Thanksgiving in Georgia

[underpants]

Well we are back. After a 6:30 PM to 7:00 AM through the darkness we made it.

Great trip. My brother-in-law has a great place - 4 horses, a donkey, and a trophy room that is something to behold...unless you don't like waking up to the dead faces of deer and elk staring down at you like a Santa nightmare. 16 acres with a backyard that is a National Park.

My run on Friday morning took me into said area completely with grueling uphill switchbacks and a near confrontation with hunters. I come up a truck backed up into the woods. Two guys are gutting a deer. Normal stuff except I realize:

a. it isn't deer season

b. they don't have any orange on

c. they are obviously armed

d. see a -- and here I am in red shorts and a roadcrew yellow shirt on.


My brother-in-law thinks it was a "Management hunt". I waved and one of the guys waved back. They passed me in the truck on my return. I have a picture on my phone of the guts on the ground.

I came upon another truck on the high (HIGH) ground so I turned around and ran back down the switchbacks. No reason to push my luck or spoil their hunt. Apparently wearing white anything (long sleeve running undershirt) is not a good idea - they shoot at white....anything white... with no "Hey that might NOT be a deer" safety check. I was told this as I was leaving. No shots fired although the place does have several firing ranges which my wife mistook as a Georgian "ulimate hunt" (of me) while sitting at the house. The next day I took to the roads where I belong.

We didn't get to ride the horses but we did get to feed them apples.

Thanksgiving dinner was good...but late. Like 6PM late. My body knew it was Thanksgiving day so it laid on the couch at 3 PM and drifted off to sleep as the Lions got blown out-just as the forefathers envisioned it.

Friday night was trip to "Rock City" (looks nothing like Detroit) a high rock area with a waterfall that must be 600 feet up. I can only imagine the first western settlers (probably French) who saw it from the low ground and went up to find a spectacular system of streams, caves, and rocky crevices. The dancing elves were probably a huge surprise to them. Let's just say that Chattanooga apparently has a vibrant and open "arts community". Great time. Being that it is so high up that you can supposedly see 7 states (TN,GA,VA,KY,SC,NC, Alabama) from up there it was cooooold and windy. They had hot chocolate and ginger bread men for the kids to decorate with icing and jellybeans.

So on the way there we took the wrong route and came upon a confederate monument that was a cross between "Children of the Corn" and "Southern Comfort" and "Apocalypse Now". I kept driving.

On the way back we got lost on the interstate highway system in Knoxville- lost like "Why are we in Kentucky?" lost. We made a 9 1/2 hour drive with an extra 2 hours added on and a sit down dinner in 12 hours. No traffic, no trucks, no cops, constant 73 MPH.

Good time over all. Josie has cousins now. They put on plays for us both Friday and Saturday- one a depiction of the Pilgrims and indians, the other a depiction of "How to tame your dragon". Josie died in both. "She was a good mother" was the line during the burial scene in the Pilgrim play that broke up the room.
--
Buckeyes won in "Iron Man" uniforms.

[xchrom]

1. that is awesome. nt