Home!!

By Chris

Sheww. NC trip over. I was home by 8:30, making my way across the whole state of NC in record time, I must say. The traffic was flowing really good on I-40 and I-85, so I went with the flow, pushng 85 mph much of the time just keeping up the natural flow of traffic. Driving in a place other than your home state, you really notice the stuff (signs really) that you don't have at home. Like . . . Steak and Shake. These are all over the place south of Va. I have to go there sometime. One billboard touted a restaurant called "Cookout." That sounds good too. Unique. Also unique: 70 mph speed limits. That doesn't exist in Va. And . . . these bellboards that say J*B on the left, then all kinds of things, from Cigars to clothes brands to cigarettes at cut-rate prices. What is J*B? Whatever it is, they sell everything and buy a bazillion billboards on I-85. I also like some of the town names on the exit signs. Very Carolina sounding places. Like you might hear them on the Andy Griffith Show, or something. My favorite: Haw River. Hickory is a solid sounding NC name too. The AM radio station you pick up there talks about "The Hickory Metro" area. Metro? Hmm. The same station also reported on the news of the day, which included someone's door being kicked in doing $100 worth of damage; A brick was thrown through a hardware store window and a $300 prressure washer was stolen. And Billy somebody was served with papers at 8:45 a.m. a couple of days ago. I saw two Billy Graham Highways and one Dale Earnhardt Blvd. And, for a guy who lives at sea level, the sand embankments coming down the mountain called "Runaway Truck Zones" are a little unsettling. One sign coming down the mountain, in the far right lane, has flasshing lights and a sign that says "Truck Going Too Fast". The lights went off when a bus I was beside apparently exceeded the recommended 35 mph in that lane. An eerie bell also was ringing very loudly. I stepped on it to get away from that action quick. Sure hope they didn't have to use one of the runaway truck zones! As I went through Eastern NC, all the sports talk station was abuzz about their Hockey team being in the conference finals of the National Hockey League. Now wouldn't that be something: a Stanley Cup Champion in Raliegh, NC!!!

Glad to be home and looking forward to playing on my new concrete!