Charleston, WV

Long drives this past week...the longest of which was today; Greenville, SC to Charleston, WV. I drove the first 4 hours...4 states in 4 hours, and then Anna took over for the hilly/rainy part of the trip. Didn't really plan it that way, but also didn't complain.

The included picture is from my second day driving the truck with Anna. We stopped by the Pilot in Kannapolis, NC and pumped some diesel and bought trucker hats. Genuine fun. We embarassed ourselves once again at the pump, and couldn't resist taking pictures and video of the place. Note the small Ryder truck parked amongst the 18-wheelers. We didn't pull it in too far for fear of losing it amongst the testosterone.

Last night in Greenville I had the honor of seeing Saw III at the local theatre. Absolutely brilliant film...well worth it if you want to cringe and barf for 90 minutes. Nothing beats the original Saw, however, but this one was certainly better than part 2.

Also visited Paris Mountain State Park yesterday, and had a lovely time hiking around the trails. Actually saw a real-live, albeit small, snake...also walked along a mountain brook and went to an dammed lake that was a project of the CCC in the New Deal era. Tom, Michelle and I saw two salamanders mating underwater, and then saw what was presumably the male start to change color. He had dark spots on his side that suddenly turned bright red.

Tomorrow, we will possibly be going to a local Paintball place. As long as the rain holds, it should be quite a good time. After 5 weeks on the road with the crew, it's quite possible we all want to shoot eachother, so this will be a healthy way to take out our aggression.