somewhere in the middle

First time in Mississippi

After a fun morning exploring Nawlins, hit the road to head toward's Georgia~some Austin friends generously offered their sister as a host on my cross-country drive.

Sweet Home Alabama

Car on a car

A truly gorgeous drive~pretty much all 1598 miles

Finally saw the Chattahoochee River~and if you don't know the song, you really ought to look it up.  I'm too tired to link in the YouTube.

Georgia Peach welcomes you

After breakfast with chatty Jr. Olympian (hilarious grandson of my hostess), hit the road for the longest and final stretch.  After living in California and Texas for so long, I forgot that you can drive across several states in one day. 

Both gorgeous and daunting to watch the thunderheads pile up each afternoon~I was lucky and didn't have too much rain. 

And while Virginia had the cleanest rest stops (well, South Carolina's were quite nice), they had these alarming stickers everywhere.  I'm guessing the older woman bellowing over the stall door to her granddaughter about her impending bowel movement is not part of this.

And yes, it is impossible to see the Shenandoah Valley without singing the choral standard.  

So much beauty in the last few miles~the cicadas and sunset sang me a Virginia welcome.  And then, I arrived in the driveway....

Where my grey-faced sister was waiting for me to drive her to the ER.  Since I arrived precisely at bedtime, it was easier for Dada to put the kidlets to bed.  So, I chucked Bogart in the guest room with his supplies and we zipped away.  Spent some quality time in a freezing cold cubicle.  After I found the vending machine and the warming bin of blankets, we settled in while two bags of saline were pumped into her for dehydration.  After she was able to keep water and two saltines down, they sent us home.

What an incredible journey it's been! From the kick-off in the mechanic shop to ending in the ER.  So deeply grateful to be safely here.