Lea's Trip to Atlanta - 3 Months Ago!

As a sequel to my mom's visit in October, Lea came and visited me in January! The reason why? Well, because I called both of them around 6am in the morning in early fall, told them there was an incredible airline deal from Salt Lake City to Atlanta, and helped them book their tickets while they were still asleep. Before they knew it, they were committed to coming to visit me!

What was extraordinary about Lea's visit is that it was just her. I don't think I've seen my sister without her kids for...well...for at least 8 years now. And while I love my nephews and brother-in-law, it was nice to have my "blister" all to myself.

Lea thought she was coming to enjoy our famous Georgia warm winters. Unfortunately, she came right after the worst ice storm we've had in years, and the entire city literally shut down for a week. This was supposed to be my first week at school, but even GSU closed for the first full week. And let me tell you, GSU NEVER closes.

So although Lea didn't get the warm weather she had hoped for, she also didn't have to watch me teach classes and we were able to hang out all week with my extra vacation time!

This is our driveway a week after the storm. Greg shoveled his side (on the left) the morning of the storm so he could get to work, but my side was left untouched, and I didn't even try driving for 2 days. My side of the driveway was solid ice. Luckily Lea is pretty much a workaholic, and she was determined to get this ice off. It took a lot of banging the ice with the shovel, and lots of steaming hot water, but we finally got that ice off!

Lea was in Georgia on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was quite a treat. We went to a parade in Fayetteville, and she got a real kick out of this float!

And the picture below is of my oboe student, Mary, marching the euphonium. I pretend like she doesn't play a secondary instrument, and that works well most of the time. She's the tiny little one in the middle.

OBAMA RIDE

Of course no trip to Peachtree City is complete without a ride on Obama, no matter how bad the weather is!

Greg took this really cool picture of us in the rearview mirrors. What's even cooler is that we have rearview mirrors on our golfcart!

Here are the golfcart paths in the winter. Still beautiful.

TRIP TO WARM SPRINGS, GA AND THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE

Lea and I went to Warm Springs, GA and took a tour of FDR's Little White House.

Hanging out with FDR on Dowdle's Knoll

The view from Dowdle's Knoll, FDR's favorite spot in the mountains.

And of course we had to visit the Warm Springs. FDR found these warm, mineral waters soothing for his polio, and made this into an important polio rehabilitation center.

For those affected with polio to the most severe degree, they would have to use these "iron lungs" to help them breathe. I am so grateful for the even further advancement of medical technology. This looks torturous.

PLANTATION TOUR IN ROSWELL, GA

I love the plantation homes in Roswell, and had been on tours in 2 of the 3, as had Lea. Poor Greg had never been in any of them, so we decided to splurge and pay for the pass that allowed us to visit all 3. Totally worth the money.

The picture above is Greg, me, and Lea in front of the Smith Plantation House, which was a block from where we used to live in Roswell. The Smiths were packrats and basically everything is preserved in there. It's definitely the best tour of the three if you have to choose one.

Okay, so we also really enjoy the Roswell Ghost Tour. This is a picture of the attic at Barrington Hall, which is reportedly the most haunted space in all of Roswell according to the Ghost Tour people. Our regular tour guide said she doesn't believe it's haunted at all, and here is proof that there is no ghost family living in the attic. Greg was seriously disappointed.

I took a picture of this bed because the Dahls have a spindle bed similar to this.

Historic kitchen in Barrington Hall. I prefer stainless steel.

The walk to the slave quarters at Barrington Hall. This area was closed because of all the snow (in fact, it was pretty much a miracle that they were open at all seeing as how it was Saturday and the ice storm had hit just on Monday!). We told them Lea was from UT and we would be fine.

Master Bathroom