Drive to Freeport, FL Part Two

(READ DRIVE TO FREEPORT, FL PART ONE BEFORE READING THIS ONE)

The inside of the lounge had a screen walls and wooden tables with coffee tables, and wooden chairs. A kind of dusty look. To the far left on one side was a flat screen T.V., and two A.C. things. On the right was a counter with seats on one side and then just the bar tender side on the other. This lounge would be a site of future fun, and trouble. And how can one be both? In the next blog post you will find out, dear reader. But for now, we are going to move to a scene where we played, where we tried to decide on playing Capture the Flag, all of us, girls and boys. Rebecca wanted to play it, and we tried to organize teams. There was 6 of us, in all. And we stood by the road on the left side of the lounge, behind the restrooms and the counter and the rod, where they lay the laundry. There was a problem though, as I organized it to be Christopher, Amy, and Rebecca, and Melanie, Jonathan and me. Fair enough teams. But there was still a hold-up. Christopher wanted to be with Jonathan, Jonathan wanted to be with me, and Amy and Melanie didn't want to be with Christopher and Jonathan. So, it seemed like it was going to be girls against boys. But Rebecca didn't want it that way. She said it was unfair, that we were all big and strong and the older ones, and that we would hurt them all. It was simply unfair, she stated, simply unfair.

But the boys wanted to be with me together and the girls wanted to be not with the boys with Rebecca! I tried it every which way, but I always got the same result, that it HAD to be boys V.S. girls! I tried reasoning with Rebecca, but then Amy and Melanie got a little flexible. They could be with me, and the boys could be with Rebecca. Alright, but one more problem remained, Jonathan wanted to be with me because this would be the last time we would see them, the very last time. It had been chance that we had been reunited after seeing them in Michigan, and we probably wouldn't see them again after those three days of our stay. But, Rebecca wouldn't budge as ever, and argued. It made everybody pretty sad and irritated that she wouldn't compromise. Then we did a series of, people who get to the tree or the bikes first pick the teams, or something like that. We ran back and forth and let the girls pick the teams, but not Rebecca. It was actually a little fun. But we didn't get anywhere. I was mad at Rebecca for not compromising, she is so stubborn. So the girls went to make charm bracelets or store acorns (so boring), while I got my bike and we biked around while talking a little. We talked about different movies, and some other things.

I was kind of sad about the kind of language and potty mouth talked they used, like "Up your but with a coconut" and the word "frieken" We debated on if it means the same use as the bad word (I'm sure you know what I'm referring to) on the right side by a tree and a field that made a sort of bowl formation in the middle of the park. I said it meant the same thing, they said because if it was made into an un-bad word it didn't make the same thing. There was no use arguing over it, they would continue to use the bad word and I would continue to think it bad and a disgrace. So I left the subject. Christopher was a little mean, like blindly declaring why I said some things and that I was too literary or old school, things like that. We stopped talking and placed our bikes on the left side of the lounge, on a sidewalk, and I had told them I had (toy) guns. I came out with the silver one and the black one I had gotten from a Crackle Barrel, and a blue star wars one that didn't make a sound and had a whole in the front, broken off. The silver one Rebecca had dropped and the stock fell off, and when Dad glued it back together he made it so the trigger couldn't pull, by accident of course. The black and silver were both revolvers. I had given Jonathan on the last night in Detroit my old silver one, a one I cherished and loved but saw he loved too. The next day he accidently cocked it back and then it wouldn't shoot, but he still used it. And I gave Christopher the blue one, Jonathan the new silver one, and I kept the only good gun I had, the black one, to myself. I would not let another person ruin it.

Because Rebecca broke the silver one, Jonathan the other, and Zach the purple one I had. I left that at home. I only had one good one left, I would let no one use it. Another Penny, an accident prone family, would not take it. But amazingly, just then, as Jonathan held it in his hands, the thing fell apart again. I was ballistic. Dad was by the grill ready to make hamburgers, and he informed me he could fix it. Since then, miraculously, Dad has fixed it and allowed it to function and shoot again. Thanks Dad. But now that the gun came apart in Jonathan's hands, I was sure on not giving a Penny a gun again, cursed be they. Actually, the day that happened was Friday the 13th, and so it was unlucky! But Sunday the 15th, would be really unlucky, as you will see in that blog post. But for now, let us stay here. So Christopher didn't like that blue gun, and of course we couldn't use the silver one, it it's off stock form. So they planned on going back to their R.V., to dig in the closet for the semi automatic camouflage gun and the silver one I gave Jonathan in Detroit. Christopher went to look for it first, but didn't look hard. Then they both went in. The girls were biking around and doing different girl things. When they returned, we planned on playing a little cop and robber, and selected Christopher as the cop. When he shot one of us, that shot guy was the future cop, and then you continue between the one robber and one cop. If the cop shoots the robber first, then the cop wins and he and the other one becomes robbers. If the robber wins, than he can pick to be the cop if he wants to, but they usually don't like to be the sole cop against two robbers. To kids, the robber is the cool guy. Sorry cops.

But as I said, Christopher was the cop with the silver gun, and Jonathan were the robbers. I had the black one and he the green semi automatic. Christopher counted by the bathrooms as he and I circled behind all the tables, behind the large counter. Guns ready, we peeked through the stools and high chairs, ready to splatter Christopher's blood all around. Then we came in, hiding behind a bench with cotton and cushions, putting his gun up. We waited for some one to make the first move. Shots rang out in our minds, while only little sounds coming from fake guns echoed out in the world of reality. I nodded to Rex, my partner in crime. We could take down this young ignorant police man, a routine nice guy. They give us a chance for surrender, not shooting immediately. It's too bad for that kid we don't play by those rules. He was dead even before he walked in. Rex and I walked forward, as the cop comes up to shoot and then ducks again We shoot at him, and Jonathan(in reality now) says, "YOU'RE SHOT CHRISTOPHER! YOU'RE DEAD!" Since Christopher denied it all, we continued playing. Jonathan and I knew we couldn't just keep staying behind and waiting for him or us to make a false move, with both opponents under good cover. Somehow it had to stop. So I planned a risky escape, for us to go out in the open.

Back in fiction, now. "Rex, let's say to go to his left, and then go right, and go through those doors by the counter and circle out. Then we can get behind the office and wait 'til he comes out, and make him come out in the open. " We planned to do it. We slowly crawled out behind it, and then dashed to make an escape. Opening the doors, behind me I could hear Christopher saying, "BANG, BANG, BANG! YOU'RE SHOT" Rex had cleverly gone first, to be the one to catch him off guard. By the time the police man came to his senses he would be gone and I would fall victim. I was shot in the back, and I felt the pain oozing in me, my adrenaline heating up. I made it just to the pine straw behind the office, and then slid down. I saw Christopher coming out of the lounge, and then I saw Jonathan had run ahead of me. I shot Christopher, and he shot me first. I came to the ground, dead as a doornail. But I told Jonathan that I wanted to be fair and not lie, and I said yes, he shot me before. Then I became the cop. We continued to play around, shooting, running away, hiding behind places. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I had the time with them. After we were done, sweating and thirsty, I got some water bottles in the R.V. We talked about girls, books like Left Behind and such, and even about a guy in NYC who had seven komodo dragons in his apartment and got eaten by them, you know, the kid things.

After talking on a picnic table, and looking at the bathroom and talking about horror and scary things, we left and were a little bored. So we asked Rebecca and them if they wanted to play sardines. We put all our feet in the circle, and the last person to be hit with the "eany, meany, mini, moe" was the hider. It was me. Everyone else counted by the lounge, and I went down the slope to the river, hiding behind a tree, flat on the ground. I heard people counting, and them then going to the right, away from me towards where the boats go off into the water and the kayaks and canoes go too. The strategy was that no one would look at this hiding spot, it was so easy to find someone. They all knew I was pretty smart, so why would I pick down a little hill with nothing but trees to hide myself in? But Melanie looked for me, and then spotted me and joined me. I said hello to her, telling her to be quiet, that we needed to find another hiding spot away from here, like behind a tree. She was a little loud, but told me that Jonathan and Christopher and Amy went all to the right. Rebecca went in the lounge. So she might come back. Melanie was not too mean this time. But loud.

Loud whispering, anyhow. I asked her if we should go to the bottom behind a sign by the river, but she said we would fall in the river. We were located on the grass in the middle of the hill. Rebecca heard us, and came down. We told her we should probably move to a tree that had it's branch pretty low, and some leaves. We saw another girl, Amy's friend, fishing. We said hi. She waved back. So now we were pretty well off. We played around with twigs, fiddling our thumbs, awaiting our discovery. We also talked to pass the time. One never feels at ease when people are looking for them, one never totally forgets about it and allows themselves to talk freely and without thought of anything to happen. But we did, fools that we are. And Amy saw us, followed by Christopher. So we hadn't lasted long. Jonathan was the only person left, and of course he wouldn't be long in coming, once he noticed everyone was gone and had come down here. He's probably only a little ways away, waiting for Amy or Christopher to come back up and say that we weren't here. We all kind of stayed silent for a while, and then I announced we had to leave. Clumsily and pretty loud we went to the right on the back's of the R.V. sites, and came to ours. Then we ushered people on, trying to be quiet, and went to the R.V. We sprinted across to one of the cabins, and stayed behind. Dad saw us on the way and said hi. We said we had to be silent, and then went over. No sight of Jonathan.

