Day 89-93

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Obfuscator writes: I'll keep this pretty short, since there's not a lot to say that will interest everyone. After we left Mount Yonah on Day 88, we drove until about Greenville, SC, where we found a decent motel and crashed for the night. The following day, we drove from there to Norfolk, VA, where we were due to meet our brother J and his family for Thanksgiving. The drive would have been a lot better if we hadn't hit fairly awful traffic around Charlotte, NC. Being the day before Thanksgiving, we probably should have anticipated bad traffic, but we didn't think about that. Near the SC/NC border, we stopped for a while at King's Mountain Military National Park. Onaxthiel had passed this spot many times in his southern dwelling years, but had never had the chance to stop in.

King's Mountain was a fairly important battle in the Revolutionary War. When the British decided to open up a southern front in the fighting, they were counting on lots of Torrie support in the area. They got a lot of support, but thanks to the tactics employed by some of their less savory officers, they also stirred up an awful lot of resentment. In what was to be a three pronged invasion of North Carolina, one third of the British forces were soundly defeated at King's Mountain, which more or less led to the failure of the invasion.

King's Mountain has one of the most irritating visitor's centers I think I've ever seen. They have a bunch of fairly cool exhibits, including lots of neat information about the British commander at the battle, who had invented a breech loading rifle that had been used to great effect earlier in the war. They also had AV elements, such that when you approached the exhibits, they automatically started playing their recorded bits. This would have been fine, if they had been interesting or given you some sort of additional information. What they did instead was simply read the signs and information that was on display, and simultaneously close caption the same information as well, just in case you were deaf, and couldn't read the signs that were all around you with it already printed. It was so utterly pointless it made me angry. Perhaps this is normal in the south, where illiteracy is rampant. I don't know. I just know that when I've already read something, I don't like listening to recorded voices that have nothing further to tell me.

There's a good 1.5 mile trail outside the visitor's center that takes you along the major battle lines. This mostly involves walking around the base of the hill where the British made their stand, and then along the ridge as the Colonials rolled them up. There's some cool monuments, and it's quite lovely. We were especially lucky to be there on a bright sunny day when there were still a lot of beautiful colors on the trees.

We got to Norfolk, and hung out with J and his family for the next few days. It was nice to see our nephews, especially Brett, who as you may recall, was born back around Day 15. Of course, Brett doesn't have much to say yet, as his days mostly consist of sleeping, eating, and crying. Our other nephews, at nearly 2 and 3 years old, are much friskier and more fun. Of course, as the saying goes, the sooner they learn to talk, the sooner they learn to talk back. Norfolk was a good time though, and we got to watch the Packers beat the Lions, as well as many other good football games. We also had the chance to go to a BJ's, which is something like Sam's Club, but cheaper, so we restocked some of our road food. Additionally, we were able to refit some more gear and fix a few items that were getting a bit busted. All in all, a great stop.

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