BACK TO NORMAL

The holidays are over and things are back to normal, whatever that is. We spent 10 days at each one of our children's homes over the holidays. It was so nice to spend concentrated time with each family. Jay and Cynthia went to Las Vegas for a few days while we were at their house and we got to stay with Carolyn, Maria, and Jonathan. They were really good and they wore us out. I'm not used to playing on the floor so much any more. Each morning Carolyn counted down how many more days until Mommy and Daddy came home. We visited with our families and friends, which is good. You can keep the cold and snow, however.

We left our cars in Cincinnati and rented a car to go back to the boat. Norm and Sue rented a car as well because we were all bringing so much stuff back with us. We left Cincinnati around noon on Monday. The ride was fine until we reached the Georgia border. Those people do not know how to handle snow and ice. The expressway was treacherous, with cars off the side of the road facing in the wrong direction. We saw a salt truck off the side of the highway that had apparently tried to go under an overpass with the bed of his dump truck fully extended. The truck was in one spot and the bed of the truck smashed in another spot with salt spilled all around. OOPS! Just north of Atlanta in Kennesaw, there was an accident on South I-75 that had all lanes closed. So, we decided to stop and eat dinner and then see if the road was cleaned up. McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, Burger King, and Publix were all closed. We found a bar named Guston's Neighborhood Grille that was open. The people were so nice to us and the food was good. We inquired about hotels and they recommended the Travelodge. They even called ahead and had them hold two rooms for us.

We got back on the road at 5:30 A.M. Tuesday morning. The stretch through Atlanta was terrible, but there was very little traffic. The DJs on the radio kept announcing how bad the roads were, and to stay inside and not drive. They cancelled 2400 flights both Monday and Tuesday at the Atlanta Airport. Once we got to Macon, the roads were clear and driving became much easier. Norm and Sue's car was possessed, and they weren't sure it was going to make it all the way to Florida. I prayed multiple rosaries through the state of Georgia and we made it with no incidents. Thank God!