USA Part Six
I think the last time we wrote we were in DC and about to have dinner at a small pizza place, which was great. The rest of our time in DC was fairly low key as the remnants of Hurricane Frances meant that we experienced the very first rain we have had the whole trip. Nevertheless it was actually good to do very little for a few days and at least we were not camping in the rain.
We said goodbye to Ali or gracious host on Tuesday (Sep 7th) morning and made our way cross town on the Metro, to pick up our car at the Airport. All was going well until we got to the car rental place. For some unknown reason there was a problem with our reservation, which meant that instead of getting the early start we were hoping for we had to sit at the car rental place for over an hour until they finally managed to work things out. I half jokingly said that we should at least be given a free upgrade for all our troubles. Well amazingly (this kind of thing never happens to us) they obliged and we were given the keys to a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee! Christy worryingly asked, "Does this mean we will now be spend more on petrol?" But I quickly assured her that it would be just fine.
Sitting high in our shiny new Jeep we left DC and made our way down South. We planned to stop for a few days at a place called Wilmington, which is on the North Carolina coast. Wilmington is a fairly agreeable Southern town and holds the distinction of being the place where teen TV drama Dawsons Creek is filmed. The weather wasnt too great while we there but we did manage a swim in the sea which had the biggest waves we have seen so far (thanks to hurricane Frances) although they were unsurfable (thank goodness) due to the gale force onshore. Another highlight was a meal at a Mexican restaurant which was accompanied buy a rather loud but entertaining Mariachi band.
Next we headed West for Ashville where we would stay with Al and Kathy Harrell who are old family friends of Christys. After a few wrong turns here and there we eventually found our way to their house. The next day we spent wandering around the Ashville town center. Unfortunately a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed due to having no water. Again thanks to Hurricane Frances! But we did manage to kill a few hours browsing the many book shops and we did find an open restaurant where we shared a good pizza.
Yesterday morning we went to visit Richard and Megan Harrell who live about 70 miles west of Ashville in Tennessee. Richard who is training to be a Missionary pilot at the Moody Aviation School offered to take us up for a flight. So we went up in the smallest plane I have ever been in, a small three seat Cessna. In fact it was so small that with just the three of us it was already at its limit in terms of how much it could carry. It was so insane we got to wear those cool headphones and I even got a chance to fly the plane!
Richard told me I was a natural…
We flew around the area for awhile and Richard showed us some sites. All was going well until Richard decided he would show us a few maneuvers which included intentionally stalling the plane so that the engine cut out and we plummeted 600 feet nose first towards the ground before recovering and the engine eventually spluttering to life. Christy of course couldnt get enough of that and asked for more so after two more stomach churning drops I quietly asked if we could please go home.
Last night we had the privilege of attending the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. Well it certainly was an interesting experience. With some rather interesting folk around. I felt somewhat conspicuous as my Mullet and moustache hasnt fully grown in yet. I then proved myself even more of an outsider when I failed to win an oversized stuffed toy for the wife. Although I maintain that I did ok since I had never before fired a fully automatic assault rifle.
Today we went to Church with Al in the morning which was great. We then spent the rest of the day doing a little as possible.
Tomorrow we will leave Ashville early and start to head somewhat cautiously towards Florida. We plan to stay overnight in Savannah and then push for Orlando the next day. This all depends of course on the track Hurricane Ivan decides to take.