He must've been in the lounge, we supposed. Amy was our lookout, small as she is, peeking over the back walls of the things, looking through the rails of the porch. There were a lot of times as we went back and back of the cabins, left and right across aisles of them, trying to make the moment of capture farther away, that there were picnic tables behind the cabins, which we sat on. Sadly I couldn't be a lookout because if he saw me then he would be sure to come over. So I sat, and gave people small sticks to defend themselves with. We went behind a dumpster and looked out. But it was smelly there. So we moved back. Jonathan asked in on Melanie's walkie talkie, and she didn't answer. He probably knew she was with us now. So she answered and said she hadn't found them yet. But he would still know if she was telling the truth, why did she say to him she couldn't come? She had to go if we wanted this game of cat and mouse to continue. She went out to meet him by the field, and led him the other way. We continued to look and stay, picking up metal rods we found. After a long time we saw Jonathan walking down with Melanie. We had to go back in the woods, as they continued to get closer. On a rack of picnic tables we hid. He ran all the way over and found us, and thus the game ended.

Dad told us that dinner was ready, hamburgers. Mrs. Penny had actually talked to Mom about some stuff. Mom asked if maybe they could eat with us but Mrs. Penny said she could not, because she was packing to leave and go see her father the next day and didn't have much food, and needed alone time to pack. So Dad cooked the burgers, and the toppings were laid out on the picnic table, water bottles passed around. We put ours on, and the kids were quite rude indeed, I must admit. Very un thank you and imperative. These attitudes would maximize as the days progressed. With paper plates, napkins, and seated down while Mom and Dad were inside, we looked at the creek and told funny stories. I spun one about Melanie getting eaten by a gator, and Jonathan shooting the gator and getting her out, and then Amy flying over to get Rebecca who did C.P.R. They all had a part to play. It was fun, got a lot of laughs from people. When done they asked to come inside and peek, and then they did. I showed Jonathan my rescue heroes and we played around with them. Christopher liked Rebecca's dog. I showed the boys a program on the mac called Photo Booth, and showed them the blog. The girls did some stuff too. Then Mom said that the Penny's had to go home, and so Rebecca and I took them home on our bikes. We told them goodbye, after a good time playing.

We went back in the R.V., and went to bed by pulling out the bed. It was good to be in my bed again. It was a great day, and we saw the Penny's once more. The next two days would be fun also, oh, yes they would. But that's another blog, isn't it?

Goodbye for now.

Up your but with a coconut. Where do they come up with these things?,

Andrew.

Drive to Freeport, FL Part One

You remember those kids we met in Detroit? The skinny kid who had all those iTouch games, named Jonathan? And his sisters Melanie and Amy? Well if you don't, go on and read "Drive to Greenfield, MI (very close to Detroit)"before you read this blog, and all you have to do is read a few paragraphs of me meeting them. Stay on the page you're on, and look to the right where it has the listings of the numbers in each month. Click on September and then you shouldn't have much trouble finding it. It was posted on the 18th, so you might have to go down a few. Then return here.

You done? I know either you probably don't remember them or you didn't join the blog until after then, or you have some different excuse. So you ready? Because it's a lot better if you go on and read it. Some readers will say, "Ah, I don't wanna do that, it'll be fine with me just reading this first" and I'm talking to you, Simon! Anyway, since you have probably by now read that blog (and it's not a long or difficult one for you who haven't looked all ready), let me explain why I want you to, and why I'm talking about those kids. First of all, we kept in touch with them on text, telling them where we were and such. Second of all, they moved around a lot because of their father's job, and what they had in the R.V. was what they had. A camper, a 5th wheel. Now, it's pretty crowded in our class A motor home, which drives itself, with TWO kids and two parents, two dogs. And that's in a class A. There's is a 5th wheel. Only one or two slides at the most. And they have 4 kids, two parents, and they had one dog. They HAD one dog. Now, let's intermix these two facts I have given you. So, we kept in touch and they move a lot. We had told them our plan to go to FL, along the pan handle, and then after that go on the bottom of the states AL and MS, continuing from then. Hold on, I'll tell you more in the next paragraph, I'm doing Vincent a favor by making my paragraphs shorter...

Short enough? Needs to be shorter? Okay, I'll work on it. Anyway, they told us they had moved from Detroit to.... drum roll please....(most of you have already guessed) FREEPORT, FLORIDA! So we nudged our parents on to take us there, Rebecca and I did. Coincidentally, as if by Divine Providence or good luck, Dad's navy station he stayed a year at for photography school was in a nearby town of Pensacola, which he wanted to show us. It was kind of interesting, being that Mom showed us her college in the beginning of the first leg of our trip, and now Dad was showing us HIS school he went to to become a town famous (yes, town famous) photographer of Roswell. I have people at my school who say their parents said my dad took their high school pictures or wedding ones, or people I just met who talk about the old Photography Studio. But back to the blog. They told us over text their address. Even though we were going to Tallahassee, Jonathan suggested we should come to Freeport INSTEAD. But actually, it was on the same interstate, 10, and so we could just go on the way to Pensacola or after Tallahassee. He gave me his address, at the R.V. Resort. He also gave the phone number, and the zip code. He also gave me the type of R.V., a fifth wheel, and the brand. I can't tell you his address though because some weird guy might come to their home and dance like a fool or something. Oh weird guys, what are you gonna do with them?

We texted as I asked him if his parents were fine with it. Also, we tried calling the phone number and they wouldn't answer, so we had to call her sister park, a few hundred miles away. They told us the phones were wacko, and said we could go to the place. So we drove. On the way over I texted Jonathan, talking about his new bike a street cruiser and him saving up for a video game called Modern Warfare 3 or something like that. I don't know exactly. I'm not really a gamer, at all really. I also played with my sister's barbies by making them hurt each other and do weird things, stupid things. Blogged too. Not as much as I should've. Then we came through a leafy neighborhood, with trailers and beach houses on the canals of Freeport. We saw a sign, lots of signs telling us to turn right and left. The last sign was orange and white, saying Live Oak Landing, the R.V. Resorts name. We came down seeing paved roads, and long nicely painted cabins you rent or buy, shot gun ones with stairs to a porch. Further were the R.V.'s. And there was a river, called Black Water Creek. It was black and had trees over it, swaying. Very nice sunlight. Mom has a few pics on it. We stopped the R.V. in mid road, and Dad and I got out of the R.V.

There was a cabin, blue in color, that took as the office. It had a ramp that went up on one side and some stairs were on the right side. Down on the right of the river were some firepits and trees. Dad and I walked inside, followed by Mom. We had gone around, and saw an old man with a leather jacket riding a segway, with a helmet. He wasn't too old, just had white hair. We told who we were as he asked what we were doing, and then apologized for the phones being down. After that he led us inside, into a room with a counter on the right and a lady with a computer right there, and a skinny tight staircase going into a loft to the front right. Then there was a kitchen, and some offices in the back. The office was an example of one of their cabins they rent out and sell. Well, we were all getting set in, as the lady put us down for two nights, and we could come over and pay for the extra night if we decided to stay for three. R.V. Parks are strangely familiar to that of their aunt, hotels and motels. Uncle Apartment though, now that's a different story. And ole grandfather tent, he has always been a source of hospitality, from day's past. Not as much as Grandmother Ark, now she is o-l-d old! She was a constant source of refuge in her 40 days of prime.

Anyway, I was looking around when I saw figures biking on the sidewalk that goes all the way around the building before the office, the lounge. I'll describe that place later. The figures I saw was a lady and two kids. I instantly said to Mom, "I think that might be the Penny's." So I went down the ramp, and came to the two girls, Melanie and Amy, with their brown haired mom. I said shyly, "Hi" waiting for them to see and recognize it's me. I was surprised when Melanie flatly said,

"Where's your sister Rebecca?"

"Oh in the R.V."

"Wait you know them?" asked their Mom to me.

"Yes we met them at Greenfield Detroit (etc, etc.)" I told her all about it. Then the Mom left. I asked Melanie, who is pretty big and has brown hair and an annoying accent, where Jonathan was, she said, "In the Lounge." I was going to go there, when Rebecca trailed out of the R.V., and said hello to Melanie and Amy. Amy is younger, about 7, and she has blonde and brown hair and another annoying sass. Not like the good 'ole honest country folk of the south, no sir. But as I was going to go off to Jonathan, Rebecca and Melanie and Amy went away, back to the lounge. At a few moments later before I could go inside to tell Mom of the situation and our whereabouts, Jonathan and his ten year old brother Christopher came out of the lounge, with computer stuff. Christopher I didn't see in Detroit because he didn't have a bike and Christopher didn't like to run, so he stayed inside. I heard a little about him, though. When I heard about him I imagined someone like Rebecca's size and a little in mature, based on the fact that he had a small case of Autism. But as I got to know Christopher, I noticed he was basically like any other 11 year old. He has glasses, glasses, and bushy brown hair, a lot in fact. Also is a little chubby.

I said hello to Jonathan, and introduced myself to Christopher. I talked about how when I left him in Detroit how I thought I would never see him again, yet, here we are. Also this was the first time on our trip that we met a person some place and them saw them again. So it was a grand achievement in Bourne's Big Trip history. I talked a little, as he went back to his computer which was plugged up to a thing and had a video game he was playing. If you haven't noticed from past blogs, Jonathan is a gamer. Computer, play station, iPod, you name it, he has it, except for Modern Warfare Three, which he was saving up to get. As I looked at that and we talked I went back to Mom and told her what was up. Then they got in the R.V., went through the whole process, parked, and undid the bikes as we played. What did we play, you ask? Well, you'll have to read another blog post to find out, believe it or not. Very sorry, but I can't fit the whole story on here, it would make it more like a book than a blog post, so it's best if we just stop now. Alright, see you on the next one.

