Last night we spent the night in Aiken, South Carolina and traveled in South Carolina until about 5:00 this evening when we crossed the North Carolina state line.  Folks, we are only two states away from Pennsylvania!  The end of our trek is in sight.  Are we sad?  Are we bored yet?  Are we tired of touring?  Would we do this kind of crazy trip again?  I think I'll just wait a bit before I tell you the answers.  Mean, aren't I?

We passed through a lot of cropland today.  There were cotton fields showing open cotton bolls but not ready for harvest, lots of peach orchards like the above picture shows.  Also, we passed through an area that was growing a lot of peppers.  Many of the peppers were red so I don't know if they are just overripe or special pimento peppers.  The smell of peppers was strong on the breezes that came through the car.

Another old gas station to add to my village!  This one looks like it is from the Model T era.  Our E-M-F would have been right at home when this was a new building.  That shows you just how old our car is.

Another old gas station, but probably from the 50's.  I think I'll take the one in the previous picture for my village.

View down one of our back roads today.  The further north we drive the more evidence we see of the changing of the seasons.  I was trying to identify those trees and plants that have already begun to change the color of their leaves.  I saw the yellow of sycamores, the bright red of sumac, every once in while the red orange of a few leaves on a maple.  Some of the leaves of wild grape vines have begun to turn yellow and so have a few leaves on tulip poplars.  Leaves on the dogwoods and redbuds have also begun to change.  The changes are not widespread, but the consistent deep greens we saw all summer are no longer with us.  The greens of the leaves that have not yet begun to turn are more a muddier, tired looking green.  All they need is a good cold snap and they will turn in a hurry into the glory that is fall in a hardwood forest.  

Tomorrow we'll be traveling through North Carolina and on into the lower reaches of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to Fancy Gap to visit with Clay Green's son and daughter-in-law who operate a campground.  We are really looking forward to seeing them and their new home.  The next day we'll be visiting in Charlotte County, Virginia where we lived for eight years before moving back to Pennsylvania.  So many good friends to see again!  I'm really looking forward to seeing them all.