We finally made it. I've unloaded the car, but haven't unpacked yet. The tomatoe plants appear to be in good shape, but one of my front door plants appears very neglected. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring it back to life.
August 2009 Archives
Just when things couldn't have gotten worse, we stopped at McDonalds for a (hopefully) final rest stop. I picked up a McFlurry, and Domino and Carolena got apple dippers. Marie got some kind of shake. Not soon after getting on the PA Turnpike, Domino threw up all over herself and the carseat. Wonderful. Will we ever make it home?
Just filled the tank in my Honda Odyssey, and I got over 24 miles per gallon! Nice! Guess that ECO thingy where they cut out half of the valves when I'm not accellerating really does help with fuel efficiency.
We decided to stop at Applebe's for lunch again because it was so good last time and I still had $3 left on my gift card. I was surprised to find that they didn't have the all-you-can-eat soup and salad like the other place. Weird.
Saw a sign for the Virginia Safari Park, and decided to stop. Why not?
Well, we went to pay, and they said "no dogs, no exceptions". I asked if that was against the law, and the lady said they were pivately owned and won't allow dogs on property, so I turned toward the exit. Marie is calling Canine Partners.
CPL said to stand our ground, so we went back to a different teller, but she knew it was us with the dog. We were told again that it was privately owned. Then we were told that if we have the dog in the car that the animals would tear up the car, break our windows, and kill our dog. What kind of animals do they have here that would do that? And has that actually happened before? I think they're full of crap. They said that they have turned other service dogs away and have had the sheriff come out. We decided to leave. I pulled up out of the way, and started blogging. Then some lady came out of the building and told me to leave. I said I would, eventually, and they could call the cops if they want. Then she stared coming closer, so I inched forward so she would think I was leaving, and then I stopped again. She demanded that I leave immediately, so I flipped her off. I pulle forward and stopped again, and then she called in the recruits, so I slowly pulled away. Jerks. I'll have to file a report with the Federal Department of Justice, and possibly sue.
-- Post From My iPhone
When Domino got in the car and put her styrofoam cup of milk in the cupholder, something punctured the bottom, and milk went everywhere. What a mess. We cleaned up as much as we could. I'm hoping it doesn't smell. And I hope this isn't a sign for how the rest of the trip will be.
Well, it's our final drive home today. Hopefully, it won't be too bad. Will be nice to get home, but not looking forward to the mess that we left there. I hope the tomatoe plants are still alive. (we did have somebody who was supposed to water them every day).
We didn't get to our hotel until about 8:30pm. Marie opted to eat some leftovers that we brought along. Carolena is with Mom and Dad. I have chosen to have a late dinner out with Domino. We ended up at El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant, and the food is excellent. I ordered El Favorito combination platter of a burrito and some other stuff, while Domino got a quesadilla with rice. We chose to eat outside, where we saw this gigantic praying mantis. No sure if you can tell from this picture, but it was at least 6" long.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
I stopped to get gas, and the guy at the pump across from me was filling up his pickup with a cockatoo on his shoulder. The bird was wearing a vest. I asked what it was for - he said it was for "poop". I thought it was because the bird was picking at it's feathers. Oh well. I think he tried to bring the bird in to the shop to pay for the gas, but then was told "no birds allowed" because he left, put the bird in his truck, and then went back in the shop.
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The first pit stop we made had a place that sold Georgia Peaches. I stopped in and bought a whole case for $28. I'll be bringing a bunch in for my coworkers and giving some to friends. Probably freeze a bunch, too.
For lunch, we stopped at Applebee's. I had a gift card that I wanted to use. I hadn't eaten there in a long time, and I must admit I was impressed. I got the all-you-can-eat soup and salad for $6.99. I had the oriental chicken salad with broccoli cheddar soup, followed by the spinach and shrimp salad with French onion soup. Everything was very good.
On the way home from the Amicalola Falls, I stopped by the bait and tackle shop and Buddy pulled through for us. He was resting after his day of fishing, but his wife was there to give me the cleaned and deboned fish for the family. We didn't prepare it any real special way - just salt, pepper and butter, and threw it in the oven. It was mighty tasty! Thanks Buddy!
