Brian and I continued our journey south on Interstate 95 on a beautiful, fall day in December.
The two of us were excited to spend time with our family in North Carolina and deliver the hugs we had been promising. It had been over five years since our last visit, so it was definitely time. Within an hour of leaving Petersburg, the Big Tan Turtle crossed the state line. We celebrated when we saw the sign, “Welcome To North Carolina”, “Nation’s Most Military Friendly State”.
North Carolina is also known as the “Tar Heel State” and their state motto is, “To Be Rather Than To Seem”. According to Visit NC, North Carolina has forty-one state parks, ten national park sites, and four national forests visitors can explore. Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway are located on the west side of the state. North Carolina also has hundreds of waterfalls.
We enjoyed the relaxing ride and scenic landscape on Interstate 95. Traffic was light, the leaves were changing colors, and the weather was perfect. We had avoided all of the major cities and had one more interstate to go, I-40. Interstate 40 is a major west-east highway in the United States that starts in California and ends in North Carolina. It is over 2500 miles long and is the third-longest freeway in the country.
After a short drive down Interstate 40, Brian pulled the Big Tan Turtle into our parent’s driveway. We were overwhelmed with joy and jumped out to hug them both. The two of us had been traveling for over two months, gone almost 4,000 miles, and North Carolina was our fifteenth state on this trip. They were happy to see we were safe and ready to spend some quality time with us.
Once we got Sailor settled and notified everyone we had arrived, Brian and I went into their house to visit. The four of us spent the afternoon talking, relaxing and enjoying a wonderful dinner. Later, Brian and I went back to the motorhome to spend some time with Sailor and eventually get some sleep. The two of us spent the night remembering all of the hard work it took and how grateful we were to have hugged our mothers.
The next morning, it was time to have fun in nature with our parents. The four of us went to a beautiful creek off of the Cape Fear River in Southeastern North Carolina. We enjoyed a day of fishing, taking photos, and visiting the ducks. A little lizard even came to visit while I was soaking in the scenic views. It didn’t take long for me to grab the camera and get a few shots of him as well.
We then headed back to the house and the two of us took our cat, Sailor, for a walk on his leash. This was a new area for him and he was ready to check it out. Once we had taken care of our little buddy, it was time to go in and visit with family. We called our grandmother to tell her the good news, we had made it safely to North Carolina and would be hugging her the following day. She was overwhelmed with pure joy.
For the last five years, we had been promising her we would come visit again and give her a great big hug. On our way, while Visiting Idaho, she lost one of her daughters to illness. A mother should never have to bury their child, but she did at the age of ninety. She had lost her parents, siblings, spouse, and now a daughter. Brian and I called her many times during these last two months telling her to hang on, we were coming.
The next day, we delivered the hugs we had been promising for so long. She was so happy to see us, but we could tell she wasn’t doing well. We all sat around the living room, catching up on our adventures and the family. She asked the two of us if we liked the mountains better than the beaches. We both immediately answered, “yes” and tried to explain the advantages of living in Northwest Montana.
We spent the next few weeks enjoying time with family and spending time in nature. We put up a Christmas tree with our parents, showed our grandmother some pictures, and visited the rest of the family in the area. Brian and I enjoyed some very delicious southern cooking on Sundays with our dad’s mom and sister. The two of us can’t get this style of cooking where we live, good ole country home cooking.
Brian and I spent Christmas with some of our loved ones, but it was the first one we spent without our child. It was different to say the least, but we were glad we were with family. The next day, it was time for some outdoor fun. Our parents took us target practicing, for a country road scenic drive, and to Black River to do some fishing. We had a blast together hanging out, taking photos, and exploring the areas.
The next morning, we continued our outdoor adventures visiting a nearby creek. While the others did a little fishing, I walked around and admired all of the plant life in the area. It’s the end of December, but there was still growth in the forest. We spent New Year’s Day eating an old southern tradition, collards and black-eyed peas with ham and cornbread. I never liked collards before, but this meal was made with love and was so good.
January starts my busy season as a self-employed bookkeeper, so I needed to get some work done before we hit the road again. Brian and I had planned on leaving mid-January, but our grandmother was not doing well. The two of us decided to follow our intuition and go with the flow. We continued enjoying the natural environment around us, visiting a strawberry farm, and learning about the mushrooms in the area.
Brian and I were ready to continue our adventures, but knew it wasn’t time yet. How could we leave knowing our mother was about to lose her mother, our grandmother? We couldn’t, so we stayed and experienced winter weather in North Carolina. December may have been in the 70’s, but by the end of January Southeastern North Carolina experienced ice and its first measurable snowfall since 2018.
Granny passed away on January 26th at the age of ninety. Our family lost a very special person that day, but she will forever live in our hearts. Brian and I tried to comfort our mother during this time and held on to gratitude that our grandmother waited for our hugs. The two of us decided to stay a couple more weeks and called our next family destination to tell her that we would be a little late.
The next couple of weeks were spent processing this loss, comforting our mom, and cherishing the memories. As the two of us prepared to hit the road again, Brian and I knew we needed to do a few things before we left. Our parents had been telling us about this food truck for a couple of months now, so the four of us went out for one more outing.
Our first stop was Lane’s Ferry Food Truck, the cheesesteak was absolutely fantastic. Then, it was off to the Fort Fisher Boating Access Area to keep a promise I made and visit a special loved one. Brian and I were amazed at how much land had been developed since we left, especially in the beach communities. We later stopped at our grandmother’s house to say good-bye to the rest of the family and to the house.
Later that afternoon, we needed to have some fun in nature, it had been an emotionally draining day. We went to the creek, visited the ducks, and soaked up the healing benefits nature has to offer. Brian and I spent the next few days preparing the Big Tan Turtle to continue the journey south. We needed to return to Northwest Montana by the end of March and had a long way to go.
Brian and I left North Carolina on February 10th with our hearts filled with gratitude for the opportunity to give hugs, the time we had with our families, and all the good food along the way. The two of us will never forget this trip, we needed to see our loved ones. Thank you to everyone for the love, the food, and the family time.
We will definitely be back soon.
