Trip Up

I hitched a ride with JC who was down from G-Burg visiting her daughters in January.  JC is a former co-worker at Blick and has an old car so we ahem known each over a while.  She appreciated the company and help driving so we took off around 10:30 from St. Petersburg for a 2 day trip up to the wintry cold Illinois.  At my age I don't get real excited over things anymore, but this was a lot of fun and I generally kept it from people up there.  An added bonus was JC's willingness to navigate the big cities.    

This is Joey.  Joey is a 13 year old Chihuahua JC adopted when its previous owner dropped it off at the vet's requesting they put it down since they no longer could care for it.  It was my lap partner for the first few hours through Atlanta.  I don't like little skittish yappers, but as little skittish yappers it was a little skittish yapper.

Like most little yappers, this one seems to have anxiety issues when not with their owners.  Needy, constantly shaking, and hardly dog-like, Joey does have redeeming features: what appears to be an oversized disproportionate male member and it doesn't bark a lot.

This was an interesting front somewhere in Georgia.  

At a rest stop I noticed the "Dog Walk" sign directing them over to a yellow sign which read...

…something having to do with poisonous snakes.  Yikes!  "Hey Joey, let's take a walk, big boy."

This old abandoned building was once the home of Queen's in Clarksville, Tennessee.  It was just across the lot from where I stayed at the Super 8 for the night.  Queen's holds a great deal of sentimental memories for myself and the family.  Perhaps none more than for Brendan.  

We stopped here one time while staying at nearby Days Inn for one of our trips to see Brendan while he was stationed here with the Screaming Eagles.  It was a restaurant with a nice deck out front.  We all went there one summer night and were wined an dined by the Asian couple who owned it.  The food was excellent, the service top-notch and the owners certainly did everything they could to make for a memorable evening.  

Upstairs was a billiards room and more seating downstairs.  Brendan and his Army buddies would later come here and drop tons of money and stay all night.  It became their hangout and a nice bond developed between the the owners and the Army guys.  On subsequent trips down we were saddened by a "Closed" sign.  Wherever they are, I hope the guys who ran it are doing well, they know a lot about hospitality.  They set a standard for hosting that has rarely been reached since.