DAY 10 – Visiting Mike & Beth Everton in Lynchburg VA
Today, we are heading north on our 1,500-mile loop. One of Beth’s cousins, Mike Everton, lives in Lynchburg VA with his wife, Beth. Two Mike & Beth couples. At least I will (hopefully) remember names – not one of my strongest points.
After a good breakfast at the hotel in Durham, we headed north on Rt 501, a nice divided 4-lane with not much traffic. It also goes through some interesting small towns. Much nicer than taking the Interstates! We arrived in Lynchburg around 11:30 and met Mike & Beth at a First Watch restaurant for lunch. We’ve never visited one before, but were very pleased. It was a nice day, so we chose to eat out on the patio. Beth and both had salads, since we had been eating so much seafood the past week.
It was nice to meet Mike and Beth Everton (Left) in Lynchburg. Mike’s mother (Jean) and “my” Beth’s mother (Joyce) were sisters. Beth had not seen Mike for many years, so it was a good chance to catch up on family. Mike and I also shared many stories from our time in the military. It was especially nice to meet his wife, Beth.
Confused yet? Maybe we should label ourselves as Beth 1 and Beth 2, Mike 1 and Mike 2, eh???
After lunch, they invited us over to their beautiful home. We enjoyed the tour of their home and getting to know them better. Hope we can meet up again soon!
Soon, it was time to head north to Staunton. We took the scenic route, getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoying the scenic overlooks. There was almost no traffic, which is quite a change from the summertime bumper-to-bumper traffic.
House Mountain overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Dark clouds approaching!
Just a few miles north, we stopped for the Buena Vista overlook. Getting gray and cloudy.
Another overlook with the Buena Vista area in the distance. By now, there were more dark clouds rolling in.
As we exited the Blue Ridge Parkway and neared Staunton, a very hard rainstorm hit us. Traffic on the Interstate slowed to 30 MPH and we could only see maybe 30-40 feet in front of the car. Luckily, there was a large truck ahead to follow. I told Beth it was good to wash off the salt under the car from our week at the beach. Soon, the rain slowed down and we found our hotel.
The hotel was out by itself, with not much around. We were hungry for supper. The guy in the gas station next door pointed to the Hometown Grill and Buffet next door. I wasn’t expecting anything great, but I just wanted to get something to take back to the room. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a nice buffet as well as a to-go menu. I ordered two grilled chicken sandwiches for us. When we opened them up at the room, they were amazing! Very delicious and LOTS of meat. Maybe one of the best chicken sandwiches I ever ate!
With tummies full, it was time to rest. Tomorrow, we finish our 11-day “40th Anniversary Adventure.”
Proceed to DAY 11
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