To the South! Georgia edition

After our fun in Mississippi, we drove on over to Georgia to hang out with Doug, our friend from Northridge. He had to work the day we were in town, so while we waited for him, we meandered around Atlanta.

Laura used to live in Dunwoody as a kid. We didn't visit it this trip, but it was fun seeing it on the map.

We had breakfast at Waffle House, just so Laura could understand all the jokes.

Breakfast wasn't so bad.

We wandered over to Stone Mountain to see the giant slab of stone.

Just in case people forgot, reminders like this (a carving of confederate leaders) let people know that WE ARE IN THE SOUTH. 

We found a toy store:

We rode a train:

Then it started raining, and our plans to ride on the cable cars to the top of Stone Mountain were dashed with the lightening. It was ok, it was about time to go see Doug, anyway.

On the way back to the car, we saw this sequence of signs, which made us think of the Flight of the Conchords song, "Ladies of the World". 

If you're interested, you can watch the song here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjrbmj0CUc
"Lady-man-lady!"

We found Doug! We had dinner at The Vortex, featured on Man vs. Food (which is why we went there, thanks, Troy!).

Troy's dinner: the Double Coronary Bypass. Here is the description of the burger from the menu: "Twice as ridiculous as the Coronary Bypass! Topped with two fried eggs, six slices of American cheese, and eight slices of bacon, served between two grilled cheese sandwiches that we use in place of the regular hamburger buns." Here's their website if you're interested: http://www.thevortexbarandgrill.com/

Laura's dinner: the Super Hippy Veggie Burger. Cuz that's what Laura is: a super hippy veggie burger!

After dinner we played in Centennial Olympic Park.

We also wandered around downtown area for a bit.

We stayed in the cheapest Motel 6 we could find both nights we were in Atlanta, and the rooms were so terrible, we forgot to make a video review.

Then we drove from Atlanta to Florida, to go see Laura's family! To be continued...

To the South! Louisiana and Mississippi edition

Between the two of us, we have a lot of family in the South. So we thought we'd go see them!

We started out in Louisiana for a couple days, and stayed with Laura's brother and his family.

Thanks, Josh!

Thanks, Amanda!

We met their new baby, Ian. He is adorable!

Big sister Hannah thinks so, too.

Auntie Laura and Hannah bonded:

And we all took a trip to the zoo.

We found some of Chloe's cousins!

Hannah found a giraffe to ride.

Troy continued his tradition of inappropriately riding statues of animals.

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Back at the house, Hannah modeling the cat beanie Auntie Laura made her when she was a baby.

After Louisiana, Team Raptor headed over to Mississippi. 

But first we got some delicious jambalaya and gumbo (before leaving Louisiana).

We made sure to stock up on the essentials, once we checked into our hotel room (which had a fridge, freezer, and dishwasher!)

We met up with Troy's dad (and the rest of his extended family) at the family reunion in Jackson.

Part of the Jackson city tour.

Part of the park where the family picnic was held.

Family picnic, where they served delicious catfish. De-li-cious. The best catfish Laura has ever tasted. Ever. It was like eating an entirely different food, it was so good. Laura could sing praises to this catfish. And her mouth is watering just thinking about it. *Drool*

Troy's dad with 2 of his siblings, Troy's Aunt Hedy and Uncle Carl Ray.

Troy's Aunt Florene.

We had dinner together before Troy's dad flew out to Utah and Team Raptor drove to Atlanta. Somehow Uncle Jerry maneuvered his way out of this picture. You can see the top of his head above Troy's head.

Saying goodbye... Goodbye Aunt Mae Mae, Aunt Florene, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Kathern.

Leaving Mississippi we stopped to fuel up. And almost cried, considering some parts of L.A. are a full dollar more expensive than this. We saw a gas station selling gas at $3.19 on the Jackson city tour, but weren't quick enough to whip out a camera.

Next post - Georgia and Florida!

Laura is Still a Spaz. Still.

Just in case you were wondering, Laura is still a spaz.

We went up to the Bay Area a few weekends ago, but Laura's parents were both out of town. "Yes, you can stay at the house, but do you have a key?" They asked over and over. "Yes, yes, I have a key!" was the reply each time. Then we get up to the house in Antioch, and.... Laura didn't have the key. At least, not with her.

Here it is, safely tucked away in the drawer by the front door of our apartment. In Long Beach. 6 hours away. Ay ay ay.

It was close to 2am, so we found a Motel 6 in Pittsburg for the night. The next day was Sunday, we went to church nearby, then explored San Francisco for the afternoon.

In the Motel 6 before we checked out. Troy, trying to not look exasperated.

Troy, being the baseball and baseball stadium fanatic that he is, navigated us to AT&T park, just as the baseball game ended. The Giants had just played the Dodgers, and there was a mass of people.

Boats - on the other side of the stadium.

  

Troy is personally offended by the existence of this plaque, and hopes it is removed and destroyed. Go 'Stros!

That evening we spent with Jenny, Laura's oldest friend, who lives across the street from her parents house. Laura lost count of how many times Mrs. Shankey called her a "dingbat" for leaving the key in Long Beach. All in good fun, and she gave us delicious food (as always) till we had food coming out of our ears. Also, as yesterday was July 27, it was Jenny's bday. Happy (belated) bday Jenny!

Laura, Jenny and Mrs. Shankey back in 2007.

Laura's dad was on his way home from Oregon on Sunday, and planned to be home around midnight. But he drowned his cell phone in a lake while fishing, so we had no way to call him. We left a note on the front door, and when he got home, he called us, and we spent Sunday night in the parent's house. Thanks, Shankey family, for putting up with us for several hours! They almost got the air mattress out for us to sleep on, but we kept the faith that Laura's dad would come home. He will come home, he will come home...

We didn't think to take any pictures, which is a shame. Especially since two friends from high school, Melissa and Anne, came over to the Shankey's to chat it up.

Monday, however, Amanda had the foresight to take a picture after lunch. Good thinking, Amanda!

Friends since middle school! or maybe 5th grade...? 6th grade?... Since childhood!

When we got back from seeing Amanda, Laura's dad was up, and we had a nice visit before we hit the road.

And he gave us some spoils from their garden. Yum!

Before we left the Bay Area completely, we had dinner with Laura's grandparents in Berkeley. Again, we did not think to take any pictures, but the view was fantastic from Skates on the Bay. (The restaurant is sitting on the water.) They also had delicious food.

Also, as today is July 28, happy anniversary to us!

And again, as it is July 28 today, happy anniversary to Jason and Liz!

This was them one year ago today. =]