Travel Log: I95

There is something special about travelling on an interstate. It is almost like a transporter from Star Trek…or maybe warp speed: travel at ridiculous high speeds, trees sweeping past like stars in the sky, no connection to points along the way…only point A and point B. In order to maintain the illusion that nothing exists outside of the I95 corridor, ingenious evil masterminds plotted and planned rest stops interspersed along the road like a shiny oasis in the Sahara to keep the hapless traveller from venturing off the highway (and thereby discover something cool and totally get sidetracked away from their original trip).

It was at an oasis in North Carolina where the girls and I stopped for lunch that we discovered a Dr. Seuss-like turtle pond.

After we ate our picnic lunch we took a walk to the pond to stretch our legs. Excited to be out of the car for the first time in five hours, the girls enjoyed tossing pebbles and leaves into the water.
It was a nice little pond, it was clean and it was neat…the water seemed warm and the turtles…

OMG!! The turtles!!

Apparently, the turtles are used to people feeding them and as soon as the girls crouched down on the edge of the pond, the began swarming to us. It was like watching circus clowns trying to crawl into their mini car, each trying to claim shotgun. The turtles swam, crawled and pushed each other out of the way trying to get as close to shore as possible without actually touching the edge.

Without exaggeration, the girls and I counted over twenty turtles swarming in the shallows of the pond before we lost count. One especially cheeky little fellow grew oh so bold that it actually started to crawl out of the water and approach Ashleigh. I wasn't sure who was more surprised: Ashleigh with huge eyes, round and shiny, or the turtle, which after a moment or two seemed to suddenly realize that it was out of the water and Yikes! touching grass! And it quickly flipped itself around and plunked itself back into the pond.

All in all it was a lovely lunch and stretch break. None of the other rest stops were as interesting or as pretty...well except for the ones that had a Starbucks.

More Vacation 2009 to come.