Twenty five was the speed limit

Motorcycle not allowed in it

You go to the store on Friday

You go to church on Sunday

They call it……..

We have arrived in Georgia and it is definitely all mittens and scarf weather now.  There is a crispness to the air and it’s cold and a little rainy.  Well maybe not so much rain but more like a soft persistent mist.   It was -2 on the day we arrived in Georgia and it had snowed two days previous.

Well this is a very different part of America so I’ll give you a bit of a run down:

There are 5 southern states – Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.

Georgia is the state and Atlanta is the capital.  Georgia is known as the ‘peach state’ and ‘The Empire State of the South’ and the state was established in 1732 and named after King George II of Great Britain.  The climate here is primarily humid sub-tropical with sultry hot humid summers (think Darwin but with hurricanes, tornadoes and tropical storms) and cold winters (think Canberra) with occasional snow.

Flora – Red Cedar, Oaks, Maples, Sweet Gums and Hickories (just to name a small few) and the Cherokee Rose is also the state flower.

Fauna – White Tail Deer, Black Bears, Mockingbirds, diamondback/cottonmouths/copperheads (snakes), Alligators, Catfish, Blue crabs, fiddler crabs and shrimp, raccoons, armadillos, squirrels and rednecks (just to name a small few).  Note:  Rednecks are the human equivalent of ‘I have no idea what’.  They are a little scary so I would presume it is best not to feed them or pat them or poke them with anything sharp.

Now, this place has an incredible and fascinating history.  Mention ‘the war’ and everyone will know which one!  Georgia is also the ‘god fearing bible belt’ of the south and the largest state east of the Mississippi.  There are also some interesting laws here in Georgia:  1)  Donkeys must not be kept in a bathtub.  2)  No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.  3)  All signs must be written in English and 4)  It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.

Now, I have to say the true southern accent is a beautiful thing to listen to.  I think it’s the slow genteel drawl that peaks your attention and good manners and southern hospitality are still a seriously respectable and practised art form here.  ‘Please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ are all commonly used words……as they should be anywhere.

The south is also where eating reaches epic proportion.  And a small tip for the novice – belt loosening or elasticised pants are a necessity!  Sweet potatoes all come butter covered, there is pan-fried buttered catfish, hot biscuits smothered in gravy, southern fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread.  A little delicacy here is a large (and I mean LARGE – served as a side dish) baked potato with butter, caramel sauce and marshmallows generously dusted with cinnamon sugar..……I have had to check my pulse on a number of occasions since eating here!  And pretty much everything you eat or drink is ‘super-sized’ –  something I believe America has invented as revenge on the world!

It is here in Georgia that I had my first slice of ‘sweet potato pie’.  And I have to say it was seriously good and seriously addictive…….addictive in a good way!  I have been known to eat desserts of all kind and quality and quantity when placed in front of me so I was at the mercy of the hand of pastry chef who cut the slice.  And the piece of pie wasn’t tooooo big and it wasn’t toooo small.  It was just right (as was the second piece – we had to order a second as Steve didn’t get a chance to try the first).  I also tried Key Lime Pie last night.  Again see above however it was I who cut the slices (and thank you Sophie for my first introduction to the American Key Lime Pie).

Well I am about to finish a coffee and slice of Key Lime Pie (Sophie left it here…..was that a good or bad move) then head out into the crisp air to walk around the gated unit complex we are staying in temporarily….it is gated lest I run into a bear or something more threatening although I don’t know what would be more threatening than coming face to face with a bear unless of course it was Humphrey!   The day cold with dull grey skies however due to the pie I will be heading out with a happy heart and seeing a sunnier day than will greet me…….plus I will be wearing my elasticised pants!

Lombard Street is perhaps the crookedest little street in the world.  Eight hairpin switchbacks and the downward pitch all lined with little gardens and beautiful houses.  Its pretty amazing and I have wanted to visit here since I was a child from watching ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ with my Nan – her puffing away on a packet of fags as my sister and I sat with her, the three of us eating cucumber and vinegar sandwiches late into the night.

