American Eventing Championship - Atlanta Georgia (pt.3)

This was not meant to be a weekly mini-series, but upon reflection there is a lot that happened that needs to be explained so you can totally understand. . . and then explain it to me.

I am definitely ADD!

Alright, so you remember at the end of last week's episode Marlena had been visited by the ghost . .
Sorry! My mind is wandering again already.  I can only imagine how you feel reading this.  What a dumb @$$!!

The plane ride was uneventful, cramped but uneventful.  I made it into Atlanta around 10p local time, and thinking I was slick having not checked any bags I started walking towards baggage claim and the exit.  There was a tram there to take you to baggage claim, but I figured that the airport had those moving sidewalks and I could be just as quick getting there.  HA!  Apparently I had gotten off the plane in Terminal Z, because I literally walked across the airport for like 35-40 minutes.  Everytime I came across another spot to get on the tram I thought to myself, if you get on now the next stop is probably the one you are going to have to get out at so why not finish walking it.  Again, HA!

Word to the wise, if there is a tram available it's available for a reason.

So I finally made in to the other end of Atlanta and the airport that traversed it, trudging my loaded down book bag the entire way and start looking for an exit.  Amanda wasn't there yet and said she was still about 10 minutes away so I exited a door near the end that would be closest to the way she was coming from.  So I sat there for a couple of minutes before Amanda calls.  She tells me that she is outside of my terminal parked at the curb.

??? What? WHERE?  I'm sitting at the end of the terminal.  You would have had to drive by me.
And I don't remember if I mentioned it before but she was driving a Fire Engine Red 1-ton dually diesel.  You don't sneak anywhere in this thing, and it definitely did not blend inconspicuously in with the other vehicles at the airport.  There aren't as many duallies crusing the airport as you would think.
So Amanda, where are you now? 

Her answer (and this is why I love my wife), "Sitting out in front of the airport." 

Thank you baby.  That clearifies everything!

So after a couple minutes of walking around the terminal for a second time this evening we eventually figure it out and I head towards the truck. When I get to the truck I find that for the next three days, my wife and I and 3 people I don't know from JACK will be in close quaters.
*After thought:  I almost forgot Guiness aka Greg aka G-Money, the dachshund.  Sorry Greg!*

Now I'm not saying that I'm anti-social, I just really don't like people.  And I'm seriously not claustrophobic, but 5 people in small spaces can change that very quickly. 

(All joking aside, they turned out to be nice entertaining bearable :)

So leaving the airport, everyone is trying to decide on whats for dinner within all of our meger budgets.

McD's? No

Arby's? No

Burger King? No

Taco Bell? ................................. OK 

Done.

This is where the real entertainment started. 

Remember, 1-ton dually deisel.  Well we though it would be easier if we all went in to order since we had seperate orders and huge truck.  No go!  Dining room closes at ??, you guessed it, 10p. 

Drive-thru it is.

Not my truck but I wish it was!

I have managed to travel quite a bit, but this is honestly the first time I could ever say that the vehicle I was in may or may-not fit through the drive-thru, and not just because of the duals.  Apparently Texans take full advantage of our wide open spaces including drive-thrus that are built to accomodate anything but a jumbo jet.  Atlanta Taco Bell's, not so much.  We had to pop a curb to get into the drive-thru lane, pull the mirrors in and cut the engine. 

To make it even better when we had gotten out to go inside and realized the door was locked, instead of all 5 of us piling back into the truck (one of the strangers) Sarah decided to ride in the back of the truck.  When we pulled up to the intercom we had two seperate orders (Yea, we were those people) and voices coming from every direction.  I think everyone literally ordered their own food rather than just telling one person.  You should have seen the look on the guy's face when we pulled up to the window.  Four people in a loaded down truck and a weiner dog and a lady riding in the back on a bale of hay.  The scene definitely looked like the Beverly Hillbillies visit Atlanta Taco Bell.

After we finally managed to get our food we made our way to the hotel, which consisted of us cutting across a Wal-Mart parking lot.  Not surprisingly no one there looked at us strange at all.  Back at the hotel with food in hand we had to sneak Guiness into the room under a coat which he was not happy about, and all 5 of us plus the dog settled into our nice little, cozy room for the night. 

Tomorrow was the big day!!!  What all the work was for. . . AHHHHHHHHHHH!  The pressure is killing me.

Ok, enough for this part of the mini-series.  You'll have to join us again next week as I try to finish telling this saga.  Good news though, we are actually finally getting to the horse stuff and I got some really cool pictures for that.