Asheville, North Carolina to Ocala, Florida

Asheville
Nashville
Knoxville
Cooksville
Hendersonville
Statesville
Greenville
Carnesville
Gainesville
I could go on.....there seems to be a theme here.

We made a pledge before we left to avoid fast food on this trip. But this morning we made an exception for Bojangle's, the Southern version of McDonald's. Their slogan "gottawannaneedagettahava" trips off the tongue. The attraction is the hot fresh buttermilk biscuits they serve with every order. We're back on the wagon, but falling off tasted real good.

About 20 miles east of Atlanta is a memorial to the Confederacy in Stone Mountain Park. The mountain is a huge glob of granite that looks like a giant tossed his chewing gum into the deciduous forest. The granite runs ten miles deep into the earth. On one side is a 3 acre bas-relief carving of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis on horseback. There is a sky-ride to the mountain top with a good view of the carving on the way up (and down). They don't mention it at the park, but Stone Mountain has been a rallying point for the KKK. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech  includes the line:"let freedom ring from Stone Mountain in Georgia".

Of our three mountain carvings we decide Mount Rushmore is the most dramatic. Crazy Horse and Stone Mountain are both larger, but their mountainsides dwarf them.

We pass a dirty dump truck on the highway with "Jesus Won't Dump You" painted across the back.

When we step out of the car in Ocala we know we're in Florida because we can feel the air even though it isn't moving. It wraps around us like a warm wash cloth.

Running Odometer: 3718
States: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida  Total:14