2023 Road Trip

The Appalachian Mountains are verdant this year. The foothills beckoned me to the mighty crags as I trekked the valley. A luscious emerald mosaic embellished the highlands. I love the mountains. It was agreeably cool traveling the snaking pathways. A ghostly mist danced on the heights during the morning hours.

As I entered the deep south on Sunday it was apparent that the Bible Belt is standing firm on its principles. Nearly all the great soul food places were closed. I managed to find a black man cooking soul food on an open grill at the roadside. I had to linger and talk to the man. He was happy in his skin. I think it is brilliant when a person in poverty is happy. In many ways, they are happier than wealthy people who chase their tail day after day. I later found another (open) soul food place in Columbia SC that was good enough to go back for breakfast the next morning.

In the south, black and white people work side by side in harmony. There is no animosity among them. They are friends. The specter of racism is being used by immoral people.

I noticed that there is widespread poverty in obscure towns along the backroads. I am sure that the middle class and wealthy balance the poverty to create a gray middle ground for America. Should America look like that? 

Florida is growing in population and the busy roadways demonstrate this. As I raced down I-95, three faster cars converged on my location. Since I was doing 70, they must have been doing 90 to 100 weaving between lanes. I had no idea what to do so I slowed down. At speed, that could have caused a terrible crash. Fate decided to give me a pass for the moment. There were other reasons it might have been bad for me had an accident occurred.

Amy and family are doing as good as they can living close to the ocean. Mother is now 88 years old. She can walk with a walker and enjoys food. She recognized me well enough. We have longevity in our DNA. That is a haunting prospect for me. I have no desire to go slowly over a long period of increasing descent. It is the rainy season. Passing storms were recurrent. I love the ambiance of nature and decided to sleep out on the patio. Sure enough, the frogs, and crickets tried to best each other with skill. I decided to bed indoors the next nights.

This is not my own image capture - I found it on line.

We all went to the Crab Stop Diner. They have great food there. We got crabs, shrimp, and conch fritters. The hushpuppies are scrumptious. I had to give them encouragement, lauding their craftsmanship and purchased a tee shirt as a souvenir. Quality should be encouraged and failure should be condemned. It helps those who fail to improve and applauds those who found the right path after hard work and overcoming their own failures. It is difficult to understand how tough love helps those who need it. It helps them know a better life rather than waste it only to suffer regret and sorrow for a life lost. All that time can never be brought back. It is gone forever.

We went down to the seaside. Ocean waves crashed onto the beach. Storm clouds built over the troubled waters. Wind was blowing. Nature's power could be felt in my core. With that said, hurricane damage could also be seen in many places. The pear was closed from being damaged.

Later, Bruce took me for a Rubicon tour of Daytona Beach. We then picked up Tye and enjoyed the China Buffet together. All three of us tried to solve the world's problems with a little bit of truth and hard facts. Back at Bruce and Amys place we decided to watch the latest Avatar movie. They have a very big HD television. Popcorn was prepared and it was a cool movie. It is a mix of live action, far out makeup, and a weighty dose of CGI.

I took off early Thursday morning. This time my motel was located about 20 miles north of Columbia SC. A stout thunderstorm passed through and I could watch and feel it from the 4^th floor. I rolled the dice on some Chinese takeout and lost. You cannot win all the time. In fact, one needs to lose sometimes so that the good times of winning feel all that much better.

Finding the location of the Red Wing Grassroots festival was challenging but I did it. Mount Solon VA, is back in the sticks. Natural Chimneys County Park is an interesting open space with cool rock formations. The festival is a camping event. There were many thousands attending. Food trucks, water buffalos, vendors, and fun things to do were all over the place. There are three stages and several side stages including a dance tent. The music is an eclectic mix of bluegrass, folk, country, Cajun, and alternative. I met Susan at the front gate. She helped me transport by camping things to her campsite at the top of a hill known as Chimney Ridge. After setting up we all went down to hear some music. Lamentably, an impressive thunderstorm decided to park itself over the park for a good portion of the evening and into the night on Friday. The morning revealed a total muddy mess of the parking area where my car was. I was way out along a cornfield because the other parking areas were at overflow. Many others were also parked with me in the field. Well, that field was a giant muddy mess. Several cars got stuck in the mire.

Saturday was also rainy but not as bad. Sierra Ferrell’s performance was worth the price of admission. She had the crowd howling at the moon with her. I must find out what her tour schedule is. That's a good way to discover other festivals.

Unwanted weather or no, Susan and I had a good time. We met our camping neighbors and had fun with them as well. Brian helped me load my car on Sunday. Everyone has their own cool camp setup. Many of the campers follow music festivals all over the country. Each, without exception, lauded my retirement as a great new beginning and not to worry. I can always hit the road camping and not look back – ever again. We all medicated each day and this made everything that much better. Saturday night the poor weather cleared and the sky was filled with bright stars. I took the cover off the tent so that I could see the stars late into the night when the contrast gets even better. Light pollution was nowhere to be found.

The trip home from the festival was about 300 miles. About half of it was traversing the mountains going to 79. I like to drive but this was a little much even for me. I do not think I will drive to Florida again. We will take our chances on a jetliner next time.