To be honest, I know being the President of the USA is a very tough job. And lonely. And while I appreciate you wanting to take a break from your daily routine, to come out and play in NC....it can be a little bit difficult to put my life on hold just so a large area of the state has to be cordoned off for your arrival. Thankfully I was able to find another way to get into North Carolina for a retreat. No problem. Just that, I didn't want to wait in the traffic for hours.
And, I should have read the papers that you were staying the weekend to chill out. Oh, I'm sure it was a much needed break, to have the opportunity to play golf, and just relax. It must be really nice. I can totally understand. Being a full time working mom/wife requires me to take the occasional "let's run away for a while" moments whenever I can.
As my husband and I arrived in Caryville, TN (north of Knoxville)....we realized that when we left Ridgecrest, we had to go EAST for a bit because of the traffic snarl, we did that...and thank goodness for my 2003 atlas...we were able to figure out a better way to get around Asheville so that we could get going. We went East (when we needed to go West), then North, then South-West for a bit...FINALLY, West...then North. Oh lovely. And such another fun rollercoaster drive. Wow. Betty (car) did a great job, but I think she was gettin' tired of the rollercoaster drive. It took us about 2 hours to leave the Asheville area...another couple hours to get to Knoxville, then another hour or so to get up North as much as possible, until the headache in my right eyeball pounded away and my stomach growled.
Got a room at Super 8 motel....very nice, very clean. And got a great view of the hills outside my window, very charming itty bitty...town. Waffle House was interesting...not a lot to choose from. (I think when we leave, we'll swing by McD's for breakfast and eat on the road...they have MORE to choose from).
I was able to use the free wi-fi here, so I went into to check out WHY the traffic was gnarly as I left Ridgecrest....OH! The PRESIDENT was leaving for DC. Oh! I didn't realize he was staying the weekend. Not many people knew that...or they did but not make much of a fuss.
What I found out was very interesting and I still have my thoughts but I still show respect because running a country big as ours, the great U.S. of America is a huge responsibility. President did visit the famous Rev. Billy Graham at HIS house in the mountains. WOW! That's a wonderful opportunity. I would have loved to be the fly on the wall there, to see their conversation. Unfortunately, I guess, I'll have to read the news about that. Praying for each other, then Billy Graham gave Obama and his wife a bible (each)...
Then the President left for home...
At least we're in a place where we are safely away from all that traffic snarl, and oh yeah, great news, part of the I-40 that was closed off due to rock slides since October opened up in the evening. I'm sure many people are thrilled. Weird, even that section of I-40 that was closed off didn't show up on Google Map. Interesting.
So I learned a lot. My Husband is a great navigator, but we do need to get a newer edition of the atlas. 2003 is very outdated. I'm sure some roads have been re-named or the routes have changed numbers or whatever. But the drive itself was just gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. I told my husband I'd love to live in the mountains when I retire...(maybe!).
Okay, time to wake up the husband, get dressed, throw our gear into the car and start climbing our way up to Michigan. According to Google, I have 7 hours 22 minutes (that's without any stops)...so I plan to just focus on driving straight on with the gas stop/pit stop/lunch stop and try to make it in 7 hours and oh...35 minutes?! Pray for us as we travel home....
No comments:
Post a Comment