Georgia (short version)

The repairs made to my car in Long Beach lasted without problems throughout my return trip from the west coast. Leaving after dinner Friday night, I drove all night through California and Arizona on I-10, taking a small detour on I-19 S in Tucson AZ just to hit another county (Santa Cruz) I wouldn't otherwise hit in my lifetime. I drove through dawn until I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I rented a room at a Motel 6 (Deming NM 88031), but after a shower and a short nap, I was back on my way to the east coast. In El Paso, TX, I-10 comes within 500 feet of the Mexican Border (near exit 18B). It was strange to think that I was looking at another country out my passenger side window.

At the I-10 / I-20 split just past Kent, TX, I started traveling northeast on I-20 to Atlanta. It started getting dark again as I drove through Odessa TX. By the time I got to Fort Worth TX, I was miserable and getting delirious. I got lost in a huge interstate detour and was convinced I entered Arkansas, since I somehow got onto I-30 on the east side of Dallas (but apparently still in TX). Running on fumes, I finally found fuel back on I-20 around 4:15 am, and had an interesting discussion with the attendant about women from Pennsylvania as I tried to pay for my lousy coffee. Looking forward to all the signs advertising a rest stop across the border in Louisianna, I was really upset to find the stop was shut down, and drove blind exhausted to a 24-hour Flying J truck stop (Greenwood, LA 71033), where I parked between two rigs and dozed off for a few hours.


Unfortunately, when I tried to move my car on the 2nd day here in the suburbs of Atlanta (Lawrenceville GA 30043) the car was back to misbehaving. Part of me wants to sell the car, but then again even if it costs me $2000 to fix, where am i going to get a fully-loaded, fuel-efficient car for that price?

Anyway, we stayed around the house here on Tuesday, resting up from my coast-to-coast in 2 days marathon. That night, we visited little Five Points in Atlanta and a cool bar called the Vortex. On Wednesday, we went with Colleen's mom to Athens GA. On Thursday, Colleen and I drove to Savannah GA (in her car, since mine is basically out of commission), stopped at the Waffle House for some hashbrowns "All the Way" (aka scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, toped, peppered and capped -- or, for you not schooled in the ways of WH: onions, cheese, ham, tomatoes, chili, jalapenos and mushrooms), and we took a stroll along the river walk, where we found a dive bar (The Warehouse) - Home of the Cheapest and Coldest Beers in Savannah - and listened to an entertaining (and funny) local act called the Electric Cheezeballs. Friday, we walked through the the first dozen or so public squares nearest to the river, saw a bunch of antiques and ate some good food and drank some good beer, including our visit to Moon River Brew Pub. We drove home last night, and now are spending time with the family and getting ourselves ready for the 13 hour ride home.