TO BE CONTINUED...(See "Drive to Freeport FL Part Two" )

Radium Springs and Drive to Tallahassee

On Thursday, the 12 of January, we woke up and did our daily things. Putting in the blankets, taking trash up, eating some small breakfast. Then, with coats and a book and a phone, we drove in the jeep around Albany. We passed in a small neighborhood a white little stage, and some other fences. We were looking for the famed Radium Springs, a natural 7th wonder in GA. It's one of those anyway. We saw an old golf course, with a sign barring the road into someone's property, and also a school where a janitor worked. We saw a lot of old small homes, with a lot of trees around them, kind of beachy and deprived. We rolled into the town of Albany, which had a lot of businesses and homes condemned. It was a nice little dry town though, with a bridge across the Flint River and some brick square buildings. There was a lot of palm trees, even though we weren't even in Florida yet. We couldn't find Radium Springs, in Albany. Dad and I went into this business building, very nice with paintings and a marble floor, while Mom and Rebecca stayed in the car. It was a Suntrust bank, and had a nice looking lobby and room. Dad stayed and filled in deposit sheets at a station while I looked around at the desks on the right, and the big counter with nice ladies who said, "Hello, Welcome to Suntrust" every time someone came in. Down the hall were some offices with people at desks working at them, and a couch on the right. Down one more hallway to the left was an elevator, and some offices. One had a desk statue of a horse, and a horse painting. Another room had a lamp with swans on it and a painting of some swans in a pond. Also a little sketch. Finally in another office was a plant, and a painting of a forest. People really have their own separate themes, don't they?

"Um, sir, do you need help with something?" a blonde haired lady at a desk said.
"Oh no," I replied, as I was going down a different hallway. "My dad's writing out a deposit and I was just bored so..."

"Oh well the the safe is back there,"
I felt she didn't really want me back there at a sink, so I walked to Dad, as he drew money from the bank from the lady, in 20's. Dang did she dish it out and count it fast. I wish I was that fast with money. I guess she just practiced a lot. But anyway, Rebecca was not feeling the best, and hot in her jacket even though it was cold outside (we were in the jeep) so she wanted to find Radium Springs immediately. Forgot to mention this before: I took my To Kill A Mockingbird in the bank, and when Dad put a paper somewhere he would give it to me and say, "put it in the book" and then I would place it inside of the book, on the first page beneath the cover. Now in the car I handed them back to Dad. We drove back to that grey thing, which we wanted to look at, half knowing and half not knowing that it was the Radium Springs we'd heard so much about. The grey thing, which was a platform with columns on it, a little one in a garden with a fence around. We parked in a little area, with trees and a place where you look over the river. But we didn't look at that. We went to the right, passing this platform, through a garden with many plants around. On pieces of papers were the plant's names, the Latin ones and the regular more easily pronounceable.

Then there was a concrete platform, with museum panels telling about the springs. Below us was a wooden staircase, and a walkway where you would see the Springs. But, we wanted to look at this stuff first. Topics like the local Indians calling the place, Sky Water, ironically though that the water came out of the ground. The panels also talked about how it was a hotel in the early 1900's, that people would swim in the springs and gamble and such. But because of a hurricane that came through, that structure was destroyed BEYOND repair. Sad. Those panels also spoke about how the springs bubble huge gallons of water every day, and the wildlife and how the spring's water goes through the Flint River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Pretty amazing. As we finished looking at this and more about daily life for the Indians and that Ponce de Leon might of looked here for the Fountain of Youth, we went down the steps, me the last because I was reading the panels. There was a white kind of Spanish style all around us. Then we saw it. A kind of pond or lake with green water and Lily pads, and a raised rock circular platform, big in size, surrounding it. There was a line and the old small structure, showing the last part and resemblance to the hotel. It was white. Also, there was some trees, railings, and parts where you could look in the water, only on the left side. There was a bridge on the left going over to a kind of island, with green grass and a few picnic tables and roofs over them. It was nice. That platform around the springs I was talking about, from this view I saw that it was a grayish black rock. There were trees all around with Spanish moss, even though we were only in GA, not Mexico or Spain.

On the platform, we saw some fish as we realized that the water showed really deep. A couple of black fish went around for us. Rebecca even spotted a little turtle, green and brown inside. Then it kicked off it's spot on a rock in shallow water, and made it's way down. Amazingly, we saw blue and green echoing and reflecting off from the sun, and rocks intercepting the pathway underwater. The big fish Mom saw and we did swam throughout the water. The funny thing was you could only see any fish with sunglasses on, because the sun made your eyes not see it. Mom was telling us where it was, and was flabbergasted we couldn't spot these so obvious fish. Then she realized the fact, and let us take turns with the glasses on. It was really cool to see them. Well, we went over and took a few pictures, and looked down to the straight the brown part of the flint river, the trees swaying, leaning over the water, with their Spanish moss on the branches, and the water going along so quietly a dog could not hear it, if the birds would shut up. We went up some stairs to exit, after seeing Georgia's natural beauty that is Radium Springs. It was re-named Radium Springs from Sky Water because in the late 1900's they discovered radium was in the water. So, it was then called Radium Springs. I like Sky Water better. Oh, and by the way the Indians called it Skywater because the water looked so blue. And it continues to look blue. I still like Sky Water more.

We drove around for a little but then came back to the Albany R.V. Resort. We made the slides come in by Dad pressing on a key in the front, pushing in Room 1(that's my side) and Room 2 (Rebecca's). Thankfully nothing got stuck in the slide, like in the couch or on the floor. We then drove into the Sunshine state, Florida. Rebecca and I took a picture under the sign. It said their Governor Rick Scott, and it had a sun on the first o and a picture of the state of Florida, in white with an orange sun. Interesting style. But Mom found a campground online, called the people to reserve a spot, and then we drove in. I was blogging, trying to catch up. That's what I had been doing for the past few days, at any free time I was able and well, and I didn't have any excuse, blogging would be my pass time. We came up to a house far from the road, with a lot of R.V.'s in front. It was a rock pretty regular looking little house. Or at least I thought it was a house. Our R.V. stopped at a pathway choice of two roads that met up in a circle around a patch of grass. More Spanish moss. Dad left the engine running as he went inside. Other R.V.'s, a Class A and a 5th wheel, were on the other road. Mom made me walk the dogs by the grass before I could go with Dad. And then I gave them to her, she was sitting in the passenger seat. I ran to Dad just as he was going into a door inside. Just by was a small birdbath, bird feeder, and small. waterfall. I walked inside.

A counter to the far end of me on the front, with Dad by it and a fading blonde haired curled haired lady on the other side. To the right a large brochure case and another step up into a room. I listened as other guys came in, to sign in and be given a spot. The lady told us to go down a long lane and turn left, and then to pull in. Dad left, and told me to tell Mom to unhook the jeep and then to drive. I went out with Mom as she and Dad unhooked the jeep, and Dad went back to get in the R.V. and she got in the jeep. As we were getting in we noticed a guy in a sedan, who mumbled some words to Mom I didn't catch. He got out of his car and told her something, then coming back. I said hi, on the side of the car. He was an old dude, with sunglasses and a collar shirt. One word I actually heard. "Inconsiderate," he said as he got back in his car. Inconsiderate? When I asked Mom she told me to get inside the R.V. and take something to Dad. Then I did. We got away from the road, and made traffic go again. So now I put cars stopping and a man being irritated together. Unsuspecting we held up traffic, taking one whole road. Mom told me as we parked in a spot that the man told her she should know to unhook first, and that then he could've gone. She also told me he must've just been done with work or something and wanted to go home. The things people do when they want a nap.

We pulled out the slides and went through the whole process. Rebecca and I went to make the dogs go to the restroom on a pet area Dad had showed us on the map. If we went to the back of the R.V.,and walked along back, we would get to it. It was a little field, and Rebecca wanted to go back. When Emma went #2 Rebecca left me alone, intent on playing with her barbies. She said I should just come back because we went with only one poop bag. By the sign detailing rules was a cylinder white tube, and in that I found a wet soggy black poop bag. I made Rocky go and then came back. Mom and Dad were talking to a nice old man, retired, from Tennessee. I went inside after seeing a little brown haired girl playing with a doll. I told Rebecca she should go play with the girl. Then I came out and in some times, getting different stuff and doing different things. After talking to the man, Mom, Dad and I sat in some lawn chairs at the back of the R.V. about some things, and going into Tallahassee later was one of them. A smaller Class A was right by us, and some people got out of it. We were planning to leave but my parents got into talking to a blonde haired lady, who had three children. One of them was also blonde and had a plaid red shirt on, and no shoes in the dirt. He put on boots as he came into the car though.

Mom found out that the lady was a wife of a Representative of Tallahassee, which is the capitol of Florida. They go home in Gainsville, FL, on the weekends, and the husband is also an architect by trade and preaches at a small hole-in-the-wall Baptist church, where people come who don't feel comfortable in a big church. I walked over to the kid, and introduced myself as he said his name was Daniel. Had a light voice, and dark eyes. He had a good personality, unlike many kids my age. I bet he would make a good friend. But he talked about how cool it is to go up to the highest floor in the capitol building, and the museum in the old one was cool. He mentioned a few other things too. I told him about the trip, and he wanted some details on the homeschooling part of it. He asked if I did a certain program FL had. But I informed him we were basically freestyling it with a couple of textbooks, and bringing in different programs into our own Bourne Hybrid, which is what we're doing. I'll tell you more about it in my "The Art of Homeschooling" blog that will debut in a few weeks at the most. But anyway, we talked for a while. Then his Mom put stuff in the trunk, and his sister played a little in the sand. His younger brother brought his book and Daniel his. Rebecca came out and talked to Chrystina, the girl, for a few minutes before they got ready and drove off in a small car. No R.V. That was staying here. I kind of felt bad for it, alone, forsaken, left behind. Tear.

We toured around the big city of Tallahassee, which consisted of palm trees, a few skyscrapers, and a big commercial draw. We saw the big Capitol building, and the old one. It's kinda weird Tallahassee is still the capitol of FL, while Panama City, Miami Beach, and other ones are so more popular. I guess it's to give a town some jobs, or make some unfamous towns famous for SOMETHING. Roswell is famous for it's old Civil War History, take that Alpharetta!

