cross-country road trip version 2012, part 1

1 overloaded car
2 people who successfully did NOT drive each other crazy (at least not worse than we started)
3 planned "random" detours
4 nights on the road
5 days of driving
6 plugged in electronic devices in the car
8 states traversed
100s of photos taken
over 2800 miles driven
countless good conversations, loads of music played on the stereo, many additional random stops, and lots of laughs...

As planned, I spent Friday packing and cleaning and running a couple of errands.  Judy arrived a little bit late, which worked out perfectly since I got stuck in traffic on the way to the airport - she got to the curb a few seconds after I did!  We fought traffic back to my place where I started the pizza dough, then took off for Stone Mountain.  We did NOT get to check out the sunset - traffic ensured that it was completely dark by the time we got to Stone Mountain, but we did enjoy the walk up it.

judy, dan k, me, marius at the top of stone mountain

The view was beautiful with all the city lights and the Christmas tree of lights at the top of the mountain.  We headed back down and stopped by the grocery store to get some last-minute pizza toppings, then went back to my place and had pizza and good conversation.  Judy enjoyed meeting my random group of friends, and I was glad for a chance to say goodbye!

after-dinner picture with sarah, dan k, me, dan c, judy, and marius

The next morning, I woke up pretty early while Judy slept till 11, making up for burning the midnight oil for the previous week back at home before coming to Atlanta.  I gradually packed the car and continued packing the stuff in the house, and began a final cleaning job on the house to prepare for the tenant.  Once Judy got up, she was EXTREMELY helpful in getting the rest of the cleaning done as well as a tiny bit of the last packing.  Finally, just after 2 pm we got on the road, only 4 hours later than I'd hoped.  I wasn't worried about it as that night's goal was Nashville - the shortest drive of the trip.

overstuffed car - it was better than it looks here, we actually COULD see out the rearview a bit!

ready to take off!

 We had a fairly uneventful drive with a few rain showers, only raining hard a couple of times.  We arrived at Tiffany's place in Nashville and went out to dinner with friends of hers who happened to be visiting from Kentucky.  Before and after dinner, it was a lot of fun to catch up with Tiffany - I hadn't seen her since living in Tahoe, and even then only when she was home visiting her family.

judy, me, and tiffany after dinner at j alexander's

After dinner we went next door to the Commodore and experienced a bit of a writer's round, something common in Nashville, where several artists will be on stage together and perform in rounds for a certain amount of time - each one presenting one song before moving on to the next.  We then took a drive with windows open down Honky Tonk Row, where every bar had a live band playing, and there were street acts as well.

three women performing at the commodore

honky tonk row, behind a horse and carriage, no less!

We did a drive-by of my old house in Nashville on Sweetbriar Avenue.  It was fun to see that it looks just like I remembered, even though I was 6 years old the last time I had seen it.

sweetbriar avenue house, with a "new" addition on the back 

That day, we checked a box on Judy's bucket list by eating lunch at a Cracker Barrel in Little Rock, AR.  Shortly after Little Rock we made our first planned "random" detour to a place called "Toad Suck" - Judy had friends who had told her of its existence, so we stopped by for some photos.

judy posing with a chocolate frog at toad suck ferry lock and dam

After that we pushed on to Sand Springs.  That day's drive we saw wet pavement every time we stopped, but only had a very brief and light rain shower while driving.  When we arrived, Aunt Kathy provided us with a delicious home-cooked dinner.  It was great to catch up with her, David, and Jeff once again.  We didn't get to see Jeff's boys as he decided it would be nice to have a dinner without constantly attending to their needs, so he left them with their mother.

me, jeff, aunt kathy, david

After a wonderful night's sleep, we hopped back in the car and headed off for the next stage of our adventure, but first the chocolate frog had to be dissected - it was a large shape of solid milk chocolate, too thick to break into pieces, so I borrowed a knife and cutting board from Aunt Kathy to chop it into manageable chunks.

chocolate frog a la harry potter, courtesy of debbie

freedom!!! (and i went to arabia...)

I'm free!  I'm free!  I have eight months ahead of me that do NOT include sitting in classes!!  I just finished my last final today.  My final practical was yesterday.

