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A relaxing drive brought us over the border with Virginia and to the tiny town of Mouth of Wilson. Paul and I recognized the name but couldn't place where we'd heard it until we saw the one claim to fame of this crossroads: Oak Hill Academy, a boarding school best known (at least among sports fans like Paul and me) for its stellar basketball program, with alumni like Jerry Stackhouse, Carmelo Anthony, and Rod Strickland (ESPN has a nice profile). Coming upon this little place is the kind of thing that would never happen if we stuck to the interstates.

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After an overnight in Hickory, NC, we took a scenic Sunday drive up to Blowing Rock and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were joined on our trip by a large contingent of Christian motorcyclists. We wished they were in church on Sunday morning rather than puttering up the hill two by two. Anyway, our trip along the Blue Ridge was dandy, and was followed by an equally scenic drive on state highways near the source of the New River, which, ironically, is considered among the oldest rivers in the world.