GTRS In Atlanta Nov. 3

[Raydar]

I just got home from our friend's birthday celebration. (Movie and dinner.)
I'm truly sorry I missed the proceedings. I do hope to be around, next time you come through.

I'm happy that you had a good time.

[GTRS Fiero]

We just had time to talk about Fieros and my receeding hairline.  Fierofool remembers me with hair.  Considering we just met, my hairline is receeding at an alarming rate.  I should probably check to be sure my scalp isn't also receeding.   

BTW, I found the diner...twice.  Maria looks just like Roy, to me.  They have the same coloring and facial structure, wavy hair, and eyes.  Take that with a grain of salt, though, because everyone looks the same, to me.

[GTRS Fiero]

Lots of things I found out from my visit:
1. Apparently, pecans are just as common as peaches
2. There are at least 3 traffic cops at every corner.  Perhaps the stop lights, stop signs, and other traffic signs and signals aren't effective.
3. Google's GPS will route you around wherever you're trying to go, at least 3 times.
4. Atlanta is smaller than I had expected.  I heard about highways with lots of lanes, but I think 7 was the most I saw.
5. The leaves haven't really started turning colors, yet.
6. The no phone in your hand thing was different.  I have no idea how you use an FRS radio, without holding it in your hand.
7. The branches are shaved off of the trees on the sides of the highway.
8. The entrance/exit lanes dump you on and off unexpectedly.

I had no trouble finding the diner, which was in a nice area, as best as I could tell.  For the food, well, maybe I should've ordered what Fierofool had.

Apparently, I'm short down there, too.  My wife says that MikeMac towered over me.  I didn't notice.

[Fierofool]

Good Morning.  Did you make it back home without any problems?

[GTRS Fiero]

Yes, thanks.  I hope your shoulder is better.

We got out of Georgia about 2pm, and pulled up at my house about 9:38pm.  The biggest issue we had was the pit stops every 100 miles or so.  There was a car fire that held us up for a bit (VW Bug), but we stayed on the highway, and were ahead of those who chose to detour around the incident.

We filled up 7 times for the trip, arriving home with about 3/4 of a tank.  We had 2 tanks of fuel that must have been ethanol-free, because we got about 3 MPG better those 2 tanks, than the other 5.  We last filled up in Kentucky.  The entire trip was about 2,000 miles.

The rain in Illinois on the way down was miserable.  It rained again on the way up, mostly in Tennessee and Kentucky, but it was just annoying.

[Fierofool]

When we went to Denver, I seem to remember that the trip to St. Louis was about 8 hours.  I had 3 women and a dog, and it seemed that none of them were on the same schedule for going to the restroom.  Stop for gas, depart and 30 minutes down the road, one would need to go.  Best thing about that is that the dog could go on the shoulder of the road so I didn't have to detour off the interstate. 

I was in a lot of pain and didn't sleep well Saturday night.  Got up about 3 AM on the adjusted time and came in to the recliner.  Put my neck collar on, curled up with a cup of coffee and a pain pill.  Couldn't make it to church because the pain was still strong. 

[Raydar]

Lots of things I found out from my visit:

1. Apparently, pecans are just as common as peaches
A. It would appear so.

2. There are at least 3 traffic cops at every corner.  Perhaps the stop lights, stop signs, and other traffic signs and signals aren't effective.
A. It depends upon where you are. I can drive 30 miles and never see a cop, other than GSP who are "commuting".
 
3. Google's GPS will route you around wherever you're trying to go, at least 3 times.
A. Waze does the same thing. It will route you around even minor "incidents" even if it only saves you a minute. Kind of annoying, really.

4. Atlanta is smaller than I had expected.  I heard about highways with lots of lanes, but I think 7 was the most I saw.
A. Atlanta is plenty big for me. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if I never had to go into the city again. People talk about Birmingham's "rush hour". Nothing compared to Atlanta's. 

5. The leaves haven't really started turning colors, yet.
A. We noticed, yesterday, that they are just starting to turn. We'll probably have a cold snap, and they'll just all fall of.

6. The no phone in your hand thing was different.  I have no idea how you use an FRS radio, without holding it in your hand.
A. Two way radios are (I believe) exempt from the "no hands" thing.

7. The branches are shaved off of the trees on the sides of the highway.
A. Yeah. The tree "groomers" are pretty much barbarians, IMHO.

8. The entrance/exit lanes dump you on and off unexpectedly.
A. Yes. Yes they do.

I had no trouble finding the diner, which was in a nice area, as best as I could tell.  For the food, well, maybe I should've ordered what Fierofool had.

Apparently, I'm short down there, too.  My wife says that MikeMac towered over me.  I didn't notice.
A. It's all relative. I'm about 5"10", and am pretty average.

[Slyp]

Sorry I missed you. We had visitors in from Australia and have been tied up with traveling with them.  Hope to see you next time

[GTRS Fiero]

Apparently, I'm short down there, too.  My wife says that MikeMac towered over me.  I didn't notice.
A. It's all relative. I'm about 5"10", and am pretty average.

I saw at least as many signs for pecans as for peaches.  I rarely see anything for pecans, here.

I think I'm 6', to the top of my hair.

The route to the diner was probably the LEAST direct.  Going from the diner to Northlake, again, probably the least direct.  Coming back to the diner, I just drove down the road.  I did not use 3 highways, or get into the traffic jam.

I have no idea how an FRS radio is better than a cell phone, in that regard.  I'd like to see the logic on this.

Atlanta seemed smaller than San Antonio, Los Angeles, or Chicago, in terms of its highways.  Certainly larger than here.

[GTRS Fiero]

Sorry I missed you. We had visitors in from Australia and have been tied up with traveling with them.  Hope to see you next time

No worries.  It was short notice.  I did not know for sure myself, until a week ago.  It was something we planned for, but there were a lot of conditions.

[TopNotch]

I have no idea how an FRS radio is better than a cell phone, in that regard.  I'd like to see the logic on this.

An FRS radio does not have a screen to look at, and you only have to push one button to talk, and do nothing to listen.
The cell phone law is mainly to keep your eyes and attention on the road, and the radio doesn't distract you nearly as much as a phone.

[Fierofool]

There is an allowance within the hands-free law for using a phone or GPS.  911 calls are allowed on a hand-held device and I believe one is allowed to touch the screen of a phone or GPS something like 2 or 3 times only if it's mounted on a stationary platform.  For example, a GPS, you could touch "Where To", "Favorites", then the favorite destination.  The devices aren't supposed to be on your person, though if it were buried up in your jacket or pants pocket, you might not have a legal problem. 

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, my wife was my navigator.  I spoke to her, and she guided me where I wanted to go.

[Fierofool]

When the wife is your GPS, depending upon her attitude at the moment, you must be very cautious about pushing any buttons.  Could be worse than dealing with the law. 

[GTRS Fiero]

My wife is usually even-tempered.  Usually, people describe her as agreeable.