Alpharetta, GA

Bobby and WanSoon. See the grill in the table?
see all photos »

per mapquest: 167 miles 3 hrs 1 min 8286857725

Lunch with sister-in-laws Brenda and Lynette in Hendersonville, NC has been cancelled.

My brother Bob arrived from Alpharetta (Atlanta) about 7:30 this morning. We had a delightful breakfast at the hotel and then we started our venture. Our stops were at shops that could repair my car. I must say that "Southern Hospitality" abounds in Birmingham. At every shop we visited we were greeted with enthusiasm and were given undivided attention. The answers were the same though "at least 3 days" and "we won't know for sure until we take everything apart." My car was towed from Firestone to an Aamco transmission shop. In hind site, I should have gotten a receipt or some sort of acknowledgment that my car was taken. It may be in Mexico by now.

I think I like the other picture better.
see all photos »

While still in the Firestone parking lot, I was “shopping” for a rental car. My brother was taking and returning phone calls-he’s a busy guy. It was then time to go to Enterprise. Well, lo and behold Bobby turned the ignition key and TICK TICK TICK-the battery was dead. We just laughed and laughed. Fortunately we had an “in” with the Firestone folks and they jumped the car and away we went. You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say I was jinxed.

The two hour journey back to Atlanta was very exciting. First, I learned that cars are still made with crank windows, locks you have to depress manually and seats that are adjustable with the turn of a knob. I had to keep in mind that I did request an economy car. I followed my brother and only lost him twice. We hit Atlanta just in time for rush hour.

We stopped at the house, unpacked my car, took a tour of his Georgia Style mansion and then went off to meet his wife, WanSoon, at the Sushi/Korean/Chinese buffet. That was pretty cool. We had a built-in grill at the table and our meat was cooked right in front of us. I was thankful that our waitress attended to the cooking. To all you skeptics out there-yes I ate and my appetite was totally satisfied.

Upon returning home, we lounged, talked and totally agreed that it had been a very long day.