Our odyssey began very early in the morning on Friday, 18 July. We were driving to Atlanta to visit some friends (to be shown later). The alarm clock rung precisely at 0500, to which Ashley immediately says, "Hey Jeffy, why aren't we flying?" I replied, in my best Clark Griswald impression, "Because getting there is half the fun." Bode was excited from the get-go, and while we prepared for the deployment, he worked on his standing up skills.
He can't really pull himself to a standing position, but he is able to get into that half-standing slouch shown above (I see him like that and my back just starts hurting). Before we left, Bode needed a drink, as trying to stand up is very strenuous.
I told the kid he better not drink too much because we had a long drive ahead of us. He looked at me and said, "Daddy, that's why I wear these diapers--just like that astronaut lady." Anyways, without further adieu, we were off at 0613, an amazing seventeen minutes before my targeted departure time.Google tells us the trip to Atlanta is precisely 506 miles, with an estimated driving time of 7 hours, 55 minutes. In the years P.B. (pre-Bode), I'm sure we could have arrived at Dave and Cathy's house by 1400. However, as many of you with children know, driving with a small child requires a number of stops. And we quickly learned one cannot wait until the child is crying to stop, because there is no worse hell than riding in a car with a screaming baby as you pass a "Next Rest Stop: 43 Miles" sign. Here is a picture of us feeding Bode at a rest area in Kentucky.
We thought about stopping and buying some property in Tennessee, not because we found a great house or anything. Rather, we simply liked the names of the streets. For example, who wouldn't want to come visit us if we lived on Little Skunk Road? Or what better way to address a letter than to the McGuirks who live on Stinky Creek Highway (yes, these are real names of roads off I-75 in Tennessee).The drive to Atlanta proceeded without incident. We arrived just before 1600, so we covered the 500 miles in just about 10 hours total time. Not bad, but certainly not going to qualify for the Cannonball Run.
It was great to see Cathy and Dave. They have a son named Westin who is two months older than Bode. Westin really flies around the house, looking a little like a bear because Westin crawls while standing on his feet and hands. It terrified me to see how quickly a kid can move. The phrase, "Constant vigalance!" (from Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter series) kept echoing in my mind as I tried to follow Westin from room to room and seeing what all he could get into (everything). Here are some pictures of Bode and Westin playing together. Note Bode's lack of mobility while Westin can go wherever he desires. I sort of hope Bode is a late bloomer--I really like his current sedentary lifestyle.
Friday night, we all stayed in and had pizza. Dave invited Gary and his daughter Sam to join us. Ashley hadn't seen Gary in three or four years, so she was very happy to see him. A few years ago, Gary had a stroke. He's had to relearn to do almost everything, but he seemed to us to be the same old Gary. He explained to us how the stroke affected him: "Basically, it's like a computer after a lightening strike. The input is ok. The output is ok. It's just there are some chunks of memory that are gone forever." As soon as he said this, Dave tried to convince Gary that he owed all of us $1,000 dollars but Gary wasn't buying it. Below is a picture of Ashley, Gary, and Sam.
Had this trip occurred ten years ago, I'm sure we would have all hit the town and ended up at the Waffle House for some greasy drunk food. Now that we're all "older," the night ended with us going to bed around 10 pm after tucking both kids into bed. Of course, ten years ago, we would have all slept in to noon or so. Now that we have portable alarm clocks (aka kids), we were up at the crack of dawn. Dave and Cathy took us to nice place for breakfast (I can't remember the name but it was wonderful). After feasting, Ashley, Bode, and I had to hit the road for our next destination. Before leaving, we snapped some photographs in the parking lot. First we have the proud mothers.
Next, we have the four bulls. Note how Westin is already striking that Heisman trophy pose. Surely Dave and Cathy have a fight in their future regarding Westin's higher education, as they are a "mixed" marriage (Dave went to Auburn while Cathy attended Sh*tsville University, I mean, Georgia).
We had a lovely visit with the Bledsoe threesome and hope to see them often as our boys, Auburn Future Class of 2030, grow up (Cathy, don't even think they're going to Georgia). We left Atlanta at 1100 Saturday morning. Next stop: Tybee Island, Georgia aka The Beach!
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