I left work today around 3:00pm to head to the airport in Norfolk. After sitting in tunnel traffic for over an hour I made it with plenty of time to spare.

The flight to Cleveland was quick… Especially since I ran into someone I had met at work earlier in the week. We had some drinks at my old stomping grounds in terminal C of Cleveland.

I boarded my flight to San Fran and sat down in my seat in the emergency exit row. Just as I had come to terms with the fact that it was going to be a long flight with the big man sitting in the seat next to me, a flight attendant informed me I’d been upgraded. Thank you very much!

It’s kind of chilly here but Im thrilled to be in 60 degree weather after the hot crazy week I had in Newport News… Not to mention the weekend in Hiawasse.

It was definetely a week to remember.

Tomorrow morning after checking in to my downtown hotel I will head out to Big Basin State Park.

I’m almost to the Sheraton now so I’d better go.

Today is my last day here in the North Georgia Mountains. We started the day with lunch at Papas Pizza. It’s nothing special but it’s one of the places I have to go when I’m up here.

After lunch we picked up Martini at the house and headed out to hike High Shoals. It’s a nice hike (a little over a mile) and shaded the whole way. It’s easy to get into the waterfall but it’s not quite as fun getting out (it’s all up hill). It’s really a nice waterfall that you can climb all over when the water level is low.

After dropping the dog off we headed to the Deer Lodge. Even though some new people are managing it, very little has changed. The interior of the place still had it’s charm and the food hasn’t changed a bit. The trout was awesome as always.

Apparently my last post was quite offensive to some people in the North Georgia area. I’ll admit my experience is limited and my generalizations may lack accuracy. However, I did spend 12 summers here in the area and I works at Fred’s Super Dollar Store for 2 of those summers (when I was in high school) and I feel like I know the area quite well.

The people here (the locals, not counting the Florida imports) are quite amazing. People are friendly and very neighborly… Much more-so than in Florida. I won’t take back my dental comment but it’s not a completely fair characterization of the people here.

This place has a lot of funny things about it.. I tried to make light of a few of them. Bill Bryson’s book “A Walk in the Woods” has one of the best, most humorous characterizations of Hiawassee I’ve seen. I highly recommend checking it out.

Tomorrow I head back to Atlanta to catch my 11am flight to Newport News. It’s going to be a lllloooonnnggg day.

Pictured: Martini on the way home from High Shoals, Brasstown Bald out the car window, Deer Lodge, Deer Lodge trout

It’s been a low key weekend so far. Nothing has really happened except for a lot of eating.

I really forgot what it is like to be here. The weather is always amazing in the summer… The temperature rarely jumps into the 80s. There are also some big annoyances… Lots of bugs everywhere and really loud tree bugs at night. If I turn the fan ok high I can still hear them outside.

Tomorrow we are going to one of my favorite places for dinner… The Deer Lodge. It’s a restaurant in the middle of nowhere between Hiawassee, GA and Helen, GA. I can’t wait to get my big plate of French fries and trout.

The people here haven’t changed much…. Still a lot thick southern accents, pickup trucks, and missing/rotting teeth. Personal hygene isn’t a big thing here in the deep south. When you walk into a restaurant and people stare at you- it’s not because you are from out from out of town; it’s because you smell good and have white teeth. How strange.

Pictures in order- family gathering at my aunts house; entrance to Bald Mountain Park; lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, GA; entering Helen, GA; Atlanta Skyline.

I’m exausted. Completeley worn out. I’m sitting in the Newport News airport waiting for my delayed flight to Atlanta. This is truly the smallest airport I’ve ever seen… And yet they designed it so you still have to walk forever to get to the gate.

I’m headed to Atlanta to drive to Hiawasse to be with my family for the weekend. Everyone is there including my grandparents and some family from the Chicago area. It should be a pretty fun, relaxing weekend.

Next weekend I am flying to San Francisco on Thursday night. A friend is meeting me out there for the weekend. Friday I’m renting a car and going to “Big Basin State Park” where there are a lot of redwoods. It’s the oldest state park in california. Saturday I am going to the running expo with high hopes of seeing Dean Karnazes speak… He is definetely one of my heros. Sunday morning I am running the marathon and Monday I am returning to Virginia for work.

I started a new project at work and the transition is rough. The people are nice and friendly but they aren’t as social outside of work. I’m having to find other ways of staying busy after work. Work is also challenging…. There is lots to do and a very accelerated timeline. I’m fumbling around trying to meet the right people and build good relationships so I can do my job.

In general… I’m pretty happy and that’s all that matters. I’m exploring the possibility of moving to Chicago in the upcoming months… Financially I’m not sure I can pull it off. I’m making more of an effort to meet people in the various areas I live and work and that’s making things a lot more interesting as well.

Now that the plane is almost ready to take off… One random observation… Delta airplanes Consistently have the dirtiest windows! I think someone was slobbering on this one!

I noticed the new wordpress app for mobile blogging just appeared in the app store on the iPhone. It’s pretty cool… And less buggy than some of the other apps I’ve installed.

It looks like it even let’s me edit previous posts.

Maybe I’ll start blogging again more often now that it is so convenient.

Originally uploaded by Scott’s phone.

Rain on a sunny day in Clearwater, FL.

Originally uploaded by Scott’s phone.

I’m at international plaza in line for my iPhone. There are multiple
levels of lines. It’s almost comical how rediculous this is. Aside
from Apple’s poor execution… I’m even dumber for trying to get it
today. Hopefully I’ll have one in the next hour or so.

Originally uploaded by Scott’s phone.

Just as it was turning into a circus they ran out after selling about
45 iPhones. I didn’t get one after waiting nearly 3 hours.