Back In The Saddle

Okay, we're back in business. Thanks to all you readers who suggested solutions to my picture problem. Someday I MAY investigate some of them...but....probably not. The easiest fix was just to purchase more storage space, so even though I was initially opposed to that idea, ultimately what it boils down to is that it was the easiest solution. And I really have no patience when it comes to technology. Just ask Mr. Trucker. I want it NOW! So I can get back into the post I began typing on Tuesday...

Alright, enough messing around. Time to get back on the road and back to work! We had a very lovely Christmas with Mr. Trucker's sister and her family in Daytona Beach, FL. But first, we had to get through...

Atlanta

"Oh look!", I says to Mr. Trucker, "They root for the Packers".
"No honey", he says, "That's for the Georgia Bulldogs".
Silly me!

We experienced our Christmas miracle that day. When we started out in the morning, Mr. Trucker left himself enough time to get to our delivery stop at 1:00 p.m. We absolutely had to be there before 2:00 p.m. in order to be unloaded that same day,  otherwise we would have been stuck there, with the load, for three and a half days, until Monday morning. So he figured a 1:00 arrival would give us a nice hour cushion. HOWEVER, we had enough time to get there by 1:00 IF everything went smoothly. After we set off, and as he drove, it began to dawn on Mr. Trucker that he had forgotten to plan for traffic through/around Atlanta. I didn't realize it until I went out on the road with Mr. Trucker, but apparently Atlanta traffic is NOTORIOUS! It is every driver's nemesis and you can plan on delays there almost 100% of the time. Well, Mr. Trucker began to be very uncomfortable in his seat, the closer we got to Atlanta. He kept checking his GPS for signs of delay on the three available routes (one of them THROUGH Atlanta, and the other two, around it) and cursing at it because it didn't show any delays on any route ("You stupid, useless piece of crap!"). Well, dear readers...the reason Garmin didn't show any delays was because there weren't any! We sailed through Atlanta without losing a single minute! According to Mr. Trucker, that was truly a miracle. In fact, one of the people he related the story to (who is also familiar with Atlanta traffic) told him he was lying!

Here are some other sights from Georgia:

A peach, I presume.

Would you believe they're harvesting cotton here? In December?
Who'da thunk?

Yup, that's right! Bacon County.

Mr. Trucker's been trying to tell me that the South has a pharmacy
chain called "Fred's", and I always figured he was pulling my leg.

"So, where do YOU go to school?"
"Okefenokee Technical College. Studying Swamp History."

Late that same night (December 23), we FINALLY crossed the state line into Florida and on the morning of Christmas Eve, we picked up our rental car and headed for Daytona Beach. The whole experience of being in Florida in late December was so weird. It hardly felt like Christmas at all, to two people from Michigan and Wisconsin. The landscape is so different there. The houses are often short and squat, with flat roofs, built of cement block or stucco and painted all kinds of pastel colors. And the trees...

Palm trees!

For some reason, I always though Spanish Moss was only in
Louisiana. But I was wrong!

Heading north for Daytona Beach, we had to pass through Orlando. That is one busy place!

Orlando, FL

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon when we finally rolled into Daytona Beach.

Home of the Daytona 500

Here we are at last!

Mr. Trucker's sister lives on a narrow strip of land, only several blocks wide, which we reached by crossing a bridge over a lagoony type body of water. On the other side of that bridge is her community, and...THE OCEAN.

Hey look! The ocean up ahead!

Cool. Surf's up!

Hey honey! What are you doing? We can't drive down there!

The first thing Mr. Trucker wanted to do was drive down ON the beach, which apparently you can do in Daytona (don't tell the rental car company). It was a blast!

He's so proud of himself!

Christmas morning was a whirlwind of present opening...

The nieces and nephews in a frenzy of unwrapping.

Mom & Dad videotaping.

The aftermath!

Even Tara the dog got a new collar and a "pheasant".

You could have knocked me over with a feather when Mr. Trucker's sister handed me a package that had been mailed to me at their address by my dear friend Polly in Green Bay. I felt so loved and special!

One of the big hits of the day was the "farting putty" that Mr. Trucker and I had bought each of the kids at the Dollar store. 

We had a lot of fun over the weekend, and had two really warm days of sunny skies and temps in the high 60's and low 70's before it turned really cold (for Florida, that is). We played a ton of Euchre and enjoyed good food and a wine tasting. Some of my hats were even in demand...

New friend Alyssa looks cute in a Newsboy hat that I just got
a new recipe for.

My previously shown slouch hat on niece Josie. She never took it off!

The cuties!

Well, all good things must come to an end and our holiday ended Tuesday morning when we had to say goodbye to our hosts and head back out over the road. The good news is that we have remained in the south, having been in Florida and Alabama for the last two days, where it is quite warm! We've managed to avoid all the snowstorms we keep hearing about, and that is fine with me! 

Here's something you won't see in Wisconsin in December:
an outdoor fruit stand.

Mr. Trucker is so happy because he scored some boiled green peanuts,
which is a southern delicacy.

Birmingham, AL

Today's Silly Sounding Place Name:  Tuscaloosa, Alabama.