Thanksgiving. Act III: 3 Jews go to Sonic

Much like Harold and Kumar, our quest to find a Sonic (and the point value of their food) was an exciting distraction from the trials and tribulations of life.

Or it was just a distraction from the 13 hours we were in the car on Sunday for the drive back from the ATL to the DC (MD). It was actually the same 12 hr drive (with stops) on the way down but this time with a one hour delay (road closure) on I-81 outside of Stauton, VA.

We pushed back right on time at 6am again and headed north on I-75 with no traffic. A quick stop at the RaceTime somewhere south of Knoxville yielded a really dirty bathroom, crappy Indian/Pakistani music on the store's PA system, and a bad cup of coffee that I'm positive is responsible for my wonderful stomach today. Then on to Gatlingburg for another quick bathroom stop that almost turned ugly when we tried to cross a 2 lane road while making a left hand turn. There was the Toaster with it's turn signal on and coming toward us was a traffic jam 2-lanes wide. You'd figure if the cars are already (almost) stopped that a car turning left could get through pretty easy. Well you'd be wrong. Even after I gained a "foot hold" in part of the first lane, the cars wouldn't even stop...they just went around me like I was a traffic cone. I couldn't believe it! But that was par for the course on the roads yesterday as most cars couldn't handle the general rules of driving on a 2 lane road/highway/parking lot, etc. Stay to the Right, Pass to the Left. I would run out of hard drive space if I listed the amount of cars (one by one) and trucks who continued to ride in the and clog up the left lane when there was nobody to their right.

Ok on to the adventure part of the story. So at about 5 hours in (11am ET) we see a sign for Sonic Hamburgers on one of the exit signs. Since it was still a little early for lunch we started joking about going to Sonic. The Wife and our friend, Seth hadn't been there in a long time and I had never been but have always seen the commercials (which they play in the DC market for some unknown reason since the closest Sonic to DC is over 70 miles away!). So after identifying several that were near I-81 exits we took up trying to see if we could eat there and still stay on our diets. As it turns out, Dottie saved the day with her "unofficial" guide to the restaurants of the world (or at least the ones of the mall food court). We decided to pull off in
Blacksburg, VA, home to Virginia Tech. I need a whole post just to go into why VA Tech is not a local school but the point is this was close and we were now craving a cherry limeade.

Our visit was brief as it's a drive in only format but non memorable. The food was just as crappy as any McDonalds or Burger King located on the highway and the drinks were just a bit better then taking your cup and filling it with 2/3 Sprite and 1/3 Cherry coke.

But it's not about the food, it's about the adventure which was really not there. We finally pulled the Toaster to a full and complete stop and shut off the "fasten seat belt" signs about 730pm ET and promptly ate, fell asleep, and then dragged ourselves out of bed to work this morning.

I'm sure there's more but I'm tired and going to sleep. Enjoy the following pictures from the trip back.

Thanksgiving, ACT 1: The Snippy Cashier at the Wild Flower Bakery

Tuesday. Our trip starts off in the dark, pre-dawn hours of 6am as we loaded up the car and pushed off from Maryland. 6:09am ET was the actual time, but like the airlines, we are "on-time" as long as we have the passengers (wife and dog) out of the gate (front door) by the stated departure time.

We decided not to risk the I-95 corridor on this trip and took the "back roads" of I-66, I-81, I-40 and, I-75 on in to Marietta. The traffic was light, the weather was steady and we made good time, stopping in Manassas and Abingdon, VA for gas (The E was pushing about 27 mpg which is just above it's 26mpg rating).

During the stop at Abingdon, we had lunch at the Subway at the gas station but upon exiting noticed that there was a charming little bakery/cafe across the street, just before the highway on-ramp. We decided to tickle our sweet tooths and stopped in. There selection was small but fresh and we picked out a turkey-shaped cookie with some really yummy icing. Being a small place they only took cash but I didn't have any on me so the wife had to go back to the car and get her wallet. While she was out, I was making small talk with the cashier (I think she was also the owner) who was nice enough. The wife came back in and paid ($1.05 w/tax) and when I asked the cashier if they were open on Sunday because we were going to be back through town she said "No. We're CLOSED on Sundays!"

If it were really busy and we were holding up a huge line waiting to pay then I might understand. Or if she had a large dog gnaughing at her ankle, I might understand. But here I was just being nice and saying that I'd like to give you more business and she bites my head off. Well needless to say I bit the cookie's head off instead and vowed never to go back. As it turns out the cookie was really good so I might have to lift that life time ban on my business if I ever pass through again (not on a Sunday though!)