East Coast Road Trip Part 1

Hello from Gaston County, North Carolina! I'm just sitting in the hotel where we've retired  after a long day of thunderstorms,old town museums, thrift store shopping, spending time with my kin, and eating naughty, naughty food - what the heck else am I gonna eat in this part of the South? I would kill for a salad. Gospel singing (the good stuff too) can be heard from the conference room across the hall as part of Day 2 of the "Rod of God" revival. Yesterday, they were praying in tongues. Pete was so intrigued - he listened intently outside their door for a good 15 minutes. I was a bit nostalgic, having grown up with such old school religious expression.  Then the weather channel warned us that a tornado might be headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, about 30 miles from here.  Lightning lit up the sky and the wind was whippin and I might have been more scared if it weren't for the 30 or more people praying in tongues at once in the room next door. The weather calmed down after about an hour or so.  Today,  I saw a groundhog and I've been super fascinated with all the kudzu overtaking the trees and poles and abandoned buildings around here. I'm gonna take lots of photos tomorrow when it's not raining so hard. I've been having such an amazing time on our East Coast road trip. here are some of our photos so far starting with Florida.

Coral Castle

South Beach, FL

wetlands in Florida where we saw tons of turtles, birds including a blue heron (those things look prehistoric), and one alligator (though we later saw about 10 alligators (mostly babies) on the Magnolia Plantation grounds in Charleston, South Carolina)

Charleston, South Carolina

I am coincidentally in town for a family reunion that is set to take place tomorrow. I have about 100 cousins -- no joke. After this event, Pete and I have to cut out of town and begin our drive to Hartford, CT, a good 15 hours away. We're gonna do a little bit of loose planning tonight. I hope everyone is well. More to come soon.

Crystal Lee