IS EVERYONE HEADED SOUTH FOR THE WINTER??

Sunday, January 5, 2025
Fairfield Inn
Elkin, North Carolina to St. Augustine, Florida
Clouds and sun 62^oF

 

Elkin, North Carolina

23F Sunday morning

Driving today was much better road wise, dry and clear, with no snow. We do think that everyone from PA, OH, and MI is heading to Florida, and we mean EVERYONE.  South Carolina’s highway is only two lane going South and that is just not enough for all the drivers.  We think the travelers are either going south for the warmth or headed home after the holidays.

It was another 500 mile day, a lot for TK and somewhat a lot for a passenger.  We were originally going to drive my car so we could share the driving, but TK’s truck won out because of the weather, and he still won’t let me drive it. 

You won't see the truck this dirty very often

South Carolina rest stop

We elected not to eat until dinner and that caused some “hangries.”  That is probably enough said.  I don't think we will do that again.

Welcome to Georgia

TK smiling because Donna texted

I kept quiet with books. Yesterday I read Three Women Disappear, and today I am almost finished with The 5^th Horseman, both by James Patterson, et. al.  My brother gave me American Heroes for Christmas, a non-fiction by Patterson. That is his best book by far and I recommend it.  Patterson and others interviewed U.S. soldiers or their survivors who served in overseas conflicts—from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. They are valiant stories of those who earned distinguished military medals, including the Medal of Honor. Every one of them insisted they did not act alone, and others deserved medals too.   I personally knew three of the Medal of Honor recipients featured in this book.

Welcome to Florida

Orange juice is always our choice!

St. Augustine

Gas at Buc-ees

We arrived in St. Augustine about 5:30 p.m. and headed straight to Ford’s Garage for a burger and sweet and tangy chicken—just what we needed.   Today the temperature ranged from 23F to 63F, from North Carolina to St. Augustine.

Ford Model A in Ford's Garage

St. Augustine, Florida

TK’s Takes: He mentioned that his friend called him Dr. Doom—watching the weather like he does. I wanted to say Dr. D to soften it a bit, but TK said Dr. Doom was a comic book hero. I will go with that.  He also said that this was the worst traffic ever on our trip south to Florida.  I can vouch for that.   He is very tired again tonight. 

Day 1 Read

Day 2 Read

Best book for Christmas!

SNOW AND ICE BEGONE! NORTH CAROLINA WARMS US!

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Fairfield Inn
Erie, Pennsylvania to Elkin, North Carolina
Snow much of the way, 32F

 

Skyline Drive, Erie

January 4, 2025

8:22 a.m.

Thankfully TK keeps good track of the weather, especially when he spied a winter storm that would push toward West Virginia and Virginia on Sunday, our original departure date.  I’m more of a “the weather is what the weather is” kind of gal.  Since we were already packed, we left Erie this morning at 8:22 a.m. with a temperature of 20⁰ F and snow flurries threatening more Lake Effect snow.

The roads finally improved around Mercer, with mostly dry roads from then on.  We still saw some snow on the fields as we passed through West Virginia into Virginia. 

Here we are, West Virginia!

We stopped for lunch and our traditional “TK made” delicious pita sandwiches stuffed with tuna at the Walmart parking lot in Flatwoods, WV.  We bypassed the Fiesta Outlet in Flatwoods this time, hard to do, but our dear daughters in law have enough Fiesta dinnerware to open a small store.

West Virginia

January 4, 2025

I opted for only one sandwich for lunch because I must lose 8 pounds by Thursday so I can fit into my artful leggings. I texted Friend Donna to make sure she brought hers—she replied that she did, mentioning that we better wear them early in the cruise before they truly do not fit. Our dear friends Donna and Lawrence (Wisconsin) and Gwenda and Colin (England) are joining us on this cruise, and we are excited to see them!

With TK’s skillful driving through the windy roads and hills of West Virginia, we arrived in Elkin, North Carolina, about 500 miles from Erie, by 5 p.m.

