Nov 12 - 16th Atlanta and North 8600 mi or so...

The "Chateau"

Yes, by the fire, in our robes. What a world!

     Oh, what song should I dedicate to Meg and my four days in Georgia? So many great ones to choose from...The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Sittin on the Dock of the Bay ..... neither event happened fortunately. Ah, Georgia On My Mind, perfect. While Meg earned her living at Coca Cola on Thursday I tended to the mundane tasks of oil changes, car wash, grocery shopping. I actually cooked dinner for the first time in eight weeks.  Friday we were off to the "Chateau Elan" in Braselton about 40 minutes northeast of Atlanta. Point of trivia, this is the town that Kim Bassinger "bought" in 1989.  Anyway, its a lovely spot with hiking and bike trails, winery and spa. We partook of all these activities. The wine tasting was unique in that the wines were pretty awful. I think every state in the country has gotten on the wine bandwagon in hopes that fools passing thru will taste, get giddy and buy it up. We weren't so easily fooled. The group went wild for the "muscadine". I'm getting mean. The pampering was lovely.

     So we had several fun days of furniture shopping (at the" Savvy Snoot", great name) and dining together and with Megs buddies. Sunday was the kickball league at Piedmont Park followed by brunch with friends. It wasn't tough to tear myself from the bottomless mimosas but I was sad to hug Meg goodbye. The visits to  Meg and Betsy are what I hung this trip around. So glad the holidays are around the corner and all the kids will be home.
     Off I went on a three hour drive to Aiken SC to visit with my cousin Blair and her husband Warren Koehl. They live in this lovely town for most of the year. It is just over the border from Augusta GA and is both horse country and golf. The leaves were still changing and it reminded me of New England but for the occasional field of cotton and palm trees. Our two days together were full of great dining, seeing the sights and most importantly, catching up with each other lives.

  If you've been paying attention or just counting the days until this is over and you don't have to read the friggin blog anymore, you know that this is my last night on the road. Tomorrow my road music playlist will surely be blasting loudly, esp. the song "Six Days on the Road and I'm Gonna Make it Home Tonight."(Sawyer Brown). In my case, 56 days and nights. Fifty days of sunshine, four days of clouds, two days of rain. It poured today as I was driving up from Aiken SC to Staunton, VA. where I'm staying at my last "historic" hotel, the Stonewall Jackson. There was a major accident just as I crossed into Virginia because of the dense fog.The highway was closed in both directions and all the traffic diverted to one tiny side road. As I sat tapping my fingers on the window sill I got to chatting with a lady observing the chaos from her yard. Fortunately she headed me off on a shortcut (thru Fancy Gap VA)  back to the highway and the delay probably added an hour to the trip but it could have been much worse.  I googled it to find out what had happened:

     WYTHEVILLE, VA. — Police say two people are dead and 20 are injured following multiple crashes involving about 50 vehicles on a     foggy stretch of Interstate 77 in southwestern Virginia.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said dozens of troopers and emergency workers were working to clear vehicles from the interstate. She says some were stacked on top of one another and tractor-trailers jackknifed or turned on their sides. At least half of the vehicles involved were commercial.Geller says heavy fog reduced visibility to zero.

   It was pea soup and Blairs advice NOT to take the Blue Ridge Highway was very wise. I'd still be up there. The weather gods seem to be taking revenge on me on my last 48 hours. There are actually tornado warnings here in Staunton tonight although it seems quite calm outside. (Am I in Kansas?) It seemed fitting to be driving on a gloomy day as frankly I'm very sad my trip is coming to an end. Certainly I'm weary and looking forward to home, Riley, seeing the kids at Thanksgiving,  but I will miss this adventure. Anyway, I will write more about that later.

The bridge!

    Just a few more stories before I say goodnight. I stopped in Charlotte for a cup of coffee with Peter....it was that or the National Nascar Museum. (Just kidding, couldn't resist.)  My only other stop but for traffic jams was at the Natural Stone Bridge near Lexington VA. As I wrote way back when I started this trip, I owe my love of driving and road trips to my Dad. On that infamous drive from Syracuse to Dallas in 1959  I was told to "look it up " as we drove by the Stone Bridge. I don't think I ever did "look it up" so in honor of Dad I stopped in the rain about 4:00 and took a peak. I'm sure he was watching it with me.