Christiansburg, VA to Odum, GA
We got away bright and early and hit the highway again. We were having fun, glorious scenery driving through the mountains, what a thrill after all the flat land we’d covered. There were wildflowers galore, and we enjoyed spotting milkweed and the occasional Monarch.
Wherever we had driven in the US we had seen gorgeous Crepe Myrtles, they were splendid.
Mary wanted to taste waffles. We looked for a Waffle House – spotted one – off the motorway – .3 of a mile – no Waffle House to be seen. After driving around, I popped into a Subway to ask. When he finally understood me, he gave me vague directions which I followed and didn’t find the Waffle House. Back to the Subway and we bought sandwiches. Drove out of the carpark and there was the Waffle House. Mary’s waffles would have to wait!
As the day drew on we realised that we were going to struggle to fit in Savannah, which was not our end destination, but would involve anothe few hours’ drive before we got to where we were to stay – with a 5W friend in Odum, GA. Even if we went via Savannah, we would not have time or daylight to see anything.
So at Augusta, we told Mrs Tom Tom we knew best, and headed off to Augusta. We pulled off the road and chose a little town that was in a southerly direction… Soon however we were thoroughly perplexed – the signs said “North”.Then we realised – we were passing through a small town by the name of “North”. How confusing!
Mrs Tom Tom took us right to the home of Mary and Lonnie Ogden, our hosts for the night. Mary was waiting in her garden, and shepherded us over to the family home next door – where her mother and sister lived – to see hummingbirds as we saw in the cool of a fan on the porch. What a thrill to see these magical little birds.
Mary and family had prepared a feast for us that night. There were new foods to try – boiled peanutes, and the promise of a treat of catfish for lunch the following day.
Lonnie bred and raced pigeons so gave us a tour of his pigeon loft the next day. He also explained the growing of cotton, soya beans and pecans in the area. We watched squirrels and mocking birds in his area – it was a treat.
Mary was very interested in learning about NZ, so we have invited her to visit and hope she will come next summer.