November 28, 2012

Cumming, Georgia

We spent 8 days in Cumming, Georgia. Cumming is about 25 miles north of Atlanta.

Took this out of the window of the motorhome
as we drove by. Wish we were here in the summer time
so that we could eat some of Georgia's peaches.

Parked on the water in Cumming, Georgia

If we couldn't spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our immediate family in Los Angeles, we were blessed to be able to spend it with our other "family" -- Donna and Stu. We also spent time with Donna's sister, Joanne, and her husband, Jack, and Donna's niece, Tracy, all of whom we knew from back in the 70s. It's been five years since we saw them last and it was good catching up with them again.

I've already posted this picture on Facebook, but am also posting it here for those of you who are not on Facebook. The picture was taken in 1977 when Donna, Stu, Jerry and I (together with Tom and Susan) celebrated our first year of living together.

It's a long story about two couples thinking they could buy a "fixer-upper house" in Playa del Rey, CA, fix it up quickly and sell it for a profit. The house had an unobstructed view of the marina in Marina del Rey, views from Malibu to the Hollywood sign and an in-door swimming pool. They figured that they could give up their privacy for a short period of time in order to turn a quick buck. Unable to relinquish the thought of having to leave the house so soon after moving in, they took their sweet time fixing it up and ended up by staying together for over nine years.

Donna, Stu, Mary and Jerry with
Susan and Tom in front (1977)

Jack, Jerry and Stu (in back)
Mary, Tracy, Joanne and Donna (in front)
Chanti and Nikki (dogs - both Coton de Tulear)

In addition to the usual Thanksgiving dinner at their place, we went out to eat a couple of times and also were guests at Joanne and Jack's place for a wonderful meal.

Donna and Stu's home (Stu is a 
collector of contemporary art)

Donna and Stu's back yard on Lake Lanier

We had good intentions to see some of the sites in Atlanta but were lucky to get to the Jimmy Carter Museum. We saw that yesterday. Actually, it is one of the nicer presidential museums that we have visited.

Carter Presidential Center

View from the other side of the pool.

This a very unique portrait of Jimmy Carter 
done by Octavio Ocampo (1979)

Jimmy Carter's Nobel Peace Prize (2002)

Oval Office as it was for President Carter


Other views inside the Museum

Then last night, we met up with Kathy, my secretary/paralegal, who I hired in 1978 when I worked for Western Airlines. When I first interviewed her back then, she made the comment "I don't take crap from anyone!" Now, anyone who knows me knows that I don't handle conflict all that well.  So I planned to continue interviewing others. But my boss at the time (Tom, a wonderful man who is no longer with us) said to me: "Don't you think you owe her an opportunity to explain herself?" Okay -- so I interviewed her again and I really don't remember what she said to me, but I hired her. I'm so glad that I did. She's intelligent, loves learning new things, is adventurous, and loves to travel. We've been friends all these years. And, yes, she still doesn't take crap from anyone. Sorry, Kathy -- I had to say that!

Mary and Kathy

One more picture taken from the front of our motorhome.

Today we drove a couple hundred miles and am spending just one night here east of Augusta, Georgia. Tomorrow we will drive to Charleston, about 100 miles from here.

Stay healthy and happy, everyone!

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