Jean, Lita, and I left Blowing Rock, NC on Friday, October, 9th. It was a crisp & clear morning. The Jeep was running well and all were in good spirits. While heading south we contacted my sister Bunny and her husband Jim to suggest that we make a detour from the direct route to Cary to spend a night with them at their home in Charlotte. Fortunately, they were available and so we continued south, skirting Charlotte proper by dipping down into South Carolina before proceeding east to their home on the south side of Charlotte. We were all excited by the opportunity to introduce Lita to Baxter, their 10 year old Bichon Frise. The two dogs got along well, for the most part ignoring each other in favor of their respective owners. We went out for an excellent Italian dinner before settling in for some catching-up.
Bunny & Jim were married in 1965; the same year as Jean and I. While Jean and I moved to Ohio and then Michigan, they resided in New York, then Florida, and then for the past 20 years in Charlotte. Busily raising families, she and I saw little of each other for the first 30 years of our marriages. After that, my regular trips to the Polymers Center of Excellence in Charlotte provided me a convenient opportunity to spend an occasional evening with Jim and my sister. It was a refreshing opportunity to make up for missed years.
The morning of Saturday, October 10th Jean and I bade Bunny and Jim goodbye and headed for our home in Cary, NC; selecting an eastern then northern route to avoid Charlotte and possible race day traffic at the Speedway. It rained the entire trip, but this was of little concern to us as we took our time on the lightly traveled back roads. We were happy to be able to get Lita to her permanent home. She had behaved so well for the 5-day journey from Central Florida to Cary, NC. It was nice to reward her with a stable home life. As I mentioned previously, Lita was born in Columbia, South America, and had previously endured a 13 hour journey by plane to reach the United States. Fortunately, Lita showed no ill effects from all the moving around – on the contrary, it appears to have made her very adaptable and appreciative of affection.
Anyway, we were happy to be back in our familiar home after our 20 day, 2,800 mile adventure. We are most appreciative of all the acquaintances and helpful people that we met along the Trek to the Florida Keys. As with the previous treks, the fun was as much in the journey and the people as it was in reaching our destinations. Good memories.
Thank you all for following us on our trip and for you kind words of encouragement.
Regards,
Dan