Driving across NC

Well, Oakboro was a bust. I'm beginning to think that guy was having fun with a couple of tourists. It was a no stoplight town without even an interesting main street. Oh well. We quickly hopped back on main roads, then highways, and sped our way across North Carolina, headed for the coast. The highlight of the day and an extra programmed destination of the day was lunch at Sonic. We saw our first Sonic somewhere in Virginia, but weren't able to stop until our uneventful day-o-commuting. Man, was it heaven. I got a bacon cheeseburger, cheese tator tots, and a cherry lime slush. If I were on death row, that just might have to be my last meal. Well, maybe not, but there is something very comforting about Sonic food. As we sat there and waited for the car hop to come out, I told Tim of the many weekends of my childhood that I spent at the farm, and how most involved a trip to Sonic. Back then my favorites were a corn dog and grape slush - I have matured to better things now such as tots with cheese.
Anyways, as you can see, our day was pretty uneventful. I did notice that as we neared the coast, the land became flatter and pines were much more prevalent. It reminded me very much of driving through Texas. It's neat how as I get closer to home, things are becoming more familiar to me. I'm not typically one for nostalgia, because so many times it's just an inconvenience, but with no agenda and tons of time, I am soaking it all up.

Tim might say the highlight of his day was stopping at a place called Mackey's Ferry Peanuts. It was a place in the middle of nowhere, but with big signs advertising boiled peanuts. Well, neither of us have ever had boiled peanuts, but by these signs, we assumed it was a local delight, and we pulled over. Tim went up to the counter and ordered some like they're his favorite. The guys asked, hot or cold? Tim said hot, like he knew it was the best. Well sir, they were hot, fresh out of the boiler, I believe. They were interesting. They were hot and a little mushy. They still had the flavor of typical peanuts, but just took on a hot and mushy form. We still have them today, so now they are cold and mushy. I'm glad we tried them, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. You just get your hands messy.

From the peanut store, we made our way to our campsite for the night. It was a place called Pettigrew State Park, situated on a lake and a wildlife reserve. We were really just looking to get to sleep and get started on our next day, so we didn't bother with the wildlife reserve. That also could have to do with the ranger telling us there had been a mother bear and two cubs spotted recently. We did check out the lake though. It was a huge lake - 16,000 acres. It was a crystal clear evening and very pretty as the sun was setting over the lake. From here, we went back to our tent and found we had some neighbors in the site across the way. It was a couple of guys with a boat who we found out were expecting some other guys later at night. Well, by later at night, we thought, 8, 9, 10... something like that. Well, they got in at 4:30 this morning. Apparently they drove in from West Virginia.. and instead of wanting to sleep like normal people, they got their buddies up and proceeded to talk loudly, build a fire, make breakfast, and every other noisy thing you can think of. While in the bathroom, one of the guys asked Tim if he heard them come in. Tim said yes, and they guy kinda shrugged it off. Tim said he wanted to yell at the guy. Oh well, we were up and on the road by 8:30.. never to see those yahoos again.