Clouds!

We started our way home today from Amelia Island, and what a miserable ride home it was! It rained a slow steady rain with 15-20kt winds and low ceilings all day Friday, but Saturday morning came, and the ceilings were higher and the rain was gone! After a couple of delays, Beth & I were on our way north. However, the 6500ft ceilings around JAX went down to 3500 around Savannah, and they stayed low all the way through South Carolina. So, we spent about 2 hours bouncing along at 1800-2500ft in the warm turbulent air. Not exactly the kind of weather you want to fly in, but we were headed home, so since it was clear under the clouds (30-50 mile visibility), we kept on plugging. After 2.4 hours of flying, we landed at Anson County (KAFP) for fuel and a break and to check the weather. I had XM in the cockpit, but when you're flying the airplane with two hands, it's kind of hard to be playing with the MFD. I need voice activation! So, on the ground, I looked at the XM weather and dialed up the NOAA website and was thoroughly discouraged with the prospects. We decided to head around north of Charlotte towards Bristol, TN. It looked as if the clouds were thinner over there and we might be able to sneak home through Kentucky and by way of Dayton/Cincinnati. About 35 miles from Bristol over the appalachians, I was at 9500ft and had the following view of towering clouds.
Actually, this is looking back towards some of the clouds as we were descending into Hickory, NC. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the clouds were towering, and since I was at 9500 already, I really didn't feel like trying to keep climbing and then end up in a bad place where I was VFR on top, and then trying to find a hole down through turbulent thunderstorms/rainclouds.....it didn't look good, and I knew that it was clear (albeit hazy) from where I had just come. So, we headed downhill to Hickory, and are going to hang around and see what this town is like. We had a nice dinner at Carabba's, an Italian chain, and are bedding down for the weekend at the Marriot Courtyard. Firm ground, 76 channels, a pool, a hot tub, a comfortable wife, and Ohio State is going to that national championship! Life is good.