We also saw the FL A and M, where the drum major tragically was hazed and lost his life by his bandmates. That's terrible. Really bad. We saw that pretty brick school and other ones. Hungry, we stopped in a shopping center with big parking lot, and walked a while to get to an Olive Garden. Inside the restaurant we got a nice african-american waiter, who was very satisfactory and kind, with a very polite stature. His name was Jordan. After the grand meal we went back in the car, to the R.V., and I slept in the back once again. So far on the trip, we had seen repair shops (you gotta go it's breathtaking) farmer's market, and a bubbling beautiful spring. So that day, on the 12, was the real day we started having a fun time and real adventure, when we saw Radium Springs. And many, many adventures and journeys, were to come after it.

Sky Water even though the water came from the ground! Imagine that,

Andrew.

Drive to Albany, GA.

The prior day we said goodbye to all our Roswell people and got off on a great start, covering a lot of ground, a few miles, to a repair shop in Forest Park, GA! They did not have the part to fix our R.V., a thermostat coupler, but did know of a mobile guy who was in Atlanta and knew how to install it. They made us pay money to only diagnose our poor R.V. Well, it wasn't that bad, at least they knew a guy and he would fix it... Or so we thought. On the 11th of January, a Wednesday in fact, we rose and got up. I had slept in the back with Mom. It had rained all night, and had a thunderstorm. This rain had haunted us ever since, with cold weather also. I got on some good clothes, and Dad and I walked the dogs a little, on the hill with all of the now wet grass. I slipped down. He was supposed to come at 10:30, the mobile repair man guy, and his name was Roger. Oh, and did Houston had a problem.

In the meantime though, we all got up and dressed, but took no showers because the water was cold. So I got up my To Kill book and we drove on over in the jeep, to eat at the Oakwood Cafe, which was part of the Georgia Farmer's Market. The last night we had looked at it, and saw it was closed. But it was open for breakfast. So we drove to the place, and parked in the little parking lot facing the building, with it's windows and brick features. I looked behind me, and saw concrete roofs and platforms, with people on them and signs, and food, mostly veggies and fruits, in crates with yellow or green mesh making them not touch the wood surface. At the Georgia Farmer's market, Farmer's sell things to consumers and restaurant owners, coming in and out a lot. It goes 24 hours straight! But we would tour it later. Right now, we walked into a threshold by way of a modern glass door. Inside was a tall curved roof, with a big mural of Atlanta's skyline, a train depot, Fox Theater, the aquarium, the Turner Field, and some other places in our great city. Beneath it all were tables, which were brown and had some breakfast plates, silverware, and Ketchup and Mustard. To the very far end was a kitchen, and a long counter with booths on one side. A waiter led us to this, and we sat down.

The menu was already at the table. Dad told us that he had come here many times before when he worked at a paint store in the area, and all the times he did were only lunch and dinner though, no breakfast. I ordered a sausage, eggs and pancakes and Rebecca had pancakes. Dad had some breakfast stuff also. I watched a Brain Pop movie of the day, and talked and looked around at some truck drivers and farmers, some pretty sketchy people. Our waitress was nice. She had black hair and said that some people don't even know the cafe exists, and they have not been getting a lot of people in lately, and that the restaurant doesn't advertise, but they should. I had a great breakfast, smoking hot. It was good. After the meal, Rebecca, Mom and I went into the little courtyard with the garden, under an outside roof. Dad was paying. We tried to open the door to the gift shop, but couldn't open it. So we walked to the car, and watched some of the people loading goods onto the docks. Then Dad also exited through the side entrance, where the counter where you pay is right by, coming onto the little sidewalk of this open courtyard. We were by the car, talking a little, when we saw Dad nudge on the door and some old lady open it up. We guessed she might of heard him and let him in. So we went back there, as Dad turned around and opened the door for us.

It had post cards, and gifts, and other kind of things in there. There was a lady, with short grey hair, and she was at a counter that had a desk and office behind it. To the right of her was a door leading to a hallway. I later knew this lady to be Marsha Thomas. I said hello, as we approached the counter. Dad asked her if she could tell me all about the Market, where the stuff was and what they did. She got a map, and began pointing out places, saying the GA farmers were in the back, to the left and also showed me a place where a guy sold bags. She said there was a lot of mexican-americans that worked out there, and talked so much about how she grew up here from a farm and her Dad was an accountant, that she wanted to run away and be free of an office, but her Dad put her back and showed her how to do things. She said her brother was good at sitting in an office, but she tried to do errands and look around the market, and do things rather than just sign people in. She told me a lot about the history, that you can tour the bag place, and what a nice guy he is, and about the warehouses, that the GA farmers only come in the summer and sell oranges and peaches. She told me so many things, I can't name them all. She asked if I was doing it for a project, because she said a lot of kids do do it, especially homeschoolers. She even gave me her card, and that's when I discovered her name. On the way out, I told her mine and thanked her for all the info and the card. Mom and I were alone by now, because Marsha talked for such a long time that Dad and Rebecca went back. It was really interesting. Seriously.

We toured the place, seeing all the crates on a shelf going downward, and all the carts with the people bustling about. There were even shirts and kitchen appliances. A lot of moving.

Back at the Cummins, Mom and I made the dogs go to the restroom in a small grass area, in front of the R.V. to the right. There were some anthills there too. Then we all retreated inside as a white bearded man with white hair came up in a truck and helped Dad fix the R.V. Dad stayed out and told him the problem, and Roger installed the thermostat. We thought our troubles were over... or so we hoped. Dad paid him, and we all got ready to go. We put the slides in, and took in the electric cord. We drove on the highway all the way to Albany, GA, which was a little close to the line. In an R.V. park with a little lake off the road, with swans. To the right was a little office. We got out of the car, Dad and I, and walked to the door. Inside, was a counter to the right with offices behind, a couch with table and some coffee table stuff, and a rec room behind it, and some restrooms. At the counter was a young black haired girl with really short hair, kind of like a mullet. She checked us in and made us go through many passes, and asked many things about our motorhome. Her voice was hoarse; it sounded like she had a cough, but it was high too. When Dad said a funny phrase, she laughed and giggled. There were some books on the table, one a diary from an American who was at the Battle of Normandy, France, on D- Day. When I asked her if I could take it and replace it with another one, she declared that she didn't have a big library, and that at the R.V. park they let you read it but you have to take it back later, before you left.

WHAT! Well, I totally couldn't read it in a day, the time we were staying. Just that night and the next morning. So I dropped it. It was sad, though. We parked the R.V. in a spot right by the pond, with trees over it., and a grass area by it. We put out the slides, and Mom, Dad and I went outside on the left to do all the stuff. From a bay door we got the water hose, and tried to fasten it on a faucet connected to a wooden thing connected to the ground, with a pump. We couldn't get it on easily. Tried it left and right. We connected the other end to the little hole in the bay, with all the buttons for doing the water and sewer. With a monkey wrench we finally secured it, and then we turned off the water pump inside and turned a switch to city water. We also got out the black tube, the sewer one, from it's compartment in the bay, and connected it to a hole and one in the ground. Dad told me to press my foot on that. He pulled two things forward, saying that there would be a lot of pressure because we hadn't done the sewer in two days. I felt from my foot a gush of liquid as it went down from the stands, the stairs, black stands, underneath the tube to make it go downhill. As Dad always told me, poop doesn't run uphill. No it doesn't.

Then something happened. I lost my balance from all the liquid coming at one time, that I fell back onto a tree. The tube that went down filled up with poopy water and gushed out down the hill. It was yellow and black combined, and it made an odor that was like no other, and it smelled as bad as rotten eggs mixed with dirty socks, plus alligator guts spewed over raw fish with coffee and dog legs and a gnat's eye. And THAT, smells bad. It went down the small dirt mound, and I reached forward to make sure it didn't do anymore. Mom told me to stay back, if I touched it I could get a disease. So I did. We let it run it's course. I felt so bad I had let it happen, and knew I would be scolded and yelled at. None of the sort, actually, Dad just said he knew everyone made mistakes and it was alright, as long as I didn't do it again. And I will make a point not to. We also had a long way to get the electric cord out, and the black one wasn't long enough to get to the silver outlet with the switch turning it on to 50 Amp. We had to get an extension, a yellow one in the bays. It took us a while to find it in all of the messy arrangement. We finally pushed down and connected the two. The black one comes from a compartment in the R.V., with a small door at the back where you unlock it with a key. Then you press on an orange button that makes it come out, pushing it up. To put it back in you press down.

I'm sorry I'm just telling you all this now. I didn't give you the process in such detail before. I never thought about it really. But now we looked for a white cable cord, for thew cable. The trees blocked our satellite. But we couldn't find that either! We looked in like three bays and made some stuff come out, and on the right side of the bays Dad finally found a black cable one, and put it on the outlet and the bay connection. But inside, we were shocked to discover that the satellite worked! So all that effort was for nothing! We were really rusty after one month of not setting up. That was our first time after a month or more that we did that. Wait... actually we hadn't done it for 46 days, because of the 4 days in November and the month of December and the ten days in January. So, for 46 days we hadn't set up. So you can imagine we were pretty rusty.

We walked the dogs around the R.V. park, with all it's trees and little gravel roads. It was pretty quiet, not many people about. It had a fenced property at one end of it. We ran and made the dogs poop as we talked of some stuff also. Then we put the dogs inside and drove around to find a restaurant, and found a Chili's. I was afraid it might be too spicy, 'cause I don't like too spicy. I had potato soup though and a salad, which was pretty good though. We saw an african american toddler with his hat over his head, and you couldn't see his face it was so big. Dad also looked up on his iPad some cool place called Radium Springs, in Albany. We decided to go see it the next day before we left in the R.V.We had a nice waitress. Well, we toured around Albany in the dark, but I'll give you a grander description when we saw it the next day, in the light, as I did with the GA Farmer's market. I'm a day sort of person. Well, the only pretty thing on the night was Ray Charles having a garden and plaza on his piano, a statue.

