From beautiful Anniston, AL

[bunrab]

We got started almost on time this morning, and finished the day almost exactly where we planned to be!

Driving south from Statesville, NC, we went of course through SC and then into Georgia, and then from a loop around Atlanta turned west onto I-20. Tomorrow's drive will be 100% I-20 except for getting in and out of RV Parks and visiting friend.

Some observations along the way: there sure are an awful lot of Jesus billboards in the southern states. I rather don't like having a highway billboard threatening me with hell, you know? There are also an awful lot of flea markets - the billboards for those outnumber even the religious ones.

One of the things we passed in SC was the BMW assembly plant in Spartanburg; we did not stop for the tour - no time!

When we crossed into Georgia, there was a big sign saying that "This highway project is part of the [long official name for stimulus bill]" and we said "Yay!" because the highway in SC had been in bad shape, as bumpy as if it were an old log road. The GA highway was nice and freshly repaved. Good use of stimulus funds. Apparently they also went to sign makers, as there were many, many traffic signs about every possible change in lanes, add'l road work, tourist sites, etc.

Entering into Alabama, the NASCAR presence becomes even larger - we are not far right now from Talladega SuperSpeedway. We drove through a small bit of Talladega National Forest, too. Earlier, we had driven past a sign for the Kings Mountain National Military Park, and I had wondered, what the heck is a military park? National historic battleground, it turns out. Not exactly a park. I think the National Monuments rather than National Parks would be where I'd put it - after all, Fort McHenry in Balto. is a National Monument. (And so is the Saguaro area in the Southwest. And there's a sailing ship in the harbor in San Francisco that is a National Park, complete with Park Rangers giving tours. I have no idea how they decide which category to put these things in!)

We had dinner in Oxford, AL with avanta7 and her husband. The last time we saw them was 5 years ago, when we were in an RV moving from Texas to Maryland. They must think we are like cicadas, emerging from our RV cocoons on a periodic basis. They were in Little Rock then, which was our first-night stop during the move; shortly thereafter, they moved to CA. Well, just a month or so ago they moved to Alabama, so voila! We were able to meet up. And she had a lovely afghan she made for me - it's exactly what I need, and it will make a decent pillow tonight, too. I haven't finished her bookmarks yet. I hope to finish them by the end of this trip - I brought my cross-stitch projects as well as knitting and crocheting with me.

Our RV park is owned and run by a couple of guys who are very talky - I had fair warning when I called ahead on the phone to see about making a reservation; his directions on how to reach the park included a lot of things that "used to be there" and a lot of the history of motels and RV parks in the region. When we got here, we chatted some more - we now have a great many tips on what to look for if we decide to buy instead of rent an RV, and we know more about US Route 78. Luckily, we finished chatting and getting the water and electric hooked up hjust in time. It started raining as we were closing the curtains. The sound of rain on the roof is nice.

Tomorrow: I-20 all the way to Shreveport!

Comments

[atxcats.livejournal.com]

Scott's always commenting on that phenomenon (directions including things that "used to be there") when we go to our ranch near Goldthwaite. Of course, we've almost been around there long enough to remember those things!
(Susan)