A Spring Trip to Decatur, GA

Hi everyone, it's spring time and the weather is pretty nice, not too hot yet and no more frosts or freezes for awhile. Since mom's youngest grandchild was close to her first birthday mom thought it would be a great time for a road trip up to Decatur, Georgia to see the birthday girl, Annabelle, and her parents. 

A couple of days before the trip, mom's son called to ask what time we would be arriving. Then he added that he had taken Sunday off to spend time with our mom. On Sunday, March 20th we were up at 4:00 am so we could be on the road early. We pulled out of our driveway at 5:30. Mom always adds extra time to our ETA to allow me to take potty walks. She's really good like that. I mean, I could hold it all day like I do when she's at work, but she's says if we're together there is no reason for me to have to hold it. Unless it is pouring rain, but that is another story altogether. 

We met up with her son and her youngest granddaughter at a restaurant called Twain's. Mom and her son have eaten there many times before. This time was different, they have a pet friendly patio and mom decided to see if I would be a good girl and behave myself. That was super easy to do since there were no other dogs there. 

Mom gave me a couple pieces of the pastrami from her sandwich. I loved it. Then I realized that Annabelle was dropping a good amount of scrambled eggs and I scarfed those up. Sitting near little people has it's advantages.  

After brunch at Twain's mom drove over to her son's house as it was too early for us to check into our rental. I was stuffed into Buddy's crate. You may remember him from Christmas when I kept trying to hump him. Anyway, he got sent upstairs and I was put in the crate for my safety as Annabelle is not always gentle when patting the puppy. Sometimes she pulls ears and tails and with me trying to get over an ear infection I agreed with mom this was a safe place for me. I did complain some just because. 

After a bit we drove over to our rental. It is a 12 minute walk from mom's son's house which made this a great trip. 

Mom was impressed with our place. It had a really neat kitchenette area. It was a a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with this large living/kitchen room.

After mom got us settled in we walked back over to her son's place for dinner and I got stuffed in the crate again. Annabelle came over a couple of times and stuck her arm through the crate and patted me. Thankfully she didn't pull my ears. 

When we got back to the rental it was after dark an mom was impressed with the way the front porch was all lit up. It took a bit for mom to realize that our living room was right behind that door. Who needs a night light when this is right outside your windows, all night long.

When we got up Monday morning it was pretty chilly. After my breakfast I laid on the front door rug. 

Mom had moved my bed so it was in front of the electric fireplace and turned the fireplace on to warm the room up. I love the electric fireplace we have at home but I was not sure about this one. Eventually I laid in front of it. It was no where near as nice as mom's so I moved. 

I went back to the front door rug and watched the children walking towards school. I don't get to see this stuff at home. Unless I'm sitting on the couch I cannot even see out the windows at home. 

The morning warmed up nicely and mom put me in the car. We went to a cemetery. What is it with mom and dead people? This place is the Oakland Cemetery. It is 48 acres large and is less than a mile from downtown Atlanta. 

After we had walked around a bit we stopped here. Mom told me about Bobby Jones, the great golfer. Then she started with some Hollywood movie stuff about how he was portrayed in the move 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' which we had seen, or at least she has. I probably slept. Oh, look a squirrel! That got mom's attention and we moved on.

The next grave we stopped at was this one. Mom told me how Kenny Rogers was a great Country singer for many years and even starred in a few movies. I liked the smell of all the flowers on his grave.

After more walking we headed back to mom's truck. There was one more grave she wanted to see. On the way to that one she stopped her. She loved the headstone. The words 'End of the Journey' were chiseled on the marker.

This was our last stop before going back to the truck. Mom started spouting more movie stuff about how this lady wrote the book that the movie 'Gone with the Wind' was based on,,another yawn. I gave mom the I'm hot and tired look and a nudge to make sure she noticed. 

We got to the truck and drove about 3 minutes to reach the place her son works at. They have a pet friendly patio and each pet gets a large bowl of water. Again, I was the only pet which made mom happy. 

Mom's son told her how the AstroTurf is cleaned and sanitized each night so dogs don't get sick and it never smells of dog pee or poop.  

Mom's son works at this place. They have great food, or so mom tells me. She gave me a couple of french fries,  but I was just happy to lay in the shade away from lots and lots of dead people.

After lunch we went back to our rental. Mom left my in my crate and went to meet her son, his girlfriend and Annabelle for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Mom had eaten there before but didn't know that they had a dog friendly patio. Mom told me that there were several other dogs there so it was probably best that I stayed home.

Tuesday was our last full day in Decatur. Mom left me in my crate and went to her son's house for breakfast. After breakfast they went on a hike. During the hike they passed this old, 5-story cotton factory that was burned by Union forces during the Civil war.

 During a rest mom took this photo of her and her son. Mom told me it got really hot on the hike. The weather people called for a high of 71 but it got into the 80s. Poor mom got really hot as she didn't pack any shorts. 

Mom told me how the river was awesome to see and at some points they walked next to it. She also added that I would never have made the hike. There were parts that she had trouble with. She told me she thought her son was trying to kill her, but she still loves him. 

After the hike they dropped mom off at the rental and I was really happy to see her. She walked me and then started loading as much as she could into the truck as rain was supposed to start overnight. After she grabbed a shower we walked over to her son's house. He made martinis for the adult humans. Since Annabelle was napping I got to be out on the patio with them. Casey gave me one of Buddy's toys and I destroyed it. Mom felt bad but Casey said Buddy never played with it so it was okay.

When we got up Wednesday it was raining like the weather folks said it would. Mom walked and fed me then got us loaded up as fast as she could. I enjoyed our trip but as always, there is no place like home. 

Mom is not sure if we'll go back to Decatur in May. She may cancel that trip, if so our next trip would be in June.