On The Road Again

January 17, 2011

Dear Friends,

We be pulling out of the driveway tomorrow or the next day for sure. A big rainstorm blew in and delayed our start today. The older we get the more we restrict ourselves to fair weather travel. Driving in the rain is not pleasant but hooking up and unhooking the car is really miserable in the wet.

We are just going 500 miles down the road to Statesboro, Georgia. It is a nice little college town about 60 miles NW of Savannah. After that we go to Savannah, or possibly to a State Park in extreme southwest South Carolina. We would rather do that Park in May when it is warmer, but they might be out of maps – don’t know yet.

We have loved our time here, as always, with Jason and Jamie and the kids. We stayed here while we did a park 15 miles toward the coast. Actually, I’m still following up and selling on that park, even tho we sent the job in a month ago. North Carolina is a very interesting state, kind of independent compared to other southern states. Reminds us of Oregon, in that there are mountains and the seashore on opposite sides of the state. We are still talking about parking the bus and living in downtown Raleigh for a year or two. Culturally, it is very rich. And I could probably get a few new parts there; it’s a real medical hub.

You can always recognize a North Carolina accent: they say “impordant,” instead of “important.” I’ve spotted it in everyone from John Edwards  (p-tooey!), to the girl at Wal-Mart. They also seem to drop letters, for example the number 5555 is fitty five, fitty five. But maybe not everyone does that.

It appears to us that North Carolina has always had an interesting mix of people and ideas. From the time of the civil war, when there was a great division of thought. Originally populated by Scots and the English, I guess it was to be expected. Today we find a great array of religious expression, compared to say, the preponderance of Baptists in Georgia. (The Mormons say Methodists are just Baptists who can read.) We recently read a book that just staggered us: Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson. It is a true story set in a small town north of Raleigh in 1970. The author is a white guy, professor of Afro-American studies, son of a small town preacher, and he tells the story in first person. It starts out with a 10-year-old rushing up to announce “Daddy and Roger and ‘em shot ‘em a nigger.” Anyone who is interested in race relations has to read this book; the story itself is riveting, and to have the story assessed by someone who knows both sides as well as anyone can, is just epic.

We send love to all. Hope you escaped the flu and that bad weather is on the wane. May 2011 be a good year for us all!
Sam and Dave