The Rat Race

"Drive thy business or it will drive thee." -- Ben Franklin

As I've mentioned in prior posts, life has been pretty busy as of late. School started back along with all associated activities for the girls. My job has been relentless with tons of travel mixed in with a very busy job to begin with. And, we've still managed to squeeze in a few weekend RV trips just to unwind from it all.

Business Travel (Marietta and Washington D.C.)

I spent the week before last in Marietta all week. Then, I left again on Monday for Marietta once more with a flight planned on Tuesday to go to Washington D.C. for the remainder of last week. The week was entertaining to say the least.

I have to share this story because it is almost so riddled with issues that it's almost too hilarious to believe.

It all began on Monday evening when I came back from dinner and left the headlights on in my jeep. A coworker from Dayton noticed the lights on when he was outside the hotel smoking about 45 minutes later and he called me to tell me about it. So, I went outside and turned off the headlights but the battery was dead. Since it was raining, dark, and late, I decided I'd attempt cranking it again in the morning. I awakened early in the morning and decided I'd go ahead and pack up the jeep in preparation for our early flight from the Atlanta airport. It was raining very hard when I went outside. So, when I got to the jeep, I left my suitcase sitting beside my jeep while I hopped inside, quickly closed the door, and closed my umbrella. I decided to attempt to crank it up again which it did do after sputtering a bit. I was so happy that it cranked up that I forgot about my suitcase outside in the parking lot. I backed up and moved my jeep closer to my supervisor's truck just in case the jeep's battery was still weak when we got ready to leave. I went back inside the hotel, had breakfast and we all prepared to leave about an hour later. My cell phone was having issues so I didn't get the message when the hotel called to tell me that someone had found my luggage in the parking lot and that it was at the front desk. I got the message as I was traveling to the airport in pouring rain in rush hour traffic in Atlanta. So, I got off on the next exit to turn around and return to the hotel. Only, the traffic lights were not working so it took some time to navigate through that mess as well. I finally made it back to the hotel and loaded up my suitcase (it was hard sided luggage so my belongings were thankfully dry). As soon as I closed the door, a tornado siren went off. I couldn't believe it. I remained at the hotel long enough for the weather to clear up a bit and then I tried a different route recommended by the hotel receptionist. It may have been quicker any other day; but, not today. The road to the I-285 ramp was flooded from the non-stop rain. So, once again, I made a u-turn and attempted to drive to the airport via I-75. I eventually did make it to the airport with only minutes to spare before my flight began boarding. My coworkers gave me non-stop grief over the morning events (and continued to do so during the remainder of the week). I am thrilled to say that my flight to Washington D.C. went well. We even had some time in the afternoon to tour some areas of D.C. It's been at least 10 years since I last visited Washington D.C. At that point, the WW II Memorial had not been constructed so this was my first opportunity to visit it. I had registered family members in the WW II database and I was able to see their names/photos at the kiosk. We also visited the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Natural History Museum (Smithsonian).

I have to admit that there are some things I enjoy about bigger cities; mainly the never ending array of places to eat. What I don't like is the rat race. Heaven forbid that you stand on the wrong side of a escalator leaving the Metro. People will mow you over walking up. You learn really quick to stand on the right side out of the way. Everyone has some type of head phones or wireless device. Lots of suits. I could people watch all day. I like visiting big cities...wouldn't want to live in one though.

I didn't sleep well at my hotel. There was lots of noise from the streets below. It is one of the main reasons I love our RV. I hate hotels for the most part. People talk loudly in the hallways at night and slam their doors in hotels as well which just adds to my dislike.

My business meetings went extremely well though so the week wasn't a total nightmare. It was my first time to visit the Pentagon (either for business or a tour). I think I would shrivel on the vine if I worked there full time though. I've got to have windows are at least be close to an exit where I can see sunshine. It amazes me when I meet people who have worked there for years. I just couldn't do it....the relentless pace, the vaulted work spaces, the traffic, etc.

I passed on the social events that my coworkers participated in and hung out at the hotel in the evenings. I did have dinner with an old friend, Melanie, while in town. She and her husband moved to D.C. from Georgia several years ago and I had not seen them since. It was great catching up with her again.

I did learn about one new aspect of D.C.; slugging. I had never heard of the slug lines before a coworker explained it to me. Essentially, it's hitch hiking. Drivers pick up people so they can use the HOV lanes and travel more quickly to their destinations. Evidently, there is quite the elaborate system along with slug etiquette.