This morning will be the tough job of packing everything up and driving about 7 hours to Roanoke, where we'll be spending the night in a hotel. Not sure if we'll get to stop anywhere fun along the way, or if there'll be anything fun to do in Roanoke, but we'll see. I haven't done any research. I did see the Endless Caverns, on the way down. That would be fun. I guess we'll see what time it is when we get out of here, and when we get to the caverns.
Marie, Domino, Carolena and I went to see the Amicalola Falls today. These are the tallest cascading falls east of the Mississippi. Simply beautiful.
These pics are from the end of the ADA trail. From this point, you can go up 425 steps, or down 175 steps. Dom and I went down the 175 and back. She did great.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
My one regret about going to the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium was that I went to the World of Coke first. The aquarium closes at 5, where as the World of Coke lets the last person in at 6PM, and lets them stay in there until 7:30PM. Had I known that, I would have done the aquarium first, giving us more time to enjoy both attractions.
The Georgia Aquarium was very nice. What can I say - it was an aquarium. The best part was probably when a guy who works there offered to give Marie a private tour up on the third floor, which was not open to the public. Up there were lifesize cutouts of fish that Marie could feel. We also got to see the top of the aquarium where the divers jump in with the whale sharks. Apparently, Disney is currently filming a movie there, and we got to see the film crew setting up to begin shooting. Everybody there was very nice to us. That was pretty cool.
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My family has opted to go to the World of Coke. First stop was the bathroom, of course, and it smells like Coke.
Overall, the tour was nice, but there were some things that made me really mad. First, the one thing that I really wanted to see was the bottling process, but the robots weren't working well, and the worker kept having to try to fit it, so I didn't get to see that working. Then, waiting for the 4-D movie, when the doors finally opened, they told me that I neede to go in the last row with the stroller. It would have been nice if they told me that earlier. And of course there's no way to go from the last row to another row without going out the doors and back in. And when we did that, the doors closed on us. Then the worker opened a door for us, but there wasn't enough seats in that row. So we had to go out and come back in again. By then, the movie had started without us. Why didn't they wait for us? We finally got situated, and of course, the 4-D movie scared Showbo and the kids. Fortunately, we made it through the whole movie. Then, of course, the checkout line that I got in was closed. It was neat to try some Coke products from around the world. And the tour was well done. So even though I had these complaints, I'd still recommend the tour. -- Post From My iPhone
Overall, the tour was nice, but there were some things that made me really mad. First, the one thing that I really wanted to see was the bottling process, but the robots weren't working well, and the worker kept having to try to fit it, so I didn't get to see that working. Then, waiting for the 4-D movie, when the doors finally opened, they told me that I neede to go in the last row with the stroller. It would have been nice if they told me that earlier. And of course there's no way to go from the last row to another row without going out the doors and back in. And when we did that, the doors closed on us. Then the worker opened a door for us, but there wasn't enough seats in that row. So we had to go out and come back in again. By then, the movie had started without us. Why didn't they wait for us? We finally got situated, and of course, the 4-D movie scared Showbo and the kids. Fortunately, we made it through the whole movie. Then, of course, the checkout line that I got in was closed. It was neat to try some Coke products from around the world. And the tour was well done. So even though I had these complaints, I'd still recommend the tour. -- Post From My iPhone
We found out that it should only take about 2-4 hours to get through the aquarium, so even though most of us don't care too much about trying 200 different types of Coke, it looks like we'll have time for both.
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Just finished playing a game of cards with Rachael, Cousin Jeanie, and Jason. It was Cousin Jeanie and I versus Rach and Jay. The game was called "Hand and Food", and it is very similar to Canasta. I'm not sure if the rules we played by were "official" - I think some of the rules were missing, but whatever. I think I like Canasta a little better, but if I found the official rules, I might like it a little more. Rach and Jason won the game. (even if Jeanie and I had won, I still would have liked Canasta better).