TK is tired from expertly handling the GMC Sierra, and with snowy roads, crossword puzzles, a James Patterson book, small towns, pit stops at Flying J and Pilot, hawks soaring in the sky, creeks, rivers, New River Bridge, some ice, drivers who are nailbitingly careless, and Casey Kasem’s top 100 of 1978, I am tired too.  [More credit is obviously due to TK!]

After corralling our luggage into our room at Fairfield Inn, we had dinner--the other pita/tuna sandwich!

Dear Readers, here we go again!!

 

 

BACHARACH TO ERIE: ERIE GREETED US WARMLY!

Erie, Pennsylvania
Saturday, July 5, 2024
Mainz: 58F at 4:30 a.m./Erie: 80F at 4:20 p.m.

Bye Bye Germany

A Bacharach Sunrise: 5:46 a.m.  German time

Our alarm clocks  both went off at 4 a.m. German time so we could rapidly get ready for a long day.  By 5:15 a.m. we were bouncing our luggage over the cobblestone streets of Bacharach to the train station for our last train ride this trip to the Frankfurt Airport.

Our Global Entry Passport did not make the Frankfurt airport check any easier, of course. I forgot to take my laptop and Canon T7i out of my luggage when I went through security, so that caused a bit of a rigmarole, which everyone appreciated at 6:30ish in the morning.  I also got a very very personal pat down. Even tissue was not allowed in my pocket.  TK always sets off alarms with all of his metal parts. Nothing is ever simple.  

We got to our Gate on time and soon enough we were in the air for about 9+ hours.  TK's seat was changed (we paid extra for the aisle seats and we meant to sit near each other. Not today.)

Note to self: The Frankfort Airport does not have food or beverage shops once you pass through security--all that meant was that when we boarded the plane we had not had ANY coffee or water since our 4 a.m. wake up.  Grrrr.

I think it was about 10:30 a.m. when the airline coffee service rolled down the aisle, with lunch, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh salad, a roll, butter, Le Vache Qui Rit cheese (laughing cow--and one of my favorites) and a brownie.  Three German teenage boys sat next to me and I gave them the brownie. They were very quiet and watched cartoons and slept.  It turned out they were on vacation with their parents to Orlando. I said, "Disney World?"  They smiled and said they did not know, it was a surprise. I thought that was very sweet.

Since I don't sleep on planes, I read a book (will add name later) for most of the 9 hours.  As we were flying, I was thinking, "I don't want to go on a long flight like this for a very long time. Oops, we are headed to England in September. Oh well."

Charlotte never fails to be interesting, whether driving or flying.  We had to go through so many hoops:

**First, Customs does not open we were told until 1 p.m. We arrived at 12:20 p.m. (BUT we were still on German time--). We were not allowed off the plane until 1 p.m. 

[Another note: the times are not adding up because by this time I got confused on US or German time--we really were on the plane for 9+ hours]

[Yet another note: If I were in Germany right now it would be 2 a.m. Sunday so please forgive the confusion] 

After customs we  had to pick up our checked luggage  and use Global Entry to go through security. Again, TK set off alarms and had to get patted down. 

By this time, it was almost 2 p.m., the time our plane to Erie started boarding. Do you think our Charlotte to Erie gate was nearby? Of course not. I bolted to the gate and by the time I got there, with "glow" running down my face, the gate people must have thought I was so haggard that they allowed me and TK to board after the wheelchairs.  Its a good thing we made it in time!  No bathroom breaks for us.

That flight is an easy hour and we landed safely in Erie and son Brian was waiting for us. And even though we are on German time and it is only 8 p.m. and we cannot go to bed yet (although I am close), I decided to do all my laundry!

Our new Starbucks mugs! 

Koln and Munich

#26 and #27 for our collection!

So, Dear Readers, I often forget to do the "last post," but here we are--safe and sound at home again! All eight weary travelers are back home! Thank you for coming along with us!