North Carolina, what an amazing place. It was worth the four-day drive. Not only have the people proven to be amazing, but the scenery is absolutely astounding. Even without leaving the city limits, you can find yourself surrounded by vast, sprawling landscapes, centuries-old forests, and enormous lakes that stretch as long and as wide as you could desire.

In the past few weeks, I've had the good fortune to visit some of the parks within the Durham/Raleigh city limits. Back home in the Central Valley of California, I would have had to drive for an hour and a half to find scenes like this in the mountains. I'm impressed with NC's dedication to preserving wildlife and their natural habitats, these 100+ sq. mile parks take precedence, and the cities must build themselves around the parks, rather than sacrificing park space for housing or retail. I had asked Jamie Thornton a month or so ago when I was planning the move out here how far one had to drive in order to go camping. I figured it would be at the very least an hour or two. Believe me when I say I was shocked to find out that it wasn't any more than a 15-minute drive down the highway to Jordan Lake where you could find yourself completely set apart from the modern world, relaxing and enjoying mother earth's natural beauty. I haven't gone camping yet (too darn hot!), but I am definitely looking forward to it.

My praise continues for the people of North Carolina - over two weeks here and I still have yet to find a person who isn't perfectly sweet, or at the very least aptly respectful. I'm learning to slow my life down to their pace, the 55 mile an

hour speed limits are definitely doing their best to train me in their ways. North Carolina is rich with experiences to be claimed, and I'm excitedly anticipating finding out more about life out here on the east coast. It looks as if I have the new job well in hand, so if it proves to be God's will for me, I'm looking forward to sharing more of my travels and the sights here.