The end of my time in NC was another trip for work. Because I’ve been living out of the RV since November 2023, I had backed off the amount of work travel I was doing, but it’s picked up again, and I enjoy it. Arthur spends quality time with Estella, I get a babysitter for him, and he is really grateful when I return. For this trip, I parked in my friend’s driveway outside of Greensboro, and her kiddos helped with Arthur while I was away.
While in FL, we drove out to Bucee’s where I got a picture with Buck himself and a sticker, and the team had a night out at A Petrified Forest – a series of three haunted houses. We went on a night where the actors could touch the people walking through the trails. They had a “chicken” lanyard that you could buy if you didn’t want to be touched or frightened. This lanyard had a small rubber chicken attached. I don’t like to be scared, so I got one. Once we were in line, an employee told me to tuck it in my shirt and that the workers would just “know”. 🍫🍫 Uh, that wasn’t entirely true, but I did discover that if I employed empathy with the actors, I felt less scared. In one house, there was an actor wailing that “they” took her eyeballs, and I said, “I’m so sorry. That must be terrible.” In other another house, a guy flew down from the ceiling in a really impressive show of acrobatics, and I complimented him, “You’re doing a great job.” He must’ve seen my chicken lanyard, so he replied, “So are you.” See? Nothing to be afraid of. (I won’t mention that I had a death grip on my co-workers’ hands as we walked through.)
The flight back to Greensboro was an early one through Charlotte. Once we got on the road, we drove right past everything I just flew over. We did see some lovely fall colors, a little traffic, and some construction on our way to Gainesville, Georgia. We stayed at River Forks Park and had a gorgeous site with a lake view and one neighbor but only occasionally.
The park is on a peninsula in Lake Lanier. Little did I know that Lake Lanier has quite the past. 🍫Google it if you want to know more. There’s a lot of history and some scary stuff. It was October, so I guess I was in the right place at the right time.
I rented a car and drove into Atlanta the first weekend. As luck would have it, my cousins who I visited in Iowa, were also in Atlanta for the weekend. We met for breakfast at Hansel & Gretel Bakery Cafe and then took a walk around the Centennial Olympic Park and stopped into the small museum. We even found a hidden path to the left of the CocaCola store with sweet twinkle lights and landscaping.
My next stop was Emory University for family weekend. My MN friends’ daughter is in her first year at Emory, and they invited me to join them for some family fun. We had a great lunch, wandered around campus, and ate snacks in one of the dining halls all while the freshman told us about some of her adventures. One of the joys of this journey is seeing friends and family all over the country – even in places where I don’t normally see them.
Arthur was a big fan of our campsite, too. Between the leaves blowing and the squirrels going about their business, he was thoroughly entertained. My little pumpkin on Halloween.
One of the things I learned is that I don’t just seem fine – I am fine. I am braver than I thought, and I’m learned and growing through all the mishaps in the journey. What a blessing these months have been to remind me of what I am capable of. So, I definitely am being rather than seeming. There is no question.
The Adventures of Ms Haps & Arthur 