Random thoughts...

I have random thoughts just bashing away at the walls of my skull, so where better to let them loose than a blog? :P

I know that Chas already posted about the horrors that we faced on I-75 last Sunday, coming up into Georgia to visit his brother, Micah and family in Pine Mountain, GA. We actually had 3 bad areas, but none so bad as what we faced in Georigia. The first was outside of Gainesville, FL with no rhyme or reason that we could see, but we were held up in that for about 45 minutes or so. When that cleared up, we went for a short distance and hit another round of stopped traffic. Grrr!!! This time, once we got past it, we could see a multi-car pile up. We got going at a good clip for a while, and then in Georgia, we got stopped AGAIN. We finally pulled off and ate dinner in King Frog (Adel, GA), learned that it was backed up at least 10 miles ahead, so we whipped it out...our handy dandy ATLAS (tm). Found an alternate route to put us up much further up on I-75, bypassing by far the stopped traffic. We saw some deer on that route, in addition to lots of tiny towns, so that was neat. Our route should have put us up about 60 miles north of where we got off the interstate, and when we got there, it was bumper to bumper again!!

We decided to call Micah at this point and tell him what mess we were in on I-75 and we mapped out another alternate route. I decided though, to look online to see if there was anything there that would tell us what was going on, using Chas' iPhone. And hooray iPhone indeed, since I found the Georgia Navigator site, which mentioned construction delays from Valdosta, GA to Cordele, GA which is close to 100 miles away! We were actually a few exits away from Cordele, so we toughed it out and once past that, it was relatively smooth sailing as they say. So here goes MY letter:

Dear Georgia,

WTF??!! Seriously, WTF??!! Construction on I-75 during "normal" driving hours, on a Sunday, bringing cars to a halt for nearly 100 miles, causing delays for hours, WITH NO WARNING THAT THE DELAYS WOULD BE HOURS LONG AND THAT WE SHOULD TRY TO FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE? Yeah, gonna say it again...WTF??!!

Sincerely,
Jaded in Georgia

Ok, so there is my rant. Not as wordy as Chas' letter, and we know he can be wordy, but I had to get out my frustrations as well. Even if my vocabulary is not as extensive as his. Tee hee.
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Lesson for the future:

Just take the clothes to a laundromat rather than try to use the hotel's ONE washer and dryer. Unless you are the first in line. Otherwise you will end up wasting half the day waiting in line to use it. Written from experience today.
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Can't wait to get to Asheville! The details of that leg of the trip keep getting better and better! Spending time with Jim and Sue, and their dog Raina is always fun, but the ante has been upped, shall we say. Our friends Tom and Elisa are driving their RV over from Raleigh, and our friend Richard and his sister are coming in town too! The Blue Ridge Corn Maze is on the books, assuming none of us are too pooped out, though we will be going there from Cornelia, GA which is only a few hours away, so I don't think we will be pooped. Stop planned at the Spring Ridge Creamery once again. This time it will be on the right side of the road and easier to get to.

I can't wait to hear Tom and Elisa's stories of getting the RV up the mountain...they ought to have fun with that. It'll be fun having EIGHT adults all crammed into Jim and Sue's cozy, but tiny house. :P



We won't all be sleeping there, just me and Chas. Tom and Elisa will be in their RV, while Richard and Tina will be staying in a nearby hotel. But I envision getting in a clown car if we all go in the house at once to watch a little telly or something. Tee hee hee. The place is perfect for 2 people, but it will certainly be a bit crowded with 8 people.

All in all, it looks like a very fun and eventful (and at the very least memorable) weekend. Still just over a week away, as this weekend is in Huntsville, AL and then most of next week in Cornelia, GA. I know we are backtracking, but it is only a little, and for a specific reason. Depending on how things go in Cornelia, we might leave a little early to go to Asheville.

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I am beginning to regret having mailed off my winter clothes to Seattle. But I had little choice, I think, as there wouldn't have been room in the van. It is jam packed. Clearly I will need something much warmer than what I brought with me before we get to Victoria. Before we get to Chicago even. I think what I have will hold me over til we get to DC, maybe even Pittburgh or Columbus...guess it depends on what the weather decides to do. Right now it has decided to be a little chilly. In Maitland today, the high is supposed to be 90F, whereas in Atlanta here the high is supposed to be 69F. It looks like it will warm up a little later on this week and into the weekend, and what I have with me will be ok for the next few weeks I feel sure.

Definitely glad I did that last minute purge and opened up some room for a few fleece tops. Still, I may have to scour some thrift stores for extra sweaters and long sleeved shirts, and maybe a warmer coat. Not that I need any more wool coats since I just mailed my two wool coats to Seattle, but this wool-blend toggle coat has caught my eye. Maybe it will go on sale later on in the trip and make it more affordable, but $98 is too steep for me right now. I will probably need warmer shoes or boots too. Twist my arm? Go on, do it. I want to shop. :P

It is definitely going to be cold by the time we arrive in the Pacific Northwest area in late November. I was feeling a bit kuckoo crazy for wanting to move to a colder climate (even though Victoria is the mildest climate in Canada, it will still be colder than Maitland), but my friend Samantha cheered me up. She has lived in New England her whole life, and is actually a descendent from the Mayflower through the Nickerson family...can't remember the other family. Oh well, anyhow, I was chatting with her today, talking about the drop in temperature here today, from what it was yesterday, and I asked her how she copes with the cold. She said...

"I spend a good couple months freezing and cursing the damned weather, then it evens out until the next fall."

She said that even living there her whole life, she still gets cold in the winter, so I don't have to feel as bad about being a sissy to the colder winter. She assured me that I will acclimate a little more, once we get to Victoria and go through a few seasons. I might still curse the damned weather too, but maybe my breaking point for freezing will gradually lower and I will not be as much of a sissy as I am now. One can hope. Still a bit on the pricy side, but this jacket is supposed to be warmer than it looks so it would probably be good for sissies like me. At least I won't *look* like a sissy in the cold with that, being deceptively warmer than it looks. :P In the mean time...spiking my drinks seems to be the best way to go for now...amaretto coffee anyone?? :P
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Not much else happened today. Chas had our SIL's Ford dealer take a look at the van since it has warranty til the end of the month, just making sure it is all good for our long trip across the country. Spent WAY too much time doing laundry. I think maybe lying down in a bit with my honey, snuggling and cuddling and relaxing is next on the agenda. :) Then dinner a little later, maybe back at that Canadian-themed place down the road, Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. EDIT: We had dinner at Kiku...a Japanses Steakhouse with sushi...pretty good I might add!