Into the land of cotton

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It took us a while to adjust to the fact that we had moved our clock forward 3 hours and so when we arrived at our Microtel last night at 11.30pm it felt like only 8.30pm so it wasnt out of orde to still be wide awake and watching TV nearly 2 hours later.Eventually sleep arrived and we had a great nights rest and ready for the next leg of this trip.
Took our time this morning and did some administration before heading off to the airport in the courtesay van to pick up our Dollar car.
The nice AfroAmerican man behind the counter tried to do a Joyce on us(the SanFran salesperson) and get us to upgrade "cos the car wouldnt be big enough for us".He pointed in the general direction of the cars parked suggesting we would like to upgrade to a convertible.The price started out at an extra $73 per day !!!BUT because we were Dollar customers before the price came down to $35 per day BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE!! and because we were Amex holders it would only be $15 per day!!!Of course there would be increased insurances etc etc etc.
He seemed very disappointed we turned him down and we ended up with another Dodge Caliber although this time the basic model and as he put it"with windows you have to wind manually".What amuses us,why do they have these basic cars if they are always trying to upgrade you????
Anyway this time its a black car and perfectly adequate for our needs.And actually the trunk seems wider as we can get both suitcases easily inside.
The sales agent must have been upset with us not upgrading as he failed to give us directions to get back to our motel which was only about a mile from the airport.We thought we knew the way as the roads were very wide and seemed well marked.
So we were on our way but shortly after I made the first mistake taking the left hand bend inside of the right and half an hour later and a couple of on/off freeways we were back at the rental car place to take the right road this tim.
Anyway the slight delay meant we didnt have to wait for the Outlet Centre next to the motel to open at midday(Sunday here and shops open late).
The place must begoing out of business as everything in the few stores left were selling stuff real cheap.I brought a shirt for $7 while Gretchen brought shoes for $9 which she really loves and threequarter trousers for $10 and a shirt thing for $9.
Then it was off on the road on the Gretchen plan to take us thru some country roads rather than the interstate.
We were soon out in the country.This area is so green with trees off all types everywhere.The homes varied from mansions to your normal size homes to what are basically trailer type homes but on their own lot rather than in a trailer park.None of the properties had fences and everything seems to run into each other.people were out mowing their lawns on ride on's.As we drove further into the countryside the settlements became smaller and we started to notice couples sitting on their front porch enjoying a drink or something watching the world go by on NC-561.We travelled thru towns with names like Louisburg,Wood,Centreville and Hollister.
As we travelled on towrads Virginia the fields changed to crops of cotton which is starting to mature and the plants are covered in white balls which look quite attractive.
Stopped in a General Dllar store and brought a gallon of water,Little Debbies etc all for $1 each...cheap as chips!!
Soon we hit the I-95 near Roanoke Radids and then the Vrginia state line was there and the Welcome Centre.These places are a mine of information and we picked up all the discount books available for the motels on our trip on this side of the country.
We decided on Emporia for the night and pulled into an empty looking Super8.The front desk clerk was really helpful and gave us a better rate than the discount book because we were AA members.She gets the BIG tick !!
Then it was downtown to the WalMart Supacentre to top up the larder.Found an 8% beer for $4.74 a doz cans..far out !! and it tastes alright...cold.Dined on chinese with 2 for $5 and a starter of Bundins,cheesy and ham things that were quite tasty but not as good at TGI potato skins.
The weather remains fine although overcast at times during th day and a little cooler than the west coast but still warm and ctually a nicer temp when you are travelling.

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