Before all the madness that was studying and test-taking this week, I enjoyed a dinner and white elephant Christmas party on Friday night with Emory's chapter of Graduate Christian Fellowship.

gcf Christmas party attendees from emory with two from georgia tech

This past Saturday, I went to Arabia!  Arabia Mountain, that is.  My "little," Moire, and I went hiking at Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve.  The two peaks, Bradley Mountain and Arabia Mountain are sort of smaller versions of Stone Mountain, but much less visited, and much more quarried.  There are a couple endangered species of plants on the stark landscape there, and a sort of surreal beauty in the barrenness of the peaks.

goofy girls near the top of bradley mountain

prickly pear?

evidence of the quarry operations, you can see stone blocks in the background

stark landscape, but beautiful

odd gatherings of stone blocks - why did they do this?

they obviously got large chunks of stone here!

ruins of a granite industry building

The 360 views from both peaks were gorgeous, much less city and more trees visible than from Stone Mountain, possibly simply because Arabia and Bradley Mountains are not as high.

Today after my final, I had my last frozen yogurt run with my "big," Kim.  And after that I went climbing at Stone Summit - my third time ever, and only the second time since living here, the first was the day after my interview.  We had a decent-sized crew from the Emory wall - Marius, Craig, Karen, Lisa, Jia, and me.

kim and me at yogli mogli

stone summit is so big!  so many options, so little time!

Tomorrow's plan is a lot of packing, sorting, and a trip to a thrift store (to drop off a bag of stuff).  Then I'll pick up Judy from the airport, we'll get a group of people together and walk up Stone Mountain, and come back to my place for one last hurrah - home made pizza!  Then Saturday morning the road trip begins...

countdown - version 2012

I'm in the second week of my short term neuro rehab clinical, and it's going well.  I'm learning a lot working with brain injury and stroke patients, observing and assisting with some dramatic improvements as well as seeing some sad declines.  In the acute rehabilitation setting, we see each patient every day for an hour, or an hour and a half if they don't need speech therapy.  It's a quick route to getting to know the patient, and for the most part they've been a lot of fun.

This past Saturday, I couldn't find anyone with whom to hike due to school and other commitments, so I headed out to Stone Mountain and hiked around the base by myself.  I left my car in the free parking in Stone Mountain Village and walked the half mile to the pedestrian gate, then set out to find the trail.  I had printed out a map, and referred to it often throughout the day.

some leaves still on trees, but not much color

I left the road to hike a connector trail to the Nature Garden Trail Area, where some plants were labelled and others had signposts with no labels.  From there I took another connector to reach the Cherokee Trail, the official name of the loop around the base of the mountain.  It crossed the railroad track and the road several times, weaving through mainly oak forests, around lakes, and by the park's attractions.

pretty reflection of stone mountain in venable lake

 As I walked around the tip of a small peninsula into Stone Mountain Lake, I saw a great blue heron descend and land along the shore probably a quarter mile from me.  I kept my eye on it as I continued along the trail and got within 20 feet of it before it decided I had gotten close enough, and it flew off.  Before it took flight I snapped this photo:

great blue heron

 A little farther along was a covered bridge.  Its history is related on the sign shown below.

covered bridge originally in athens, ga

can you picture robbers sitting up there, waiting to drop on travellers?

 Immediately after the bridge, the trail followed an old stone walkway at the water's edge leading to an old grist mill (relocated from Elijay, GA).  Intermixed with the "normal" randomly shaped stones were heart-shaped stones.

not sure the origin of this, but there were 7 heart-shaped stones in this walkway

 Further around the mountain is the world's largest bas-relief sculpture, covering three acres of the face of the mountain.  It depicts Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson as well as Confederate President Jefferson Davis, all on horseback.  On either side of the pool and fountains in front of the sculpture are two memorials which comprise the Stone Mountain Memorial garden, one side Honor and the other, Sacrifice.

stone mountain memorial garden - honor & sacrifice

largest bas relief sculpture in the world

 Also at this location, but so ridiculous I couldn't bring myself to photograph it (behind me as I took the above photo), is "Snow Mountain," three levels of built up slopes with man-made snow, covered with kids and parents, sledding and tubing in the 70 degree heat, to the accompaniment of loud music blasting from speakers at the base of the sculpture.

I continued on to complete the loop, and just as I prepared to exit the park, the Stone Mountain Scenic Railway train went by.  I had heard it several times during my hike, but as the trail and track crossed and diverged several times, had yet to see more than a bit of it through the trees.

1940s locomotive with open cars takes a scenic 5-mile loop around the base

I headed back to my car, having completed about 7 miles, and drove back home.  In addition to preparing for my last two finals, I have been thinking through and beginning to pack for my move back across the country - I leave in ten days!!!

thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend started on Wednesday with my last day of work with Stephen.  It was a bit sad, as I really enjoy working with him.  I will probably resume work with him when I get back to Atlanta in August.

