We're back home now . We drove home through the SC and north GA mountains. I remember the first time I saw this area. I couldn't believe I was in Georgia. This is beautiful country. From the number of larger summer homes we saw perched on mountain-sides, it's obvious that folks from Atlanta have discovered it, too. It causes a lot more traffic congestion and fast-food places, but I guess the tourism does help the economy of a fairly poor area.

It was a lovely drive until we got back on I-75 at Dalton. Almost immediately we got into a stopped situation on the interstate - accident ahead? No way to know. No problem, we say - we know the back roads - so we got off just south of Ringgold, GA. Whoops! It took us nearly an hour to get to where we could get off THAT road - the 2-lane truck route around the center of town - and head cross country again. We found out when we got home and read the paper that Ringgold had completely closed their downtown area for a 2-day festival. We eventually came into Chattanooga from way out east of town. But at least we weren't still bogged down in Ringgold.

We really had a great weekend. By tomorrow, in just over a week, we will have been with all our girls, sons-in-law, and grandkids. And it's not even Thanksgiving, Christmas, or the beach. Or maybe it's all of them all rolled up into one. We surely are lucky folks to have such a great family.

We've gotten the bags unpacked and stuff put away. John "cooked" dinner. This usually means that he goes to KFC for a bucket of legs and thighs. Yum!

Program note: Look for a special Bill Moyers Journal, "D-Day Revisited" this weekend. Check your local PBS station for date and time. In Chattanooga, it's showing Sunday night at 11 p.m. and Monday morning at 2 a.m.

p.s. John just reminded me. The mountain laurel was spectacular today in the GA mountains. It does love to grow in the sunshine along roads, road cuts, and streams. And this obviously has been a really good year for it. Keep your eyes peeled if you're fortunate enough to be out on the roads in the eastern mountains.

Today's picture is of the Cawood kids (Alison, Sarah, and Paul) with one of their favorite Sunday school teachers.