I slept on the couch, the bed inside. It wasn't a REALLY exciting day, but it was okay. I was just glad I was on the trip again, even though I still missed my friends.

Farmers to restaurants, restaurants to patrons, patrons to stomachs, but some to left overs. Left overs to take home box, take home box to fridge, and fridge to hungry midnight snacker. The GA Farmer's Market is very important.-

Andrew.

The Last Day in Roswell and a False Start

Well, it was the last day of Roswell, the day we were to left. The day before we had packed a little, but only Rebecca and I's clothes, because the Andy clan came over. Lauren and Julie were the only people we had left to see, the only persons remaining for us to cry over. I looked back that morning about all we had done in Roswell, saw friends and family, had parties, went to Lineville and the lake, saw our doctors and eye specialists, got presents, and enjoyed a great Christmas with my sisters and grandparents. We had been ninjas in the basement, had talked to weird guys on our driveway, had had Sports Saturdays, and had watched football many times over, with even a Michigan State fan. We had done errands and had gone to bookstores, and had playdates galore. Errands, shopping, days at church, parties, and New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve were all a part of the time. Dentists, antique stores, bookstores, eye clinic, About Hair, and going to lunch with Greg. Roswell had opened itself again, welcoming the prodigal son back to the house. I love Roswell. And Tuesday, the 10th of January 2012, was the very last day we would spend in it, for six months or longer. And as I dressed in a white RNE t-shirt, one I had actually worn the last time we went on the trip. That had been a Monday. This was a Tuesday. Maybe we'll return on a Wednesday. I put on shorts that I had in my drawer, putting my eyes on the forsaken clothes that were going to be left behind, only a few really. The others were all in the R.V. I looked around at the room, the only books being B.F.'s bio and To Kill, plus The Bible. I won't sleep in this place again. I took those clothes and went upstairs, telling Mom, "Today is the last day," sighing.

I took a shower, and put the clothes on the table where the computer was already in the case, and where it's mouse and cord were all in there. I turned on the shower water, and undressed out of the pj's. I thought about the vast spaciousness of the shower, how I would miss that and it's big place to put shampoo and conditioner. There was something else I would miss from the shower, which you will find out what it is in later in this blog, or in the next one. But anyway, I dressed after taking a shower in it's hot drops of water, and writing on one of the panels what we were doing for that day, saying we were leaving Roswell and Goodbye for now. Also I talked to Dad, in his underwear in the bedroom. Julie was in the basement. I came down to talk to her, but she was in the shower, and didn't hear me when I talked. Everybody even Rebecca took a shower, and she and I talked about the event coming into place later in the day. When Julie came up with a towel on her head she got some coffee, and put milk in it. Then sugar. Stirred. On the trip, I had tasted black coffee, and it was really not tasty and hard. I didn't like it. But maybe this brown version would prove otherwise. I asked if I could get a straw and have a sip. I got a small thin straw from a drawer with that stuff, and sipped a little. It was very good. And I've had thirst for it and been addicted ever since. Although, I haven't even had another sip.

My parents haven't let me, they say it's too caffeinated. But I dream about tasting more, just a little more, every day. Day by day though my thirst for it gets smaller and smaller. I have no taste for it now. Only a little hope to try it out. Nothing big, no large wish. A petite sliver of a hope, nothing more, nothing less. But anyway, Lauren came a little after that as we packed up Mom and Dad's clothes, and taking our guitars and placing them in the bays. It was a long and strenuous process. Lauren and Rebecca talked and put up barbies in the R.V., and I played with some of my action figures, making their way from the basement into the R.V. I did a little story. Rebecca wanted me to bring more of my rescue heroes, so I brought two doctors (brothers who met up after the divorce in their youth), an army guy, an astronaut, and a country sheriff. Interesting combinations. I put them in the R.V., and was excused from taking clothes for a while. In the wet rainy weather I got them in the R.V., on their adventure, as Dad worked around with Marcos a little and put some stuff in the R.V. The hours drifted like forevers, as we all worked together to get it done. Putting things in the closet, textbooks in the drawer in the bedroom, talking to my sister's about some stuff. I was again sweating and stuff, and then it became noon.

We did not eat. There was no need to. We weren't exactly hungry either. Julie had to leave at 2:00, so she tried to stuff as much stuff and things into the R.V., as Lauren focused on the food, throwing some things into the trash, saying they were spoiled. In the meantime, I took stuff down, milk, meat, veggies and fruits, and snacks. We stockpiled on those. I also went into my room, over checked the closet for things I wanted to and didn't want to bring(and got a few shirts, placed my piggie bank with all my money in a secret place, closed the closet, slowly but surely, and turning the light off. I looked at all the stuff on my dresser, rechecked the clothes in there and got a few more, got a few knic knaks, picked up all the trash, and made my bed again. I put the blankets all on, and the pillows too, turning out the lamp light. So many memories in that bed, in the chair, by the smaller dresser, and in the room. Next I went into the restroom, got my toothbrush, turned out all the lights and flushed the toilet once more, and cleaned a little. I shut the toilet door, and the other one. After that, I took one last look at all my classics, and rechecked everything, pondered a moment, and then closed the door. I have made so many memories there, and will miss it dearly. I had also closed the curtain to the world. The people of Roswell will neither see my room, our house, or me, for a long time to come.

We took pictures outside of the R.V., family pictures and with Lauren and Julie. One of them behind a bay door, like their stowaways. All that and more is available on FaceBook and on the blog. Rebecca got a little teary and red in her eyes because this would be the last time we would see them, and that she would miss them a lot. I tried not to think about it as we took the pictures, and tried to be optimistic and think about seeing CA, but eventually I became thinking about it. They thought I was faking at first because a second ago I had been so fine, but I wasn't. Tears came out like the Niagara Falls in Canada. I hugged and said I would miss them. My parents were just as wet. Julie was about to leave for work, and I said to keep in touch and that I would write in the Peaks, Pits, Praises and Prayers journal. She got in her car, as we sadly said goodbye. She's such a cool, fun, awesome person. Good in books, writing, and grammar, and good on judging people, she looks at it from their side. I'll miss all that. She drove away in her red jeep. In the meantime, we continued to pack and pack for 30 minutes with Lauren. I then started in the kitchen and living room and office and dining room and guest room, with Rebecca by my side at the beginning. I looked at the places all around our house, making one last sweep through it, remembering all the memories by the pool, all the games and the fort, and taking the trash down, and times on the grill. Inside, I remembered so many times, like when I hid from Mom as a toddler, or my midnight snacks in the kitchen. In the office my serious discussions with Dad, comfortable talks in the living room, and Thanksgiving meals at the dining table, plus breaking glass from a cabinet. The weirdness of the little bedroom, and the sick days of sleeping in the bed, with the T.V. on Disney Channel, far away, my toes feeling the grains of sand in the bed. Where we eat, talk, converse, and make food.

Farther up in the hallway the times of hiding behind corners and laying on the yellow couch, plus hopscotching on tiles. Sleepovers and forts in the den, plus ideas and computer typings, and all the Christmases. In Rebecca's room her tantrums and times of hurting me, plus the time I hid in the closet from Mom. In the bathroom in the hallway, the weird sick times, and on the staircase periods of jumping down. In my own room, all my friends in there, and the phantoms and times of Mom coming into comfort me, plus the time I cracked the window with a stick, and so many other memories I can't even count. It was hard saying goodbye to my room, the space I had, that would soon be replaced by a few cabinets and window sill, and the quietness and retreat. I mean, it's my room! I did back out eventually though. I moved up yonder to my parents bedroom and the circled area with it. Times of under the covers, pillow fights with Dad, talks to Mom, and times of sleeping on the old brown couch now replaced by another one. Dad looking up stuff with us over his shoulder, Dad seeing things cool and funny. In the closet my times of playing and pondering, in all the clothes and quiet. In Mom's office, my old nursery, where I penned phrases and wrote two Christmas letters, a screenplay called Stuck In Space, and numerous short stories and essays. Also the time looking in the closet. I took up my computer bag and shut out the light. At this point Dad was yelling for me to come down, we were about to go. I said one minute, I wasn't finished yet.

In the bathroom, all Dad's magazines and business books, the time I put all these chemicals in the bath, even ketchup, and times I smashed into the walls of the shower and times I played and pretended the white tile floor was a tundra, or looked out of the window and saw the yard, and thought. The times I had washed on the sink and even the time I got my first haircut by Dad. In the towel closet I looked and closed the door, and in Mom's closet. I haven't done much in there actually, but there is a string to the attic and the one room in the house I haven't looked in yet...

The top level is where I bathed, played, talked to my parents, and sometimes slept. It's a good place of the house. I jogged downstairs, looking lastly at the top level, and then the second one (where I talked, relaxed, played and slept), and finally back to the first. I peeked in the basement for a moment, but I didn't go totally in, just thought about all the times of looking at new stuff, the evil baby, all the fights between good and evil in Toyland, and the weddings in the bathroom, plus the time the Goodloe's came in there because of a tornado. In the other room, with the T.V., I remembered all the plays and movies I had watched and been in, and also the forts and times of hiding, plus sliding. And my entrances through the outside door. I said goodbye to the place I'd had all my fun, and turned out the light, and went through the garage. Ah, the garage. The stinky place with all the tools and lawn mowers, plus the generators and bikes, and all the numerous garage stuff, nails, tools, paint, everything. It has two large garage doors and one small one. No cars ever go in, actually. Their always out in the driveway. I opened the door and fastened quickly again when I was out by the boat, for two reasons: One, because I was afraid of rats, and two, because Dad had told me to come on. I did, and put all my stuff in their places of the R.V.

