A Living Magazine - Day 269 - Homecoming - Chartwell to Wake Forest

I woke up, packed up and was on the road by 7:30 a.m. The sun was just about to rise about the horizon...

Even though the sign says "Wake Forest 10" the neighborhood

where Jeff's family lived was only about four miles from the sleep spot.

 A look back at the signs for Route 50, the road running perpendicular to 98.

It is so strange lately... I keep seeing my Nomad symbol in different places.

The only thing missing in this one is the dot over the middle.

Along the sides of the road were these orange Wake County trash bags from; the clean up of organizations (Scouts, prisoners, non-profit groups, etc.). Nice to see that the county cares.

I got to the store across from my cousin Jeff's road and shortly after he swung by and picked me up. We went back to his house where I took a shower and did a laundry. It was a work day for him, so I too worked. Some time later in the afternoon Natalie his wife came home and I finally had a chance to meet her. These are very, very nice people. We hit it off immediately. We all share the same sense of humor which made it all really fun.

Natalie offered to bring me to Wal-Mart to buy some supplies and then pick me up around 5:30 p.m. at the library, when she would be bringing her son Spencer home from piano lessons...

I easily found what I needed at Wal-Mart and left to walk the two and a half miles to the library, taking photos along the way...

This really reminded me of a New England church building.

Iridescent windows on a business that appeared to have been a renovated old house. 

When I arrived at the library I saw this...

Porsche 911 GT3 ($179.000)

Not sure why I am regularly teased by these incredible sports cars?

The library was quite small but nice...

I worked for a while but wasn't quite able to finish my post for the day. The time came for me to go outside and wait for Natalie to swing by while I took some shots around the library...

Flowering Plum (Prunus americana) v. Purple Leaf

Holly leaves.

Natalie pulled in with Spencer and we headed back to their house. Once there, I worked for a while longer getting the day's post out. 

Spencer had been following my project through his parents and he and I had some good talks about what I do. He also has an incredibly extensive LEGO collection--which was evidenced by the large and complex Millennium Falcon and other intricate pieces in the living room, which he offered to show me upstairs in his room...

I was blown away!

He also showed me his large Hot Wheels collection. It reminded me of when I used  to collect and play with Matchbox cars as a kid. I liked Spencer and we had a lot to talk about in the next few days. Nice little guy! 

Natalie made an incredible shrimp and grits meal; something I'd never had before. It was out of this world delicious. I think we each had seconds.

Later after dinner, Spencer went to bed and the three of us had a terrific time talking. I really felt like we had known each other and been friends for years. It was such a different and relaxing time after all this walking. I have to say that I was quite satisfied with having completed the goal of walking all the way from Anderson, South Carolina when I first solidified plans with Jeff to head there. Also gratifying was the knowing that I had walked the entire way to Wake Forest from Athens, Georgia where I'd arrived back on the Eastern Seaboard, a little over three months and three hundreds miles earlier.

All of the travel had been worth it. And, it was only the first of several days of recuperation and socialization, with a very special treat still to come. They set me up on the futon in Jeff's office where I easily fell asleep.