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So we're finally back from our two epic journeys. 942 miles from Toronto to Atlanta and back, and then 2200 miles from Toronto to LA and back, all in the space of 3 weeks. No wonder I'm dizzy. +++FULL REPORT FOLLOWS+++
We set out for Atlanta around noon on Thursday the 22nd. The weather didn't close in until we were across the lake heading for Erie PA, but it was rain, not snow. We stopped at the Steak & Shake in Erie, one of the few places in the world where you can have that, a Tim Hortons, and a Chic-fil-A. Then it was back down the road past Pittsburgh and into West Virginia. Shain did a tricky bit of driving through rain and West VA mountains across the third highest suspension bridge in the world to Beckley where we stopped for the night. Beckley seems to be doing better than the last time we stopped; the hotel we stayed in was brand new, as was the Applebees that served us a late dinner. Yeah, I know, but what are ya gonna do?
Friday we got back onto the road. Our target: Snoopers.
This is where I found that Captain Future children's cutlery set while passing through on our way home from the beach in '10. We didn't give the place a total investigation then and I was determined to rectify that omission on this trip. And rectify it we did! Didn't find anything as totally awesome as the Captain Future stuff or the fake Keane picture this time, but we did pick up some comics and odds and ends, both at this place and the place next door that was decidedly junkier. There is still a stuffed-fabric "Sniffles" at Snoopers if anybody cares to pick it up and pay $30 for it. We did also see this:
Apparently latent 'furry' still lurks in the psyche of western Virginia, where old mountain craftsmanship meets up-to-date fetishes.
We continued down through VA and into NC and stopped at a few more spots. At Charlotte we paused as traffic slowed over Lake Norman. What's up with that? And then before we knew it we were getting Starbucks in Greenville SC and prepping for that last leg to the folks' house, where we arrived around 10pm which is early for completing a trip like this, usually we're rollin' in stupid late.
Saturday we wrapped presents and relaxed and waited for Santa. Dinner was BBQ with Grant, Marie, Ivy, and the new baby Daniel. Sunday was Xmas and we watched the nephew play with his Hot Wheels while we unwrapped the presents we wrapped the day before. Monday... I'm drawing a blank. Did we meet Neil for coffee on Monday? Tuesday we drove to Athens and stopped at a few places in Braselton on the way. Swapped a bunch of comics we didn't need with Devlin in exchange for comics we DID need. I use the word "need" loosely here. Lunch at the Grill and then back to the folks where Shain went to bed because she was not well. 104 temperature.
Shain's fever broke during the night and by Wednesday she was well enough to join Ivy and I on a trip to the mall. And here's where things get blurry. At some point we had dinner at Scalinis with my family and Shaun and Jim Reddy, back from Japan, joined us in spite of rain and a flat tire. At some point we had late Waffle House coffee with Neal. Elizabeth C. met us for a Chamblee lunch and then we poked through antiques where Shain found Pixie and Dixie AND Mister Jinks.
We visited Randy Stewart and Kimberly in their new house. On Friday we went to Elizabeth's dad's birthday party at their house and then drove out to Matt Buffington's new house where he and Jeannie just got married and are expecting. Seeing all of these lovely homes really highlights our place's desperate need of a new paint job. But generally we spent a week relaxing in Smyrna, eating Mom's cooking and watching TV with Dad, and everybody needs some of that sometime. We did eat at Howards, home of the food fight scene in the new Dolly Parton/Queen Latifah feature film "Joyful Noise" that is already garnering critical, uh, attention.
Saturday the 31st we packed up and headed out to Birmingham to visit old pal Jeff Roe and Nettie and Nettie's sister Lisa, whom I had not seen in ages, and Jeff and Nettie's son Justin, who just got an awesome RC vehicle for Xmas which he was putting through its paces. We spent the night in B'ham, had breakfast at the Golden Corral buffet where there was nothing on the menu that wasn't fried, boiled, buttered, or sugar-coated - even the orange juice machine was out of order - and then it was off through northern Alabama to marvel at the amazingly hateful billboards, to buy old issues of "Millie The Model" for $2, and thence to Nashville for a quick stop at the Great Escape. Then to Louisville for a quick visit with Julian and Deb and Jon, and on up the road to Cincinnati. When we got up in Alabama the weather was 62, it was beautiful while antiquing in northern AL, getting chilly in Nashville, and by the time we got to Cincy it was downright frosty. We crashed in a very nice place in Fairfield and the next day, with snow on the ground, we met up with Greg and Melissa and two of their brood for a visit and a Skyline lunch. And then it was northwards towards our next stop, Jeffrey's in Findlay, Ohio. http://www.jeffreysantique.com/
Lots of cheap old comics in Jeffrey's. The place is so huge that we never are able to cover it all in one visit. Their policy is that all items must be at least 25 years old, and I highly approve of this policy. They also have a place in Springfield that's worth a trip if you're in the area. On this trip, however, the weather was closing in so we got back onto the road, through intermittent sunshine and snow squalls, northwards to Windsor. The border crossing was uneventful and soon we were back on the 401. This is when the driving got tricky, because bands of snow were blowing across Ontario and right across the highway, making visibility almost nonexistent. At times traffic slowed to a crawl. We saw our first ditched vehicles just this side of London. After Woodstock things improved and before we knew it, we were back home. The cat was irritated at us, we were tired and hungry, and we had barely unpacked before we packed right up for our next trip, to Anime Los Angeles!