We made the motor go, and Dad with Mom's help backed out and got forward again, with her telling him to go left, right, back, and forward with her hands. We were now facing the street, in the narrow pathway of the trees on both sides. Dad and Mom put the jeep connected by the Blue Ox towing. All the cables, you know. I was sad, we were about to leave. We were told to get inside, and watched the yard as I thought about all my playdates, birthday parties and events we did in the front yard. Rebecca secured her barbies from falling. I checked my books over and put my computer on the table. Lauren came back in. We hugged her and said goodbye, we would miss her so. Her style, fun, and places she took us. She said we would still do video chat and phone call. And we said a prayer, all as a family, as I spoke it hoarsely. She went out, and Mom and Dad did to still hook up the jeep. I ran open the door, jumped down off from the asphalt into the wet ground, and it was a big jump. I ran as fast as my legs could go, as she was unlocking her car and opening the door. I rushed on her and hugged her tight, with my mouth dry and my eyes wet. Dad then told me to come as Lauren waved goodbye and took pics from her phone. I sat down on the big rock on the right, the little bowled field, with the forest on my right. I was a little sad, but ready for what the second leg of the trip had to offer.

In the R.V., we put the windows up and drove out, pulling right. I saw an orange gun I had left there when Zach had come over, and didn't have time to put it back then. Well, that's something to do when we return in June. To put that orange gun back. Hope it doesn't get too dirty (I know it will though).  Anyway, we went through Roswell, but didn't go on Canton Street or past the city hall, just to the left of Rhea's through more neighborhood. I saw Crabapple, and said, "See you next year" to it. I probably won't see it until I go into it to enter it, to go into it for school. I await the day. We were soon out of Atlanta on the road, the interstate. But we had a problem presented to us. Our hot water wouldn't work, when we tried the hot water to wash off our hands. We decided to fix this, since we know where to go in Atlanta. Cummins South Repair Center is in a town called Forest Park, where a Georgia State Farmer's Market is also. We pulled into a parking lot with building with metal slating and a hill with another warehouse at the top, and a small place for pets. On that hill also was some trucks. You come down through a entrance, which has metal fence and barbed wire. We went in, and parked in front of an area with porch and awning. We stopped the R.V., and Dad and I went inside.

In a small lobby with R.V. supplies and a long counter with computer and papers, and a desk behind, an old man with glasses and a bald head stood. I looked to the right, seeing a waiting room with T.V., and black leather chairs, with a coffee table in the middle of all that and two restrooms behind the T.V. I had brought my phone and my bio of B.F., and also "To Kill a Mockingbird." Mom and Rebecca came too, and Rebecca brought some snacks. Did I forget to mention on the very right along the wall there was a vending machine, with a window by the restrooms, and on the left wall there was some generators? No? Oh well, you know now. Anyway, as Dad told the man he wanted them to look on the R.V. and take it in their shop, and the hot water was gone, he came in with us to the waiting room. I sat on the couch with Mom, and Dad was at a spinning desk chair by the coffee table. Rebecca was in one of the leather chairs, with the poles at the bottom. On the coffee table was some R.V. magazines. I read a little of the bio and told some of the info to Mom as she facebooked, as Rebecca snacked on goldfish and Dad talked to her, on his iPad a little. I also had some conversation with MBT on the texting. She said she would've hated her parents for taking her on the trip away from her friends, and we talked about a few other things. I went to the restroom. It was rather boring, eating, drinking water, and reading, and repositioning ourselves. Dad talked to the guy at the counter, and it became a small world. They had mutual friends in the paint business. Can you believe that?"

It was good though, and I got to new chapters in my book. I was sad that their was no hot water, what would that mean for my shower? That was the thing I told you earlier I would miss the most about the shower, it's warmth and hotness. I was also disappointed we had prepared so much, and that we only went a few miles. Dad even talked about maybe going back to the real house. But then we would have to open it up again, disarm it, go through the whole process of saying goodbye again, and make me do it all over again and ponder over old memories once more, which would be a boring rerun for you readers. So we thought of finding a campground in Atlanta, when it was done, but we didn't want to do that either. The sun was almost down. Mom suggested we could see the aquarium and stuff. But for some reason Dad said no. We decided to go back home. They pulled the R.V. out in front and declared that they didn't have the part to fix the R.V., but a mobile guy did. Dad called him, and said we would come back in the morning from the house. Outside in the rain, Dad changed his mind, went back and asked the man if we could actually stay the night at the Cummins. It hadn't occurred to him before. So we parked by the hill, and hooked up to the electric plug. We stayed on our water pump, a chamber in the R.V. that stores water and is used while we're on the road and not connected at an R.V. park to city water. I walked the dogs up on the hill, by all the generators on the top. There were several anthills I tried to avoid. We unhooked the jeep and when the slides came out we got in the jeep and rode around the cool small town of Forest Park.

It was night, and off the highway we saw gas stations, storefronts, and a sign saying The Georgia Farmers market. Beneath a hill was a building with a detachment, with a roofed walkway and garden, and brick walls. I couldn't see much in the dark. I did see people, mostly Latinos, on raised platforms with all kinds of goods, and an end of a truck that released all the stuff. Mostly food. Dad told me we would see it more bustling on the 'morrow, that they got the food from the trucks and put it up there for people to sell. I couldn't take any pictures, my phone images were so dark. We looked at the door for the restaurant, and saw it to be closed. So, we went around and found a Subway, and we ate some of our sandwiches, after waiting in line, and seeing a lady get a meatball sandwich. It was a good one, but had some sketchy nighttime people. We took my unfinished half (I got a foot long and ate 6 inches of it) to the R.V. where later when Dad was watching T.V. I ate it. So yes, that night Dad slept in the front, as the guard "dog", with the bed in, on the couch part. I slept in the back with Mom. So ended our first day. Well, it wasn't the best start to the second leg of our journey, but it was a nice detour. Made for a good blog. We were sad we had left and uneasy about the new venture and what it might bring, and hoped it would be all okay. So, that area of blogs where we were at home is over, and so if you missed it go back and read it.

The second leg would have a host of interesting characters and places, and that was only in the first three weeks!

And hear now ends the blog post detailing the first day of the second Leg of Bourne's Big Trip,

Andrew.

The Monday Before We Left

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! YOU'RE THE BEST DAD ANYONE COULD EVER HOPE FOR! YOU ARE KIND, UNDERSTANDABLE, STRONG, SMART, AND WISE! Happy Birthday, and I hope you have a great day at... wherever we go today, birthday boy! I know you probably won't like me saying this, but Dad is 60 years old today! Can you believe it? Dad, you have helped me in times of need, shown me paths to getting better, and have tucked me in and dealt with my vomit many a time, or gotten a splinter out, or taken me places, and I've learned so much from you. Our serious conversations in your office are the most contributors of that, or our long drives on the horizon.

Determined

Awesome

Victorious

Intelligent

Dad.

Enjoy your very special day!

I am sorry I am so far behind in my blogs, that I am almost three weeks behind. I only publish about one a day. It's been so bad. Here's an analogy: It's like our national deficit. It was started to get something else, a little relaxation and other things. Only a little to begin with. As I tried to "pay" it off, it kept getting bigger as the days progressed. I would write one, and do it in parts, trying to give something and to have something for my "people", really readers. I go tenuous lengths to get this done, but to no avail as the money keeps getting bigger, as I tell myself I'll do it tomorrow or come up with excuses. That has been laziness on my part, I do confess. Then, I try to get it back, determined, and try to cut off the "programs", blogs, by writing them. The Solyndra (Henry's three part birthday) and Stimulus plan (Westin and I'sExcursion to Lineville, AL) have been hard to tackle, but have eventually provided more "money", blog posts. Now, even with these various efforts and different ways of doing this, we still have a deficit. I believe I might always have a deficit. I might even be so bad that I will have to be voted out and someone else "run the country", do the blog posts. Maybe Mom Romney or Rebecca Santiorum. Or even Ron David Bourne! Sorry, but I don't have one for Newt Gingrich.

So now, I will try to be done with this deficit, once and for all. My government will always once in a while owe "money" (have to do some blog posts) but I will work toward getting rid of the "programs" I have to write, and only having two days' blog posts I have to write. Now, what are we doing talking about what we're GONNA do! Let's get this done, people! Move, move, move! (well, your only job is to read it, actually. So, read, read, read!)

Well, the clock was ticking down to how many days we had left, saying our goodbyes to good friends, and family included, packing, packing, and packing (if you say things three times in a row it makes a certain mark on the post, of some emphasis). Well, actually not too much packing. But on Monday we did. A lot. Julie came over and helped us out a little. She (I believe) stayed the night. It was going to be a fun day, in some respects. In others, long, in towing clothing and books and other things to the R.V., and putting them away. Taking no shower, only white t-shirt and shorts on, sweating like donkeys in August even though it was in January. Julie helped us with clothes and stuff even in the early hours of the day, as early as Ten. She dedicated sole hours of service and kindness, taking off from work. She was on the book Catching Fire by now. Mom did take a shower after Julie did, she wanted to do it before the Andy Clan kids got here. She then came up, awaiting her duties, and, finding that Mom was in the shower and she couldn't do anything without her command, she asked me to go downstairs and get her book. I then retrieved it and brought it up, but she was already deciding to eat butter toast. I hate those things. Smelly, buttery, and having an irreplaceable odor, it makes me almost faint to even describe it!

