Silence Isn't Always Golden...But Diamonds Are STILL A Girls Best Friend

Ok, so I have been MIA for a while. I am sorry. But I have some excuses to give. Yeah, yeah...I know the drill about excuses but hey, I'm going to give them to you anyway. LOL

After the last post I seen that the two photos were not showing up. I do not know why but they weren't. I didn't like that. I wanted you to see our lil friends. So needless to say, I was a little dis-heartened by this and decided to take a day or two (honest, that was my intention) to think on how to fix the problem and get the pictures showing again. Well, a day or two quickly evolved into this long gap and I am sorry for it. It was never my intention to go this long without blogging.

Ok, so on with the show...

We arrived in Wendell, North Carolina a week ago last Friday at Jerris' other cousin's home. This cousin is the brother (Cliff) to Latanya. Cliff and Carol were great hosts. Again the South is beautiful and any pictures shared here don't even touch on its charm and beauty. We have had nothing but GREAT hospitality all the way! The drive wasn't too bad from South to North Carolina but I wasn't able to fit in an extra stop that I dearly wanted to make in Hope Mills. Time was clicking by fast and some of the stops along the way have had to be revamped. But, that just means that a second road trip is in order! (Smile) We stayed through the weekend and started back on our journey Monday afternoon. We had wanted to be back on the road no later than noon but as things (and time) would have it, we didn't keep that time slot.

Travelling through the states between NC and where we are now had us stopping in Virginia for the night. One thing I have learned in this trip is not to push it with the driving. So we pulled over in Thornburg Virginia and stayed at the Holiday Inn there. It was just an over night stay and we were back on the road by 2pm. I have to admit, I liked the weather in Virginia. It was more close to Northern California weather for this time of year than any of the other locations.

New Jersey, I am not so sure about. We went through six toll booths just in that state alone. And don't think about getting off the freeway to get gas and jump back on. LOL I am glad we only did that once. Let's just say it was an adventure.

Washington D.C. was interesting. We didn't see the Pentagon or the White House but we seen highway signs for them. With how tight security in this country is now I am assuming that we would not have had the opportunity to drive close enough and definitely not have been able to take pictures without risk of being questioned. So we kept going.

New York. Well.... what can one person say????? If you are easily irritated by traffic then you wouldn't want to drive there. Lots of cars and lots of people. We went over the George Washington bridge (which I am told it was not the best bridge to travel on but it was direct) and had a lot to do to make sure to get in where we could fit in on that freeway. LOL Seriously though, I think this is another location that deserves another vacation....but I will fly in thank you.

By the time we were heading into Conneticut we were starting to experience the rain storm that was coming through. Whoah Nelly! is all I have to say. I have driven in storms, fog and hail but I have never been as scared to drive as I was at this point of the trip. Yes, I am a whimp....when it comes to rain that is coming down so hard that you can't see out the window, I surely am one. Not to mention the backsplashing from other vehicles that render your vision impossible. But I am here to tell you that my girl (Jerris) got me through it. That and PRAYER. My nerves were frazzled but I was so close to my Mom's house that I didn't want to pull off to stay another night in any hotel. So I kept pressing forward and eventually we arrived in Dover, New Hampshire. We have plans to be here for a little while longer and take care of some family matters and from here we will be going to Niagra Falls, (New York side).

It is actually 2am here as I am working on this blog and I still have to be ready to hit the door by a little after 9am to go to church with my mom. So with that being said, I need to bring this entry to a close. I have other pictures from this segment of our trip but I cannot seem to find them. I will post them when I do.

Before I go though...as I was saying about the Southern Hospitality...

If you leave from a table still being hungry, it's your own fault! We have eaten well (and beyond) while on this trip.

Tuesday, August 2nd

We arrived in Goose Creek South Carolina just before dark yesterday evening. The drive wasn't bad but as always, we were glad to reach our destination. Here we are visiting with Jerris' brother Gregory and his wife Yolanda. The Southern Hospitality is definitely present here as well as all the other stops we have had on this journey. There is no way that a person can walk away feeling like they weren't wanted with this type of treatment. It is sad to me that there are places in this country were we don't see or feel this same type of neighborly love. It is a lost art that's for sure.

After a good night's sleep, we hit the streets making our way downtown. They have a marketplace that was very interesting. I am sorry to report that I forgot my camera and so there are no personal photos to show of our marketing adventure. We have plans on going back and I will try to get some. Although, I must warn you...the vendors do not like photos taken. Several of them had notices posted prohibiting photos. But trust me when I say....it was a wonderful site.

Yolanda took us out to eat at the Olive Garden afterwards. Very nice meal. Since returning to their home we have been relaxing and watching movies. We made a couple more friends tonight as well.

First meet Baby Louie (Louie the Lizard). He was chilling on the front door when we opened it to take the picture of Glimpsie. Who is Glimpsie you ask? Well, he is Glimpsie Gully....the little green frog that was "hanging" out on the wall outside the front door when Jerris was coming back in from the car. They each stayed still for us to get the photos and then made their escapes without haste. Cute little fellas.

Today has been a blessed day. Great experience.

As you can tell, this blog entry is short and with few pictures but I will post more tomorrow (with pictures). I feel my pillow and blankie calling me so I am bringing this one to a close...for now.


Good Night All.