20 November 2024
Stephen and Jimmie were up early and after a quick breakfast, were out the door headed home by around 7:30. Me, it takes a little longer. I think I finally had the Jeep loaded by around 9:30 am and bid Smithgall Woods State Park a fond farewell until next time.
From there, it was a little over an hour’s drive to Chip and Dorothy’s in Sugar Hill. When I went to type his address into my GPS, it didn’t recognize the address. I had to revert to my iPhone’s GPS to get the correct street address. Just to show you how out of date my GPS in the Jeep is, it had me get off I-85 and then get back on it. I did manage to get around Atlanta, just not as easy as Sherman going through it.
Chip and Dorothy met me outside of their really beautiful house on a cul de sac. Chip greeted me with a handshake and a hug and I met Dorothy for the first time. We sat in their living room and rehashed old times, caught up with each others’ lives, laughed, and bored Dorothy with old Coastie stories.
I would say Chip hadn’t aged a bit but that would be a lie. Of course, I look exactly the same as 53 years ago except no hair.
Chip was an excellent ET on board the Reliance. I only saw him stumped once and that was with our huge transmitter that still used tubes instead of transistors. When he couldn’t identify the problem he said it was time for “the old smoke test.” I asked what that was and he said we power the transmitter up to the max and see what burns out first. It worked.
Dorothy had fixed a really nice lunch of salami, pepperoni, cheese, crackers, and fresh fruit. Then she won my heart by providing donut holes. She also used the same drip method for coffee that I used this trip.
Stephen liked the coffee provided by the park and I like my Blue Bottle coffee from home using the drip method. He would offer me a cup of the park coffee and I would decline and then offer him a cup of Blue Bottle. Kudos to Dorothy for knowing drip method rocks!
Chip showed me his garden and I spied some tomato plants. He picked me some that were just turning and so I now will have some homegrowns when I get home. Thanks Chip! I’ll be back next summer for some more.
I really hated to leave but didn’t want to hit rush hour on my way to Macon. Alas, it didn’t matter. Most of the way to Macon was stop and go on the interstates. I managed to keep my cool when a transfer truck kept pushing me from behind and repaid the trucker who kept people from cutting in line at the beginning of my trip and moved over so the pushy didn’t have to change lanes.
I had dinner at the Outback Steakhouse (chicken tenders). I had a side Cesar salad that the lettuce was so wilted, I set it aside. I did like the baked sweet potato.
There’s something strange about Macon. The desk clerk at the hotel had zero personality and I had to ask for the complimentary water. Then the hostess at Outback was no where to be seen for about 3-4 minutes. At least my waitress was attentive.
Tomorrow is a 5 hour drive to Ocala – horse country! Stay tuned!