During the game, Jeanie and I were drinking wine, and Rach and Jason were drinking margaritas. Strong margaritas. Rach was fairly drunk, Jeanie was tipsy. Jen had a few drinks earlier, and she wasn't doing very well. Jason and I were feeling fine. It'll be an interesting morning. Jen's supposed to make us all french toast, and we're supposed to leave for the aquarium between 8:30am and 9am. I have a feeling that some people won't be able to get up that early.
Well, I guess if we wanted to, we could say that the bad third thing to happen today was maybe that Carolena spilled some water or threw some mac and cheese on the floor. Nothing terribly bad, which is what I had hoped. And, on a positive note, it appears that Jen's camera may still be working.
The party at Uncle John's was very nice. We swam in his pool and had a lot of fun. There were these small inner tubes that I started diving through hands first. First one, then two. Then Mike gave it a try. He did one, and then decided to try the smaller one. When he dove through it, it only made it past his shoulders. It was the funniest thing to see this tiny inner tube stuck around Mike's chest! To get it out, he jumped in the pool feet first with his hands up in the air. I then decided to try diving through the small inner tube, and the same thing happened to me. It was so funny!
We are very delicious hamburgers and dogs, as well as John's special recipe beans, which were fantastic. We hung around and chatted and caught up. This was the first time that we all got to meet John's wife, Lynette, too. I took a "family picture" that I'll have to add to this entry soon.
Aunt Jane is taking a writing class, and the current assignment is to write about somebody. Jane decided that she wants to write about Marie, so she started interviewing her. Marie's only requirement was that she gets a copy of it when it's done. I hope Jane gets an "A" on her assignment.
Hopefully not today.
This morning, Rachael, Marie, and I took the kids to the creek for a little exploring and swimming. It was rather adventurous, as the rocks were a little slippery. The water was very nice, though. Mike and Jen came along to watch, too. Rach held on to Carolena while I snapped pictures. Jen stayed close to the beginning and took pictures, too.
I hopefully got lots of good pictures using my Canon, but I didn't bring my iPhone, so I'll have to post the pics later. I waded out in the water with everybody else. The water got above my knees at points. Marie was without Showbo, and needed some help pointing her in the right direction. The kids each had their moments of adventure and crying for help.
Bad thing number one was Jen slipping not once, but twice on the rocks, falling into the water, dunking her camera underwater. I think Jen's okay, but I'm not sure about the camera yet. The only good thing about this is that just yesterday, Jen said that she wanted a new camera.
After we got back from the creek and washed up, Rach was making lunch for the kids. Easy Mac. Just add water and microwave. Nice and easy, right? Well, Rach and I had out backs turned, and Dad started yelling "something's burning!" We turned around, and smoke was pouring, and I mean pouring out of the microwave. I thought maybe Rach put the easy mac in the microwave for too long, but it was worse than that - she forgot to add the water. Ugh. It now smells like nasty burnt popcorn, and that smell takes a while to go away.
I don't know what bad thing number three will be. Hopefully it'll be something silly and not be all that bad. I need to get some lunch, and then we're going to be heading to Uncle John's for a dinner barbeque and swim.
Ok, well, I can't say that I get to sleep in, because Carolena woke up at 7am. But most other people are sleeping in today. We were going to go to the aquarium today and go to Stone Mountain on Monday, but then we realized that Stone Mountain was an hour-and-a-half away (plus traffic), and we decided that we didn't want to be in the car that much. And since we need to get to Uncle John's around 3:30pm today, we shifted things around. Today, we'll sleep in a little bit, and then see what we can do down at Carter's Lake. Then, tomorrow, we'll go to the aquarium and spend a full day there.
Buddy Calahan was right - the traveling BBQ guy makes great pork and beef barbeque. Mike and I went and picked up a bunch of pork platters, beef platters, and two loaded potatoes. The platters came with a choice of cole slaw, potato salad, and baked beans. The beans were not spicy, but rather sweet. Too sweet for most of us to eat. But the beef and pork were fantastic.
The Phillies played a great game all the way until the bottom of the nineth, when they blew it. It was great to see Cousin Little John and his wife Lynette and Uncle Big John and Aunt Jane. We get to relax more with them tomorrow.
