The trip to the Straight White house was accomplished in 2 major steps.  First I caught a direct flight to Atlanta.  (from Boston, this is the closest airport with direct flights, thus it was chosen) Second was the drive from Atlanta to Tennessee. It was the second leg of the trip that was by far the most entertaining.

Once again... book length compels me to put the rest below the fold.

Erica knew I was heading to the party, so we planned to meet at the airport and ride up together.  It turned out to be the most hilarious drive I've ever made.  She kept me laughing nearly the entire length of the trip.

First we had to find each other at Hartsfield.  It isn't a huge place once you get to the baggage claim area.  I was getting text messages from the time I landed, until I hit the top of the escalators.  Then they mysteriously stopped.  I was reading them quickly and had the impression (wrong) that she would be near the escalators. 

I texted when I didn't see anyone looking remotely like a small New Yorker hanging about.  I got nuthin'.  I tried calling, it went to voice mail.  I'm walking in circles when I decided to go back and read her original text - only to find that the "pillar" she was talking about was by her baggage claim carousel... ah - that would be the problem I'm in the wrong place.  Lo and behold - there she was, on the phone. I recognized her immediately.  Big hugs were exchanged and we dash off to look for the car rental place.  Turns out she had been on the phone with Bou asking about a liquor store.

We finally find the car rental place and are awarded our small vehicle. As for me, I'm rather paranoid about getting to the highway as the guy walked away before I remembered to ask for directions.  Getting out was easy though and our first stop was at a liquor store recommended by Morrigan and Bou. 

We found the store and once there we had a dilemma of what to buy - eventually it was all sorted out (after a couple of phone calls and Erica having an amusing conversation with the women at the registers - naturally one of them had lived in NYC). Then off we go... right next door to Steak & Shake (I had a sandwich I brought with me, but Erica was really hungry and had no food). 

Once inside, the woman at the cash register wanted her to order immediately. Very odd as there was no one waiting in line, just us. So, Erica ordered, and the woman over charged her.  She was very apologetic and  nice to us once she figured out she made a mistake.  (had us both giggling when she got her food and we got back in the car).

Then she spotted a Starbucks right across the street - I was dragging because it was already a long day,  so we manage to get across and I got my self a frappucino (ah... yummy).  Then we resumed the drive in earnest.   Of course it was 4:30pm by this time - the heart of rush hour.  Stop, go, stop, go, stop, go.

Erica learned what my kids already know - whichever lane I am in - it is the one that stops moving.  OTOH - we didn't have a deadline (except maybe for dinner once we reached Eric's) so while it was annoying, it was the usual rush hour drive - I'm just happy I don't have to do it every day.  Erica was getting a bit freaked by the semis (who wanted their lane and ours) not to mention the women in SUV's on cell phones (they piss me off rather than freak me out - Atlanta drivers are much like Chicago drivers... predictable which makes it more relaxing to drive)

Finally, we hit the 2 lane highway that is the scenic route to Tennessee.  Once we determined that this was the road, I knew (from Bou talking about it last year) it would be a long haul up there.

We're driving, driving, driving and it's very pretty with the rolling hills, farms and trees.  Suddenly Erica points to a field we're passing... "What are those?"  I look over and all I see are hay bales. "You mean the hay bales?"

Yep, she hadn't seen a hay bale before (at least a round one).  I don't think she believed me at first, but that's what they were.  (I wouldn't even have any idea what else they might look like - to me hay bales look like hay bales and nothing else at all)

She loved the cows - there were many farmers with herds along the way... but I thought we might not make it too far up that road.  At the very beginning, we hit a farm where the farmer had spread manure on his land.  Oh yeah, it reeked big time.  I had to try and calm her down cause she thought it would smell that bad all the way.  (at one other point we hit a bad smell that I couldn't identify - it passed much quicker) Of course while I'm telling her we'll soon be out of the smell, I was laughing my sides off because it struck me as so funny she had never gone past a farm where manure was used. 

Of course being "the country" we were driving along when there was a "ping" on the windshield.  Scared her.  She didn't believe me when I said it was a bug.  Then she saw all the spots on the windshield and asked if it was raining... it took some convincing to make her believe that they were all former bugs. 

Eventually we hit the town Eric had warned us about... "Do Not Speed!"  I saw the town sign with a 40 mph sign and freaked.  I didn't know how close to the town line the cops would sit - in towns with known traps, the cops generally sit close to the reduced speed area, so I hit the break - hard (as I was going about 25 mph over the posted limit).  Scared poor Erica who thought there was an emergency.  (I told her it was risky driving with me).  We did see the cop, although it was a ways later and I was very happy I was going 5mph under the speed limit when I saw him.

Eventually we reached the hotel and checked in.  Then it was back in the car for the final few miles.  Erica had Eric on the phone because I could NOT remember where the turn was off the main drag.  She was getting all kinds of directions... and I kept saying (over and over) "I only need the first turn - how far is it??? That's all I need to know!"  She was busy talking though, so I never did get my answer. All the while I was wondering if I had passed it and how would I know if I did!  Eventually I saw the teeny weeny sign indicating the street I wanted... hooray!  The large sign that I know is on the opposite side of the street, can not be seen at night because it's way too dark, even headlights don't light it up. 

And thus we arrived at Eric's that's when the party commenced.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Posted by: Teresa in Ultimate Blog Meets at 12:15 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 1262 words, total size 7 kb.