There and Back Again...And Gators!!!

So Lori and I started our drive home on Monday afternoon. We make were making some pretty good time then we stopped to get gas before Dothan (I think) at Bob's. I wish I had thought to take a picture of Bob's. This family owned and operated gas station/bait shop/diner had very friendly help and boasted Bob's famous boiled peanuts so I had to try them. This is where the return trip's poor food choices begins again. What is it about road trips and bad food??? I had to get the Cajun boiled peanuts and I think Lori got some more Nerds. And....away we go.

Further down the road we start getting hungry again and we are wanting real food. We are coming up on Eufala, AL. but we can't make minds up and end up passing everything. Outside of Eufala we come across this gem...
I have probably driven by this place hundreds of times over the last 20 years and have never noticed it before. We got out and saw the following:

Oh my word...GATORS!!! Real live, up close gators! They were pretty close to the fence. We walked up and all of the sudden there were eyes popping up out of the water from all directions. Yes, they were behind a chain link fence but that did not stop me from doing a quick spin around to make sure there were none behind me. I'm such a dork! But this was pretty fascinating being so close. Well, off to what we came here for...roadside pizza!?! The signs say best roadside pizza around and we have passed everything for the next 30 miles or more...so we tried it. I must say it was not bad at all and it really traveled well!!!

Thanks Lori for sharing this road trip with me. I had a great time!!!

Road trip to the Padgett Farm

I got an email from Julia saying that Mr. Ray had had a small stroke and that she was coming home for a week. She was distressed being so far away and not really knowing what the effects were on her father she wanted to come home. I totally understood and would do the exact same thing by immediately booking a flight home!!! So a road trip was being formed. The plan was for Lori and her Zoe to meet Julia at the airport on Sunday early evening then they would drop off Zoe at home and sweep back through the airport again to pick me up. Wahoo...on the road again!

I should let it be known that Lori, Julia, and myself really should never be in a car together. It's like when we are all together we loose all sense of direction and time but maybe it is because we are always talking or laughing. Normally there are exits missed or wrong roads taken BUT this trip there were just bad food choices (except for while at the farm)...just wait, you will see!

When they pick me up we all are starving! Luckily Lori had packed some Pirate's Booty to get us through...and through I mean all the way to Newnan from the airport. I think it is no more than 30 miles apart. We saw the signs for Sprayberry's BBQ and Julia has been craving BBQ since they don't have anything close to BBQ in Italy. We decided Sprayberry's would be our dinner choice. Well, just our luck...it was closed. UGH!!! But looking around Julia sees this place...

I mean with a name like that we had to try it since it was not Italian and an Island Grill had to be good. We go in and look at the drink menu. "Alright" we are thinking...this is going to be great since there is all sorts of fruity drinks...yummy! We should have left when the waitress said that they don't serve on Sundays. Hummm, ahhhhh yeah, there is a Ruby Tuesday's next store that does serve on Sundays but for some reason we decide to stay. I mean how bad could it be??? Stupid question! Next we flip the page of the menu and what is on the whole next page but Italian dishes, I mean Italian plus different fishes too...can you say weird! AGAIN, we should have gotten up at this point but again we still decide to stay. I ordered a grouper sandwich, Lori gets a grilled veggie wrap, and Julia gets a RUBEN?!? Do I really need to go on with this part of the story??? Welllll, my grouper sandwich and Lori's wrap was good at least. Julia may pick out some awesome restaurants in Italy but in Newnan, GA she is a little out of her league. Heehee!!! And then we are on the road again!!!!

We laugh, catch up on each other's lives, and eat candy. That is right, we stopped at a "LOVELY" (read between the lines - scary as hell) gas station and Lori bought Nerds. I have forgotten how much I like Nerds! We had the original grape and strawberry. They really should put a warning label on them with something like attention kiddie/adult sugar crack...very addictive!!! We drive on and surprisingly do not get lost even with a road detour thrown at us. Although it did take us a little extra time we show up at the farm around midnight.

The Padgett farm is "home" to a lot of us. I can't really explain it but as soon as you walk through the doorway you feel welcomed and at peace. Julia went in to see her dad while Mrs. Sandra made us a pitcher of margaritas. Thank you Mrs. Sandra!!! Mr. Ray came out to say hello and give hugs. He is doing great and looks good but was tired so he went back to bed. Of course there was another pitcher and we talked with Mrs. Sandra until 2am.

The next morning I awoke to hear Ms. Lucy and Julia talking. I slept in the bedroom that was once the old kitchen and it has windows surrounding most of the room so there was no going back to sleep. I got up to visit with Mr. Ray, Ms. Lucy, and Julia. Ms. Lucy had picked some honeysuckle and a few roses and created this gorgeous arrangement in honor of Willie Nelson's song "Honeysuckle Rose".

Julia discovers that there is bacon in the refrigerator and insists that we should eat it so her father is not tempted. OK, twist my arm. She makes me some of her famous eggs which I add to my breakfast burrito. Yum. This definitely was not a bad food choice. We sit around the table which is really part of the foundation of the Padgett farm. Most of my time at the farm is spent sitting around this table either watching Mrs. Sandra cook, reading her cook books, laughing at stories being told but mostly playing cards. Did I say how much I love this place and these people? Anywho...we visit a little more then Lori and I have to get back on the road. Here are some great pics of Mr. Ray and his ladies.

My next post will be about the ride home with Lori...so ya'll come back now ya hear!

5 days old...

You forget how tiny babies are their first few weeks of life. Little bitty fingers and little bitty toes. Zoe is little bitty too...except for maybe her feet which like Zach's are long cute flippers.

Her I am holding Zoe and getting a hug from Zach...

Zach likes to hold his sister which is just the cutest thing. He helps her with her passie too!

OHHHHH to be this relaxed!!! All stretched out, kicked backed and relaxed!!! While we visited I told Kim I would show her how to make chicken pot pie. It is very easy and I asked Zach to help me. He got up on the step stool and I would give him different cans to pour into the casserole dish. He was a big help!!! When I was adding the black pepper I told him to hold his nose so he wouldn't sneeze. Aunt Men can always make him laugh!!!! Watch out Rachel Ray...our new cooking show will be called "Watch out for the pepper"!!!

Zoe Elizabeth

Although she was ten days early we are so excited to have her here finally!!! Zoe Elizabeth was born on Monday night March 31st at 11:28pm. She made her appearance weighing in at 6 lbs 13 oz and is 18 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful and has a head full of curly hair.

Mom called around 9pm and said to start to head to the hospital and that Kim's contractions were 7 minutes apart. Dad and I got to the hospital around 10:30 and went back to see her. The nurse was still filling out her paperwork and her pains started coming closer and harder. At 11pm on the dot her water broke and then all the sudden I think 11 nurses were in her room. The doctor was not at the hospital yet and the nurses were trying to calm Kim and slow down the delivery. We soon realized that there was no time for an epidural and Kim was a real trooper...she did an awesome job. The on-call doctor no sooner made it into the room before Zoe decided to make her appearance at 11:28pm. Their real doctor made it in the room 5 minutes after Zoe's birth.

Kim and Zoe are doing great!!!!

PS...Zach LOVES his baby sister!!!!