BTW we did see this in a place in North Carolina. I don't usually think about buying toy cribs, but if I bought a toy crib I'd buy this one:
Not really a 'restful' motif, but boy is it cheerful!
We set out for Atlanta around noon on Thursday the 22nd. The weather didn't close in until we were across the lake heading for Erie PA, but it was rain, not snow. We stopped at the Steak & Shake in Erie, one of the few places in the world where you can have that, a Tim Hortons, and a Chic-fil-A. Then it was back down the road past Pittsburgh and into West Virginia. Shain did a tricky bit of driving through rain and West VA mountains across the third highest suspension bridge in the world to Beckley where we stopped for the night. Beckley seems to be doing better than the last time we stopped; the hotel we stayed in was brand new, as was the Applebees that served us a late dinner. Yeah, I know, but what are ya gonna do?
Friday we got back onto the road. Our target: Snoopers.
This is where I found that Captain Future children's cutlery set while passing through on our way home from the beach in '10. We didn't give the place a total investigation then and I was determined to rectify that omission on this trip. And rectify it we did! Didn't find anything as totally awesome as the Captain Future stuff or the fake Keane picture this time, but we did pick up some comics and odds and ends, both at this place and the place next door that was decidedly junkier. There is still a stuffed-fabric "Sniffles" at Snoopers if anybody cares to pick it up and pay $30 for it. We did also see this:
Apparently latent 'furry' still lurks in the psyche of western Virginia, where old mountain craftsmanship meets up-to-date fetishes.
We continued down through VA and into NC and stopped at a few more spots. At Charlotte we paused as traffic slowed over Lake Norman. What's up with that? And then before we knew it we were getting Starbucks in Greenville SC and prepping for that last leg to the folks' house, where we arrived around 10pm which is early for completing a trip like this, usually we're rollin' in stupid late.
Saturday we wrapped presents and relaxed and waited for Santa. Dinner was BBQ with Grant, Marie, Ivy, and the new baby Daniel. Sunday was Xmas and we watched the nephew play with his Hot Wheels while we unwrapped the presents we wrapped the day before. Monday... I'm drawing a blank. Did we meet Neil for coffee on Monday? Tuesday we drove to Athens and stopped at a few places in Braselton on the way. Swapped a bunch of comics we didn't need with Devlin in exchange for comics we DID need. I use the word "need" loosely here. Lunch at the Grill and then back to the folks where Shain went to bed because she was not well. 104 temperature.
Shain's fever broke during the night and by Wednesday she was well enough to join Ivy and I on a trip to the mall. And here's where things get blurry. At some point we had dinner at Scalinis with my family and Shaun and Jim Reddy, back from Japan, joined us in spite of rain and a flat tire. At some point we had late Waffle House coffee with Neal. Elizabeth C. met us for a Chamblee lunch and then we poked through antiques where Shain found Pixie and Dixie AND Mister Jinks.
We visited Randy Stewart and Kimberly in their new house. On Friday we went to Elizabeth's dad's birthday party at their house and then drove out to Matt Buffington's new house where he and Jeannie just got married and are expecting. Seeing all of these lovely homes really highlights our place's desperate need of a new paint job. But generally we spent a week relaxing in Smyrna, eating Mom's cooking and watching TV with Dad, and everybody needs some of that sometime. We did eat at Howards, home of the food fight scene in the new Dolly Parton/Queen Latifah feature film "Joyful Noise" that is already garnering critical, uh, attention.
Saturday the 31st we packed up and headed out to Birmingham to visit old pal Jeff Roe and Nettie and Nettie's sister Lisa, whom I had not seen in ages, and Jeff and Nettie's son Justin, who just got an awesome RC vehicle for Xmas which he was putting through its paces. We spent the night in B'ham, had breakfast at the Golden Corral buffet where there was nothing on the menu that wasn't fried, boiled, buttered, or sugar-coated - even the orange juice machine was out of order - and then it was off through northern Alabama to marvel at the amazingly hateful billboards, to buy old issues of "Millie The Model" for $2, and thence to Nashville for a quick stop at the Great Escape. Then to Louisville for a quick visit with Julian and Deb and Jon, and on up the road to Cincinnati. When we got up in Alabama the weather was 62, it was beautiful while antiquing in northern AL, getting chilly in Nashville, and by the time we got to Cincy it was downright frosty. We crashed in a very nice place in Fairfield and the next day, with snow on the ground, we met up with Greg and Melissa and two of their brood for a visit and a Skyline lunch. And then it was northwards towards our next stop, Jeffrey's in Findlay, Ohio. http://www.jeffreysantique.com/
Lots of cheap old comics in Jeffrey's. The place is so huge that we never are able to cover it all in one visit. Their policy is that all items must be at least 25 years old, and I highly approve of this policy. They also have a place in Springfield that's worth a trip if you're in the area. On this trip, however, the weather was closing in so we got back onto the road, through intermittent sunshine and snow squalls, northwards to Windsor. The border crossing was uneventful and soon we were back on the 401. This is when the driving got tricky, because bands of snow were blowing across Ontario and right across the highway, making visibility almost nonexistent. At times traffic slowed to a crawl. We saw our first ditched vehicles just this side of London. After Woodstock things improved and before we knew it, we were back home. The cat was irritated at us, we were tired and hungry, and we had barely unpacked before we packed right up for our next trip, to Anime Los Angeles!
BTW we did see this in a place in North Carolina. I don't usually think about buying toy cribs, but if I bought a toy crib I'd buy this one:
Not really a 'restful' motif, but boy is it cheerful!