After Mom showered, she made me take some hangers to her closet in the R.V., and then some of her clothes. Such a grueling task for so young a boy! Julie was stationed in the R.V., as Rebecca took down her clothes and I mine. We put them on the dining room table as Julie sorted them out, saying I couldn't bring some and could bring others. "No, by the time of spring you won't be able to fit in this." I put it away. I was a lot more understandable and fast than the first time, where I was rather difficult. I guess this time I knew I wouldn't wear those clothes, and I knew the trip was going to be great so I wasn't as mean. I took more longer sleeved shirts, and also a few I hadn't brought on the first half that still fit me, that I wanted to have some variety. I also took some of my books down, all the ones I hadn't read and wanted to read. I found the two Mark Twain books I got in Hannibal, MO; I couldn't find them over the break. I also took the books I'd gotten with Lauren, and the Redwall books, plus the Hunger Games book Mockingjay, To Kill A Mocking Bird, and that bio of B.F. I was reading. Plus some others, like the Sherlock Holmes I got at the antique store and at Christmas. That was about it. I took those down to the R.V., and decided which went where. The Redwall's went in a cabinet by the dinner table and behind the dog crate, with Lauren's books, and some of the Sherlock Holmes and Mockinjay went in a cabinet above my couch,with a dictionary, pocket knife case, and astronomy guide, to the right. On the little windowsill where I kept books were the two M.T's (Mark Twain's), and the Bible, and MockingBird and the bio. To the right of all that was a brown little box, with, some lotion, a harmonica, a whoopy cushion, a spinning top, and last, but not least, a smaller brown box with flossing things, a small Roswell decorated flashlight, and a fidgeter, plus a finger nail clipper. The necessities of a kid.

I was outside one minute giving the dogs some water when I saw a man who was bald and had a black lab, and had a ski hat on. I said hello, as he asked if my dad was my grandpa. I shook my head and chuckled, saying, "No, he's my dad." "Oh," he said, "yeah I'm sorry, I understand. You know I had an older Dad, and I noticed since he was a little older, he couldn't play football and stuff. It gave me a higher respect for older people." I was nodding and looking as if I was interested. "You know, I actually worked for your Dad a while back, and painted this fence," he said, examining the white peeling off. "When are you guys leaving?" he asked, in a kind of suspicious way. I told him Tuesday, and coming back in June. I said that because I thought he was one of Dad's friends. But I didn't tell him anymore. He had a kind of weird air about him. "Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked me. "I was gonna ask your Dad if I could come along the weekend and, uh, paint the fence. Can you put down my phone number?" I asked if he had a pencil, or paper. Neither. So I jogged on inside, and he said behind me, in an odd way, "TAKE YOUR TIME, DON'T WORRY." 


When I asked for some from Mom, she asked me why I needed them. When I explained she said not to tell strangers that info, but to go back outside and get his number. "I thought he was a friend of Dad's." I said, a little uneasy now. Had I released the information that he would use, and rob things from our house? I hoped not. I went back outside, as I put in the number. I had handed it to him, but he asked if I could do it. Can he not write? Well, he was holding a dog. He said his name was James C., and if we called and somebody named Sam answered, it was because his phone was broke and he was using Sam's office one. Sam was his boss. Then he told me about a joke about a skunk and a phone, about it having a smell phone (get it, smell phone, cell phone). Then one that didn't make sense about a blind guy. I said I had homework to do, and then went through the wooden door to the driveway and behind the R.V. I then peeked behind the R.V., looking at him. C. paused, and then walked backwards and then turned around, down the sidewalk, to the left. He looked at some rosebuds by the road, and then I didn't see him anymore. It was so creepy. I told all this to Dad. We were on one of the properties Dad rents out, and a fence separated us.

"He worked for me 21 years back. And he's crazy. The asylum people thought he was no threat to the public, so they let him have his own house. They just check on him sometimes." He also said he didn't want the number, as we made our way inside. Mom told me not to do it again, to be careful with information. Dad said James was no friend of his. But anyway, the tension blew over. I will never forget that strange man. I was scared he was declared crazy, and thought about the mental people who blew stuff up. I'm sorry I did give him the info. Honest mistake. Why was he looking at our rosebuds? Telling peculiar jokes? Offering to paint our fence? Walking backwards? Couldn't write? Nobody knows, at least I don't. I won't forget that guy, anytime soon.

Mom and Dad were up in their bedroom, reading and watching T.V. Rebecca was in the same latter condition. Mom was "getting dry." Julie and I got all my shoes, tools, like magnifying glasses, flashlights, binoculars, and other things, all in a cabinet I had used as socks earlier, and another one that was soley dedicated to the dog's stuff. This leg, I had more room for my stuff, but less space for socks and underwear. Most of the latter were in a bag, from Christmas. I shared a plastic box of underwear and socks, and one of shorts. Julie stayed in the R.V., and helped out. Then came noon. About noon, anyway. And with about noon came The Andy Clan, save Andy. We were in the R.V. when they came up in THEIR suburban. They got out and we got out of the R.V., welcoming them. Mom came out and showed them the progress of the R.V., and we took some pictures as we talked a little. Will had a football he was playing with, and we stayed in while, while Will talked about lunch, and going into my room, away from the R.V. We were all a little eerie for a little, this was the last time we would see each other. Talking about the trip and stuff. Recounting our blessings. Trying to talk casually.

We weren't too sad though. We knew that the trip would be a lot of fun, but we still were going to miss everybody, my friends, and the cousins. Lineville's charm and adventure, my grandparent's stories and love, all my school friends comedy and drama happenings, my friends at Sunday School's thought provoking times and times we would run and need to go to the restroom, and all the cousin's fun, would all be missed. And my sister's Julie's book recommendations, love, and good lessons I've learned from her. Not to mention Lauren's style, fun, and numerous talks of haircutting, plus her dog Sookie. All of these things would be dearly missed. Nothing replaces real time with a person, face to face, talking to them in real life, not Face-Time, Video chat, texting, or phone. But it does help. And it has helped. But right then and there, we went inside, into the basement, as Mom and Lia went in the kitchen to make our sandwiches. We fished in our orders and then went downstairs. We talked and talked about what we should play, in the room with the play stuff, arguing about what we wanted to play. Character games, and regular ones, were all in the hat. We voted on some, when Mom and Lia told us the food was ready, and came down with the sandwiches.

We were given our various different ones, as I got some water bottles from the garage fridge. In the play area, Rebecca, May, and Will sat on the brown couch, while May and I sat around the table. We ate chips, and the girls and boy putting their sprite and milk on the table, and taking them when they wanted to drink. It was good to eat, with the pickles and sandwich. May tried to get my pickle. It was a time of trial and error, trying to decide what we wanted to play. Mom and Aunt Leah were sitting in the blue leather spinning chairs, sofas really, talking about different adult ladies talk about. Done with our lunch, we decided to go outside and play that sardines game again. Making our way upstairs, I was chosen to be it, and made a clue for them to find out my hiding place. It was, "an English word that rhymes with the word you just ended the last sentence with" which was clue. It was hard to find out, but eventually after they counted and thought about it, they saw that the last word was clue. English word..., Rebecca thought about it, knowing that in England they call bathrooms a loo. Harriet had told me, and someone from England in iCarly said the word. It had to be outside, so Rebecca found out I was in the blue colored wall outside bathroom, with the tiny toilet. I was playing a game on my phone, called Word Jewels, content on the "loo." It was Rebecca that heard me peeing. I had locked the door, so for a while they struggled to get in. I then when done made the lock unopened.

Rebecca and May came in, laughing over my choice of hiding spots. I said I wanted to be recluse and comfortable. The bad part about being in there was that May needed to poo. She was uneasy about the fact we were in there, and told us to look at the sink and not peek. Being the honorable guy I am, I didn't look. But we heard Will and Libby, and even though it was locked, they were pounding on the doors saying it wasn't nice to do that.Well, Rebecca actually unlocked the door, as to be nice. Well, now Will and Libby could see May naked! Gross! Will and Libby were together, and Will ran to it first, but May went out with her pants and underwear at her heels. I didn't look though. May was so mad at Rebecca, it wasn't even countable how much she was irritated. But anyway, Libby was it, and so I was teamed up with Will (an 8 year old can't be alone!) and May and Rebecca were together. Will and I counted in my bedroom, on the second floor, while they counted in the kitchen, on the first floor. We were to go the back way, and them the front way. When we were done counting, Will and I went the back way. I had a deduction, that Libby is a little bit of a prissy girl, and that she probably chose somewhere comfortable. But she's also small and smart, and so she probably picked somewhere good. Under a staircase, under the second floor deck by the door to the basement, and even the bathroom again, were all checked. The forest and stuff wasn't even done. No wasting time there. She's not an overwhelmingly outdoors person.

Then in the driveway, I saw the R.V. The perfect mix of comfort and style, also the numerous hiding spots, the bathroom, closet, and doors all around. It would take a while for someone to find the other one. So we opened the door, and looked around in the front part, with the couches and table. I told Will this was the perfect place. Then the restroom. The bed. The closet. No Libby. So we excited, and looked along the cars, and by the trashcans. I was puzzled. Rebecca had said no more clues were to be done, a sneaky move of hers, because she said it gave it away to easily. Say no more to it when you know you know all of the hiding spots around the house, so others would possibly win it with the clues, if they followed you. It's an interesting and complex psychology. Now in the front yard, Will and I searched. I secretly tried to stay a step ahead of him, to be the one to look at the hiding spots, so that I could be the one to get there first. Because I knew the girls had already found Libby. It was secretive, Will didn't even notice it. I didn't want to be it again, naturally, I had just been it. Then I saw the tree house. I jogged and ran to get to it, seeing the hands and faces on the second floor. Will followed, and the girls yelled for him to beat me. Wow, somebody's picking favorites.

