december trip
Dec. 31st, 2022 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davemerrillSO! we had a trip. We left Toronto on Thursday the 22nd, had great weather to Detroit, crossed the border with no problems, stopped at Jeffrey's in Findlay and at a Skyline south of Wapakonetka for dinner. When we got to Greg and Melissa's place it was 40 degrees (F) and raining. An hour later it was 30 and snowing, and then it was 20 and snowing, and then it was 15 and snowing. Friday morning was bright and cold and icy.
We shoveled out around the car, made sure it cranked, got everything loaded in spite of the trunk being frozen shut, put toe warmers in our shoes, and headed out. YES the first place we slipped and slid into was out of gas. YES the roads were slippery and people were out and about with no idea of how to handle snow and slush and ice. Lots of trucks and vans in the ditch. Flipped over SUVs, dead semis, mini-vans blocking traffic for miles while they tried to get traction to get up a hill. It was white-knuckle driving all the way to Lexington, where the roads cleared a bit.
By the time we got to Knoxville it was dark, but the roads were fine, and stayed fine the rest of the way to Chattanooga, where we visited with Grant and Marie and their son. I want to say it was about 11pm when we got to Atlanta, where the temperature was still in the teens. Saturday was Xmas Eve and we did a little shopping around Smyrna. Jason came over and we ordered some Xmas pizza. Sunday was Xmas and as some of the family was unable to make it over due to reasons, it was decided to postpone gifts and family dinner until Tuesday, so we didn't do a whole lot other than try to walk around the block in the subzero weather, and did some driving trying to find somewhere open for dinner.
Boxing Day Monday, Matt B. had a whole bunch of folks over for lunch and we spent most of the slightly warmer day over there catching up with a whole slew of Atlanta friends. Tuesday we drove to Athens to visit Bizarro Wuxtry and Devlin. Stopped at two antique malls on the way and both were either closed forever or in the process of remodelling and therefore closed. Got back to Smyrna in time to prep our part of dinner and we had a big family dinner and unwrapped presents. Wednesday Julia and Brian dropped their dog Hugo off with us while they went out of town so we spent a lot of time playing fetch and watching him destroy tennis balls, and then we did some antique malling and Marietta Diner-ing with with the SIL.
Thursday we packed up and hit the road again back north. We went through Blue Ridge, which was jam packed with tourists, and Pigeon Forge, which was jam packed with tourists, and then to 40 and 81 and we spent the night in Beckley WV. Friday AM we got up, enjoyed the warm sunshine, went to an antique mall that again was closed for remodeling, drove up 77 to 19 to Fayetteville and visited an actual open antique mall, and then to 79, to 90, and to a Buffalo that seems to have recovered from the snow. Crossed the border at Ft. Erie, went to the Flying Saucer diner in a tourist-choked Niagara Falls. We were home to a warm and rainy Toronto by 10pm!
We shoveled out around the car, made sure it cranked, got everything loaded in spite of the trunk being frozen shut, put toe warmers in our shoes, and headed out. YES the first place we slipped and slid into was out of gas. YES the roads were slippery and people were out and about with no idea of how to handle snow and slush and ice. Lots of trucks and vans in the ditch. Flipped over SUVs, dead semis, mini-vans blocking traffic for miles while they tried to get traction to get up a hill. It was white-knuckle driving all the way to Lexington, where the roads cleared a bit.
By the time we got to Knoxville it was dark, but the roads were fine, and stayed fine the rest of the way to Chattanooga, where we visited with Grant and Marie and their son. I want to say it was about 11pm when we got to Atlanta, where the temperature was still in the teens. Saturday was Xmas Eve and we did a little shopping around Smyrna. Jason came over and we ordered some Xmas pizza. Sunday was Xmas and as some of the family was unable to make it over due to reasons, it was decided to postpone gifts and family dinner until Tuesday, so we didn't do a whole lot other than try to walk around the block in the subzero weather, and did some driving trying to find somewhere open for dinner.
Boxing Day Monday, Matt B. had a whole bunch of folks over for lunch and we spent most of the slightly warmer day over there catching up with a whole slew of Atlanta friends. Tuesday we drove to Athens to visit Bizarro Wuxtry and Devlin. Stopped at two antique malls on the way and both were either closed forever or in the process of remodelling and therefore closed. Got back to Smyrna in time to prep our part of dinner and we had a big family dinner and unwrapped presents. Wednesday Julia and Brian dropped their dog Hugo off with us while they went out of town so we spent a lot of time playing fetch and watching him destroy tennis balls, and then we did some antique malling and Marietta Diner-ing with with the SIL.
Thursday we packed up and hit the road again back north. We went through Blue Ridge, which was jam packed with tourists, and Pigeon Forge, which was jam packed with tourists, and then to 40 and 81 and we spent the night in Beckley WV. Friday AM we got up, enjoyed the warm sunshine, went to an antique mall that again was closed for remodeling, drove up 77 to 19 to Fayetteville and visited an actual open antique mall, and then to 79, to 90, and to a Buffalo that seems to have recovered from the snow. Crossed the border at Ft. Erie, went to the Flying Saucer diner in a tourist-choked Niagara Falls. We were home to a warm and rainy Toronto by 10pm!
