a simpler time * a sweeter place * a lesson * a laugh * a father and a son

That's a quote from the TV Guide describing The Andy Griffith Show and reproduced on a plaque at the base of this statue:


Andy's hometown is Mt. Airy, North Carolina. I learned this because during Labor Day weekend, the local TV station in the Havelock area did a feature story about the town and the Andy Griffith Museum. I did a bit more research and learned that the nearby town of Pilot Mountain was his actual inspiration for Mayberry, but since Mt. Airy is where he grew up, it lays claim to the tourist business generated by the show. A few of us photo opportunists took turns taking pictures of each other with the statue. 

On the way to Mt. Airy, I saw a dome-shaped mountain up ahead. They're fairly common in Southwest Arizona, but I wasn't expecting to see one in North Carolina. I stopped and took a photo of the mountain (with the obligatory crepe myrtle tree) and of the plaque that goes with it.



Sure enough, the blurb about geology mentions both quartzite and quartz, both of which are common in Southwest Arizona.

After entering Virginia, I was surprised to see a really serious tunnel -- almost a mile long -- through Big Walker Mountain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Walker_Mountain_Tunnel and 20 miles later the East River Mountain Tunnel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_River_Mountain_Tunnel which felt twice as long as the first one, but was only about 1200 feet longer. To compare, I was surprised to learn that the tunnel I've been through the most times in my life, the Caldecott Tunnel is almost as long as the Big Walker Mountain tunnel at about 3600 feet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_River_Mountain_Tunnel. 

Traffic on Labor Day was crazier than I prefer, reminding me of highway 17 to Santa Cruz when it's flowing at top speed, but after I got on the West Virginia Turnpike it calmed down enough that I could relax a bit. I suspect that the tolls helped out.

I've got a pretty intense case of get-home-itis, and hotel reservations dictating how far to drive every day, so roadside diversions aren't that interesting at this phase of my trip. I will still try to do something enjoyable every day.





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