I went home to South Carolina this past weekend and it was exactly what I needed. I left Oxford at 5 and finally got into Greenville around 12:30. Kentucky is a deceivingly tall state. Some highlights of the trip included seeing a car spon in several circles and eating Chick-Fil-A.Right as I cross over the I-75 bridge into Kentucky the car in front of me slammed on their brakes. I look up ahead in the road to see a car spinning in circles. He started off in the far left lane and spun through all of the lanes to the right, narrowly avoiding getting t-boned by a truck, missed hitting a streetlight by less than a foot, and ended up in the grass beside the highway. I have never seen a car wreck so a small part of my mind thought about what it would have looked like. The rest of the drive was rather uneventful and I got to stop and eat some Chick-Fil-A in Lexington. It was the first I Chick-Fil-A I have had in months. I don't know how I went so long without it. The only other stop I made after that was to take a picture of the "Welcome to South Carolina" sign. Call me a dork if you want.
I spent Friday in Clemson visiting my grandparents. Each time I drive into Clemson I am reminded how much I love it there. Every time I drive in, I find myself thinking about what it would have been like to go to school there and how different I would be because of it. I don't have any regrets and I wouldn't trade my undergraduate experience for anything, but I can't help but think about it. Maybe if I get lucky, there will be an opportunity to go to Clemson for graduate school. We shall see. I stopped and walked on campus a bit and took some pictures of Tillman Hall and saw the football stadium.
On my way out of Clemson, I finally picked up a beer glass with the tiger paw on it to add to my collection. Now, I only have a few more glasses to go to complete it. I also picked up some clemson shorts to wear around.
On Friday night, I took my mom out to the Pita House in Greenville. (http://www.frommers.com/destinations/greenvillesc/D46513.html).
Pita House is amazing. I had the lamb plate with rice, pita bread, and a salad. It is in a very nondescript building on a rather unimpressive stretch of road, but is a great and cheap place for dinner. Check it out the next time you are in Greenville.
On Friday night, I took my mom out to the Pita House in Greenville. (http://www.frommers.com/destinations/greenvillesc/D46513.html).
Pita House is amazing. I had the lamb plate with rice, pita bread, and a salad. It is in a very nondescript building on a rather unimpressive stretch of road, but is a great and cheap place for dinner. Check it out the next time you are in Greenville.
The next day, I took my mom up to the mountains to go hiking. We dediced on a 2 mile hike to Falls Creek Falls. It seemed to be uphill the whole way there. The review I read online said that it was a little hilly, but a nice moderate hike. It was a great hike but it seemed like we were climbing the mountain, not walking up it.
After about two hours of hiking we made it to the falls and sat and relaxed. The water level was a little down but the falls were still impressive. There was a nice breeze coming off the bottom of the falls and I could have sat there for hours.
On the hike back down I ran across a few interesting things. On a rock in a small stream there was this frog. He just sat on the rock while I snapped several pictures of him. My mom was less than pleased when I mentioned the frog would make a very nice meal for a snake.
A few hundred yeards from the frog, I stopped for a water break and heard a rustling in the leaves. Upon closer inspection, I saw this bug dragging a spider. I think the bug is some form of wasp and had killed the spider. Who knows what a wasp does with a very large spider after it kills it.
All in all this weekend was exactly what I needed to kick the wanderlust into high hear for the coming semester of travelling. I am going to make it a point to do more outside activities this semester. The hike was really amazing.
More to come soon. I will be driving to Flint, Michigan next week for a training visit for the new consultants. If anyone has an extra bullet proof vest laying around may I please borrow it?
