Sunday, March 05, 2006

Some Alone Time

We're here in Georgia now. Four days, twelve states, two colds, and four dogs later, we are here. Len was sick the first day of the drive, so I started us off. It took 40 minutes just to get out of Seattle, since we left in the middle of morning rush hour. We drove over the mountains, through the desert, back over the mountains, through some snow, and all the while the hounds were quiet and calm. I'm not good at driving during inclement weather at night, so Len handled the driving after dark through the "chain-up" zones in the mountains.

We stopped that first night in Livingston, Montana at the Livingston Motel Inn. The proudly announced on their sign that they accept pets and horses. You read right, horses. The place had horse stalls behind the rooms. It was actually a really nice place, run by a husband and wife team. It was very clean and offered really every amenity available in the chain hotels and then some.

Days two through four featured lovely clear blue skies and almost no traffic problems. We stopped in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on night two, Blytheville, Arkansas on night three, and drove by Graceland on day four before arriving safe and happy in Albany.

Had we not both gotten sick this week, it would have been an uneventful cross-country journey. We're feeling much better, thank you very much, now that we've had loads of rest on comfy beds.

Suzy and Clark have been spectacular hosts -- never a dull moment in a house with nine dogs in residence! Yesterday we went downtown to participate in the annual Mardi Gras Pet Parade. I personally feel Devon should have won cutest pet, but some little girl's dog got that one. Ashley's greyhound, Kelsey, won best dressed, so we celebrated a victory in our group! And, for dinner last night, Clark made a fabulous jambalaya. Yum!

As I type, Len, Suzy, Clark, and their friend Fred are on a long bike ride (we couldn't fit two bikes on the car with the roof pod, so we only brought Len's bike). I'm home attempting to recreate my famous pizza for the troops. I'm having to improvise, since my Baking with Julia Child is stored in a box on a Graebel truck somewhere. We'll see how well I can do without Julia's guidance!

No comments: