A process of elimination

We headed on a sort of southeast bearing this morning, bound for Savannah.  The purpose for this jaunt is Tal's 3rd Army Reserve Rifle Team reunion.  Tal knows much of the state of South Carolina because of his years with the highway patrol, but today we entered territory even new to him -- and all new to me.

Having programmed the Garmin with the address of the hotel where we'll be staying the four nights we're away from home, I had not consulted a map prior to setting out.  As I drove -- beyond Aiken to New Ellenton, then around the Savannah River Site to Barnwell and on to Allendale -- I began to notice a growing sense of something I couldn't quite latch onto.
 
Passing through Cave (yes, there is a community with that name in South Carolina), my thoughts began to formulate.  Tal and I are in the process of a downsizing relocation.  Given the economic climate it's taking longer than we had anticipated.  So, we're simply enjoying the lovely place we call home and keeping our eyes and minds open to any circumstance that begs our attention.  And, fact is, we don't precisely know where we'd like to end up anyway.
 
Today I managed to eliminate a few of the possibilities.  Like, well, Cave for a start.  And, Fairfax, Gifford, Luray, Scotia, Garnett, Tarboro, Tillman to name a few others (all in South Carolina, by the way).  I know for many thousands of people rural Aiken, Barnwell, Allendale, Hampton and Jasper counties -- those counties along the Savannah River -- hold special appeal, but I can pretty completely count them out.  Even though my newly identified feeling abated slightly as we neared Savannah and the terrain took on more of a lowcountry look, with live oaks and Spanish moss, I didn't find myself the least bit tempted to temper my assessment.
 
Now, I can enjoy being in Savannah with Tal's friends without having to wonder if this is the place.  I suppose without even having made a formal decision, our thoughts of mid-to-upstate were on target all along.