Winding up the Year

Saturday, December 31, 2011 Road Junkies 0 Comments

After Dianne's trip to Arkansas and Tennessee in search of family history, we spent the remainder of the year close to home in Peachtree City. Autumn foliage in our apartment complex was worth seeing, always exceptional due to the informed landscaping that brought in every color.

As we were hiking in Chattahoochee Bend State Park, a new public land in nearby Coweta County on 11/11/11, Dianne began experiencing the first symptoms of shingles. A call to the health insurance nurse hotline hinted at the diagnosis, which was confirmed the following day by a doctor.

We visited Charlotte a few days later to help with the celebration of Erika's 91st birthday, complete with a Sacher torte, her favorite childhood dessert, obtained by the magic of air express from the Hotel Sacher in Vienna.

In addition to letterboxing around our home area, we attended the JingleBoxing letterboxing event in Braselton, GA in December, reconnecting with some letterboxing and real life friends. Our quest to plant some letterboxes in downtown Atlanta led us into the city center on both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. On these holidays, we found the city pretty much deserted, allowing us to hide our treasure without being observed.

Are you ready for some road trips?

Based on extensive research and testing, we bought a 2012 Acura MDX in December to replace our aging Honda Odyssey, which had accumulated almost 200,000 miles. Since we purchased the car in Columbus, Georgia, we had to attend a hockey game while there.

Woodie & Steven exploring St Stephens

Extra Line

After Christmas, we drove the new SUV to Millry to visit with Nanamama and Woodie's family. One day we went to nearby St. Stephens Archaeological Park with Woodie and Steven and Nanamama. Later, everyone drove to Vernon, Alabama, where Jeanne's family had gathered for their post-Christmas reunion.