Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee

Day two of our impromptu vacation got off to a bad start. The promised continental breakfast offered by our less than stellar motel consisted of luke warm coffee, no cream, three pre-packaged pastries, cereals with room temperature milk, and apple juice. My Sweetie, who is a patient and mild-tempered man unless he is forced to start his day with out coffee sweetened with a hint of French vanilla creamer, growled as he came back to the room where I stood in my underwear trying to dry my hair.  As I fiddled with the hairdryer that made a strange whistling sound and blew not quite hot hair,  Sweetie headed to the gas station/food mart across the parking lot from said Inn for some potable caffeine.

The way to make that man of mine overcome the meanies is to give him food. Luckily a Huddle House restaurant sat in near proximity. We left Suze in the room and followed the scent of bacon and eggs and extra strong coffee wafting through the air and across the parking lot.  When my parents made the trip from FL to TN it was their habit to stop for lunch and breakfast at the Waffle House, which is basically the twin sister of the Huddle House. Inside they are pretty much the same. It's the kind of place you can get a hot breakfast faster than you can waiting in line at McDonald's. Not great cuisine, but fresh cooked and filling. Telling ourselves we deserved it for making it through the night, we ordered the works ... bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast.  And that was only the start of the eating we did during the day. I'm pretty sure any pounds I lost in the last month found their way home today.

Going through Atlanta seemed like the perfect occasion to drop in on my blog friend Molly. The fact that we only know each other through the Internet made it a little strange, but also part of the adventure.  If you've ever gone to Molly's blog, you've seen pictures of her Golden Retrievers, Gus and Cotton, and parts of her flower covered yard. One would never guess that you could drive a few blocks off a six-lane Interstate and find such a charming neighborhood, nestled in among trees and hills. Bloggers, I've found, make wonderful friends, even when you've never met. I love having a face now, to put with the words and pictures Molly posts.  I haven't told Sweetie this, and it's highly possible that Suzi would jump out of the car and write her own version of the Incredible Journey as she tried to find her way home, but I'd love to plug the addresses of all my blog friends into our out of date GPS, with a most annoying female voice who is usually about 2 streets behind in her directions, and just keep driving until I'd met them all. Well, actually Sweetie would drive and I'd sleep, but you know what I mean.

Thanks Molly for your warm and spontaneous hospitality. I hope G&C forgave the intrusion into their space. Not to mention the strange teeth marks on their antler chews.

From Atlanta we drove through GA into TN.  Once into the foothills of the Smokey's the scenery changed some. But not the blighted towns along the two-lane road. I find it rather depressing to see so many boarded up places, falling down old barns, rusted out tractor graveyards. I think Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama should do a swing through some of these towns to get a real idea of what the state of the economy they talk so much about.

We are staying in Red Roof Inn. Not a 4 star hotel by any means. But compared to last night we feel like we're staying in the Taj Mahal.  There won't be any trouble sleeping tonight.  I hooked up with my sister and got one of her big ol' bear hugs. Had dinner with my nephew.  Suzi finally relaxed enough to do her business.  A pretty good day all around.

And then, the magic happened. The icing on the cake. The cherry on top of the sundae.  On the way back in from Suzi's last walk, I saw the tiniest little light. Just a quick twinkle. Then again a few feet away. OMG! A lightening bug. It seemed strange that there was just one. I thought maybe I was seeing things. But no, it was the real thing. It reminded me of  Tinkerbell. I don't think I've seen a lightening bug since I was a little kid.  Yes, indeed. It was the perfect end to a delightful day.

So much to be grateful for.  Most of which is the antidote I've needed for my pissant mood of late.

Wishing for you magic in the air,
Merry ME