Well, my problem had not abated this morning. Or not, really. I did get a good night's sleep, I was not sick to my stomach, or nightmarish, so that was quite different from Friday night. But I went through about five Pepto Bismols and several bathroom visits by the time it got under control. I ate nothing yesterday that was a duplicate of Friday, which means any theory of what caused the problem in the first place was useless.

We both slept quite late compared to Sunday on previous visits to Unicoi; it was 9:30 when I had to get up and James was still in bed. By the time we got going, I decided it was best I stay behind and James went alone to the lodge for breakfast while I had some peanut butter on plain bread. Unfortunately they quit serving breakfast at ten, so he was back for a similar meal.

This is pack up time, and slowly people began to collect the things they had brought for the common area and check out. It's so easy to check out now; you just turn in the cards. Years ago there was a long procedure and there was always a line.

I must, must make a note next year to buy a plastic soap box and bring our own soap. Unicoi converted over from those little hotel soaps to shower gel dispensers some years back. First, we both hate shower gel. You have to pump out some for each arm, some for the torso, some for each leg, some for "the naughty bits," some for your face, and each time step away from the shower stream because the dispenser is on the opposite wall from the shower head, instead of just rubbing yourself down with the soap as you shower. It means the shower takes longer, wasting water, just not to have paper trash. Worse still, the shower gel has a very sharp, pungent scent. I'm not allergic to highly-scented stuff, but I know a lot of people are. It's really not safe to put such things in hotels. For our part, the gel smell is very off-putting.

Anyway, soon we were off to Picnic Shelter #6. The sky was very low and threatening, and we did get sprinkles of water off and on during the picnic, but it turned out to be cool and very nice. They had installed a huge new grill next to the shelter and Ken was able to cook hamburgers and then hot dogs and other items in a trice. The kids ran around near the creek, we sat and talked or stood and chatted, people took photos, and later the kids had a marshmallow roast.

We left about one, with the windows open. We were both pretty quiet; the weekend always goes by so quickly! We always intend to go up on Thursday, too, but never do. For the last time we enjoyed the rolling countryside with the mountains at the horizon, the farms between the commercial areas with cows grazing in the fields and the occasional horses enjoying the forage, the delicate shades of green of the different trees leafing (with some orange and yellow leaves appearing occasionally and of course the irregular spotting of dogwood flowers), the antique shops housed in old stores and homes, little country churches, and all the other pleasures of north Georgia.

In Cumming, we stopped at the big outlet mall that sprawls on the west side of GA400. I wanted a packet of new socks and also some new underwear, so we went to the Leggs/Hanes/Bali outlet. We also stopped at Kitchen Collection and got James two new spatulas, at the vitamin store and got me some soy isoflavones since they're so darn hard to find/expensive, and at the Yankee Candle outlet there, and while I didn't find cafè au lait tealights, I did find something called "roasted coffee" and also a mint scent. I also found a gift to put away.

Then back to the long dull drive to the vet, with a short detour to Kroger to get a couple of things and a paper so we would not have to go out again. Willow came charging out first. She has a slight infection and has some pills to take. She needs to lose weight. Schuyler was shivering for a few minutes, then started making some new noises. Turns out there is a grey parrot there that does multiple imitations and Schuyler learned some of his repetoire (once we got her home, though, she reverted to her whistles, kisses, and squeaks). She is fine.

(Oh, the vet bill...with two checkups, shots for Wil, Schuyler's shot, claw trimming for both, Wil's flea and tick meds, and the boarding...was over $700! So much for our tax return.)

After a stop for gas for the car, we were finally home. It was almost six o'clock! We put everything up first so we could eat supper and then relax in peace.

Labels: pets, travel

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 8:34:00 PM

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