North Carolina

30^th Oct – Oxford, NC

We set off for the 240 mile drive east to Oxford NC just north of Durham, to stay with eldest daughter Louise for the next few weeks.  We drove the RV up the drive with just enough room to turn it around.  We then spent the next half hour trying to get it out of the mud as the gravel didn’t support the RVs full 12 tons.

The path.

For the first week or so we had some lovely warm sunny weather and Paul and Clarence were out doing odd jobs in the garden including laying paving bricks for a new garden path to the front door.

1^st Nov – Halloween Party

Scary

 

 

We were invited to a Halloween Party.  We had no costumes to wear so we improvised with some face paint……..

14^th Nov – THE Party

Tears of Joy

A proud Dad

It was Louise’s big Four Zero on the 13^th so we went out for a meal to celebrate.  However a surprise party had been in the planning for a couple of months for the following evening.  So on the pre-text of a girl’s night out, her friend Trudi took Louise and Alison to the local bar and restaurant, ‘Georges’, to meet a few friends for the evening. 

Unbeknown to Louise, Paul and Clarence had spent the afternoon at the airport collecting Fiona, a childhood friend she’d not seen for 9 years, and Rachel, Louise’s sister who had flown in from UK that day. 

Rachel, Louise, Fiona

An emotional reaction from Louise as the two of them walked into the bar totally unexpected. The party continued with many other friends in attendance until one in the morning with dancing and karaoke.

15^th Nov – The day after the Party

Empty Beer Tube in centre

Redneck bar

With the house prepared for the extra visitors for the night we spent the night in the RV.  Unfortunately a cold front had come in for the weekend and it was not the most cosy of nights for us. The day was spent inside the house chatting and catching up with news.  In the evening we went 10-pin bowling were they served beer in a "Tube".  On the way home we stopped at a Redneck Bar called ‘Munching Marvin’s’ (something along the lines of a local village pub in UK).  The entertainment not only included the singer with his guitar but also one of the locals chatting up Fiona(!).

16^th – 18^th Nov - Farewells

Fiona flew back to Colorado on 16^th and Rachel stayed for another two days before returning to UK on 18^th.  This was the first visit to North Carolina for Rachel and it was great to spend time with both the girls together.