kids as we got to Utah and Arizona!!  We are so glad we got the 'new' minivan for our trip....2012 Town and Country Chrysler.  With only 17,000 miles.  Perfect for what we needed.  And, we had room to spare.

We were even able to get away a little ahead of schedule.  We had planned to leave by 11:00 a.m.  It was a short 5 hour trip to Jonesville, N.C. where we would spend the night.  So we could attend a Johnson Family Reunion in White Plains, N.C. on Sunday after church.

Our yard and home were looking pretty good as we left.  We have worked really hard these past 3 months that we have been home from our Medical Mission to the NorthAmerica SouthEast, North Area.  Wayne especially has been working really, really hard!  And our home inside and outside shows for his hard work!

As we crossed the Potomac River by Brunswick we could see Harpers Ferry, WV in the distance.  The River looks really low right now.  The traffic was moving so slowly on the bridge that we had plenty of time to take this foto without going 50 miles an hour!!

Our FIRST of many state signs we will be seeing....WEST VIRGINIA.

We crossed the VIRGINIA state line several times as we wound our way through the tri-state area.

After we had been on the road for a couple of hours, we felt like we needed a snack.  We just 'happened' to have a couple of Whoopie Pies with us that we had gotten a few days earlier when we went to Ronks, PA with B.P. and Daphne to the Sight and Sound Theater to see Sampson.  We love our Woopie Pies!

We never tire of the beautiful mountains that we get to travel through in this part of our world.

The sky was such that you could see what seemed like ForEver.....

We had an unexpected delay as we got to Blacksburg/Christiansburg, VA, close to the N.C. State Line.  There had been an accident just south of here on Interstate Hwy 81.  While the accident was on the North Bound side, the South Bound side was also affected.  BOTH directions, meaning the entire highway, was completely blocked!!!  NO cars or trucks were getting through at all.  Wayne being the great navigator that he is quickly figured out an alternate route on his iPhone.  And off we were.  It only added an extra 1 1/2 hours to our 5-hour drive.  We found out that 5 hours later, after we had arrived at our hotel, the Highway was STILL closed.  Good choice!  As a results of going to back mountain roads to get back on Interstate Hwy 77, which is what we were trying to get to, we went through several nice towns.....one of which was Hillsville, VA.  We ran into a back up there but for a different reason!  This being Labor Day Weekend, there was a AREA-WIDE FLEA MARKET and it was being held in Hillsville!!!  We found out how to get around that while sitting in a backup in town.  Here is a little teeny tiny part of the ginormous Flea Market going on.

TENDER MERCY of the diversion:  The back road we were on took us right past my parents and grandparents cemetery where they are buried!!  We got to stop and make a quick visit to all of them.

We finally got to the NORTH CAROLINA STATE LINE about 5:00 p.m.  Good to be HOME again....

 Sorry, but absolutely NO visit to anywhere close to Pilot Mountain is complete without getting yet another foto of my beloved Pilot Mountain!!!  LOVE THIS PLACE!

Our Hampton Inn for the night is in Jonesville, N.C.  The usual Hampton Inn in Mt. Airy had higher prices this weekend because of the holiday.  We opted to stay here to save a little bit of money.  We love this Hampton Inn.  We have stayed here several times before while on our mission.  The is the #1 Hampton Inn for decorations I am sure.  They do such a beautiful job!!  The decorations did NOT disappoint this time.