KABOOM

Brenda (our name for our GPS) is always trying to take us off the beaten path.  The last time I checked, she was set for 'the fastest route'.  She always gets us to where we want to go though.  Saturday, I decided to override her, despite her repeated cries for me to turn, and then "recalculating";  as I knew we could take interstates to Greensboro.

Everyone in South Carolina was on the move....and I mean on the move.  Speed limit was 70 - I was going anywhere from 75 to 78 - almost everyone was passing me, cutting in and out of lanes with one or two car lengths space.  It was what I call white knuckle driving.  South Carolinians are crazy!  Driving in the East isn't exactly scenic as all you can see are trees lining both sides of the highway.  You can actually pass a pretty good sized city and not know it is there, except for the increased number of exits.  We made it past Columbia (the capital) and turned northeast toward North Carolina.  Charlotte is almost on the border.  I did catch a brief glimpse of a very impressive skyline.  I learned that Charlotte is the largest city between Washington and Atlanta.  Its money comes from banking (Bank of America's home, etc.).

As we were getting past the outer limits of the city I noticed the sky was getting a little darker - kind of like those little squalls we have in Idaho.  The rain began (Letty was driving) and it was a dump.  We could barely see the road.  Crash after crash of lightning.  Along with many others, we decided it might be a good idea to pull over to the side of the road. Wind was whipping the trees and leaves were flying. PING, SPLAT, PING, SMACK, PING!  Marble sized hail began yo pelt us. KABOOM - simultaneous lightning and thunder and a little vibration of the car.  Whoa!  We noticed the sky was lightening a little, so we decided to move on.  The storm was soon left behind us.

We drove on to Greensboro....and I am out of time...to be continued a bit later.
Blessings to all.