Last night, I called my friend Kathy McGrath to let her know we were coming by today, but found out she was not going to be available. Since we didn’t have to travel to the southeastern section of South Carolina, I decided to take another opportunity to spend some time at my brother’s near Atlanta. I really hate I-95 that much, enough to add a few hours to my trip to avoid it.
In preparation for this morning, I hitched up my camper last night. Can you believe it only took about 15 – 20 minutes. It’s almost like I know what I’m doing. Well, with the possible exception of how NOT to pick up a sway bar. I sat on my trusty green bench and picked up the sway bar, cradling it in my lap. Esther started to warn me about something on the bar and the next thing I know, rusty water is pouting out of it onto my lap. What a mess! Rusty water everywhere. But I’m still encouraged about how fast I was able to hitch up.
If you’ll recall I mentioned we would be going out to dinner last night. Well, in this I was NOT disappointed. Esther, her daughter Dawn, Dawn’s husband Paul, their two sons Nathan and Daniel and I went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Was it ever good! I think I like it better than Longhorn or Outback. The fried dill pickles were great, the service was wonderful, the steak was sizzling and cooked perfectly and the baked potato, cooked in salt and served with a liberal amount of sour cream and butter, was absolutely without equal. Yummy!
We had a great time at dinner and then proceeded home to watch the movie Jumper.
We got up early this morning and headed for Atlanta – about 7 am. Everything went smoothly until about an hour and a half into the journey when we saw a sign that indicated there was an accident about 5 miles ahead. Sure enough, before you could blink, traffic started to back up. We crept along for the entire 5 miles until we saw a tow truck loading a crushed car – small and totaled – onto a flatbed tow truck. I can’t believe anyone survived.
By the time we got by the accident, we both were ravenous and started looking for a place to eat. Soon, a Cracker Barrel sign said to get off at the next exit. We pulled in, but didn’t see a place to park the truck and camper so I drove around intending to go around the back and park along the other side. Wonder of wonders, the drive was blocked – it did not go through. I HAD TO BACK UP! I jumped out and loosened the sway bar which you are supposed to do if you back up. (Also, this delayed the time when I had to back up.
Well, I was doing a pretty good job of backing up when what to my surprise, two cars tried to go by me and around the back of the building too. Not enough I have to back up the trailer, but I had to contend with people just as short-sided as I was. In short order, I backed up the camper and we started on down the road.
In the next exit or two, there was a sign for an IHOP, but we never found it. We finally found a sign for Hardee’s and went about 3 miles off the road until we found it. By then we were both starving. I had bacon and egg biscuit and Esther had the loaded biscuits and gravy, which includes NOT 1 BUT 2 sausage patties and 2 helpings of eggs in addition to a biscuit and gravy. She ate everything except half of a biscuit.
At the store next door we got a couple of 12-packs of diet, caffeine-free Sun Drop. While in college in the late sixties, Esther and I both fell in love with Sun Drop (I think it had twice the caffeine of Mountain Dew, if you can believe it), but it’s hard to find, especially in Florida. Anyway, we stocked up today.
The rest of our trip to my brother’s was uneventful except for a stop at Abbott’s in Gaffney to pick up some peach cider. Oh, and some idiot nearly ran into us when he swerved in front of us. The Lord just have moved my truck just in time.
Tonight we had a great dinner courtesy of my sister-in-law and the Macaroni Grill and then watched TV.
Tomorrow, it’s back to Florida.
Until next time…
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