We flew back to Atlanta on Friday with our flight landing in Atlanta around 5, the worst possible time. I should've known my evening was not going to go well when I tried to pay my park-and-ride fee and my automated payment kiosk locked up. I was there for 20 minutes just trying to leave the airport. Then, there was an accident on I-75 that slowed me up. A few minutes later, the low fuel light came on in my jeep so I exited to get fuel and I figured I'd grab a bite to eat while I was off the interstate. It was after this that my evening continued down hill. The traffic was awful on I-85 when I tried to get back on the interstate. Evidently, there was an accident on I-85 (I never saw it but I sure dealt with the effects of it). Traffic was bumper to bumper and extremely, painfully, slow. I wish I was making this up but I'm not....it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to travel ten miles. I finally made it to Dillard, GA, (which should've only taken me 2 hours from the airport) around 10:30 pm. Jeff had driven there earlier in the day in the RV with the girls. The plan was for me to meet them there after returning from D.C. If I could've exited the interstate again (impossible with traffic), I would've just gotten a hotel and called it a night as I was exhausted.

Dillard, GA

Luckily, the rest of the weekend went much better. Except, the jeep was still sputtering on Saturday. The battery needed to be replaced. It was old anyway and me leaving it on had not helped increase its life. Every time Jeff applied the brakes on Saturday, the jeep would stop running. I guess I was extremely fortunate that it didn't do that on Friday evening. I don't know what I would've done had that happened with me when I was stuck in traffic on I-85. I was cursing the manual transmission already in stop and go traffic. I don't even want to think about dealing with it stalling every time I applied the brakes. I guess I had an angel looking out for me as I couldn't reach Jeff by phone either. He wasn't picking up a cell phone signal in Dillard so I couldn't have called him for assistance if I had needed help. So, as bad as my evening had been on Friday....it could've been worse; a lot worse. It's all about perspective I suppose.

We camped at River Vista Mountain Village in Dillard. The campground and amenities were nice and the sites provide full hook-up. The one aspect I didn't like is that there was very little room in between camp sites so there was no privacy at all. It was a bit too close for my liking. If you get a site close to the road, you will hear traffic noise from the road if you're in a pop-up, etc. We were in an RV and we did hear some when our air conditioner wasn't running.

After getting a new battery on Saturday, we decided to drive to Gatlinburg as it had been a while since we visited. We ate lunch and then the girls wanted to go to the Ripley's Aquarium. They loved petting the horseshoe crabs and the stingrays. Later, Anna wanted to ride on the chair lift in Gatlinburg. Rachel didn't want any part of it. She doesn't like heights so we browsed some shops while Jeff and Anna rode the chair lift. We all ate dinner at the Park Grill and then returned to Dillard for the evening. I would've loved to hike in the Smokies while we were in Tennessee but there wasn't time and I don't think the girls were up for it either. They slept the majority of the way home.

On Saturday, we swam for a while at the pool in the morning and then drove to Tallulah Gorge to do some hiking. Given the choice of the hustle and bustle of D.C. (cities) or the quietness of nature, I'll take nature any day of the week. I'd like slightly cooler temperatures but I'd prefer to be on a trail than walking through city streets any time. The girls did well hiking the steps into the gorge but Anna started getting a bit whiny towards the end after we hiked back up and we were walking to the other overlooks. I have to admit that I laughed when I heard her crying and she said, "You're using up all my play energy!" Poor thing. I don't know how she made it; but she did. She always survives some how despite the drama that she throws our way for consideration.
Rachel even braved the suspended bridge over the gorge. She wasn't too thrilled but she made it across and back without too much fretting over the height and the movement of the bridge.
We ate lunch at the Dillard House. There was so much food that we couldn't even eat half of it. We had never eaten here before but have eaten at similiar establishments. The food was great and there was certainly plenty of it; all southern style cooking of course. But, if you ever eat there, you want to go hungry and with money in hand as there is tons of food but it's not cheap for a family of four. We paid $78 for all four of us to eat. Of course, we took what we didn't eat home and had dinner on Sunday evening as well. But, it's still not the most reasonably priced meal. We returned back to the camper afterwards and the girls swam some more and then later played with their new friend, Victoria, at the playground. We hope to meet up with Victoria's family later this year on another camping trip.
We drove back home on Monday. I'm thankful that the trip back home was uneventful. Now, it's time to tackle the house work and the many work e-mails that I'm sure have backed up while I was out of the office last week. It'll be nice to not have to travel again soon. We do have a trip to Alabama planned in a couple of weeks for my 20-year high school reunion but I don't know of anything else that will require me to be away from home for business which I'm grateful for at this point. I will be back in Marietta again after my reunion but at least I'll have a couple of weeks to rest up before traveling again. I need some time to catch up on things here at the homestead. Plus, I think Jeff will lynch me if I leave him at home again so soon to manage our two little women all alone. He can certainly handle it all himself...it's just not a fun thing to do with no breaks or back up support.

I hope everyone had a restful Labor Day weekend. I sure needed some down time after last week and after the rat race.