Thanksgiving day I headed up to Acworth for dinner with the MacFaddens again.  Adam once again took charge in the kitchen, starting us off with an enormous pile of Georgia shrimp, then roasting turkey, preparing mashed potatoes, french bread stuffing, shaved brussel sprout salad, creamed corn, and collard greens with smoked turkey neck.  Rachel and Linda provided stuffing, green bean casserole, and yams.  My contribution was an apple-almond crisp for dessert.

mmmmm... georgia shrimp!

i got a bit of EVERYTHING!

adam and rachel tucking in

happily stuffed: rachel, linda, apollo, me and adam

we had to wait 2 hours before we had room for apple-almond crisp

Friday morning I headed off to "The Holler" in Fletcher, NC.  I was looking forward to seeing my friends Justin and Rebekah, who I hadn't seen in eight years.  As I drove northeast on 85, I kept seeing signs for Greenville, SC.  I made a phone call and ended up stopping in Greenville to say hi to one of my old mountainboard sponsors.  They currently have a skate/ standup paddle shop called Invert Action Sports.  It was fun to surprise them and catch up for a few minutes, and it was barely out of the way.

invert action sports

I got to the Holler mid-afternoon, only to find out that Justin was injured (3 month old injury) and Rebekah had just fallen ill that morning!  Nevertheless, I had a great time catching up with them and meeting their five kids.

papa justin and three of the kids

the holler is just as pretty as i remembered it

Isaac (the oldest) showed me "Africa," a very cool area on their farm where high school groups come to learn about missions and specifically, experience living conditions in Africa, including sleeping in mud huts or wooden shacks, eating food prepared in outdoor kitchens, and basically "roughing it" by American standards.

one view of "africa"

a different set of three of the kids on my africa tour

I ended up heading home Saturday instead of Sunday to allow both Justin and Rebekah time to heal.  Traffic was MUCH worse than I expected, but at least I got a nice sunset.  And I was then able to use Sunday afternoon to complete a project that was due this morning at 8 am.

sunset, and traffic

Today I started my neuro rehab short term clinical rotation.  I spent four hours doing orientation - ten (yes TEN) binders of information to read and then take an exam for each.  I now have a logon ID for the Emory Healthcare System (for these two weeks only) and were something to happen with any of my long term clinicals and I ended up back there, I'd be off the hook for orientation.  Small comfort, that.

My clinical instructor was not in today as she is working this coming Saturday.  Instead, I observed one of her colleagues for the afternoon.  I'll start "for real" tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to learning a lot in these next couple weeks, and then... in 19 days I start my drive home to California!!

fun with deb in midtown

Since my last blog post, I've been working on getting details set for my upcoming clinical rotations - my short term (starting Monday) will be right at Emory at the Center for Rehab Medicine.  Long terms will be 10 weeks in San Diego followed by ten weeks in Tucson and ten weeks in downtown San Francisco.  I've also taken a few exams, a couple of midterms, and completed a couple of group projects.

This past weekend, Debbie came into town for business.  I joined her Friday afternoon in Midtown to hang out.  I met her at the W Hotel where she was staying - we walked next door and took advantage of Starbucks' buy-one-get-one-free Holiday drink special.  Later that night we checked out Empire State South for dinner.

view from the room

sunset from the 24th floor elevator lobby

empire state south

haha!  they have "snackies" on the menu!

waiting for our yummy food...

my "beginning"
crisp pork belly - popcorn rice grits, peanut-caramel corn, pickled ginger

deb's "beginning"
farm egg - ess bologna, crisp carolina gold rice, sunchoke puree, shiitake, baby dandelion

deb's entree
darby farms chicken roulade - pickled blueberry: celeriac-sourdough gratin, sweet potato, brussels

my entree
ga trout - chicken jus: gnocchi, kohlrabi puree, swiss chard, turnip, lonzino, nasturtium

 DELICIOUS!!  After a restful night's sleep on the feather toppers in the beds in the hotel, I took Debbie to Olmsted for brunch for her birthday.  I didn't take any pictures, but we shared a breakfast meat sampler and some banana bread, then we both ordered Georgia shrimp with "sweet corn and white cheddar grits."  I don't even know the last time I had grits (aside from my starter the night before), but it was really good.  We spent the rest of the day just hanging out, although any time we got a chance we checked for Twinkies by Judy's request.  My question is, "WHY would one be more likely to find Twinkies in Georgia than in Los Angeles?"  Dinner was a big pot of home cooked Panang curry before I dropped Debbie off at the airport for her flight back home.

checking for twinkies for judy...

I'm currently in Acworth enjoying Thanksgiving with the Georgia MacFadden clan, and will be heading off to North Carolina to spend time with friends I haven't seen in years.