On the way out of the lot, there were some Phillies fans who were taunting cars on their way out. One guy had a big Phillies Championship belt that looked like a WWF champ belt, wearing a "Phucking World Champions" robe It was awesome. -- Post From My iPhone
On the way out of the lot, there were some Phillies fans who were taunting cars on their way out. One guy had a big Phillies Championship belt that looked like a WWF champ belt, wearing a "Phucking World Champions" robe It was awesome. -- Post From My iPhone
Last night, Mike and Rach cooked a very delicious chicken parn for dinner. After, we all hung out and did various things here at the cabin. Rachael brought a puzzle that she, Jason, Jen and I worked on. The puzzle is of Boston and is 1500 pieces.
This morning, we gave Carolena a bath in the sink.
Around 11am, we're going to get some BBQ from a guy who sets up down the street. After that, we're going to visit Little John, and then head to the Phillies game. -- Post From My iPhone
This morning, we gave Carolena a bath in the sink.
Around 11am, we're going to get some BBQ from a guy who sets up down the street. After that, we're going to visit Little John, and then head to the Phillies game. -- Post From My iPhone
After fishing, we did a lot of hanging out at the cabin. It's been a long, relaxing day.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Well, Mike caught the first fish. And we both ended up catching two fish - one dink, and one keeper. Nothing big. All spotted bass. Buddy caught one, too. His was the biggest one we caught. Still not enough to feed all of us. Buddy said he would go out again on Monday, and would give us what he catches so we can feast on Tuesdy. That'd be nice.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Started out looking for striper. Like six lines in the water, not a single bite. I haven't touched a rod yet. Buddy's a character, though. Has lots of stories to tell. Told us about some hot sauce that was so hot "you had to shit in the lake because if you shit in the woods you'd burn the forest down!"
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Mike and I got up real early to go fishing with the famous Buddy Callahan.
When we got here, he thought we were going to wimp out because we didn't call him last night. Haha.
-- Post From My iPhone
When we got here, he thought we were going to wimp out because we didn't call him last night. Haha.
-- Post From My iPhone
This cabin is amazing. I'd post pictures of it, but you can see plenty of pics at http://www.cabinrentalga.com. It's beautiful.
Today is Carolena's first birthday! We didn't get a cake, but Cousin Jeanie creatively plated some cookies and lit a candle.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
We made it to the cabin. Mike and I went out to Johnny's New York Pizza to get dinner. After ordering, we asked where the closest place to get a case of beer was. After we got directions, we said we were not from around here - we're on vacation from Philadelphia. Their response: "Why would you want to come to Picken's County Georgia for vacation?"
At the beer distributor, I was proud to see a nice selection of Victory's beer. I opted to try Dale's Pale Ale - a beer I had been wanting to try for some time now.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Stopped for gas and potty break. While there, I picked up a 6-pack of Kona. Beer from Hawaii. I know I had some when I was in Hawaii. Can't remember if it was any good. I'm sure it's better than Bud.
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We decided to drive down around the Smokey Mountains. On the way, there was this scenic overlook, on I-26 E just before North Carolina.
Not very scenic. If you asked me. -- Post From My iPhone
Not very scenic. If you asked me. -- Post From My iPhone
Took a quik lunch break at Arby's. Dom ate a whole roast beef sandwich!
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Breakfast was good this morning at the hotel. Last night, I picked up a coupon for 40% off at a nearby Reebok outlet, so this morning my family and my parents went there to get some new sneakers. I found a nice pair of crosstrainers as well as a pair of trail sneaks. Of course Marie and Domino needed to get something, too. I think we got a good deal. Now we're off to the cabin.
-- Post From My iPhone
We ended up at Shoney's for dinner. Food was fine. It was priced right, and my kids were free I think Carolena may have eaten more than Domino. And for the first time ever, I think Marie got her money's worth from a buffet.