I went up the ladder at the fastest speed, and hit the deck before Will was even under the trees' foliage. They told him that he was it. So we all counted in the tree house, and stood against the railing. My eyes closed, I worried that the rail would break and I would fall back. We counted to a hundred, as his legs were not as fast as ours and because he was younger. I was on a team with May. Those two ran down, and I was content with beating them. Then something clicked. I remembered the words I had uttered to Will in the R.V. This is really one of the best hiding spots in the whole house. Comfort, recluse, and it's not REALLY inside, but at the same time it is. Haha! I ran as fast as I could go, May trying to keep up behind me. I wasn't worried about her. I was trying to get to the R.V. before Libby and Rebecca did. I opened the door, and shut it. I saw Will on the couch. He giggled as I told him how I had found it out. I told him to get down, I saw the girls. We made our way down to the bedroom, and hid down. The girls were at the top of the stairs waiting, waiting for me to come out and say no one was in there. Then May went in. "Retreat to the closet" I told Will as we filed in, shrinking ourselves in the small empty space. The door was opened as I heard May and Libby coming back. Our breath was reduced to a slow steady breeze.

May looked in the closet, and saw us. Libby opened it up. Rebecca was next to run on over. So Rebecca was it. I said sorry to May for abandoning her, and May told me about how she was suspicious that I wasn't coming out. So Rebecca was it. In her usual bossy matter, Rebecca went about saying no more could we use the R.V., it was inside and unfair. But we could do it to count. And we did. When done counting, we all went outside. On the way out, Will got off the stairs, and bumped his head against the corner of a slide out. It hurt him on the forehead, and he started crying. I told May and Libby that we were going to go inside, and that he was hurt, to get him in the basement, and to give him an ice pack. They went out of earshot, over the back way. "No, I'm fine," Will stated. So we continued on, and looked in all the hiding spots that both the front and back yard had to offer. We couldn't find the girls, and thought they were with Rebecca in some ingenious spot. Finally, we declared that they MUST be inside, we had checked EVERY hiding spot. We went in the basement through the outdoor way, and asked the parents on their chairs where the girls were. They informed us that the girls had come down, looking for us, and had told them that Will was hurt. Will told the parents he didn't feel that bad as we searched the house for them, and went out the back way. They came out of the den onto the second floor deck. Confused cousins were now at rest.

We went back in the basement, and tried to think of a character game to play. Rebecca and the girls played wii, Libby and her wanting to do it. Libby was tired. She looked at what Julie was reading, Catching Fire. She actually asked if it was mine, and I said no, I was on Mockingjay. She blubberly told me a part in the book, a spoiler. ha!  May waited a long time to play Indians, and Will and I went into the play area and pretended to be hobos in a dump, scavenging for food. May joined in on it, having nothing else to do. So she became a hobo and I a police officer, and they hid and we fought a little, funny slapstick. I played Indiana Jones with Will, and then Libby wanted to play to. But Aunt Lia said that they were about to leave, and everyone else wanted to play Indians, so we went in the front yard and played. I became the chief of the tribe, ole' Big Toe. I had a hugely large stick, with a part that was split through the middle at the top. Rebecca was in the tree house, and the other girls collected green leaves to put on the bed. Rebecca was Red Feather, May was Gliding Gazelle (that's a cool name) and Libby was Princess Rosebud. Will and I went after the "pale men" really English explorers. In one part we killed a camp of them, and I threw my spear in one man's chest, and it split it half. A good way to look at it was that I had now two swords, instead of one spear. Lia and Mom were on the front steps, with Lauren and Julie there too.Will liked playing with Sookie. . Julie had been helping out Dad in the bays of the R.V., and Lauren arrived to baby-sit us later. I then captured an English man, and he was a prisoner on a hammock. May was my daughter, and was nice to the pale man, giving him food and water, and other things. When I found out about it, she made me escape. She said she was an Englishwoman once at birth, but her ship to the New World got shipwrecked, and Big Toe found her. It was fun, but the parents called her and I to come. I accidentally hit Rebecca with the stick, and she got mad.

We made our way to the car in the driveway, and hugged and said goodbye. I would miss May's charm and comedy, Will's delightful moments and his youth and football, and even Libby's sarcasm and cheerleading abilities, and being funny and girly. We hugged some more, took some pictures, and had several farewells. Then they drove away in their car. I'll miss you guys a lot. Very much I'll miss you guys. Goodbye... for now.

Lauren was nice to have around, as Mom and Dad got ready for a meal they were going to have with Randy and Leslie Brannon. I was so tired from running around and playing, and, of course, jogging to and fro from the house to the R.V., looking on rooms, as I wouldn't see them in 6 months. Sookie was running around. Lauren asked if we wanted to go to the dog park, on Old Alabama Road. Exhausted as I was, I said sure and took "To Kill" and my phone. Plus a jacket, that one I got for Christmas. I got in her overly trashy charger, and Sookie sat in the front with Lauren. She went straight to sleep... I mean, Sookie did, not Lauren, that would of been bad for the driver to dose off. I was interested to see this famed dog park, as Julie left and we pulled out. We drove on down that road, and parked in a center with fenced fields and tennis courts, and signs all around, ads really. We parked in a small parking lot, and looked at the trails and trees, and the big green astro turf area where all kinds of big dogs played. We walked over, as Lauren put a leash on Sookie. We walked over. "Be careful on where you step. There's dog dodo everywhere," Lauren said. And there was. Big brown and yellow chunks of waste, with gnats and flies zimming and flying around, tasting the stuff as if it was an exquisite food. I stepped in one, not knowingly, and said, "Does anybody smell that?" Then I realized I had smudged a poop on the bottom of my right shoe. I did a moonwalk on the grass and got it off, moving back and forth. I tried to not let that process to be repeated.

By the long big one, was a small contained area, for the lap dogs, the little ones, the purse ones, usually the prissies of the species. Our dogs are among them. Rebecca wanted to go in that one, but we made our way to a small contained area where you unleash the dog and get it ready. Through another fence, we got in to the dog park, with the people sitting on a bench under an awning to our right, and in front of us an arched walkway with little cylinder holes beneath it, with rails. On their was the dog parks name. To the right was some trees and another trail, and at the very back a pavilion with people under it. It was slightly raining, as I focused my vision on the dozens and dozens of dog playing, jumping, fetching, laying in the son, wrestling, cuddling, catching balls, being petted and laying out in the rain, and shaking their tails and washing off the water of their hair. Golden retrievers, mutts, black labs, German shepherds, and border collies. All the movement, racing, fun, running around, the light drizzle coming down! It was paradise for a dog! Well, maybe a bit of dog treats is, but it was close to paradise! And close is great! I gave Lauren my book as I pet some dogs, one golden lab named Tucker, and talked to a family who had a big slobbery dog. It was great. I approached a German shepherd, a dog laying down, by the people under the awning.

I had earlier been afraid of the kind, because one jumped over my neighbor's fence and tried to bite me. Mom eventually rescued me, and I was frozen from fear. It had stayed still as long as I did, but when I moved, it moved. The neighbor was actually the Shelton's grandpa, Jason and Sara's. I have a lot of stories about him. Sadly, he's passed away. Nice guy. But anyway, I had been afraid of the dog, and touched anxiously. His owner, a black haired guy from the northern states, said he was old and that we need not be afraid. "Except if you have a white or pink shirt on," another guy said. I looked down and saw I had a white shirt on. "Just kidding. I like how he looked down at his shirt, classic." he remarked to Lauren. We continued to watch those smart and clever border collies catch the tennis balls thrown at them by a man talking on the bluetooth, with a stick with a hole that threw it out. Sookie played with some of the dogs too. We watched dogs and petted them until we dropped, and then leashed Sookie again as we got out. I had a great time there. We drove away, with Sookie newly energized, in the backseat with us. We drove to a Walmart, where Lauren and Rebecca got out to get new shoes for Rebecca, since the shoes Rebecca got from Lauren she didn't like. Sookie was in the front seat when Rebecca got out, because Lauren didn't want Sookie to get out when the door was opened. She stayed up there as I sat in the car, the doors locked, the newly made sun coming down, the extreme warmness that was soothing. Sookie yelped and squeaked, to no avail. Finally she just laid down and slept. I read. She slept. A good arrangement. It was a dog's life, well, literally, a dog's life.

When they returned with some hot chocolate stuff, we drove home. They were still not back yet. Lauren made hot chocolate as we went in the den and put in the DVD Shrek, about the ogre. They've made too many of those. The first one, a universal parks ride, the second one, Shrek the halls(like Deck the halls), the third one, the fourth one, and the Puss in Boots spinoff, plus action figures and various propaganda. Anyway, I sat on the couch, with pillow and all, napkins beneath my mug, me drinking from a straw. So good! Almost as lupsious as cranberry juice! Almost as delicious, too! We were barely through the part in the area where he pones (beats easily for you old folks) all the knights, and wins, when, Mom and Dad made their way up, and made us change it to football. I had another hot chocolate, and then went to bed, saying goodnight to Lauren. I would see her again the next day. I got in bed, brushed my teeth, turned out the lights, and pondered over that this was the last night I would be sleeping in this very comfortable bed... for a long.... long.... long time. Goodbye for now. Over and out.

"HELLO! I'M JAMES CLARK! AND I'M COMING OUT TO PAINT YOUR FENCE WHEN YOU'RE ASLEEP, READER!" AHHH, EVERYBODY RUN! GO GET YOUR PEELING TOOLS AND PROTECT YOUR ROSEBUDS!,

Andrew.

(P.S. In acknowledgement to the introduction, let me say I wrote the majority of this document on the 25th, Dad's birthday. We were gone most of the day and I wrote a little of a story, instead of the blog. Also I was too tired to finish it. So I finished it today. Just pretend it's the 25th, my Dad's birthday, and that I published it then, okay? Get it, got it, good.)