Sweet Tea!!!!

Our final stop was in Atlanta as we arrived at the airport around 10:15pm Monday night. A quick nap at the local Holiday Inn and we were back on the road Tuesday morning heading home.

The photo on the left shows our last meal on our trip. For those following along the way, you may remember our last meal prior to starting our trip back in June was at the Cheesecake Factory in Atlanta. This time we kept it simple and hit the local Chick-fil-A. It was no ordinary Chick-fil-A though, it was the original. The first one, established in 1946 in Hapeville, Georgia is located right near the Atlanta Airport. I would highly recommend a stop next time you are there. It is actually a Dwarf House original as well and features the "new" style Chick-fil-A, but still has the old, original style complete with menu style orders. I had grits, eggs and a huge slab of Chick-fil-A chicken. The biscuits were good as well, but the highlight was my big glass of pure southern sweet tea!!

We made it home to Poinsett Avenue around 3:00pm. We already miss our new friends from the Alaska trip, but it was good to be back home as well. Many thanks to our families as they made our trip back in even better with some home improvements, cleaning and food waiting on us. Dexter was a bit sluggish from the heat and the fact that he is now closing in on 80 in dog years. He soon warmed up and gave Kaylee a big sloppy kiss.

Kirkland was glad to be home and see everyone. He has even started scheduling his next fishing trip. Kaylee was real excited to be back and has enjoyed just "being home".

Tammy is recovering from the trip, she picked up a late head cold the last day of the trip and is resting. As for me, I am anxious to get started with the school year and the new season that awaits.

The trip was great for all of us. We met new people, experienced life in other parts of the world(even though Alaska is a state, it seems like a different world), and we were all challenged and stretched in different ways.

Who knows, we may soon end up back in Alaska or California one day.

A BIG thank you to all that have read, prayed, and followed our trip along the way. We could not have done it without you. I hope you have enjoyed the blog and I hope I provided a small insight to our summer. There is no way I could have accurately portrayed everything. It was that big of a summer and we enjoyed it.

This blog thing is contagious and who knows.....I may keep posting. Not that anyone would really have an interest, but check back soon for more updates. We do have kind of a big deal arriving in December and we are all excited about that. By the way, we are taking names at this time. Any suggestions....just send away.

Until next time..............................

LA.......

Today(Sunday) was an early game at Dodger Stadium. We grabbed a quick McD's breakfast and headed out to the 101 for the Dodgers/D-Backs.

Once we got to the field it was off to Autograph Alley to see some of the players I grew up watching. We met Bobby Castillo, Jerry Reuss, Bill Madlock, Kenny Landreaux, Mike Davis and Bob Welch. Once we were out in CF on the warning track I noticed Bob Welch sneaking a peak at his old stomping grounds. Kirkland and I hurried over and asked if we could get his photo. He was very nice to oblige and Kirk got his photo snapped with a former Rookie of the Year in Bob Welch.

The game was a good one, Dodgers won and we even saw Manny go yard, along with a double. Easy to say he is a fan favorite. I am still seeing how he fits in. So far so good, hitting about .700 in 15 or so at bats.

Well, it's off to bed now. We have one more night here in LA before we leave tomorrow(Monday) for our flight to Atlanta and then home on Tuesday.

I have uploaded a few more photos. Click here to view and check back soon for some more.

A Long Night.......

We finally made it..........to LA that is. After a very long day/night that started Friday morning at 11am and ended just around noon today(Saturday). It has been a long time since I have pulled an all-nighter, actually back in college finishing a final paper.

Kirkland, Kaylee and Tammy are actually taking a quick "power" nap right now as I type at 2:46pm local time. I am wired, after all, it has been an unbelievable two months and we are in Los Angeles right now and only minutes from Dodger Stadium. Actually, we are more like an hour or more away. We quickly learned you avoid the 405(San Diego Fwy) as much as possible.

After their quick nap we are going to drive down to Malibu, Santa Barbara and then thru Beverly Hills. Hopefully, some good photos will follow, although the smog is everything you have heard it was. Hardly a chance to take a good aerial or long range photo, way too much smog.

The flights were good, no turbulence at all. We left Anchorage early this morning(Saturday) at 1:55am and got in to San Fran around 7:30am. We picked up our bags and jetted back to the Southwestern terminal for a 9:10am flight to Los Angeles. Yes, it has been a long night. We spent six hours in the Anchorage airport because our bus driver had another last minute duty to fulfill. No worries, we all shared some good memories of a great summer.

It was tough seeing the guys take off in San Fran. I know some will stay in touch and I will perhaps even see some of them one day somewhere else across the country. They all left....back to Oregon, Texas, Penn., San Diego, Alabama, NC, Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, Florida and even Georgia. I wish them all the best this upcoming year and hope they stand tall in all that they learned and were challenged with this summer. Some left stronger in the Christian walk and one even left a brand new believer as of last week. The wins were few, but the memories, decisions and life lessons were numerous and will never fade.

I will try and update after our tour of LA tonight. Can't make any promises though. I am going to grab a quick "power" nap before we take off as well. Tonight will be a good sleep!

Quick note......the guys and Kirkland played the "dollar man" trick again in the airport. One guy actually dove for the dollar bill on the floor. Check some of the earlier posts to see the "dollar man" in action. I might link it next time, too sleepy now.