SNOW BIRDING SEASON ENDS--

* Gasp *

We got up that recent morning in Statesville, NC and it was 49 degrees.  That was downright polar to us after spending the last four months in Vero Beach, FL.

Long pants and socks felt entirely foreign after frolicking the winter away in sub-tropical weather with shorts and sandals--everyday.

"Should we turn around," I mused?  Sue raised an eyebrow and nodded a silent "Yes".  It was a tempting but fleeting thought.

Statesville is just north of Charlotte and was our overnight stop enroute Ohio.

Later that morning we were near Beckley, WV on I-77 and decided to stop and explore the highly touted Tamarack facility; a very modern outlet for the state's artisans.

Sue and I both had been curious about the place (above) but in our combined 130-plus years of life's travel, had never found it convenient to stop.

It's worth the hour or so to visit.  The facility is clean and modern; worthy of being a venue to showcase the people's art and crafts.

As a nice touch, about a half dozen of the state's artists work in permanent residence there.  Their studios flank the perimeter of the circular facility and allow visitors to see creativity in progress.

"That's one I can remove from my 'bucket list'," Sue chimed as we headed to the site's fuel service.  They have what looks like a fine restaurant too.

The trip home was uneventful--except for the half dozen or so predictable idiots whose maniacal driving was a disaster waiting to happen.

It was a thousand plus miles of watching sandy soil change to red clay then the rich brown humus familiar to Ohioans.

Palm trees morphed into pines--much to my chagrin--but it was interesting to note increasingly less leaf development on the deciduous trees as we rolled north.

I felt like a stranger in my own home as I was unpacking and reassembling myself.  I couldn't find my scissors, for example.  After four months of having them in a camper's drawer, I orbited my kitchen/dining area pondering their location in my Ohio digs.

Finally I remembered.  Glad no one was watching!