The top of Lombard Street

The famous Irish Coffee at the famous ‘Buena Vista’ being enjoyed by a Scotsman

Ice skating in the park

A beautiful ‘Holiday’ window

Flat foldable pizza!!!!

Riding the Cable Cars at night – great fun 🙂

Just a couple of photos.  A more informative blog:  as the monkey who caught his tail in the fan said….’not long now’.

So this is what 50 years of life history packed into two shipping containers looks like.  Virtually our entire household contents will be going into storage for the next three years.

Packed and ready to go.  I shall be making a valiant effort to live out of this port over the next two months.   Very important ‘note to self’:  Google op-shops in Georgia.

Now, I’m taking a bit of an educated guess here in stating that this move has no doubt been one of the most stressful, sleep depriving, demanding and literally working ones bum off – although sadly mine has not changed shape or size – experiences. There have been some hurdles, there have been some tantrums (and that was just both of our cats) and there have been some pretty chaotic times but it will have been well worth the effort.  Who really knows what the next three years or even the time after that will bring but I am very sure of one thing:  it is going to be an adventure like no other.

We bid farewell to Australia in a couple of hours so my next post will be from America.

Could somebody pinch me! Seriously!

A blog!  What was I thinking!  Of course it seemed like a good idea at the time (as most things do) but to be honest, writing the first few words of anything – be it a letter or even a short message can be a bit of a struggle for me.  You see, I’m a perfectionist by nature.  I have no idea where that peculiar little trait of mine comes from however I will literally do something one thousand times before I am completely happy with the end result.  Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration on my part as I don’t believe I am ever completely satisfied with the end result. And yes, I’m sure I have been told a million times not to exaggerate either.

Not surprisingly, all the little uncertainties started to crop up with the blog.  How will I begin/how will I write/what will I write about/will it be good enough!  Anyway,  I guess I needed to view the blog from an entirely different perspective.   Instead of worrying about writing it, I just had to see what a great opportunity this actually was.  This was a chance to stay connected with people whom I love and care for back home in Australia.  Keeping in touch was of most significance and nothing else really mattered.

Given that, I have decided to just write the blog so here goes:

In an attempt to keep the blog as simplistic and uncomplicated as I am (that’s not really true….. the uncomplicated bit about me), it is basic in functionality and appearance and you are most welcome to navigate about its’ straightforward pages (I thought straightforward was a better word to use rather than unexciting).  My plan is also to update the blog each week.  Ambitious?  Perhaps!  But we’ll see how it goes.

Now one would think my first blog post would be the ideal opportunity to say goodbye.  Well truth be told, I don’t like to say goodbye as such.  I don’t know why, but I’m just not into the whole big ‘adios’ component of leaving as most people.  Me, I tend to go more with a ‘well it’s been fun, see ya’.   It’s a nice clean break.  For everyone!  Therein, there is no farewell element to this first post however I will attempt to make a brief apology to those who will be back home in Australia.  These are the people I tend to worry beyond distraction with my somewhat adventurous spirit. This sense of adventure has no doubt placed me in some, well let’s just say ‘precarious’ for the want of a better word, situations over the years.   It goes a bit like this:  I carefully judge a situation, decide whether or not it is completely safe and comes without mortal peril, and then I usually just do it anyway.  Other people carefully assess the situation, decide there is an element of risk attached and just don’t do it.  But where is the sense of wonderment and adventure in that!  And I have to say I am always enriched by the journey in most things that I do (although sometimes I may come out the other side a little battered and bruised).

And while I’m on a bit of blogroll (you can see uncertainty has left me momentarily), I will also say that as a general rule I don’t really enjoy (as a tourist) to visit the same place twice.  I just believe the world is far too vast, far too fascinating and life is far too short to keep returning to the same place over and over and over again.  Although I am known for my tendency to be a creature of habit (that fact is true), I’m not the sort of traveller who continues to..….I don’t know, say holiday in Kuta every year.  It’s just not me.   Now having said that though, I will admit there are some places (and I’m sure I will find many more of them in America) that tend to fill me with a longing to one day return.

Time has flown and we will soon leave Australia, bound for our three year stint in America.  Given that, I post this first blog for you.

P.S……… goodbye  xxx