Detours

It was not the way I planned it... on our way home, an emergency sign broadcast this message: "I-95 closed at Exit 15. Use alternate routes."

Close an Interstate highway? What's up with that?

But I am a seasoned traveler on this section of I-95. We have to travel it every time we go to the beach... I love getting there. I hate driving it!

I know the best places to stop and refuel, where there's clean bathrooms (usually!) and what time of day to try and get through the Richmond-DC corridor without too much stress. I had my stops planned out, and getting off at the next exit was NOT in the plan. But I did it anyway, because I knew to keep traveling meant that I would be at the mercy of the detour decreed by the NC Highway Department, instead of planning my own route.

After refueling, getting a quick snack, consulting my maps (AND buying some fresh peaches!) we headed off on a short backroads tour of the South Carolina - North Carolina border. I didn't know WHY I was doing this detour. I just did it.

We saw lovely small towns. A cypress swamp with egrets and (I think) alligators. Farmland. Closed mills and the suffering of the infrastructure of the town (bad roads, abandoned buildings.) Zigging and zagging, we finally headed back towards I-95, only to discover one of the reasons the road was closed - a wild fire! By this morning, over 800 acres had burned and the visibility on I-95 and Route 74 was so bad that there were several fatal accidents...

But I didn't know any of that at the time. I decided to roll with it and got a little visual reminder of why it's good to "obey the signs" God (or the highway authority) provides...

I'm just thinking on that one today as I travel...

Deb