Driving to Tony's House in Boston (September 11)
	Driving to Atlanta (September 9)
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Driving From Atlanta to Judy's House

The next morning, the rain seemed to have cleared out, so we had some decent driving as we headed up I-85. We passed through northern Georgia, and then crossed into South Carolina (not counting Texas, the fifth state we visited so far on our trip). By midday we had crossed into North Carolina (state #6) at Gastonia, and then passed around Charlotte on I-85.

A mile or so north of Kannapolis, the rain began again in earnest, and before long we found ourselves at a dead stop on a clogged Interstate. We crawled for a mile or two, and then made the decision to get off the highway, get some gas, and try to find a way around the bottleneck.

I got some only moderately-good directions from someone at the gas station, and we stayed off the Interstate for five or ten miles, getting back on at China Grove. We were apparently north of the problems as traffic moved along quickly, even during the intense downpours. We were unsure whether this was hurricane Ike already; it turned out that it was not, but we didn't know that at the time; it was the remnants of the tropical storm that came up through the Southeast ahead of Ike.

Both Fred and I were hungry, so we stopped in Salisbury and looked around for something that wasn't a chain, finally locating a small little lunch place a little ways off the highway. The proprietress was an interesting person, reminding both Fred and I of our friend Barbara, and we chatted with her while she prepared our soup and sandwiches.

Done with lunch, we got back on I-85 and continued north, taking the I-85 bypass (newly constructed a few years ago) around southern Greensboro, and then hooked up with I-40 towards Burlington.

To get to my sister's house, we left I-40 near Gibsonville, and took the new bypass around Elon to Elon-Ossipee Road. Then we headed north two miles to Lowe Road and my sister's farm.

At My Sister's House in Elon

We arrived at my sister's house about three in the afternoon, pretty tired from all the driving we'd done through the rain.

We found Judy and Scott at home and indoors, for it had been raining most of the day here, as well. This was not the first time Fred had met my sister, of course, but it was the first time he had met Patrick, and so there was a lot for all of us to talk about. We met most of the critters that flow in and out of Judy's house, including the two indoor dogs.

Since before her husband Bob died, she has been partial to dashchunds, and she had an exceptionally cute one in Manley, a long-haired, black and gold, energetic little dog. I don't know if he's been trained to do it or not, but Judy can get him to sit up on his hind legs and wave goodbye (at least, I think that's what he is doing) pretty much on cue.

You can watch a cute little movie of Judy putting him through this and some other paces.

She's also trained him to take his "doggy treats" from her hand or her teeth (yuck to that last one), and she took some pride in showing him off doing both "tricks." You can watch short movies of each trick using the players below:

Manley's Tricks

Manley's Tricks

For dinner, we settled on a Chinese buffet over by the Wal-Mart in Burlington. We needed a couple of things from the Wal-Mart (including an umbrella or two) and after we'd picked them up we went to eat. I had been to this buffet with my sister before, and I remembered it being better than it was, but she and Patrick seemed to enjoy it.

We went back to her house to visit some more before leaving for our hotel back at the Interstate.

Spending the Night in Burlington, NC

The last time we were here, last year when we did a trip to Atlanta, Asheville, Jacksonville and Savannah, we stayed at an Econolodge when we visited Judy. I mistakenly thought that I was making a reservation at the same place, but I inadvertently reserved a room at the Microtel (we'd stayed at one in Savannah on that earlier trip). But it was OK; although the rooms are a little smaller at the Microtel, the property was newer.

We aren't particularly picky about our hotel rooms, as long as they are clean, quiet and air-conditioned. So we had a good night's sleep before the next day's drive.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	Driving to Tony's House in Boston (September 11)
	Driving to Atlanta (September 9)
	Return to the New England Trip Master Index