After dinner, I headed down to the pool (by myself). I ended up not getting in the pool - the water seemed too cool, and with only about four strokes per lap, I didn't feel like working on my kick-flip that much. I ended up in the hot tub, which was nice. Looks like Domino is going to try and sleep in the same bed as Cousin Michael and Cousin Ileona. We'll see if she lasts all night. My guess is Domino will toss and turn too much, and she'll be sent back here sometime in the middle of the night. -- Post From My iPhone
After dinner, I headed down to the pool (by myself). I ended up not getting in the pool - the water seemed too cool, and with only about four strokes per lap, I didn't feel like working on my kick-flip that much. I ended up in the hot tub, which was nice. Looks like Domino is going to try and sleep in the same bed as Cousin Michael and Cousin Ileona. We'll see if she lasts all night. My guess is Domino will toss and turn too much, and she'll be sent back here sometime in the middle of the night. -- Post From My iPhone
We have all made it to our hotel for the night. We are staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Wytheville. The place looks to be brand new. For some reason, they put in the puniest pool. Look at this thing. I think my room is bigger than the pool.
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-- Post From My iPhone
So, the other day I got this $0.05 off per gallon coupon from Acme for Sunoco. The Sunoco has gas for $2.54 per gallon. Right next to it is an Exxon. Their gas is $2.45 per gallon. Guess I'm not using the coupon here!
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Just made it into Virginia, and we've stopped for lunch at Chic-Fil-A.
We just got off the turnpike. The nav system says we have 5 hours to go. Marie and Domino went in to Wendy's to use the potty. I'm with Carolena, who is still sleeping. For some reason, Marie wants to wake her to change her. Why hasn't she learned to never wake a sleeping baby?
Mike called me not too long ago. He said they left at 6am, and are on route 66. I think they should get there about 1.5 hours before us. Mom and Dad left around 8:40am. I think they're about 1.5 hours behind us. I'm sure they'll catch up to us with the extra bathroom stops that we will need to take.
Better check on the girls.
Finally. WaWa here we come.
Car is mostly packed. Marie didn't get in the shower until 7am. None of us have eaten yet. First stop: WaWa. If we ever get out of here.
Rough night. Carolena woke up around 12:30am, waking everybody and sending Domino into my bed. I made a bottle and Marie fed Carolena. I don't know when Marie got to bed, but she told me the Phillies won in extra innings. I got up at 4:30am, got my shower and woke Marie at 5. We still have plenty of packing to do. (and I'm blogging? Back to work!)
Ugh. I don't know why I'm having so much trouble packing. And now my allergies are kicking in, so sleep may be a challenge. I think I've got most of the stuff I need. Haven't started packing kitchen stuff yet. And I haven't grabbed any DVDs for the trip yet, either. I'm hoping to leave really early, but I'm not getting my hopes up. And I still need to tap MAC. Who knows if there are free ATMs down South? I'm gonna get some sleep now, and attempt to finish in the morning. I just heard Marie put more clothes in the dryer. Ugh.
Greetings! This blog will serve as a journal for our family vacation to Georgia.
Back in February 2009, the whole family decided to take a vacation down to Atlanta to visit Big and Little John. We picked some dates in August to head down (while the Phillies were in town, of course!) and in March I started working on a place for us to stay.
I had looked into timeshare options, but with thirteen people, there wasn't much chance of getting us all into the same place. So I did a Google search for "Georgia cabin", and came across a Craigslist posting for a cabin in Talking Rock. Talking Rock is about an hour north of Atlanta, and this cabin looks amazing. Plus, it sleeps 12! With four little kids, we can all fit in here really well, so I booked it!
There have been a lot of emails about what to do. Jason took care of ordering us tickets to a Phillies game. There has been discussion about going to the World of Coke, the Aquarium, and more, but we still haven't finalized anything other than the Phillies game. Oh, and Mike and I are going fishing with Buddy Callahan on Friday morning. I'm hoping we catch enough fish to feed everybody.
Jen and Jason are flying down on Friday. The rest of us are driving down Wednesday. We're staying at a hotel a little past half-way down, and again on the way back.
Most of us have iPhones, so I'm hoping that everybody contributes to this blog!
