Hi y,all! We have been in the Carolinas for a couple of weeks and are starting to talk funny! We don't care much for grits, but hush puppies are pretty good.

We took a day trip to the Agusta, GA area today and heard on the radio that Agusta was James Brown's hometown and the famous from the music world were all gathering there for his funeral tomorrow! We drove along the Savannah River and visited 2 dams. We got a little lost on the way home as it was dark and signs are hard to read. It also does not help that "home" keeps changing!

Yesterday we took a scenic drive along the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in upstate SC. We were actually at elevations over 3,000 feet. They almost look like mountains. We were surprised to see many huge wild rhododendrons! They are plentiful in certain higher elevations in both the Carolinas and must be beautiful in the spring. The evergreen trees are mostly pines and there are many "stick" trees this time of year with mistletoe (it's a parasite) growing in clumps on the high branches. It was a clear sunny day and beautiful.

There are hundreds of Baptist Churches in this area! They are usually attractive red brick buildings with white trim and white spires and, of course, a graveyard.

Christmas decorations are everywhere. The traditional plain green wreath with a red bow at the top accounts for about 95% of the wreaths. They are very dramatic on all of the white houses. There is not much diversity in decorating styles and all of the variations we do at home are rare here.