Driving through the South

Another leg of our journey to see Roman was to drive through Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

After a great deal of prayer and search I bought a van off Craigslist. It was amazing the way the Lord led through all of ups and downs of trying to rent or buy a car. That van took us safely down to Ft. Jackson and most of the way back to Maryland before breaking down on us. It is being repaired right now, and they are having some difficulty finding the problem, so pray that the car issues will be resolved quickly.

Crossing from Maryland to Virginia over the Potomac River. I know it was a large river, but I was completely shocked by just how big it was. I cross it regularly to see Roman in Ft. Lee so I will have to take a better picture at some point. It is huge!

A late night drive took us to Raleigh, NC where we stayed with in-laws of in-laws of in-laws.

They were so gracious to take us in at kind of the last minute too. And they served us the best homemade yogurt ever! My kids ate several bowls.

This smily man was very patient through most the drive, but he did have rough moments.

The next day took us through cotton fields and small towns.

Seeing bales of cotton and thinking that it becomes clothes we wear is kind of mind-boggling.

We had our first experience at Chick-fil-a. The best part was the indoor play area, a welcome break for the kids.

 

We drove with Roman from Ft. Jackson to Ft. Lee, and made an overnight stop in Charleston, SC. It is a gorgeous old town, with amazing old buildings, a market where they used to sell slaves. And of course the Atlantic Ocean.

 The only building I got a good picture of before dark was the fire department. But there were some beautiful churches, and old houses.

We bought chocolates instead of slaves.

Ethan picked a pumpkin truffle and boy was he proud of it!

The boardwalk out to the ocean. To me the most noticeable difference between the Atlantic and the Pacific is the sound. The Pacific is much louder, since waves crash onto the rocks. The sandy beach of the Atlantic is much quieter.

All together for a couple of days.

 

We dropped Roman off at Ft. Lee late in the day, so the kids, my mother-in-law, and I stayed in a nearby hotel. The next day we headed back to Maryland and that is when the car broke down, so the final leg of our journey was made in a tow truck. Hopefully we will soon have the car issues resolved, but in the mean time, we just enjoy quiet days at home.

Probably one of the oddest things to me about The South is their boiled peanuts. They advertise them everywhere! Instead of coffee shacks they have boiled peanut shacks. I have yet to try them, but I think I must try to figure out what the fuss is all about. And when you say boiled peanuts in the south it sounds like bald peanuts. And they say I have an accent!