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We were excited! We drove in to Athens to take Ryder, Bob's grandson, out to breakfast. We left at 8:30am to give us plenty of time to re-fuel, get lost and/or get stuck in traffic. As it was, we did neither and arrived about 30 minutes ahead of the appointed time. We had time to kill so we went by the Visitors Bureau to pick up information about Athens and the surrounding area. It was perfect timing...or so we thought. We made a wrong turn and had to circle back around twice before we made the right turn into the parking lot to meet Ryder. Whew, we arrived with 5 minutes to spare.
After hugs all around, Ryder directed us to Mama's Boy Restaurant. This was at 10:15am and it was packed. While the boys worked on parking the Beast, Barb and I put our name in for five. The host asked if we were all there. We said yes and explained that the other three were parking the car. He didn't believe us. He said when all five arrive to let him know. We literally dragged the guys in. We got the table. If there was a contest for the biggest and fluffiest biscuits, Mama's Boy would win hands down. I have never seen biscuits as big as these. They measured 3X5 inches of pure heaven. The best part of the meal, though, was spending time with Ryder and finding out about life on campus.
After breakfast, Ryder gave us a tour of the layout of the campus before we had to drop him off back at his dorm. We will miss him and look forward to seeing him again when he comes home for the holidays.
After we dropped Ryder off, we wanted to see an Antebellum era house since we didn't make it to Savannah or Charleston. The Taylor-Grady House was supposedly open for tours. We parked the truck in front of what we thought was the Taylor-Grady House. If it wasn't for the signs stating that the house was the private residence of the President of the University of Georgia, we would have walked up to the front door. Oops. The Taylor-Grady House was actually just down the street. However, it was not open...it was not to be.
Plan B...Visit the Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, GA. Remember the Walt Disney movie, "Song of the South? The loveable characters of Uncle Remus, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox? Eatonton was the hometown of Joel Chandler Harris, the creator and author of numerous books that captured the African American folklore of the old south. The museum is a humble haven for all things about the life of Mr. Harris and his stories. It is in the loving care of a group of local women whose roots go way back. The day that we visited, Georgia, who has lived her entire 80 years of life in Eatonton, was our host. She didn't look a day over 60. She drew us in to the life of Mr. Harris sharing how the tales came to be and stories about his life. She had an easy laugh and a big smile. Her parting comment was, "You may think we be slow, not so, we are just being sure." She "sure" had us smiling and chuckling.
When driving through Georgia, stay off the highways and take the back roads. You will fall in love with the Georgia back country.
It was approaching 3pm and we needed to get back to get ready to meet our friends, Bill and Nancy, for dinner. They live in Greensboro. We were about 5 miles from camp when the Beast's motor just stopped. Walt was able to steer the truck over to the turn lane in front of St Mary's Hospital. A nice local man stopped to help, but there was nothing he could do. Earlier, we passed a minor fender bender and one of the officers on site, came to find out what was going on with us. After stopping traffic, Bob and he pushed the truck into the driveway of the hospital. Once safely out of traffic, Walt and Barb were on the phone calling Good Sam Road Side Service. I was calling the KOA to extend our stay, by the looks of it, until Monday. Barb asked the question, "Are you sure you put diesel in and not gasoline?" Walt was adamant...it was a green handle. Bob got in touch with Bill and he was going to come and pick Bob and me up to take us back to the KOA.
Walt got in touch with a mechanic at a local shop. We could hear Walt's replies..."yes, it has a full tank"..."it has to be an electrical issue"..."it was a green handle"..."What Station?" ..."BP Station"..."the diesel handles are Black?". A few choice words followed. The fuel tank will have to be drained, fuel replaced, and filters changed, but not until Monday. Golden FUBAR for Walt.
Bill arrived and took us back to camp and dropped us off. But before we went back to get Walt and Barb, Bob wanted to check into about changing sites so that we could get Satellite coverage. Remember, it was the big Stanford game Saturday night. They were able to move us to a more open space not far from Walt and Barb. We tried it out. Still no signal. Thirty minutes later we went back for Walt and Barb.
There was good news to be had. The tow truck driver said he could fix the issue on Saturday. The bad news...Walt had to pay a premium.
We put our troubles aside and went to meet our friends at their beautiful home in Reynolds Plantation. Then, to dinner at the Silver Moon in Eatonton GA, a local favorite.
We said our good-byes to Bill and Nancy and headed back to camp.
Tomorrow, we hopefully, pick up the Beast and all will be good.
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