We have arrived! After a week of driving across the country then spending two weeks in a motel waiting for our furniture to catch up with us, we are now in our new home in Garner, North Carolina.
The house isn't crooked, just the picture-taker's angle.
Our furniture arrived in a pod on Friday and movers unloaded it yesterday morning. Fred and I spent the rest of the day unpacking box after box after box until exhaustion forced us to quit. By nighttime, we could find the kitchen, the bed was made up, and, thanks, to Direct TV and Time Warner, we could watch television and work on the computer. Not bad for the first day in our new home.
ATTENTION: Our new address is: 4908 Seminole Lane, Garner, NC 27529.
OUR NEW EMAIL ADDRESS IS: noirons@yahoo.com. Please make a note of it as we changed from Cox to Yahoo.
We had, for the most part, an uneventful trip from California to North Carolina. We DID do a little sightseeing in San Antonio where we saw the Alamo and took a pleasant boat ride along the Riverwalk. We had great weather the whole week and made good time; Fred was able to drive about four to five hundred miles a day which is more than we had planned on.
When we filled up the gas tank in California, gas was $3.85 a gallon. In Tucson, it was $3.25 a gallon. From that point on, only once did we pay more than $3.45 a gallon. Here in Garner, gas is about $3.28 a gallon. Do we miss California? No. Do we miss our friends? Yes!
We saw some interesting signs during our cross-country drive. In Yuma, AZ: Drive Hammered - Get Nailed. In Lordsburg, NM: Whoa Partner - No Drinking and Driving in New Mexico. In El Paso, TX: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
In Louisiana we drove across a twenty-mile-long bridge that spanned a huge swamp. I’ve never seen a bridge so long nor do I know how they could build it in a swamp. We crossed the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, LA. When we drove through the state of Mississippi, we saw well-manicured grass along the highways and a very clean, neat state. We spent a night in Jackson, MS and the next night in Jackson, TN. In Memphis, Fred was SO looking forward to eating at the Rendezvous, a barbecue restaurant. Five years ago when we were in Memphis, the restaurant was closed due to the July Fourth weekend. This time when we got there, it was “Closed in observance of Labor Day” even though it was the day after Labor Day. Some guys just have no luck at all.
Garner is a nice little town with neat brick houses and manicured lawns. Every home is different and we enjoy driving around seeing houses that are so different from California. Everything is green and fresh looking and the highways are tree-lined as far as you can see. Since Fred navigates by landmarks, it’s a bit different now when all the landmarks are trees!
We have been in Garner two weeks and yesterday was the very first time we met someone who wasn’t friendly. We stopped at McDonald’s for two egg McMuffins; the girl taking the money and the girl handing us our food at the drive-thru were both sourpusses. We couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between them and EVERYBODY else we’ve come in contact with down here. Since we’ve eaten out a lot, every single server we’ve had has been super friendly. “How’re y’all doing? Can I get you anything else? Y‘all have a great day!” and always with a huge smile. Even the greeter at Home Depot talked with us for ten minutes about how to roast a pig in the ground. The man who delivered our pod Friday said, “North Carolina doesn’t have a lot to boast about, but we do like people and like to be friendly.” Amen to that!
The sign at the entrance to our mobile home community says: Welcome Home. We have, in fact, found a “home.”
Today’s Quote: You can only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Author Unknown
