heading north (again)

One last morning yoga by the pool ... one last swim ...

Jubilee and I say goodbye to our little hermitage spa and head north ...

We drop Jonathan off in St. Augustine, where he will drive Bella and Sebastian back to the hermitage/spa!

 ... and we continue north ...

leaving pgh and heading south

I'm way behind.  Seems like we left Pennsylvania ages ago ...

We left John's car at a lot somewhere near the Pittsburgh airport and then headed south to Rocky's wedding in Clemson SC.

This was the last photo of a Pittsburgh street on the way to the airport ...

... We had lunch on somewhere in West Virginia ...

 A West Virginia homestead.

 Roamed around the Clemson University Campus while waiting for the wedding.  Impressive trees.

 Seems that Clemson was (is) a military school ...

 ... where soldiers are cut right out of the bricks of the school ...

 Jubilee considers ...

 More impressive trees ...

 ... and boys becoming soldiers ...

 Rocky and John on the afternoon before the wedding.  Rocky and John are "double cousins" - their fathers are brothers and their mothers are sisters, married in a double ceremony, and then raised their families in a double house.

 We looked for this art festival in downtown Clemson, but it was cancelled because of rain.  (Would the outdoor wedding be canceled?)  We found a really good pita place for lunch.

 Then we found some Cioffoletti cousins at the Marriot (we had to stay at the Days Inn because of Jubilee not being allowed in the fancy hotel.)

 Very cute Cioffoletti kids.  This is Luke Cioffoletti from New Jersey (Rocky's grandson).

 And this is Allie Cioffoletti (Luke's sister and Rocky's grand-daughter).

 Another one of Luke Cioffoletti.

Back in PA!

There were times when I doubted that we would ever make it back here, but here we are!

Before we left, Eric came over and cleared the driveway! :-)

Too bad Jubilee didn't make this photo ...

 Heading north ...

 Sebastian's place in St. Augustine (we always said he could have been a designer!) He has a way of making everything look good together ...

 Jubilee settled in the back seat behind the Tibetan prayer flags ...

 Both me and Sebastian looking rather pitiful ...

 Jon and John in Fernandina Beach ... They were discussing the finer details of beer-making.

 Heather making us a wonderful dinner ...

 West Virginia ...

 No snow anywhere! (well, maybe a few rare melting piles)

 Me (all wrapped up) and Jube taking our first walk at the Knob Hill park.

 Jubilee remembering how she likes to be cool and carry branches ...

 

No sign of spring, but it is a really nice day.

so sad ...

So sad ... That's John all packed up and headed back to PA this morning.  Actually this is good news because when he came home we were so confused about my medical situation we didn't know what was happening.  Now we have a plan (sort of) ... and feel much more hopeful about everything.  He had completely emptied the Cranberry Apartment before he left, so he had to take a bunch of stuff back.  We even cancelled our lease as of Nov. 1 - but maybe we can extend it.  Life goes on (as does this blog).

I've got him all set up with the Stephen King audiobook, "10-22-63" on his iPad and hope that makes his long drive go easier. 

Meanwhile, Jubilee and I have gone into monk/monastery-mode with the witch and cat out front.  We hope to be outta here by the first of November to catch the late autumn.

one more time ...

I'm safely tucked into my corner at the library, rather enjoying not having internet at home.  There are a lot of people here today because it has been raining, raining, raining!

Here is my account of the trip South.  Jubilee and I have it down to a science.  Alternating between 2 audio books - Herman Wouk's "Winds of War", and Rolling Stone Keith Richard's "Life" - we sailed down the highways in our little Yaris.

Before we left on Saturday morning, John joined us for one last walk in the wood.  Then we got a big latte at Starbuck's and were on the road by 9:30AM.

 Coming across the Ohio River in Pittsburgh ...

 Rainy and a little foggy coming through Southwestern PA ...

 Ah - West Virginia!

 Dunno ... seem to be taking photos of bridges ....

 The familiar rocks in West Virginia (everything about this drive is getting familiar!)

 Coming to the first tunnel ...

 ... the other side of which is the state of Virginia!

 And then the 2nd tunnel ...

 The skies became bluer in Southwestern VA ..

 More VA ...

 And then all of a sudden we're crossing the line into NC ...

... and then SC!  The only real "traffic" that we ran into was just north of Charlotte.  I thought we would avoid that by traveling on the weekend, but traffic snarls can happen anytime.

 We made our way all the way to the same flea bag/trucker Days Inn in Orangeburg SC where we've stayed many times.  I like it because it has a big field where Jubilee can run free.  I think they give us the same room (#146) every time we stay there.  650 miles the first day with 500 to go!

 Up early Sunday morning, we headed further South ...  That's my new GPS system in the photo below, bought it the day before I left.  Someone stole my other one!  I couldn't believe it, in the parking lot of our apartment complex.  Anyway, I'm trying to change my ways and lock the car when I leave it.

Crossing the Savannah River, we were in Georgia!

 Love the low country scenes from the this part of the country ...

Needed to stop for gas, and recognized the place!  Liberty Georgia.  It's amazing that along this 1150 miles, I tend to need gas at the same places.  I think I have these same photos back on one of the other trips ...

 And well before noon, we cross the last state line into Florida ...

 ... A bridge in Jacksonville, I think.  It was one of these walkways that go from building to building across about 12 lanes of traffic!

 Hi to Tony in Daytona ...

 Somewhere around Fort Pierce the sky darkened, and from there on in we drove through driving wind and torrential rain!  The kind of rain where you can barely see the car in front of you, and you're using his tail lights to guide you. 

 Anyway, we made it home a little after 3 in the afternoon.  The house was quiet as a monastery.  Dark and rainy.  A wonderful thunder and lightning storm this morning, when I woke up and didn't know where I was.  Jubilee is still a little dazed (me too) and follows me everywhere.  We both swam a lot of laps this morning.  The climate feels very different, with deep, rich wind.  Ocean air.