North Carolina

View from Airstream's door

10/3/10

10/4/10

10/5/10

10/6/10

Today is Tuesday.  Last Sunday we stayed at Greensboro Campground  near Greensboro North Carolina. Last night, Monday,  we stayed in a gravel parking lot in a Farmers Market facility, one of four owned and run by the state as a venue for local farmers to sell their produce.  Tonight we are in  Spring Hill Camp near Chapel Hill.   How do I keep up with all the places we have stayed ?  I don’t.  If more than 3 days go by then I have to have JoAnn help me rebuild the last few locations.

The drives between were not eventful and they were thankfully short so it’s been a fairly laid back few days.  Actually Monday was spent with the Airstream at Out Of Doors Airstream dealer in Greensboro repairing a few things.  All seems to be working and running well now.  Hopefully this will keep us all together for the next three or so months.

North Carolina is not a state that grabs you quickly with some geological beauty.  There are rolling hillside farms on the back roads but they all seem to be standing away, standing off.

Most of what I know thus far is how the people, with their slow and deliberate accents, engage you in conversations that could possibly continue for a long time.  As well as being interested in who you are, where have you been, where are you going they seem to all bring up their histories including their brother and their other brother’s stories.  As I said these are stories without any apparent end or denouements to give you a clue for a graceful exit.  These are continuous straight line narratives without end.  At first I felt a little guilty at trying to extricate myself in order to proceed with our day.  Soon I got better at moving on without, I think, being abrupt.  In of themselves the stories were all interesting.  It’s just the way the tellings were achingly, slowly drawn out that strained my admittedly impatient non southern nature.  I could learn to slow down and listen more to the nuance of the story.

It was too easy to engage and too difficult to move on.

When we arrived here at Spring Hill there were no spaces available save for one overflow spot with power and water but no sewer connection in the back of the property behind some storage sheds.  This meant we would have to use our newly repaired toilet with its holding tank with no way to clean them out, i.e. no dumps other than a vacated full hook up site where the owner would bring his tractor and pull us to the vacated site to use the sewer then pull the Airstream back to our overflow site.  This seemed like too much hassle.  But we decided to stay as the Camp was centrally located to most of the old friends of JoAnn.  So we followed the owner and his golf cart to the back of the property and behind the storage sheds.  Lo and behold we were isolated with a huge lawn that flowed into a verdant pasture with a few  black cattle grazing beyond a tree lined fence  in the low angled light.  It was spacious and open and private.  Again  being consigned to the overflow spot turned out to be a good thing and the best site in the camp.

Two Lane Blacktops

It has been very relaxing today as we drove the light dappled back country two lanes.  Traffic was almost non existent and we cruised at 40 mph rolling up and down between swelling pastures.  The sun was up, sky was blue but there was a coolness in the air.   We discovered at a crossroads a Mexican restaurant in a plain rectangular building made of sheet metal backing a very small gravel parking lot.   it was in no way pretentious and looked more like an isolated auto parts shop.  Once the doors were open it was filled with locals and a flavorful aroma.  On the wall were a dozen articles and magazine covers including Gourmet Magazine touting this little place.  How could this be?  There was nothing about it to indicate its status in the eating world of North Carolina.  This was in the middle of nowhere.   The dishes were full of flavor and succulent meats and chips that were thick yet light.  The tomato garnishes snapped with freshness and the simple interior was spotless clean.

Fiesta Grill....Who knew food here would be some of best in the county

We had a great lunch with my Carnitas filled with thick juicy shredded chunks of grilled pork that still had hints of fat for sweet flavors.  The rice kernels were thick and fluffy and separated.  A tall glass of ice water filled with limes was all the liquid we needed.  Thanks to the Fiesta Grill for reminding us how good Mexican food can be.

Our fridge back at the Airstream is filled with foam take home containers but this one will be eaten first.

There is still life on the American backroads of two lane blacktops.  If you can cruise along at 40 mph you will not miss them.

hasta la vista

10/6/10

As you might surmise we have been hanging out in North Carolina for several days.  Despite our site here in Spring Hill having no sewer connection its orientation toward lawns, pastures and privacy are so nice we are reluctant to leave.  Today the owner hooked up his tractor and we pulled our Airstream to a temporarily vacated site with a sewer connection and took care of business then got towed back to our special overflow site.  This location is central to several of JoAnns friends so we will stay here thru Sunday morning.  I think it will then be time to head back up to Skyline Drive for the colors.

Last night we went in to Chapel Hill to visit Jackie, one of JoAnn’s friends from Maui.

I can’t believe how long ago that was.  Why must it always seem like just yesterday?  It really collapses our  perceptions of time.  Maui......

Tomorrow we will meet up with George and his wife Harriette.  George and JoAnn have not seen each other for almost 40 years having been childhood playmates.

Again, time moves faster the older we get.  Something about Einstein's law of Relativity and approaching the speed of light.

Early Morning,  Spring Hill Campground