Time Marches On...

Since I love country music, I like lots of different kinds but mostly listen to country, and they always talk about Georgia, Alabama, Texas, etc. I've been listening to all the different country stations as I go through the different states. The title is also a song and time has marched on. I can't believe its Wednesday already and I've been gone 12 days! Yesterday I made a quick stop at Duke University. I drove around campus for 15 minutes trying to find public parking and couldn't. Then I just pulled up in front of the chapel and asked the guard where I could park for just a few minutes to get some pics. He double clarified that it would be just a few minutes, then let me pull in and park right near the chapel. I was super grateful. Lesson today: don't ever be afraid to ask. (Lesson yesterday was always check for t.p. before going.)

I was taking pictures and this student stopped and asked if I wanted my picture taken and I thought perfect, I didn't even have to ask. (In all other pictures where I'm in the photo and not holding the camera, I've asked someone to take the picture, this was only my second offer.) I do wish I had asked him to take it long ways so my whole outfit and the whole chapel were both in the pic.

It is much more simple than cathedrals in Europe but I think it is still very beautiful. I kept thinking how lucky the students were to go to a school so old and inspiring. Just walking on the campus I felt smarter.

I love the Gothic (pointed at top) arch.

Side note: Uncle Rodney married his first wife here and mom as a bridesmaid walked down Duke's chapel aisle. So I made the long walk down that aisle yesterday.

Also off to the side of the front of the chapel is the burial place for Duke's founder and his two sons. One sad the wives are not with them and two, its a little weird that their rotted bones are now just sitting there. This has never been weird to me before but it struck me as odd yesterday.

I really loved North Carolina and the Raleigh/Triangle area. They call it the triangle because Duke, Chapel Hill, and another university are all really close and form a trianlge. It was gorgeous, weather was perfect, it smelled wonderful. AND on top of that I got blown a kiss as I drove out of the state. I've gotten more attention on this trip than the last year in Arizona. When I start job looking NC will be at the top of my list. So I was back on the road to West Virginia, Charleston to be exact. I went through the western side of Virginia and said hello to the trees and mountains and then good-bye only to find more trees and mountains in West Virginia.

I totally got car sick on the way to Charleston. The thick set of trees so you couldn't see anything but the road, the towering mountains on either side, the up and down, curving left and right and up and down and ALL over for almost three hours was hard. Normally if I'm driving and snacking I'm totally fine and a road like that is somewhat fun. Not at all this time. West Virginia is at the bottom of my list of places to live, I felt claustrophobic. And right as I got to Charleston the rain started.



I had to use the bathroom really bad but didn't want to get soaked before finding the 'public' entrance to the capital. I stalled and then just went to the first door I saw. Unlike the other capitals I have been to, no security, no bad check, nothing. I guess West Virginia doesn't care if their people get shot. Also the state animal is the Black Bear and these look like actual bears that were stuffed. A little creepy to me.

In the dome was this gorgeous chandelier ball, I wish my photos were better. I totally want something like that someday in my home, it was beatiful.

Here is the Senate seal.

With it being rainy and overcast, it actually made the pictures better, especially for the gold dome to show up. I also enjoyed walking around in the rain. I'm from Arizona I LOVE rain.

Weird thing I must have bruised the under/in-between my big toe and second toe with sandals because wearing my flip flops yesterday it HURT like I was stepping onto nails but in non-sandals I don't have that pain. Well it was not going to stop me, so I just took off my shoes and went barefoot. Have I told you how much I love posing and even MORE in the rain!

On the drive to Kentucky I saw a sign for Marshall University. I just saw We Are Marshall the true story made into a movie w/ Matthew McConaughey. Really good movie, I love true stories, I also love that they didn't win every game, it was about more than winning on the field, it was about playing. Anyways, totally loved the movie and so had to see the town and University since it was right there, Huntington, WV.

It was a small little campus, really cute. The town was bigger than I thought, but the homes and streets were so pretty.

Then a mile later I was into Kentucky. Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

The biggest reason I miss another person is for pictures like this. I took this while driving. It was difficult and through my front/dirty windshield. If I had someone else they could drive while I took photos of everything. I've seen so many beautiful, strange, funny, weird things and I can't get the photos because I'm driving. Welcome to Kentucky.